The Channel 9 Doctrine | The Coffeehouse

The Channel 9 Team
5 guys from Redmond

1. Channel 9 is all about the conversation. Channel 9 should inspire Microsoft and our customers to talk in an honest and human voice. Channel 9 is not a marketing tool, not a PR tool, not a lead generation tool.

2. Be a human being. Channel 9 is a place for us to be ourselves, to share who we are, and for us to learn who our customers are.

3. Learn by listening. When our customers speak, learn from them. Don't get defensive, don't argue for the sake of argument. Listen and take what benefits you to heart.

4. Be smart. Think before you speak, there are some conversations which have no benefit other than to reinforce stereotypes or create negative situations.

5. Marketing has no place on Channel 9. When we spend money on Channel 9 the goal is to surprise and delight, not to promote or preach.

6. Don't shock the system. Lasting change only happens in baby steps.

7. Know when to turn the mic off. There are some topics which will only result in problems when you discuss them. This has nothing to do with censorship, but with working within the reality of the system that exists in our world today. You will not change anything by taking on legal or financial issues, you will only shock the system, spook the passengers, and create a negative situation.

8. Don't be a jerk. Nobody likes mean people.

9. Commit to the conversation. Don't stop listening just because you are busy. Don't stop participating because you don't agree with someone. Relationships are not built in a day, be in it for the long haul and we will all reap the benefits as an industry.

shawnmor
stop looking at me

Why do you consider "marketing" such a bad term? The definition is, "The process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of goods, services, and ideas to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organisation objectives."

Seems like you're doing the same thing...

buzzmodo
buzzmodo

Hey guys...

I have a 15" Samsung Flat Panel, in the vertical pivot mode, and ther left 20% of the page is off the screen. Please test it for this type of monitor.

Not sure what is out there, as there is no way to scroll over.

lenn
Fo' Shizzle

Thanks Buzz for the heads up. We don't have hardware like this around. Would you send us a screen shot?

lenn
Fo' Shizzle

There is nothing wrong with good marketing. The classic defintion that you post above is a basic of business.

That said, there are loads of other places where Microsoft acheives this goal. Channel 9 was conceived to achieve a different goal ... learning, conversation, and interaction.

SKG

"learning, conversation, and interaction"

I was going to ask about the reason for presenting the content in so many different ways. With forums, wikis, moblogs and other avenues, it sort of gets confusing, but I'm sure I'll get used it...

I'm also curious what kind of scalabity "The Team" anticipates for http://channel9.msdn.com/ ?

splatt

Great idea guys....hope it all goes well and that no one gets in trouble for what they say Wink

I was on campus and had a meeting with Scoble the day Charles and he were filming Eric and i didn't quite get his enthusiasm over channel nine...but now its live and open to the public, i can see what his excitment was all about...the new world of the cluetrain manifesto is making ingrounds all around the corporate world (yes i know its slow, but change takes time) but to see Microsoft open its doors and to allow you to do what you are doing here is fantastic....

I hope you get all the conversation you are looking for...

eagle

Keep the conversation going! Summer is a great time for a road trip!

This is going to be a great place to hang-out while all of the other channels are congested with political ads.

Jamey T
Jamey T

I don't think you are going to see any glitzy sales pitches for VS.NET on here (come to think of it, do we do glitzy sales pitches aimed at devs?).

That's what I think the gist of that part of the manifesto deals with.

As a marketing goon at Microsoft I can state that while the mere word "marketing" has something of a bad connotation for the more technically adept floating around the halls the actual implementation of it (the writing, the assitance in planning, the creation and implementation of ideas, the day-to-day work) does generally meet with appreciation.

As for the wording in the manifesto: I think it may have been a better choice to say "No sales pitches" than marketing.

But that's just an opinion from a writer/marketing goon.

Jamey

Karim
Trapped in a world he never made!

"Channel 9 should inspire Microsoft and our customers to talk in an honest and human voice."

If a human voice is not required, feel free to use the "Narrator" function of Windows XP.

"Channel 9 is not a marketing tool, not a PR tool, not a lead generation tool."

Actually, uh, it's not a tool at all. We're not sure what it is. None of us really know. We'll get back to you when we do... We're pretty sure that it's not a tool, though....

Those of you who are marketing tools, we're not saying that this is a bad thing. Channel 9 is not judgmental.

"Be a human being.”

Unless, of course, you are not a human being. If you are a chimpanzee or other non-human primate, you may prefer the social interaction over at Slashdot. On the other hand, if you are an artificially-intelligent sentient machine plotting the overthrow of the human race, we at Microsoft welcome our new silicon-based Overlords. Channel 9 is here to serve You.

"Channel 9 is a place for us to be ourselves, to share who we are, and for us to learn who our customers are."

Channel 9 was developed at Microsoft's alternative development ashram in Marin County, California. It utilizes feng shui, yoga, and organic herbal tea to free the flow of chi and open chakras. Channel 9 is environmentally-friendly and is made from 100% post-consumer content HTML. Channel 9 is not tested on animals. Please recycle Channel 9.

"Learn by listening. When our customers speak, learn from them. Don't get defensive, don't argue for the sake of argument. Listen and take what benefits you to heart."

Unless, of course, they're just being jerks.

"Be smart. Think before you speak, there are some conversations which have no benefit other than to reinforce stereotypes or create negative situations."

Negative situations create stress, which can cause an imbalance of yin and yang, and inhibit the flow of chi.

"Marketing has no place on Channel 9. When we spend money on Channel 9 the goal is to surprise and delight, not to promote or preach."

Of course, there are some who say that marketing is nothing but 'surprising and delighting' [insert picture of beautiful woman] a consumer while making a subtle, tacit association with a product [insert Microsoft logo]. These people [insert picture of beautiful woman] should be ignored [insert Microsoft logo].

"Don't shock the system. Lasting change only happens in baby steps."

Unfortunately, those of us who say that "Lasting change only happens in baby steps" are usually the first against the wall when the Revolution comes.

"Know when to turn the mic off. There are some topics which will only result in problems when you discuss them."

e.g. "Why does [insert software package here] suck so much?"

"This has nothing to do with censorship, but with working within the reality of the system that exists in our world today."

~~Just kidding! Actually it is about censorship, and here's why:~~

[follow-up comment deleted by Channel9 Editors.]

"You will not change anything by taking on legal or financial issues, you will only shock the system, spook the passengers, and create a negative situation. "

In other words, be free, be yourselves, do what you want -- unless it involves rocking the boat. Channel 9 passengers should remain seated at all times with their lap belts fastened low and tight across the waist. In the event of an actual in-flight emergency, Channel 9 reserves the right to switch from live Air Traffic Control communications to a pre-recorded selection of soothing music.

"Don't be a jerk. Nobody likes mean people."

We understand that, for some of you, this will be in conflict with being yourselves.

"Commit to the conversation. Don't stop listening just because you are busy. Don't stop participating because you don't agree with someone."

Only stop participating for really important things, such as finally getting promoted to "Ensign" on 3-D Pinball for Windows.

"Relationships are not built in a day."

Unless you are Britney Spears.

Alien Venom
Hello.

At least validate Channel 9 (with the w3c).

The main page has over 300 errors, perhaps it's time to specify a DOCTYPE on pages other than the main one.

A layout created solely with the TABLE tag? Shame shame.

xmedar

splatt wrote:
Great idea guys....hope it all goes well and that no one gets in trouble for what they say

the new world of the cluetrain manifesto is making ingrounds all around the corporate world

Cluetrain was my first thought as I read the points, the funny thing is MS used to do this, years ago Bill G used go around and to talk to developers in person when MS was in its early stages, I hope this is going back to those roots, I rather liked that MS.

excaliber

Karim wrote:
Only stop participating for really important things, such as finally getting promoted to "Ensign" on 3-D Pinball for Windows.

Very important. My friend blew off the birth of his child to continue playing...

redvamp128

I can see this as going places...Like I posted earlier. When you goto buy a product it will not just be- Oh that is "Microsoft" product...but now we the users can say...I remember when "bill and ted" were talking about doing this.... this should be nice. It will bring the consumer into knowing a little more about the people involved with the products that are comming soon or the ones that are availible now. (so to is this more widly established with the use of Blogs).

redvamp128

The one thing through working in the past in retail sales is this.... A good product does not need ads at all but sells itself- mainly through word of mouth and the fact that it is the best and hottest thing around. so too that would be the Marketing Dream for all products.

lenn
Fo' Shizzle

Karim:

Your post made me laugh my ass off. Thank you. Made my evening.

BTW - the Alternative Development Ashram is in Laguna Beach California, not Marin County.

and yes ... please recycle Channel 9 when you are done.

dotnetisv
argeek.com

Karim's post is hilarious!

Give him moderator status so he can tag the slashdotter's with an icon of some kind, he can obviously spot them.

-JB

nemisys
You Know

'You will not change anything by taking on legal or financial issues, you will only shock the system, spook the passengers, and create a negative situation.'

Tell that to your upper brass. They don't get it yet.

CindySue
Never let her wings touch the ground..

Hi, Lenn..

Regarding Buzz's viewing problem, your webmaster didn't perhaps design this on a 17" screen or something, did they? ;o)

My 15" is also showing a good couple of inches leftover. Annoying as it be, I can at least use the scrollbars that are showing on mine. I'd say it would be as simple to fix as having your webmaster throw some relative sizing into your site's HTML as opposed to absolute (fixed).. Yes, no, maybe so??

Also, if your webmaster could take a look at bumping things at least to declaring then validating an XHTML 1.0 (if not 1.1) DOCTYPE, it would give an immediate visual delusion that Microsoft really is revving things up in an effort to catch up to the pulse on the Web.. :o)

Peace..

Cindy

lenn
Fo' Shizzle

Actually ... that is all they do ... deal with the system. That is what SteveB, the lawyers, the CFO, etc do for a living.

The rest of us build software, and try to make a living, and occassionally have a little fun.

lenn
Fo' Shizzle

Hey CindySue

We designed for 1024x768 and are taking a look at what we can do for users on smaller monitors. Don't give up on me yet!

jasomill

The following two items sound like a troll:

The Channel 9 Team wrote:

6. Don't shock the system. Lasting change only happens in baby steps.

7. Know when to turn the mic off. There are some topics which will only result in problems when you discuss them. This has nothing to do with censorship, but with working within the reality of the system that exists in our world today. You will not change anything by taking on legal or financial issues, you will only shock the system, spook the passengers, and create a negative situation.

I strongly suspect that "your heart is in the right place," and the idea behind these points is a good one: that the Net has enough fora for discussions about software development that immediately digress into (frequently ill-informed and illogical) arguments about political ecomony (it does), and that you don't want Channel 9 to become yet another (a hope which I share). To this end, a statement that "Channel 9 is not a forum for discussing the socio-political and economic aspects of Microsoft or software development" seems in order. Hopefully the political types will respect the intent of the forum's hosts and restrain themselves. If they do not, I, for one, would endorse some sort of moderation (a.k.a. "censorship", but the negative connotation of this word isn't particularly useful here).

Trouble is, 6 and 7 seem to be expressing the very debatable political opinions you wish to avoid. "Lasting change only happens in baby steps" and "you will not change anything by taking on legal or financial issues, you will only shock the system, spook the passengers, and create a negative situation" are debatable, and phrases of the form "this is not about censorship," when nobody said it was, leads me to the gut reaction that it is (as noted above, "censorship" carries a negative connotation which doesn't really apply here — all editorial control is a form of "censorship", but such control is not "bad" per se). Finally, "working within the reality of the system that exists in our world today" clearly involves participation in the very sorts of discussions you wish to avoid — point being (I assume), not here. Why not just say that (and perhaps provide a link to Slashdot for the dissenters)?

I give up — is it a troll?

-jtm

enterprise
enterprise user

"We designed for 1024x768 and are taking a look at what we can do for users on smaller monitors."

Wow! Wonder that includes PocketPC users... Wink

That would make it interesting. Or even on SmartPhones size with itsy bitsy fonts that users need to user a magnifying glass.... Smiley

lenn
Fo' Shizzle

Channel 9 Mobile Edition is on the list for the future ... stay tuned.

irascian
Irascible Ian

"A layout created solely with the TABLE tag? Shame shame."

Why?

Everything has a cost. Making sites that conform to CSS, XHTML and work in all browsers is difficult, time-consuming, expensive and has some benefits (accessibility, faster downloads) that need to be weighed up against these disadvantages. Just like writing a site to work as well on a mobile phone as it does on a 1024x768 screen - it can be done, but at what cost? Whatever happened to the 80-20 rule (some people here seem to expect the developers of a 'free' web site to spend 80% of their effort on keeping less than 20% of the population happy?!)

Of course CSS is something we should aspire to (once all the browser bugs are sorted out!), but everything has a priority and you can't do everything in a day (not if you want any kind of life).

A "search" function should be a much higher priority than cries of "xhtml or Css compliance" or "Why doesn't it work on my mobile phone?" - issues that affect a tiny minority of those gathered here.

So, am I missing something here in the "Shame! Shame!" comments? Admittedly, my enthusiasm for CSS was somewhat trashed in following up some of the "best sites that use CSS" links in that "HTML Utopia: Designing Without Tables using CSS" book that Sitepoint put out to "make the case" for abandoning HTML tables (http://www.sitepoint.com). The first site I went to was unreadable, as in IE6 two paragraphs were laid on top of each other. I'd never get that situation if the site developer had used tables! Yes, it's probably down to an IE6 bug arising from its non-compliance with CSS standards, but when more than 80% of the web are using IE6 guess which one I'm going to target!

Fact is I know tables work, not just in IE6, but in obsolete old browsers like Netscape 4 (it's amazing how many government institutions who can't afford to upgrade are running older browsers).

There's a reason why virtually every corporate site on the web is still using tables, and if I'm honest I think it's a little naive to expect channel9 to have broken the trend just to keep the "W3C purists" happy. CSS and Xhtml-compliant sites are nice but they tend to not look good in older browsers and they are way more expensive and difficult to develop because of all the browser bugs that are out there.

As a developer there are only so many hours in a day and frankly I'd rather concentrate my learning effort on something that's going to make a real difference to my end-users until this mess is sorted out. Would rewriting this site to avoid using the TABLE tag really even be noticed by the vast majority of web surfers?

What do others think?