Microspotting gets the lowdown on the unexpected personalities behind the company you know as Microsoft. We’re like the Paparazzi, but for Geeks.

Check it out… you might just learn something.

'Softie in question: Tony Menard

Job title: Xbox Games Intern - University of Michigan, Class of '11

Why did you decide to intern with Microsoft and not with a different tech company?
This was actually my third internship with Microsoft.  I've chosen to intern with the company because it's a very well-respected leader and innovator in the technology industry. 

The products MS develops are used by millions of people every day. That being said, I know that the work I do will impact a large number of these individuals. I've also been given the opportunity to live "every kid's dream" as my last two internships were as a Software Development Engineer in Test for the Games Test Organization of Microsoft Game Studios (also known as a VIDEO GAME TESTER)! 

Microsoft is one of a very few companies that have a 5-star intern program. The company never ceases to impress me with how well it treats its interns.

How did you feel about the type of work you did as an intern?
I think my intern responsibilities were both challenging and impactful. Throughout the summer, I took part in the testing of three different Xbox 360 titles.  Furthermore, not only did I design the overarching test plan and generate build verification tests for a tool that will be used by my entire organization, I was also responsible for designing a targeted test specification and cases for a major release of the tool as well. 

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‘Softie in Question: Connor Lanman

Job title: Intern – Viral Video Ninja – Sophomore-to-be at Stanford University

Tell me about your internship at Microsoft.  Is it pegged to a specific technology?
I am here as an “Associate Product Manager” Intern. That means I’m just a non-technical intern. But, my internship is a bit out of the ordinary, because it is based on my experience in viral video marketing. 

I work for the Windows Live Division – specifically Windows Live Essentials. My job is to engage photo and video enthusiasts, say people who use iMovie, and help to familiarize them with our Windows Live products through a viral marketing strategy and to create a viral strategy for the future.

Tell me about your earlier experience with viral marketing.
I went to a special art high school in Los Altos, CA, and had to do a 10-minute short documentary film and a photo book as special projects.

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‘Softie in question: John Sutherland

Job title: Writer - Microsoft Game Studios

Could you explain the role of the writer in game development?
The writer develops the story and collaborates with the designer, who is often the game’s director. Sometimes we work with an outside developer who may have as many as four staff writers on a game. In that case, I work as the story doctor and oversee the writers: I help with story structure, pacing, and trimming their dialogue down to a manageable level. Other times, we work with developers who don’t have any staff writers and I’m the sole scriptwriter.

How did your career start off at Microsoft Game Studios?
I was working as a technical writer for Microsoft on error messages for Office 95 and telephony projects and that sort of thing. But, like a lot of technical writers, I had a secret life. When I wasn’t at work, I was busy as a screenwriter.

I started working in games in 1996 when a former copy editor of mine from Office asked me to create an online help system for Mind Aerobics, a new puzzle game by Alexey Pajitnov - who invented Tetris. In many ways, my first game writing job was still technical writing.

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‘Softie in Question: Laura Foy

Job Title: Video Production Goddess (aka Senior Technical Evangelist).

Laura, it’s hard to miss you online here at Microsoft and beyond. I’ve seen you in everything from an interview with Craig Mundie about NUI to a Justin Timberlake spoof music video about Xbox. Tell me about your role here.
I host and produce stories about what’s going on with Microsoft and technology. I have a weekly show called Ping!, I share breaking technology news, I talk about Windows Phone 7, make kitsch horror movies, music videos, travel all over the place… you name it. There are so many things going on at Microsoft and so many places to create content that I never have a shortage of ideas or material.

I recently saw the award-winning documentary We Live in Public about internet pioneers and I noticed you in a couple of scenes. Tell me about how you got in on the ground floor of online media.
I had just graduated from NYU. The late 90s .com bubble was in full swing and a friend told me about a job at Pseudo.com. The job was just cataloging tapes and basic stuff like that, but I was bartending at the time, so I was like “sure, I’ll give it a try.”

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‘Softie in Question: Amy Lin

Job title: Project Manager for Excel Services. I work on Excel in the Cloud. The Project Manager role is much more multi-faceted than it sounds. We’re at the intersection of project managers, designers and customer champions!

You’re in your early 20s and you’re a Project Manager at Microsoft… you must be doing something right. Did you always know that you wanted to work for Microsoft?
I grew up around here and starting building websites when I was 11 and was programming games like Monopoly by high school. We only had one computer science class in my high school, but it led me to the Microsoft high school internship program - which was only for students in the Seattle-area.

I didn’t do big stuff during the internship and wasn't totally set on returning to Microsoft, but it was good industry exposure. Up until that point, I had no idea what “computer science” really meant or how it could actually be applied. I just knew I was interested in technology.

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‘Softie in question: RJ Naugle

Job title: Senior PM Lead, Risk Reduction Team.

I'm also the co-lead of Microsoft's Military Veteran Outreach and Recruiting Program – "We Still Serve."

Did you join the military before or after college?
I graduated from Western Michigan University in '03. 9/11 had obviously happened in the meantime. I come from a military family and am very patriotic. I had a good job offer on the table with a subsidiary of GM, but I decided to enlist in the army in order to serve my country.

I started as a supply specialist and then volunteered to go to airborne school and become an airborne paratrooper. I was stationed at Fort Lewis, Washington, with 1st Special Forces Group, Airborne. That's where I met my wife. She’s a helicopter pilot. So - as the joke goes - she flies ‘em and I jump out of ‘em.

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'Softie in Question: Jeremy Tillman

Job title: SDE, Home & Small Business Server

How did you come to arrive at Microsoft?
I was born and raised in Gary, Indiana. Back in ‘99, when I was in about 8th grade, my brother brought home a Gateway computer in that black & white “cow box.” It had a whole 7 gigs of storage and that nice little AOL Internet package. I was the first person on my street with a personal computer.

Everybody on the block started coming to me for computer advice. If you needed t-shirts made, business cards, tickets – I did it all. When Yahoo! Chat was hot, everybody used to come to the house and try to play around on it.

My sister worked at a medical office and soon I was helping to set up their network. After high school graduation, I worked for the school board and created a database to organize all of their building blue prints.

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‘Softie in Question: McKenzie Eakin

Job title: Xbox LIVE Service Delivery Program Manager

That’s quite a title, what exactly does that mean?
Pardon the analogy, but I bartended in college, it’s:

*One part Back-end Community Strategy – setting the vision and direction for how we enable our customers to connect with each other and with us, from a behind-the-scenes systems and programs perspective. 

*Two parts execution – everything from managing the @XboxSupport Elite Tweet Fleet to the Xbox Ambassadors program, which recognizes and promotes good gaming and sportsmanship.

*And the whole cocktail is garnished with a LOT of Beatles Rockband.

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Hello Internet-land.

I'd like to introduce myself: my name's Thomas and I'm the editor for the new-and-improved JobsBlog (a 2-in-1 marriage of JobsBlog and Microspotting).

My background is as both a writer and editor and I've worked in book publishing, magazines and on-line.

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`Softie in Question: Clint Rutkas

Job Title: Technical Evangelist

You´ve got all of these crazy gadgets sitting around your office. Can you explain what some of these things are?
This´s all .NET hardware that I´ve built, namely a computer-controlled, light-up dance floor, a self-balancing skateboard and an automated bartender called Drinktendr.

So, your job is what?... to come up with cool ideas and figure out how to make them into realities?
I am part developer, part content producer for Channel 9 and I run the Microsoft blog Coding4Fun – which, yes, is all about learning how to make fun stuff with .NET technology.

Through the act of learning, people start to see the technology from a new viewpoint: what they once perceived as a nail may been seen as a screw to be used in a completely different way and create something nobody´s ever thought of before.

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’Softie in question: Cheryl Platz

Job title: User Experience Designer on the Management and Administration eXperience

I heard that you were a protégé of the late Randy Pausch of The Last Lecture fame. Can you tell us about working with Professor Pausch?
I didn't even know about my field of human-computer interaction until I went on my college visit to Carnegie Mellon. There was this guy there, Randy Pausch, who spoke of combining design, programming and psychology - all at the same time. It blew my mind. To top it off, he mentioned that he was an Imagineer. I had always loved Disney, especially theme parks - and I'd never seen an Imagineer in the wild before. I was sold.

After my first few years at CMU, Randy became my professor in undergrad and, then, grad school and my boss when I was a teaching assistant for his "Building Virtual Worlds" class. But, even more than that, Randy helped to realize one of my personal dreams. He walked up to me before class one day and asked, "Do you have any plans for this summer? I think that I have a job for you at Disney World." I almost cried in front of everyone.

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'Softie in Question: Scott Dart

Job title: Senior Program Manager on the Windows Team.

What part of Windows are you working on?
I could tell you but I’d have to kill you.

Seriously?
Seriously.

So, you oversee this highly classified software program while also playing in a 10-piece funk band?
I play baritone sax for DoctorfunK. We’re a high-energy funk/soul/R&B band with five horns, a rhythm section, and vocals. Our second CD is about to come out and we even played at the Muckleshoot Casino on December 26th with the former lead vocalist of Oakland funk legends Tower of Power.

Sounds like you’ve got a lot on your plate.
Fortunately, working as a Program Manager at Microsoft is smooth sailing compared to negotiating the rough waters of the music business and band politics.

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So, normally I keep Microspotting focused on my coworkers -- the bad-asses who keep the wheels turning at Microsoft. But there are some changes on the way at Microspotting, and some of them have to do with me, so I guess I should step from behind the curtain a bit here.

First off, next month I'm heading off to maternity leave! My husband and I are expecting our first child on December 1st, and I'm in full preparation mode, doing nesty stuff like turning a closet into a nursery.

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The geek in question: Nico Tomacelli

The job title: SDET, Media Center Connections team.

Tell me about what you're working on now. Right now my team is working on delivering Internet content through Windows Media Center on Windows 7. I can't go into much detail -- but trust me, it’s exciting stuff. There will be a full announcement from Microsoft on October 22nd, when Windows 7 becomes available to the public. All the content will be available starting then and delivered on-demand through Media Center, so you don’t have to the provider’s website; you can just browse through Windows Media Center and play the content.

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The geek in question: Sean Daniel

The job title: Senior Program Manager, Home and Small Business Server

How did you get here? I was asked to join the company while I was locked out of my town home in frosty Ontario Canada. Ok, the longer version is that a few friends and I decided to work for Microsoft, even if it was as janitorial job. I applied for a few Internships while I was in my 3rd year at college.

At the time, Microsoft only hired 4th year students, so in my 4th year, I had an interview on campus with the GM of Small Business Server. During my 45 minute interview, I was asked to design a webpage for selling cars online. I did and was asked what the most important part of the website was, and I said the UI, then defended my position and got my first of two internships. I found out after the interview what Small Business Server (SBS) was and realized I was trying to build that exact product in my basement. After completing my internships, I joined the SBS team and have been here ever since.

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Last week the blogosphere was abuzz with the fact that Microsoft is now hiring folks to work at its two new stores — this week I had the chance to chat with one of the 'Softies responsible for making those hires.

The geek in question: Cheryl Hibbard

The job title: Store Manager of the Microsoft Store in Scottsdale, AZ

What are you working on right now? The largest and most important task for me now is hiring the best talent for the new Microsoft store opening in Scottsdale. I have only been in the Scottsdale area for a week now and meeting such wonderful and talented people in the community has been fun and rewarding. I feel very fortunate to meet such amazing people!

What are the key traits you're looking for? Since we have several roles that will be in the stores — like technical support, trainers, sales team and a sales support team — product knowledge along with a customer focus background is crucial in team building. Also, with this being the very first store for Microsoft, it’s also critical that everyone is flexible and willing to share ideas and concerns… it will help Microsoft make future stores better by what they learn from us.

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I mentioned a while back that a HUGE chunk of my time over the last year has gone into the new Microsoft Global Careers Site, which launched earlier this week at microsoft.com/careers. I coordinated profiles and photos for the site, assuming this would mean coordinating other people's photos ... but when the creative agency started mocking up the pages, they kept including shots from Microspotting. At first I just thought aww, they're using my stuff as filler! but then I realized they were actually recommending using my photography on the site.

Ultimately a ton of my photos went onto microsoft.com/careers, which has me tickled pink. I'm a writer ... but now I guess I'm a corporate photographer too!? Talk about unexpected career development, jeez. The global landing page of the new site features the faces of ton of Microspotting greatest hits profilees — and I figured I'd point 'em all out to y'all...

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The geek in question: Dona Sarkar

The job title: Test Lead in Windows Experience (WEX)

With Windows 7 on the horizon, it must be super crazy, exciting time for your team right now. It is so exciting. In all my years in industry I've never felt this kind of excitement or pride in my work before. So, it's wonderful, yeah.

So, you’re a Test Lead, but I also understand you’re an author of Young Adult fiction? How’d that happen? I went to school at the University of Michigan, and I studied computer science. Computer science was challenging, it was fun, it was a huge learning experience, but all my writing classes, literature, creative writing, that sort of thing all came very naturally to me. So, I split my time and got a minor in English When I moved out to the West Coast to start working as a dev, I started taking creative arts classes at Bellevue Community College, including fiction writing. In that class, I started writing my first novel. It was awful...

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The geek in question: Mario Guzzi

The job title: Senior Test Lead, Microsoft Expression Blend

Tell me a bit about what you’re working on. I work on Microsoft Expression Blend, which is a tool that enables designers to build rich user experiences on top of different platforms such as Silverlight and Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF). It is Microsoft's first attempt to engage seriously with the designers of the world.

People haven’t always had nice things to say about Microsoft’s design values. Do you feel like your team is changing that?This is what gets me out of bed in the morning: the opportunity to actually give designers a new kind of opportunity. In the software development cycle, designers aren’t necessarily first class citizens, and our tools, paired up with the platform, enables them to become an active participant in the development process.

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Employee Mark Murray and his wife, Melinda Williams, were featured recently on a PBS “Frontline” special on U.S. health care after Microsoft benefits covered nearly $1 million in medical bills for the complicated pregnancy and premature birth of their son, Rees.

By Jennifer Warnick Rees

Murray Williams is a million dollar baby.

This is on paper, of course—the kind of paper medical bills are printed on. After a complicated pregnancy, Rees arrived nine weeks early and spent the first eight weeks of his life in neonatal intensive care, hooked up to wires and tubes.

It’s important to note, however, that the now-rambunctious one-year-old boy has a million dollar smile to match the two-inch stack of medical bills from his birth.

Rees and his parents, 13-year Microsoft employee Mark Murray and his wife, Melinda Williams, were recently featured on PBS’s “Frontline” as part of the investigative program’s special report on the U.S. health-care system, exploring its current state and ideas on how to fix it. 

Murray, general manager of corporate communications, said “Frontline” first approached Microsoft to be part of the program on health care because of the company’s outstanding health benefits. “Frontline” wanted to be able to show a “best-case example” of how the health-care system could work when a private employer offers its employees full coverage.

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