It's funny how things turn out. I just came home from a half-day seminar conducted by Trend Micro, one of the leading providers of anti-virus software in the market today. This is the same Trend Micro to whom I applied for the position of web-based application developer. The same Trend Micro who made me commute from Makati to Libis for my evaluation. The same Trend Micro who made me wait for 2 hours in the lobby for an exam that took 3 hours to complete and therefore, in the process, made me miss my lunch. The same Trend Micro who rejected my application.

And now, it is this same Trend Micro who is wooing me and the company I work for into switching to their brand of anti-virus software. It is this same Trend Micro who is now bidding for our account.

So how was the seminar? Not too good. My initial impression of the first speaker was that of a smart orator who had an OK accent. Sadly though, that first impression crumbled right down to the ground 5 seconds after he spoke.

Try these snippets:

Speaker 1: We have to be careful because the profile of a virus writer are many like...(fast forwards 3 slides ahead)...like these...OK...(returns 3 slides back)...I'm sorry. OK.

He was like this most of the time. Skipping a few slides, and then returning to where he left off. I was beginning to think that he probably didn't make those slides and just went to Google, typed “Virus primer presentation�, and clicked the I'm feeling lucky button.

Now, speaker #2 was not so bad. But there were still a few booboos. Like this one:

Speaker 2: We customized our product for the SME's mainly because we felt that other anti-virus brands don't address their needs...

You felt??? You felt??? Why don't you invest in a little market research and be sure about it? Crap, if a company can't even spend a centavo for a little market knowledge, won't that make you think twice about the effectiveness of their product?

Me: I understand that you have an integrated client protection suite. But how does this compare to Symantec's Client Security 2.0?

Speaker 1: (I can't remember what he said. It was mostly marketing blurb and I stopped listening after 2 seconds)

The seminar was not very impressive. In fact, it mostly felt like a waste of time. But it certainly feels good to be on the other end of the negotiating table.