I've got a couple things to talk about this time. The first is a very amusing story from the Yukon Launch in San Francisco, and the other is a practical observation on the state of the database market.
Let's get started...
The Official Yukon Launch in San Francisco, Nov. 7, 2005
For those of you who didn't make it to the launch in S.F. this year it was truly a sight. Not only did Cheap Trick play, but Microsoft hired the Orange County Chopper guys to give a chopper away to the customer who had the largest conversion to SQL Server 2005 from a competing vendor. This is where the story comes in. I didn't really know any of the behind the scenes stuff until Paul Flessner, Microsoft's senior VP of server applications, gave his keynote here in Dallas last week, so I'm passing the entire story on to you.
There was a marketing guy at MS who convinced the product group that the chopper guys would be perfect for the launch. MS was a little worried because bikers have a reputation for being a little rough around the edges, and they didn't want anything to taint the launch. All the same, the marketer was able to convince the powers that be that all would be ok, and they hired the chopper guys to not only build the chopper, but make the presentation on stage at the launch itself.
Now, skip to the day of the keynote... the chopper guys arrived in a bad mood, and just not sure what to do. They had already made a video saying how they used Windows and SQL, and that they perform very well, etc. etc. So they just didn't know what else they were supposed to do. When they asked their MS rep, they were told exactly... Senior, you sit on the bike. Junior, you go out on stage and just tell basically the same thing you said in the video... that you use the product, and you really like it. Then senior will ride the bike out and we'll give it away... that's it.
OK, so the stage is set, but junior still doesn't really know what to say. He's still in a bad mood and just doesn't want to be there. So he starts asking questions... what do you want me to say, how long do I have to be out there, etc. The MS rep says, just say what you said in the video and you'll be fine. He agrees, and just before they go out on the stage, he asks the MS rep, ok, so who's your competitor again? The MS rep tells him it's Oracle, but don't worry about that. We're here to promote SQL, so don't even mention Oracle, it's not important. Junior says ok, but then when he's introduced he runs out, grabs the mic, and immediately yells...
The State of Databases
Sign up to receive InfoWorld Resource Alerts
Recommend This
