After over twelve and a half years at Microsoft, I’ve decided to leave the company and start a new chapter in my personal and professional life.  I’m moving back to the Midwestern part of the US, nearer to our extended family, and taking a new job in product management for social media with a great company there.  Since my blog is all about Microsoft, I don’t think it’s right to get into too many details of my new life here, but as I ramp up a new blog in my new role I’ll come back and provide a link to it here.

As the title of this post suggests, this decision wasn’t an easy one.  Here is how I put it in my farewell mail to my colleagues here at Microsoft:

This is definitely a bittersweet decision for me.  To borrow a phrase from SteveB, “I love this company!”  I love our products and services.  I love the people at Microsoft.  I love our passion and drive.  I love our partners.  And I love our customers.  I honestly mean that and am not using the word love lightly.  Working as the community manager for Windows for the past year has given me new insight into just how wonderful our customers are and how much they are really cheering for us to succeed. 

I have all of you, the members of the Windows community, to thank for that last sentence.  You have helped me and many others at the company gain a new appreciation for just how passionate, supportive, and resourceful Windows customers can be.  At times, you’ve also been appropriately critical of us, providing the unvarnished feedback we both deserve and value.  I can’t tell you enough how much it’s meant to me to get to know all of you, learn from you, and share both the good and bad times with you.

It’s the sunset of one part of my life and the sunrise of another.  Thank you again for being part of the last part of my career at one of the best companies in the world.  Soon, I’ll no longer be “Marcus at Microsoft” but rather just “Marcus” -- still proud to be part of the broad community of Windows enthusiasts and cheering on the company I love.

Best regards,

Marcus, Windows Community Manager

P.S.  My last official day at Microsoft will be November 16.  Look for announcements in the Clubhouse and on the Clubhouse Space for how things will transition to a new community manager.  If you or someone you know is interested in this role, please check out Marty’s blog post here.

Remember back before we were all so connected on-line?  Before we sent so many tweets, e-mails, instant messages?  Before we updated our status on Windows Live, Facebook, and LinkedIn?  Back then, to be “social” meant actually socializing with people face-to-face.  In person.  Actually talking.

I think we’re seeing a resurgence of this old school, off-line, social interaction between people.  The more on-line technologies bring us together, the more many of us want to take the next step and actually meet some of these smart, fun, fascinating people we’ve found on places like Windows Live, Facebook, and Twitter.  It was this interest by a lot of people in our broader Windows Community that originally sparked the idea behind the local Windows 7 launch parties.

If you didn’t apply to host a launch party, or if you weren’t selected (we had way more applicants than we had capacity to support), we’ve just created another option for you.  It’s the Windows 7 Meetup site, and has everything you need to plan a gathering, invite your guest, and be a successful host.  We’re using some of the “new school, on-line” social tools like Facebook, Meetup, evite, twtvite, and Upcoming to help you with your event.

I hope you’ll use the opportunity of the Windows 7 launch to bring back some of this old school social networking!

- Marcus, Windows Community Manager