Developers, developers, developers, developers

The opening session at the PDC this morning included a funny animation in which the characters from the blockbuster Halo video game for the Microsoft Xbox made various references to the company and the conference. One of the characters recounted his stint as CEO Steve Ballmer's speechwriter, which ended after he tried unsuccessfully to get Ballmer to say the word "developers" 37 times, rather than 35, as he did in this appearance at a previous conference. (They actually played this video during the segment this morning.)

Later, during Microsoft executive Jim Allchin's presentation, one of the employees on stage with him referred back to Ballmer's famous scene. Here's an excerpt from the official transcript:

CHRIS ANDERSON: Jim, before we move onto the next part, I don't know if you watched that video with the Halo stuff, with the red and blue and all that, one of the challenges of PDC is to get a vice president, even better a Group Vice President, such as yourself, to say developer 37 times. Would you please say developer 37 times? (Laughter.)

JIM ALLCHIN: Developer 37 times.

For the record, Ballmer isn't scheduled to appear here this year. I've asked why but haven't yet received an answer.