I’m a bit slow on the uptake this week, but Scoble’s effort to learn programming makes new sense to me now. I’ve never been a technical evangelist, but I spent several years working in technical alliances and there is a lot of similarity between the two. We usually worked in pairs, one focusing on the business relationship side of the alliance and one focusing on the technical side. Your effectiveness greatly increased with your ability to handle both sides of the relationship. A knowledge of .NET development will make Scoble that much more effective as an evangelist.

BTW, I did get to the point where I felt comfortable with both. But I still preferred to work with a partner for preparation and debrief. Plus, one of the harder things for a technical person to learn is not to answer with the complete truth when confronted with an unexpected question. Having a partner along helped me curb that tendency - not that I recommend you deceive a prospect, but you don’t need to give them the detailed list of exceptions and work arounds either.