John Porcaro Consulting

Microsoft Meetings in London

I just got in to London, then took a train to Reading. We'll be in planning meetings with some of our co-workers from England, Ireland, and other countries in Europe.  We start bright and early Monday, and finish up Thursday night.   I expect to spend 99% of my time either in meetings (8 to 5), or working in the hotel room (6 to 10). Long week, no doubt.

I’ll try to post some pictures on Flickr as I take them, in a set called Microsoft Reading, England. 

Here are three for starters…

Here I am, after 12 hours of flights, waiting for the train to Paddington Station

Some of the riff raff waiting in the train station early Sunday morning. (Frank)

Paddington Station from inside the train. Note the (blue) Xbox logo on the train.  Except THEY think it stands for Heathrow eXpress…

Sydney Harbor Bridge Climb

I noticed a link on MSN to Phil Holden's blog, image and word.  He has some breathtaking photos posted, and since I'm a budding photographer, I love seeing great photos, hearing the stories behind them, and the technical details on how they were shot. 

He has an amazing photo of some climbers on the Sydney Harbor Bridge.  A few weeks ago, I had the chance to visit Australia for some meetings, and the Product Manager I was with convinced me to do the climb.  It took some doing: I've done a lot of mountaineering and rock climbing (before my fatherhood days), so it didn't appeal to me as "high adventure."  And the climb itself was about AU$160 (maybe $125), seemed a lot to pay for a guided tour.  In the end, we went on the "twilight tour."  Great experience!  And awesome views.  I'd definitely do it again. 

Funny that years from now, I won't remember the meetings we had or the long (long) flight.  I'll think back on the few hours I spent with a few guys from work, trekking to the top of Sydney Harbor after dark. 

I posted a few more pictures on my flickr site.

 
John, Scott (and Drew)
Sydney, Australia
August 19, 2005

Atlanta Geekfest

Just arrived in Atlanta four our big 'ole sales meeting. Or as many around are calling it, "Hotlanta!" I haven't seen a day over 85F in Seattle this year, and even then it only hit that once or twice...

Anyway, maybe, just maybe, I'll pound out a blog post or two, since there's bound to be something worth writing about. Anytime you get thousands of co-workers from around the world, all gathered around to hear the latest about our sales and marketing plans, how can you help but not feel part of something huge?

These are the times when CEOs and VPs turn into rock stars, co-workers turn into teachers and students, and convention centers turn into universities (or at least game shows, infomercials, and pulpits for evangelists--no offense, Scoble!).

Got off the plane with a nice voicemail from Steven Vore welcoming to Atlanta!

Timpanogos Cave

Steven and I made the 4-mile round-trip hike up 1,000 vertical feet, and were rewarded with a spectacular tour of Timpanogos Cave in American Fork Canyon. I was pleasantly surprised to find the trip enjoyable, even though we're well above a mile in altitude (6,300 feet). For more, check out The American Southwest website...

Lunch with Craig

Took some time off to have lunch with Craig Bernston, Microsoft MVP and FoxPro guru (since I missed the Seattle meetup at Crossroads). Craig just finished up the first half of Six Sigma training, and we shared horror stories about statistics and drinking from the firehose. I'm always impressed when I meet MVPs, and Craig was no exception. I love talking with guys that are so passionate about what they do. I think that's one of the things that I really enjoy about blogging--without exception, everyone who does it is genuinely passionate about their field. I don't think you can say that about any other group of people.

Craig mentioned that his class was much more statistics-heavy than ours, a point I remember our instructor making during our class. He told us the principles were as important as the statistics, and I tend to agree. And with Black Belts available to consult and help with the measurement phase, I'd rather management (and our execs) get more on board with the "Critical to Customers" part of Six Sigma.

Later, I went to see Pirates of the Carribean with my brothers and my father. Fun movie, I have to say I quite enjoyed it.

And finally, I went to CompUSA and bought a Microsoft Wireless Base Station, and hooked it to my mom's cable modem. SO now I can get online with my notebook without sitting in her hidden away office. I'm surprised at how used to wireless I've become.

Circuit City Remains "Good to Great"

Nothing much today. Went to a Media Play, CompUSA, and Circuit City this morning. Drumroll, please. For the first time, Circuit City was my favorite of the bunch. They've updated their planogram, brightened the store, and increased the selection of tech products. And the prices were competitive.

Friday I have lunch with Craig Berntson in Sandy. He's also doing some Six Sigma training--ought to be an interesting time!

City by the Bay

Off to San Francisco this morning, to do a series of Focus Groups. We'll be interviewing consumers who shop at some retailers who sell Microsoft consumer software and hardware, trying to get at some motivating factors, expectations, and all the research-y buzzwords like psychographics, ethnographics, and (shudder) demographics. This'll be phase one of three waves of study. The rest will be online or by phone.

I'm also looking forward to meeting up with Denise Klarquist tomorrow morning.

Later in the week, Steven (my son) and I are off to Salt Lake City to attend two weddings, my younger sister Maryanne, and my younger sister Lisa. I'll be missing the cool, 70F days (Utah, in case you're not familiar, is in the desert, a several hundred miles north of Arizona).

Mt. Whitney Portal Store

Scoble mentions that Seattle PI reporter Todd Bishop started a blog. One of the posts I found interesting was a link to the "Shasta Cam" (a mountain in Northern California). I climbed quite a bit in Northern California (learned mountaineering there working at Migent, Inc.). One of my favorite climbs there was "the Mountaineers Route" up Mt. Whitney. Now that my job is all about Portals, it's fun to see the word used in another context! Presenting, the Mt. Whitney Portal Store Cam! In fact, here is a story I wrote for GearReview several years ago, about a family climb through the Whitney Portal...