Ignite and Casual Cape Day (a big week!)

It’s an exciting week. Ignite is happening, and we’re looking forward to hearing some big announcements. I am especially interested in hearing about some of the work being done in Teams and SharePoint. And I hope to learn more about the Fluent framework. We will see what news comes out of this event.

I have no idea why they decided to do Ignite in March (usually it is in the fall). Who knows? But I will not be giving any presentations as part of the conference this year (for a change). I did however have a recent event with Microsoft that you can view (actually the whole series promises to be interesting, I think).

I also have not seen any other Ignite sessions targeted at the SMB for this week, unless I missed something. That having been said, if I see anything particularly interesting for our SMB market segment I will be sure to highlight it.

Casual Cape Day

But far more importantly, this week also marks one of my favorite holidays: Casual Cape Day. I actually bought this domain name a while back and still haven’t done anything with it. Shame on me. Anyway, it is the first Friday in March (the 5th this year). CCD is a holiday that I used to celebrate with my co-workers every year. It is a bit hard to describe, but here it goes:

If you are leisurely browsing and reading this article right now on a computer or mobile device screen, you likely have more wealth at your disposal and more power at your fingertips than about 99.9% of humans who have ever walked this earth. And in fact, even today you don’t have to be a billionaire to belong to the top 1%. Far from it. There is massive wealth inequality in the world, and many folks out there still struggle for the basics like food, shelter, and clean water.

Now instead of feeling guilty about this whole situation, which may or may not inspire us to do something about it from a negative place, why not start by feeling grateful instead? We have it soooo good, it’s insane! So here’s one alternative: let’s celebrate our superpowers. If you’re open to it, join me. Here is what I plan to do this Friday:

First, I am going to wear a cape. Why? Because it’s a fun thing to do, of course. And, to a lot of the humans who have come before us (and many who are contemporaneous with us), we are basically superbeings with more access to luxuries like technology and education than at any other point in our collective history. The cape is a symbol of these superpowers (which I think we often take for granted). Oh, and it is a Casual Cape, so any cape will do: towel, pillowcase, old t-shirt, whatever you like. I’m not talking about your Sunday Best Capes here.

Second, I am going to do something special for myself and those around me. This year, that basically means me and my wife, since we are still distancing due to the whole pandemic situation. Now in the past, I would bring pizza and root beer floats to the office and share them with my co-workers. These days my co-workers are spread all over the globe, and I suppose in some of those places they might not even know what root beer is (it’s fantastic by the way–be sure you pick some up if you ever come across it). So you can just do something: anything special or spontaneous or celebratory at all.

Third, do one more special something for someone in need or someone who is less than the superhero that you already are. This could be as simple as making a small donation somewhere meaningful to you, or something else like bringing some home cooked goodies by a local shelter, or adopting a pet. Whatever you want, because there is a lot of need out there, and so many ways to fill it. Every drop of kindness counts (I can’t recall who said this, but it’s still true).

Last, only if you want to, snap a photo of yourself in a cape and tag me on LinkedIn or Twitter.