I went to the Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 “Launch Event” at the local convention center last week. It was pretty typical for these types of events. Lots of marketing in the guise of technical product demonstrations and the promise of a free lunch. The theme was “rock and roll.” The keynote ended with two 30 foot screens, one on each side of the stage, showing “READY to ROCK the LAUNCH” while Rush (Tom Sawyer, naturally) blasted through the theater. Rush.

As if grungy graphics and loud music was going to turn 4,000 nerds into rock stars.

Lots of people had visited the smallish vendor area and got some kind of neon blue flashy light thing. Some of them were wearing it around their necks and some of them just had it in their transparent conference bags. It’s good marketing. It instantly got attention from everyone who saw it. But it’s kind of sad, isn’t it? That all these allegedly smart people can be lured to a vendor booth by a couple of blinky lights like some kind of prize bass. The sales droids at the booth should have been sporting fishing poles and hip waders and kept the flashy things in a tackle box.

Comments

1. LarryB on 2005-12-19 03:02:40 wrote: Snork! OK, I think that they’re actually pretty good products (I care more about SQL than VS) but I admit that I nearly fell on the floor when Tom Sawyer boomed out over the PA system. Good grief - I hadn’t heard that played in public since high school.

2. LarryB on 2005-12-19 03:03:24 wrote: Oh, and I have a “Ready to Rock the Launch” sticker on the back of my work laptop.