Thanks Microsoft

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I'm a big believer in the fact that you learn something in mostly everything you do. I learn a lot in past jobs, and it was the same at Microsoft. Today was my last day as a Microsoft employee, and I wanted to thank the company, and more importantly, the people as the past two years, and a half was an important part of my career in IT. Since there is never enough of bromance on the Internet, I thought I would do it in my own style, with a blog post...

Even if it's stupid to list some people as you always forget people, and upset them, I'll do likewise as I meet some important people that I want to thank publicly. At the top of my list, I want to thank John Oxley, my first manager. He his the one who gives me my chance, and offer me the opportunity to make a career change from Developer to Evangelist. I also want to thank Ryan Storgaard, my second, and last manager who helped me to be a better Evangelist. This guys supported me until the end, even when I told him I was leaving! Part of my old team (not because of their ages, albeit...) I want to thank Damir Bersinic, who was like a dad for me, Joey DeVilla, who teached me that even in a big enterprise you can stay yourself, Christian Beauclair who was my hire buddy (was so happy he was French!), and Rick Claus, who teach me that the stronger hardwares can always be Claused!

Also part of my team, I want to thank Paul Laberge to be one of my closest friends in the team, and I hope we'll keep in touch. I cannot talk about my team without talking about the mentorship our own Principal Technical Evangelist, Thomas Lewis (aka Tommy Lee), did with me in some challenging times. It was also a pleasure, day to day, to work with amazing people like Ruth Morton, Susan Ibach (one word: wine), Marc Gagné, Pierre Roman (continue the French pride in the team), Anthony Bartolo (I'll always hate you Bartolo!), and Jonathan Rozenblit. Part of DPE Canada, I had the pleasure to work with the Marketing team, and I want to specially thank Harpreet Grin as Harp was always there for me! I also had the chance to work with some lovely Audience Marketing Manager as my partners in crime: Angie Lim, Samantha Wong, Reemah Khalid, and Vanessa Beeswanger. It was a pleasure to work with all of you, and you each own a big part of who I am now. Last but not least, my CSI friends with whom I worked closely: Julia Stowell, Nik Garkusha, and Keith Loo. It's because of people like you that Microsoft is more open than ever, and that it will continue to go in the right direction.

The role I had, and in my own opinion, also Microsoft, are not just about employees: it's also about people in the communities that help to make a difference, so it wouldn't be fair to finish that post without listing some of the amazing people I meet that helped me day to day with their energy, and passion! Firstly, let me thank Guy Barrette, who is one of the people in Montreal who helped me understand Microsoft, and answers many questions I had about me vs the role before entering the interview process. Another special thanks to Mathieu Chartier, a good friend of mine who always believe in me, and always challenged me (he still does!) on my way of thinking. I also want to thank Mario Cardinal, Etienne Tremblay, Laurent Duveau, Sébastien Lachance, Matthieu Guyonnet-Duluc, Bryan Xu, Raymond Tsang, Matthew Potter, Raymond Kao, Bonnie Lui, and many more that I won't list there as it would take me too long... Thanks for being that awesone, and help the IT industry with everything you do for your respective community!

As in everything in my life, Émilie Plante, my fiancé (yes, people from outside of Québec, it's normal to be engaged for more than one year without any wedding date) who supported me from the beginning, and will support me in my next adventure. As for all other, if I forgot you, I'm sincerely sorry (I know it was stupid to list people), but trust me, if our roads crossed at some point during my time at the Empire, I'm thankful for everything we did together...

For all of you my friends, thanks, thanks a lot for being there. Thanks for helping me, thanks for being brilliant co-workers, thanks for your passion, and love. Last but not least, thanks for enduring me all these times as I know it wasn't easy! It was a real pleasure to work with you, for some of them we'll continue to work together on other projects, and I really hope we'll all keep in touch. Again, thanks Microsoft for everything...

P.S.: The picture was taken at the Make Web Not War communities night 2011 in Toronto with, from left to right, Nik Garkusha, myself, Anthony Bartolo, Joey DeVilla, Gladstone Grant, Jonathan Rozenblit, and Alexander Yakobovich.