Hello

Wow, that was easier then I thought!  With the obligatory test firings out of the way, I think I’m ready to roll.

My name is Derek Dysart and I am an Application Development Consultant (ADC) with Microsoft Premier support.  In my role I basically manage the developer support relationship with a handful of customers who have Premier Support for Developer contracts.  I either help solve issues related to the development tools and platforms, or coordinate getting a resource who can.

Obviously, due to contractual restrictions, I cannot name names when it comes to my customers, but they do expose quite a bit of the ugliness both in our tools and products, but also in our guidance.  If they are asking me a question on how to access a dynamically created web control inside of an event handler, chance are you might be too.

On a personal note, I do not live in the Pacific Northwest, but instead reside in Madison, WI.  My family and I are currently in the process of moving to Milwaukee for my wife’s work.  Since the Microsoft field office is there my commute to the office goes down significantly.  We are currently in the process of selling our current home and buying a new one.  As one of my fellow ADC’s put it, “The process of buying and selling real estate is so relaxing, isn’t it?”

I can feel the tension melting away with each day that passes.

Nonetheless, I hope to have lots of goodies and tidbits to share.  If you have anything you like to see, let me know.  Working for Microsoft in the field is a lot different than in Redmond (I say that not because I’ve worked in Redmond, but have worked with many in Redmond who make it obvious they don’t know how things work in the field).