Coverage of
The 2002 Microsoft Stampede Conference
By J. Carlton Collins, CPA & Geni Whitehouse, CPA

Question & Answer Etiquette –
Tuesday Evening

Over the years a much anticipated event at Stampede is the opening Q&A session in which audience members ask questions of Doug Burgum on the main stage – and any topic is fair game. However novice Stampeders should beware – there is a certain etiquette that has evolved pertaining to the asking and answering of questions. Specifically, it is expected that questioners must accompany each question with at least one semi-irrelevant story and in turn, Doug answers the question along with a semi-irrelevant story of his own. I should add that the term semi-irrelevant is used loosely here, and the actual application of this rule is commonly abused. For example, it would be a faux pas to ask Doug a direct question such as “Will Microsoft increase pricing for Axapta?". Instead, it would be more appropriate to state:

"When I was 15 years old, I took my first date to the movies, only to find that the price of movies had gone up from $2.50 to $3.25 per person. Because I did not anticipate the higher price, I could not afford to buy coke and popcorn for both of us. This girl was the love of my life, but she ended up dumping me, and my life turned out to be miserable. While I am not sure if it was a factor, I sometimes wonder if the the increased cost of movie tickets affected my chances with this girl. In the same vein, what are the chances that Microsoft will increase pricing for Axapta?"

In turn, Doug would probably reply as follows: "these two guys from Michigan were driving to Indiana to buy turnips four-for-a-dollar, and then they were selling them in Kalamazoo for a quarter each. After 6 months of this activity, one of the guys turned to the other and said "I don't think we are making any money - what do you think we need to do differently? And the other guy replied "I think we need a bigger truck". Then Doug would state that "if Axapta were determined to be under priced, either a price adjustment or bigger truck would be in order."

It is a graceful dance which Doug, one which experienced Stampeders typically perform well.

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