Plip's Weblog

Phil Winstanley - British Microsoft ASP.NET MVP & ASP Insider.

Being a Microsoft MVP

I've been a Microsoft MVP for nearly three years now, in that time I've been exposed to many areas of Microsoft which the “general public”  don't get to see until much later on.

I just wanted to talk briefly about the benifits of being an MVP, and in turn, the problems with being an MVP. 

It's great to get to look at the new technologies before they come ouyt and spend time with the development teams - we as MVP's even get the chance to change the way that the ASP.NET guys envisaged their technologies - that's an amazing thing to b involved in.

It's also really cool to get the recognition from the rest of the development community who look up to the MVP's as people that *can* and *will* help. It's even more great to be able to be trusted within the community, as both sources of reliable knowledge and as sources of serious experience.  

On the down site, being a Microsoft MVP instantly makes me a target for the Microsoft Bashers out there, Slash Dot *love* us for example.

That's quite irritating, I know I'm not alone in the MVP community - I love the open source movement and am a regular user of the Mono project - I think Linux and it's various distributions plays a major role in the computing world that Microsoft is not even close to. 

Posted: Apr 10 2004, 08:41 PM by Plip | with 8 comment(s)
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Comments

Scott Sargent said:

Plip, I couldn't agree more. I think being a good developer and technologist is about embracing and using technologies that help people. There's a lot of open source efforts that have a lot to offer. Unfortunately this industry seems very much to be divided into camps. I think lately the walls between them are starting to come down, but it will be some time before we're over this nonsense.
# April 10, 2004 4:18 PM

anonymous said:

I've also considered volunteering my time in the MS newsgroups in hopes of being nominated for MVP, but it appears to be almost a full time job. Some MVP's probably spend at least 3 hours a day on the news groups, investigating things, replying, providing answers, etc. Having an MVP status could help bring in new business to my employer, but it could also prove to be a distraction from getting my work done.

Don't you get discounts on software too?
# April 10, 2004 5:46 PM

Plip said:

Your time can be spent in many ways, the newsgroups are just one way. Running user groups is another way, there are all sorts of reasons that people are nominated for the MVP Program.

The amount of time can be dramatically cut down by increasing the quality of the posts you send, compiling the most commong questions together and hosting resources that become a starting point for begginers.

There are a number of benifits to being an MVP that help MVP's continue to provide the community with the best support they can. More information can be found here: -

http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/

Hth,

Plip.
# April 10, 2004 6:37 PM

Doug Reilly said:

Frankly, the best thing for me about being named an MVP (just this year) is that it is a recognition of what I do to support the user community. Even now, after doing this for 20+ years, I constantly find myself searching the Web for answers, and I know at least from my blogging, that others find answers in the things that I write. It is that community that makes the world go round, in my book.

as for how much time you need to spend supporting folks to be recognized, I expect that many of the MVP's do spend at least 10-15 hours a week supporting folks on newsgroups, blogs, etc., but it is what I did even before I thought about the possibility of being an MVP. Answering other peoples questions makes me learn more, and become more valuable to my clients, while at the same time helping other developers out.

And getting to an MVP summit with folks like Plip and the others out there is not too shaby a reward.
# April 10, 2004 7:39 PM

Terri Morton said:

My participation in the community has benefitted both myself and those I have helped. Staying connected to other professionals as well as exposing myself (erm...) to the wide variety of problems and successes that others have experienced has been an awesome learning experience for me.

I don't care much about being a target for MS bashers. What has been a challenge for me is balancing the NDA stuff with the state of things the way they are currently.
# April 10, 2004 7:42 PM

Plip said:

Terri,

I agree it's hard for alot of us to find the time to play with the NDA material we get hold of, whilst still finding the time to help the communities of current technologies.

I hope we're not doing such a bad job, I'm sure the community would let us know if we were.

Anyone think the MVP program is a bad idea?

Plip.
# April 10, 2004 7:51 PM

Terri Morton said:

What I was more referring to was the difficulty in making decisions now and deciding on approaches, knowing that something else/better is coming down the pike. (Case in point -- master pages.)

I've been giving your question on the MVP program some thought and I'm sort of on the fence.

I don't think the MVP program is a bad idea, but I think the community would still be strong without it. The MVP program actually has little bearing on how active I am in the community.

But then again, the software that is available to MVPs has made me try more things than I would otherwise and that is good for both me and MS.

Sorry for the rambling. ;-)
# April 10, 2004 9:40 PM

Plip said:

Terri,

Yes I see what you mean, I've caught myself holding on for over a year with doing "stuff" because I know something is coming baked in to the framework in a later version.

Plip.
# April 10, 2004 9:45 PM
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