why corner an MVP? Wait, what is an MVP??

Happy New Year all!

My first post for the year is to explain what a Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional) is, and why we are worth cornering. The origins of the MVP program date back to the early stages of Microsoft’s support and monitoring of the Usenet and CompuServe Developer Forums. One of the independent developers on the FoxPro Forum (Calvin Hsia) kept a list of the number of postings by person, including information on messages both sent and received. Making the Top Ten on Calvin’s List was a worthy achievement, whether a blessing or a curse was cause for discussion in itself! As the story goes, Microsoft saw the list and used it as a way to identify significant involvement with assisting the greater User Community. And so was born the MVP Program.

“Today, exemplary community leaders around the world were notified that they have received the MVP Award! These individuals were chosen because they have demonstrated their deep commitment to helping others make the most of their technology, voluntarily sharing their passion and real-world knowledge of Microsoft products with the community.” MVP Blog Website.

“Dear Wayne McGlinn, Congratulations! We are pleased to present you with the 2016 Microsoft® MVP Award! This award is given to exceptional technical community leaders who actively share their high quality, real world expertise with others. We appreciate your outstanding contributions in Windows Expert-IT Pro technical communities during the past year. (ed. bolding added to original text) The Microsoft MVP Award provides us the unique opportunity to celebrate and honor your significant contributions and say “Thank you for your technical leadership. At Microsoft, we believe that technical communities enhance people’s lives and the industry’s success because independent experts, like you, help others extract greater value from products and technologies through the free and objective exchange of knowledge. As a Microsoft MVP, you are part of a highly select group of experts that represent technology’s best and brightest who share a deep commitment to community and a willingness to help others. ” extract from the official email notification. Mike Hickman, Director Community Engagement, Microsoft.

The MVP Award is earned each year, we cannot rest on our laurels and are continually assessed. So, in a nutshell, if you see anyone wearing an MVP badge at any technical conference, corner them! If you know of classes being taught by an MCT who is also and MVP, sign up! Why? Because we have proven the depth of our knowledge, because we are there to help anyone and everyone, in any way we can. I do not know all the answers, but I guarantee I can get hold of someone who *can* give an answer.