I'm not sure why, but that frightening Playskool doll from the 80s and its accompanying theme song (which sends chills down my spine when I reminisce about it, I might add) popped into my head when contemplating this post. I'm sure that little invention is to blame for many a child's nightmares... Anywho, on to the real content. Right-o.

When I saw BradA's post about the ISV Buddy program back in early July, I ran right out and signed up immediately. I decided only to sign up for 1 right now, as I was hesistant to overcommit on bandwidth...

Well, I just received information about my newly assigned buddy today! The whole concept is really cool - that is, hooking up an ISV professional working “down in the trenches” with a Microsoft  professional also “down in the trenches.” It's a bit like a penpal thing, but with perhaps more structure and concrete goals. I'm looking forward to it.

(By the way, when I first arrived at MS, I was a little concerned and confused when I saw posters depicting Sanjay Parthasarathy and Eric Rudder (two MS execs) as bobbleheads, accompanied by the phrase “He's not kooky, he's my buddy.“ littering the walls. It all made sense as soon as I read Brad's post... To the poster designers' credit, they did include a URL at which one could read more information on the program. I suppose the ever increasing proliferation of sticky notes with colorful comments by other employees that decorated each poster diverted my attention enough that I never thought to go read more about it. This video shows the animated version of the poster. :) )

If you're unfamiliar with the program, I recommend you check it out.