Microsoft Office Professional 2007 Hello, I must b

Hello, welcome to the PowerPoint and the Office Art team blog. A different kind of blog, written by several members of the team, about the work we are doing to make better software for you.

Has it really been over four years since I wrote that opening to the first PowerPoint team blog entry?  Wow. We’ve come a long way since then, since a few program managers on the team decided to start writing about all the cool stuff we were working on, and all the cool stuff you could do with PowerPoint. 

I sincerely hope you’ve enjoyed it so far, and will continue to read these personal notes from the team to you about the application we all enjoy.

For me, I’m making a big change today.  After 17 years of working on the PowerPoint application, I’ve decided to start a new chapter of my life where my e-mail address won’t end with @microsoft.com.  More on that in a second.

I’m so proud of what this team has done. I’m proud of our focus on putting together great software for you. And I expect to be a PowerPoint champion for many years to come. 

To that point, I decided to share my letter to the team with you all, because it just seems right to consider you readers as part of the PowerPoint family with whom I’ve enjoyed working all this time.

Sent: Friday, May 21, 2010 9:29 AM
To: PowerPoint - All
Subject: Hello, I must be going...

Hello, I must be going.  - Groucho Marx

The impulse in writing a truly fine good-bye letter is to sum up the experience in total, such that it can be both a memorial to the time spent and a lesson left behind.  Of course, such writing has a tendency to be self-absorbed and potentially boring.  So, exercising incredible self-control, I’ll try to get this down without attempting to be legendary in my prose.

When I tell people I’ve spent the last 17 years of my life working on PowerPoint, around nine releases of the product, I typically get one of two responses. 

One reaction goes something like it must have been an incredible experience to be involved the development of program that went from obscurity to worldwide notoriety, and to have been involved with it over such a long period of time.  Of course, this is quite true. It has been an amazing experience.  I’ve been fortunate to work with an astounding array of people.  I’ve been able to develop and exercise new skills and work with new technologies.  And when I meet people, I can tell them about our product with real pride.

The other reaction to my working on PowerPoint for 17 years is a little trickier.  How could you let yourself stay in one area, much less work for one company, for so long?  That’s simply not how things work in the Valley. There’s so much out there to explore.  This is harder to refute, as my reaction is more emotional than practical.  Honestly, it’s simply been a joy to be associated with the product, to meet and understand the customers, to work diligently on solving their problems, and to work with a team so similarly motivated.

Recently I started thinking about the time span in general; 17 years.  A standard K-12 education plus 4 years of college lasts 17 years.  After living with their parents for 17 years, many 18-year olds find a way to move out of the house, get off on their own. And, after 17 years,Microsoft Office Professional 2007, the national tour of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera will end its national tour this very November. 

OK, that last one is a bit of a stretch, but it does get you thinking about Act II.

Act II for me will begin with my last day at Microsoft, May 28th.  Those of you who know me well already know of my blogging, podcasting, Pecha Kucha nights, other social networking,Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007, and these activities will continue. And I don’t expect my love of presenting and presentation software to wane at all. I’ll continue to write and be active in that area for a long time to come.

What else will I be doing?  Well, my wife wanted me just to spend some time cleaning out the garage, selling the good junk on eBay.  (Trivia fun fact: I have an eBay feedback profile of over 430 entries, rated 100% positive.) Of course, planning that activity got a bit out of hand and I went a little overboard.  Now I’m happy to report that in a few weeks I’ll start working for eBay as a Senior Product Manager working on the user experience in selling on eBay.  I’m pretty excited about this, and if you’ve used eBay and have any feedback about it, please let me know!

It’s my hope that my education at Microsoft will serve me, and my future customers,Microsoft Office Professional 2007, well. 

My best wishes to you all!

-Ric

PS. For those not familiar with the Groucho Marx reference, here’s the entire song from the movie Animal Crackers, which is highly recommended.  Margaret Dumont sings the italicized part.  It’s one of my favorite Groucho bits,Microsoft Office Professional 2007, and seemed appropriate.

Hello, I must be going.
I cannot stay,
I came to say
I must be going.
I'm glad I came
but just the same
I must be going.

For my sake you must stay,Microsoft Office 2010 Professional,
for if you go away,
you'll spoil this party
I am throwing.

I'll stay a week or two,
I'll stay the summer through,
but I am telling you,
I must be going.

So keep tuned to this blog for the voice of the program. The PowerPoint team is fully committed to providing you with insights and information that you just can’t get anywhere else.  And if you’d like to keep in touch, please feel free to follow ricbret on Twitter.  If you’re in the Bay Area of California, perhaps you’ll participate in or just be part of the audience at Pecha Kucha Night San Jose.  And if you’re interested in reading my personal blog (just getting started) that’s or listen to my podcasts about presenting at

So for now, a fond farewell to you all.  Enjoy the new PowerPoint 2010, and all the ones yet to come.

Ric Bretschneider
Senior Program Manager
Microsoft PowerPoint
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