Into the belly of the beast

As you know, Thursday was my last day at IBM Lotus. I will be posting a bit more detail about my new company and the services we offer in a few days, but first, I have to tell you about what I did on Thursday night.

I was at dinner a few weeks ago with Mary Jo Foley and she mentioned that she was going to be a judge at a competition for technical speakers called "Speaker Idol". Due to my experience speaking at Lotusphere and attending similar speaking competitions, she thought I'd be a great addition to the judging panel, so I agreed to do it. The event in question? A Microsoft .Net Developers Group meeting. Inside a Microsoft building.

Eek!

I have to admit, I was a little nervous walking into a room full of .Net developers, but the organizers, attendees, speakers, and other judges couldn't have been more inviting and pleasant. The speakers were great and the judging was fun. Also, as it turns out, entering a Microsoft building as an ex-Lotus employee will not, in fact, cause one to burst into flames. Who knew?

Lest anyone think that I am running out Lotus/IBM's door straight into the open, willing arms of their main messaging and collaboration competitor, not to worry. I still plan on remaining independent for the foreseeable future. This being my own boss thing is pretty sweet.

Plus, I just officially migrated to a Mac. I'm pretty sure that's like Kryptonite to Microsoft people, right?

Photos of the new Mac after the jump.