After two years of managing theSpoke community here at Microsoft, I’ve decided to move on to the next chapter in my career.  This means I will be stepping down as the product manager for theSpoke. 

However, I am extremely pleased to announce that we’ve already got someone awesome on board to take over managing theSpoke community here at Microsoft.  Say hello to Justin Barsotti.  He’s a member of the academic team here and will be taking over my responsibilities on theSpoke moving forward.  Justin is a smart and talented guy and he is ready to take theSpoke into the future.  Over the past few weeks, he and I have been meeting to ensure a successful and smooth transition.  (He also just got married, so wish him congratulations!)

The last two years have been a blast, building v1 and v2 of the site, seeing the community grow into many different countries and languages, interacting with theSpoke community members and the Student Advisory Board, working late nights and early mornings with the dev teams, and getting to meet some of theSpoke members offline and in person!  I think that theSpoke has come a long way from its beginning, especially when you remember that it’s not even two years old yet.  I also think that there are many new directions it can head in the future, and I’m excited to see what’s next.

As for me, you can still expect to see me on the site every now and then, so I hope you’ll keep in touch.  A big thank you to all of you – our founding community members – and best wishes to Justin as he takes over this exciting role.

Mario