Microsoft Welcomes Your Pieces of Flair

What do you think when you hear the words "Microsoft employee?" Navel-gazing code monkey? Socially awkward, with spending money? This? Me, I think irreverent, hip, game-changing, world-saving, 2.0. Not just outside the box, but using it for firewood. Why? One word: Microspotting.

No, it's not a menstrual symptom. It's the Microsoft-sponsored site that showcases some of the company's coolest young employees. To call it a recruiting site wouldn't be fair, because really, it's more than that--and it doesn't let itself be held back by corporate strictures. Explains site author Ariel Meadow Stallings:

You might notice that I use all manner of social media sites like Flickr and YouTube on Microspotting. You might notice that I publish the site using an open source content management system. Before you get all "ZOMG, TRAITOROUS MICROSOFTIE!!!11!1!!" understand this: I don't buy into the idea that working at Microsoft means you can't use competitors' tools. In fact, I think that's the best way to stay in touch with a constantly shifting, super exciting industry. I'm a Web 2.0 geek, so I use whatever tools interest me at the moment -- regardless of who makes them.

In other news, Safeway's gas stations are now wind-powered. But back to Microspotting. Stallings herself got roped in by the freedom, the bennies, and the exclamation points:

Did it matter that I have pink hair and am prone to accidentally cussing in team meetings? Nope! Did it matter that I could only work three days a week because I was busy with my book and other writing projects? Nope! Would I get the same famous MSFT benefits as a 40-hour/week employee? Pretty much! What about the fact that I don't like working before 10am? No problem!

Speaking of which, being recruited to work at a software giant in Redmond sounds a little like being recruited to an "edgy" mega-church in Ballard:

"Then one day at a friend's piercing studio in Seattle, I met this guy -- he was like 7 feet tall and 300 pounds and shaved head, had a big tusk piercing through his nose and was getting his nipples pierced that day. We started chatting and realized we both worked on the East Side. This guy was like me (23 at the time, and no college), and he says, "Yeah, I work out in Redmond, too. I work at Microsoft."

And I was like, "Oh, that's just like a few blocks away from me. What's it like to work there? " He said, "Just come on by and see..."

So what color is your parachute? The thing is, mine's plaid. But with curved lines, just cuz I like it that way. And I like to play air guitar in the halls. And I have this barbed wire tattoo. And sometimes I use one of those hand buzzers when I shake people's hands, just to keep them on their toes. Could I really be a blue badge? What's been your experience, Ariel?

"In my time with the company, I've realized that many of my preconceptions about Microsoft weren't quite right. Boring, corporate, stiff, evil? Huh. Not really. Me and my weirdnesses fit in just awesome at The 'Soft."

Awesome indeed.