Community Leader Appreciation Outing

I just got back a little while ago from another one of Microsoft's Community Leader appreciation outings, put on by our local Microsoft Developer Evangelists, Peter Laudauti and Bill Zack.  Man, these guys really do know how to treat people!  I just wanted to show my appreciation for your appreciation - keep up the good work, guys... and thanks!

Ignore the fact that they just gave me free food for a minute while I continue on with more praise...

I've been meaning to blog a little something about how impressed I have been with our regional Microsoft Developer Evangelist team as a whole.  As I grow more and more active in the community, I get to see more and more - first hand - how encouraging, knowledgeable, and just plain helpful they all are.  Our recent InstallFest, during which they graciously gave away 35 copies of the recently released (as Peter said, "hot off the presses") Visual Studio 2008.  This was the most recent public-facing thing they've done for us, but what most attendees of the user groups don't know is how helpful they are behind the scenes, helping us coordinate with other leaders in the area and just generally helping our community continue to grow and prosper.  I'm sure I'll be blogging more about their wonderful contributions as I become more deeply involved, but at this point - even though I've basically just recently been introduced - I'm already impressed.  Again - thanks, guys, and keep up the great work!