How Developer Days Started

Redmond, Washington, October 10, 2000.
John Coffey, Vice President for Customer Architecture @ Moss Software, says it all started out rather simply. As he remembers it, a handful of software developers gathered to play pool at Gillian's, a bar near downtown Seattle. At one point, talk turned to the notion of creating an event that would give colleagues who worked with Microsoft products a chance to get together and trade notes.

The Original Eight

(Mr. Unknown), George Febish (NY), John Coffey (LA), Dan Mezick (Boston), Dave Mendlin (Chicago), Fred Thorlin (Houston), Charles Kelly (Washington, DC), Joe Homnick (Ft. Lauderdale), Frank Sommer (No. CA), Mike Werner (Microsoft Program Manager)

Of course, Coffey and his fellow pool players weren't just a random group of programmers who wandered into the same bar at the same time.

He is one of Eight Original Microsoft Regional Directors, a select group of independent software developers who act as unpaid evangelists to the developer community for Microsoft products and technologies.

That was back in 1994. The idea was to give software developers who made a living programming for the Microsoft platform a forum for sharing war stories and tips.

Their discussion led to the creation of Microsoft Developer Days. Held for the first time in 1995, it has become the company's largest technical training event. Today at Microsoft Developer Days 2000, more than 25,000 software developers will gather in 34 cities across North America to get the "inside scoop" on the latest Microsoft tools and technologies. In the weeks that follow, a total of 100,000 developers worldwide will have the chance to attend the event as it moves to venues around the globe.