Uncle Fergal Helps Us Pronounce Azure

On the advent of PDC 09, I wanted to pass along one of my key learnings since PDC 08.  As you probably know, it was at PDC 08 where Microsoft introduced our cloud platform Azure.  From that day on, there has been mass confusion as to the pronunciation of Azure and the issue quickly reached pandemic proportions.  I’ve personally witnessed everything from az-yoor to ah-zher to as-sure.  I would have been willing to simply ignore the verbal missteps had it not been for a sign…  literally a sign…

I racked my brains for days following my encounter with that sign.  Who or what is a Fergal?  It was perplexing.  The only thing I could think of was that I have an Uncle Fergal in Scotland.  Maybe the sign wanted me to contact my Uncle Fergal, ask him how to pronounce Azure and to spread the word.  Well, as they say, when in Scotland …  The following is part of my conversation with Uncle Fergal.

(Uncle Fergal)