Free Kinect bacon
Microsoft is attempting to recruit potential Kinect for Windows engineers by offering them free strips of bacon.
The software maker started its bizarre recruiting campaign near to Amazon’s headquarters in South Lake Union on Monday. The Seattle Times reports that Microsoft is attempting to double the size of its Kinect for Windows engineering team from 35 to 70 employees. Microsoft has hired ad agency Wexley School for Girls to think up the campaign. The tagline of the free bacon is “wake up and smell the future,” a play on Microsoft’s plans with Kinect. ”We thought it was a fun and cool idea to be around here,” said Teddy Black, a producer at Wexley, to the Seattle Times on Monday. Around 15 to 20 people had stopped at the bacon cart by 11AM this morning. Microsoft is using a “sizzler” man to drum up interest in the cart where toppings include cheese, peanut butter and chocolate sauce.
Microsoft’s Kinect recruitment follows the launch of Kinect Accelerator program last week. The competition will see ten finalists receive an investment of $20,000, an Xbox development kit, the Windows Kinect SDK, office space, all the resources of BizSpark, and technical training and support from Microsoft. The three-month incubation program will run from March to May next year at Microsoft’s headquarters in Seattle, Washington.
Microsoft is planning to launch a commercial version of its Kinect for Windows SDK in early 2012. Microsoft launched its original Kinect for Windows SDK beta back in June, aimed at academic research and enthusiast communities to create new experiences using Microsoft’s Kinect for Xbox 360 accessory. Microsoft launched its own dedicated Kinect for Windows site earlier this month, alongside an updated beta 2 of the Kinect SDK. The updated beta 2 SDK marks a year of Kinect and includes some new features and updates.
Microsoft’s bacon cart will be making its way around Seattle throughout the week, if you manage to snag a slice of bacon topped with maple syrup then please let us know in the comments.
Image Credit: The Seattle Times