Steve Ballmer’s Speechwriter Speaks Steve-O
- Posted: Dec 06, 2005 at 11:32 AM
- 69,732 Views
- 34 Comments
Did you know that Steve Ballmer gives between 125 and 150 talks a year? Do you know what it’s like to write, coordinate, organize, compose, direct and manage those 125+ speeches a year for one of the busiest CEO’s in the world? Watch this video with
Katy Hunter who does this job every day for Steve Ballmer and find out why she loves working for Microsoft in another edition of our new show featuring cool women with cool jobs, WM_IN. (And you thought you knew what death by PowerPoint meant . . . not as
much as Katy! 
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Beer, I'm afraid this post makes little sense. What?
Also, how about watching the video first, then commenting on it? Seems like a logical pattern.
C
regards,
martin.
On the other hand, it is good to know that not all CEO's are cookie cutter business types.
Yet you were the first to comment...
C
I usually love C9 videos, but for some strange reason.... this feels like a PR video. I can't put my finger on it, but it sounds like a 23 minute 47 second commercial. You do much better interviewing the devs then the marketing people.
Some people like marketing... not me lol.
I guess to be fair the PR people are probably just as important as the product developers, that's the sad part of the world today.
We are trying to paint an accurate picture of Microsoft. And, as you must know, Microsoft employs more non-developers than developers. We have some of the most talented marketing people in the business, you know.
We are increasing the the breadth of what we cover on C9. This doesn't mean we will decrease the number of technical interviews. I promise!
Marketing has no place on Channel 9 (from our Doctrine). This means, that we don't use Channel 9 as a way to market our products. It does NOT mean that we can't interview interesting people who work in Marketing. Make sense?
Channel 9: It's about people too.
C
Sega Freaking Dreamcast.
Ask anyone in the industry, and the moment you say those 2 words a tear sheds for one of the best damn consoles released ever, that died because of little, crappy marketing.
Hey Microsoft.... buy Sega! Bungie is a one hit wonder, they got the same Halo franchise over and over again. You want a powerhouse... S-E-G-A
I'll hold you to that promise Charles
One thing that I would like to see, many vidcasts offer 3 options, streaming, low quality download (basically a downloadable copy of the stream) and then crazy high quality version.
It satisfies everyone in my honest opinion, and it isn't wasted bandwidth because those on dial up won't dare touch 1GB+ files, and those who want the nice quality can get it!
Amazing. Clearly CEO work is not all gravy.
Anyways..nice vid!
So, since this is apparently Women at microsoft week...when's the next amanda silver video?
No not because of the obvious reasons, i'm just really in to VB.
Really I am.
- LB
if you can look me straight in the face, be a normal consumer just like me, and say ABC is AMAZING. then i go online, google it up a bit, and then i ask the world, not the news sites, the world, what do you think of ABC, depending on that then i am even further intrigued!
living in a net world, the last step is hard, but trying something out in real life, seals the freaking deal. i mean seeing a 360 degree snapshot of a camera you want to buy, and holding and playing with it, are 2 COMPLETLY different things.
If your product is good, then you don't need marketing, your customers will all be evangalists. if microsoft how much i pimp one note to my fellow students then i would be put on the payroll! i don't do it because it's crap, i do it because that application.... simply rocks.
i even emailed you about it Beer, asking if theres anything like it, and like you said, nothing comes close.
Bill Gates' a natural speaker too eh? I always thought Bill would have that soft geek voice, but you can sorta tell he's really used to talking. He had quite a booming voice in that last interview on C9.
Steve... well we all know Steve's full of energy
No...through Channel 9 you are marketing a "better, friendlier Microsoft" in terms of people. It's called "trying to repair your image" (in a more personal way) in the public's eye. Many organizations do this through other means such as positive press releases, getting "face time" with the local news networks, etc.
So...Channel 9 is about image adjustment. You fix the longstanding image problems Microsoft has, make it more "personal" to people, and the end result is you sell more product.
That's marketing, but in a roundabout way. It does not change the underlying business practices that go on here...it just sort of "diverts your attention".
Watch for the follow-up video: "Steve Ballmer's Choreographer".
Then, of course, everyone will want to see the "Steve Ballmer Workout" video, in which his personal tainer demonstrates the chair-toss exercise.
I personally would love a tour of the actual furniture factory where the chairs are made as a follow up video to that. Then, show me the physics of how a chair flies, and explain the kinetics of impact. Does a chair fly farther if you spin around first? Sort of like a discus throw I guess...
And yet...
http://scobleizer.wordpress.com/2005/12/06/the-anti-marketing-marketing/
You might want to get your stories straight.
I guarantee that Ballmer came up with that on his own! As she said, he is very involved with what he actually says in his speeches (she's more of a guide than a "here, read this" kind of speechwriter...)
C
That's an interpretation of what we do here (and a flattering one, I must admit). Simply, Channel 9 is what it is. We don't do overt marketing and the goal is not to change our image. The goals are to help make Microsoft a more open and transparent company, to spotlight the people who make our products, to provide a place for customers to watch us do what we do and provide feedback along the way. It's not just about videos, podcasts, and screencasts, either: Have you been to the Wiki lately?
Image changing and customer satisfaction improvements are wonderful consequences of what we (including you) do on Channel 9. These are not the reasons behind the things we do. Does this make sense?
Read our doctrine. That's the story. Still confused?
C
I thought he was a major part of the team. That's kind of like saying "well, you know, I lay brick for a living. One of my co-workers called it 'building the foundation for a better society'. I like that!"
It is still laying brick.
You don't do overt marketing? Replace that word with "obvious". Funny, the sentence does not lose any meaning as a result.
Has any of this feedback actually changed a product in a tangible way? Where's the proof? I don't mean bug wikis/feedback either. I'm talking about feature requests for legitimate, big time Microsoft products.
I never was confused, but thanks for inferring that. It really helps. I am confused by your vehement denial that this site has anything to do with marketing. Or image changing. Or whatever word you would like to substitute for that concept today. By offering transparency, your implicit goal is to change customer perceptions. So, where's your USP? How about a benefit statement? You mean to tell me you do not aggregate demographic statistics here?
Anyway, whatever you call it, in the end, you sell more product. Why else would you do it? Out of good will? Please. You are on the company dole. Don't get me wrong, the videos here are pretty informative. And yes, they do make Microsoft more human, and I do learn a lot. That still does not excuse certain business practices.
I would be very greatful. Thanks. [A]
Hmm... I'd have to say, Firefox has had the best word-of-mouth advertising I've seen. And it wasn't just "ooh look what we made" or "ooh look what these guys made"; it was, in their words, "Spread the Word".
C9 is nothing but a hangout in comparison, although if you've seen Bill's interview he does praise C9 for putting a human face on the big black box that is Microsoft.
I really doubt Microsoft would take C9 offline just because they pull out a calculator and realize that it takes them more money and employee time to run than it earns.
I think C9's built on your average hobbyist's mentality -- show off the cool stuff you've done, maybe make some money and recognition in the process if you're lucky. That might not be what some others in the company think, but I'm sure that's what the people running C9 are after. And heck, they're making a living doing it!
Honestly, how do you even socialize worrying about petty ulterior motives?
Curious to see charles response to this.....
if he has any at that.
The person who wrote that article does not work for this team. Scoble, who does, simply linked to the article on his blog.
We don't sell products on Channel 9. Nothing else to say.
We don't "spin" on Channel 9.
Channel 9 is about the people and the products they build.
Channel 9 is not a place where we wow you with marketing hyperbole and rhetoric.
We are not driven by the product teams or PR or Legal.
Sometimes we get a little too product oriented and Scoble gets a smack.
We do love this company so we won't do things to purposefully hurt our image. We also won't do things that are inaccurate in an effort to make us look good. Make sense? Please read this statement again.
Product groups around the company spend time on C9, either on Video or in the Wiki. The Coffeehouse should not be used as a metric for how well we are integrating your feedback into our products. But make no mistake, many Microsoft eyes read the posts in our forums...
Most every product group at Microsoft is aware of Channel 9 and have a lot of respect for this place. They are paying attention to Channel 9. Take advantage of this by providing useful feedback with them.
KEEP ON POSTING,
C
I remember reading in many game magazines that it wasn't marketing that ended the Dreamcast, it was the guy that took over Sega.
He wanted out of making hardware and go to making games only and games for all systems. Because he felt Sega would make more money and supposedly he said Sega stunk at creating hardware.
Anyone who owns a Dreamcast would know that a lot of the of the games had graphics on par with the xbox and it blew away the Playstation 2.
Sony does too much marketing and most of their ads are just eye candy that make people say "gotta have it!!!". Then they go buy it and the game/system is complete crap. Except a small portion of games that are actually good
End rant
I have no doubts that you and the rest of the folks are dedicated and honest about what you are doing. Katy seemed pretty natural, too.
I don't think C9 would be such a success if anyone was contrieved and not really enthusiastic about doing it.
This doesn't change the fact that someone gives you all this freedom and lets you be natural only because it gives good marketing effects.
All the best,
Zaczek
Grow up.
Okay. Let's back up. Perhaps "marketing" is the wrong word here. That implies "selling". Note, in my above diatribe I stated that it is a matter of changing an image, and the end result is selling more product. I'm not trying to imply that you are peddling your warez everywhere. Although it could be argued that you are by the very nature of the videos since they deal with specific products, and more accurately, the people who create them. I think, in this regard, this site has been a great success. It HAS opened up a means of communication between Microsoft and the outside world. Besides, if, by chance, you actually admitted in some form that you do peddle products on here, what would be the harm in that? Is your trust with the public that fragile? Wouldn't a dose on honesty in this regard actually help things? Let the trolls fight their own battles, because inevitably, they'll implode under the weight of their own arguments. Or lack of them.
I think somebody should ship you two a couple of sets of boxing gloves and you guys should film that.
Rereading the statement again is not the point.
But...do they change the product as a result? I'm not talking about the Coffeehouse either. Seriously, it would bode well for you to give a tangible example of how this has happened. It is one thing to read posts. It is completely different if they ACT on them. Besides, it would probably draw more traffic if you were looking for that. But make no mistake, Charles, the world is watching you guys.
Several people already have provided feedback...a lot of it has been very good in fact. Has it changed a product yet? OR is it just another means of preventing somebody else from coming up with a competing product that has great ideas in it? Because your company's history is rife with examples of where your employees moved in on another, small, competing company, sat down with them to set up a "deal", and then basically poached their ideas. Once that was complete, you'd leave them alone and then magically, mysteriously those features would end up in your products while the other company would sort of wither away. I can't see a point in holding such a history as that against your company, or you personally, if that practice stops. Yes, part of it is "business", although some elements are very unethical because at the core of is a lie and a breach of trust.
Does your company teach ethics? Seriously. The videos only occasionally get at that element of your employees. And then, when confronted with a more difficult issue, such as motives, they completely back away from the discussion. Why is that? It's not like the rest of us are carrying a "holier than thou" mantra or anything although I'm sure somebody, somewhere will argue that eventually.
Every corporation puts profits before ethics, because such is their
charter by law. MS is a very successful part of that system, but that system was created before MS appeared in history and will exist after MS is gone.
That said, if the market demands ethics, all companies will be happy to provide a product that resembles ethics. I think that this is what is going on: the developer community clamored for openness and clarity so much that it couldn't be ignored much further without causing losses
to the shareholders. The C9 team came with what are clearly bright ideas and a clearly awesome site, and somebody was smart enough to see the value in it.
If people keep up the pressure, the company might get a little friendlier still. But in no way is it ever going to change the fundamental fact that - in the end - profit is the only thing that matters.
Not necessarily sad. In essence, marketing people spread the word in an understandable way (if they do it right) and yes, make it look pretty, sexy whatever. Now I know there's a lot of annoying marketing going around but that's what you get in any situation where money is involved.
Now imagine the opposite: no marketing at all, no structured product introduction, just word-of-mouth/internet. Appealing as that may seem, it is also inefficient by itself (as an add-on it's invaluable).
It's a bit like with lawyers. Somehow we love to hate them but let's imagine a world without lawyers. There are countries without them (or with them but they can do next to nothing).
How true. Guess "ethics" is a taboo word here.
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