Richard and Elaina Newman both work for Tellme, which is a Microsoft subsidiary. Bono does not work for Tellme.

The geeks in question: Elaina and Richard Newman, both of Tellme, A Microsoft Subsidiary

So, what are your jobs?
Elaina: User Experience Engineer.
Richard: Software Development Engineer II.
Elaina: …I have a II, too! I just didn’t say it.

What does Tellme do?
Elaina: When you call 411 from most phones nationwide, you’ll usually get us. If you call Microsoft customer care, that’s us.
Richard: We have an appreciable portion of all the phone calls in the US toward automated numbers — which is kind of scary.
Elaina: Well, it would be scary if we weren’t good at it.
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I went on another field trip, this time to California, where I visited ‘Softies at three different Bay Area offices. First up: Palo Alto, where I visited the Danger — makers of my beloved Sidekick, and recent Microsoft acquisition.

Being a program manager, biking 9000 miles ... it's all the same to Carolyn

The job title: Program Manager II, Entertainment & Devices Division.

How long did you work for Danger before the company was acquired by Microsoft?
I was employee #17, and have been with Danger for eight years. I was an engineer for five of those years, and then after a three month sabbatical to ride my motorcycle around the country, I started doing program management.

You know how if your Sidekick gets run over by a bus, you can buy a new one and download all the information off the Danger servers? That’s the service I’ve been working on with Danger for the past three years — and now I’m doing something very similar for Microsoft.

So you went from working for a company of about 300, to now working for a company of over 80,000. Did you have an identity crisis when Danger got acquired?
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Despite the skates, Michael says he commutes via bike

It’s my final day of working from Microsoft’s South Lake Union office, and after drooling over the commute and familiarizing myself with the building and neighborhood, I figured it was time to ogle my coworkers who get to call 320 Westlake home base.

And so I give to you five mini-Microspotting profiles, with just a few hard-hitting investigative questions. If these tales of 5 minute walking commutes and lakeside lunches make you jealous, remember the South Lake Union office totally has open jobs!
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Getting to know 320 Westlake

For those just joining me, let’s get up to speed here: I’m on assignment this week, working from Microsoft’s South Lake Union office in Seattle. I’m being all jealous because the teams here are totally hiring, but I love my job in Redmond.

Yesterday I wrote about my amazing 10 minute non-520 in-city commute (!!!) and today I’m sniffing around the building to get a feel for what the space is like.

A picture is worth a thousand words, so get yourself ready for lots of ‘em…
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So, I’m doing something a little different this week. Normally I keep Microspotting focused on the sexy geeks of Microsoft, but this week I’m obsessing over Microsoft’s South Lake Union office — the new, totally non-Redmond, totally Seattle home of a growing development team. I’m going to work here for the week, and tell you how it goes.
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