Every year I have to submit my "accomplishments" from the prior year to see if I still "rate" as a Microsoft MVP. This is the first year since becoming an MVP in 2001[1] that I have been pinged to be more specific about what makes me valuable enough to be an MVP. I think that could mean that I am on the edge or perhaps over the edge and on my way out. We shall see as the next award cycle when I learn every year if I am still good enough is Oct 1.
I really enjoy being associated with the MVP program. It was always good being able to evangelize and share my voice as a person a lot of folks know as a true honest voice with serious technical chops being able to see behind the curtains at Microsoft a little and assure people that they are good people and trying to help. Also being able to provide feedback internally with minimal hoop jumping has always been a great thing as well. I can no longer recall how many bug fixes and documentation fixes I have submitted over the years mostly all of which started after I became an MVP and started to feel some small sense of ownership over what they published and a sense of "I want this to be right because my name is associated with these folks".
I hope I get awarded again, but if the Directory Services Product Group no longer feels I am a valuable external real world deep tech expert that is entirely their decision to make and I appreciate the time we have had together. 🙂
joe
[1] Funny story. When I was first awarded the MVP I didn’t know what it was and I refused it. The guys running the program at MSFT had to call me and talk me into accepting it. I was quite busy at the time ripping Microsoft to shreds in the newsgroups and other forums for doing stupid shit while I was simultaneously helping people protect themselves from the stupid shit. I refused because I thought they wanted to bring me in to get some level of control over me and what I posted. They assured me that wasn’t the case so after a few weeks I accepted and have been quite happy since being associated with the program. However I do realize that little by little over time I started to worry more about the NDA and what they could say I learned via NDA sources versus on my own and was less and less likely to post the dark underside and badness because NDAs are serious shit and I didn’t want to have to debate with them what I figured out on my own versus what I didn’t learn from NDA. Realistically I haven’t learned a whole lot from the NDA conversations, if anything it has been more useful so I could better respond to deeper more direct questions their folks have had of me.
