Chillin with the Channel 9 Crew

While the MVP Summit officially ended on Wednesday, I took advantage of the opportunity and stayed in Redmond an extra day to meet with different people on campus about some of Interscape's endeavors. Wednesday night, I as lucky enough to stay with Jeff Sandquist and his family. Before heading back to his place, though, I got to hang out with Jeff, Lenn Pryor, and Robert Scoble. What followed was a rather unique experience: I was one of the only guys to see the Channel 9 team at launch + 24 hours. I just sat on Jeff's couch in his office, watching Jeff and Lenn respond to all the different conversations that were flying around the site.

It was very interesting to me, to watch the dynamic that took place between the team. I got to see a side that outsiders rarely get to see... the strain a product launch puts on relationships, the desire to really make a difference... it was very cool. Jeff to Robert: "When you go home tonight, here are some things not to say to your wife: 'Channel9 did great today' or 'Honey, did you see my weblog?' You would be well advised not you use the word 'weblog' at any time when you get home." Scoble not talk about weblogging? Yeah, like that happened ;). (I don't know if it happened or not, all I'm saying is, it's doubtful.)

The result of their efforts is something very interesting indeed. It's rare to see any company do what the Channel9 team is doing, and nearly unheard of for a market leader. It flies in the face of nearly every tenet of capitalistic competition. How can you be transparent and still compete in the market? It's heresy, I tell you! But let me ask you something... is there anywhere you can go to see handheld-cam interviews with Sun employees? Do you get that level of personal interaction with IBM? How about with Open Source teams? I didn't think so.

Anyone who says that Microsoft hasn't changed in the last 5 years is either blind or ignorant. But don't think that change came easy. Channel9 was an uphill battle all the way to launch. But it was beautifully executed, and the traffic numbers the site showed in 24 hours were mind-blowing. They saw more traffic in a day than LonghornBlogs.com sees in a month.

Just goes to show you the power of the conversation. Get on the Cluetrain! And a special thanks to Jeff, his family, and the rest of the Channel9 crew for letting me hang out with you.

4 Comments

  • Hey Rob!



    It was cool to finally meet you as well.. what a whirlwind trip you had. Our daughter was especially happy to have a person near her age to discuss politics with who didnt argue with her!



    Come back anytime :-)

  • My wife says hi and she enjoyed the time when you stayed with us too! (The house is a lot nicer now, thanks for helping with the WiFi).



    Thanks for being part of Channel9. That's why it's so great.

  • Ok, you're critizing, open source, non-profit for not having the bandwidth and capital and time for video interviews? I'm sure if they had any of the above three you'd be seeing this kind of interaction.

  • Oh boo frickin hoo on Open Source. I'm really sad cause they don't have the money... that's one of the benefits of being a legal organization and not a religion. And Sun and IBM have the dough to do it.... don't see it though do ya?

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