Today I was honoured to receive another Microsoft MVP award for Cloud and Datacenter Management. For me this is the 9th year and it feels very special indeed.
For those asking what this MVP award is a quote from Microsoft MVP site at mvp.microsoft.com:
“Microsoft Most Valuable Professionals, or MVPs, are technology experts who passionately share their knowledge with the community. They are always on the “bleeding edge” and have an unstoppable urge to get their hands on new, exciting technologies. They have very deep knowledge of Microsoft products and services, while also being able to bring together diverse platforms, products and solutions, to solve real world problems. MVPs make up a global community of over 4,000 technical experts and community leaders across 90 countries/regions and are driven by their passion, community spirit, and quest for knowledge. Above all and in addition to their amazing technical abilities, MVPs are always willing to help others – that’s what sets them apart.”
You basically get a reward if during the past year you have done a lot of high technical knowledge sharing with the community for one or more Microsoft products or areas. This could be SQL, Xbox, Excel, coding and many more. About 11 award categories with within that about a 100 contribution areas. In my case my ward category is Cloud and Datacenter Management.
The MVP community I feel is a special one. Consisting out of a few thousand geeks from all over the world and whenever you talk with a number of them, I always feel like there is so much knowledge and experience in this group of people. Always makes me feel small and humble to be honest. These are all people who have been sharing knowledge and time, a lot of it for free, with so many people from all around the world.
Being a part of the group gets you access to the group itself and talks and forums and such, and also contacts within the Microsoft Product Group teams. We get some advance information and give feedback whenever possible. But also it means technical help beyond the did-you-google-that-yet stages if it is needed. MVP’s always help each other out. Also there are product/area MVP leads from Microsoft and also location based MVP area leads to tie everything together. The last few months my MVP area lead for Benelux and Nordics (Tina) did so much to keep in touch in the difficult times. Many lunch-meetings to keep us connected as a group and talking about techy and non-techy things while we were all sitting at home due to Corona. I feel this MVP is all about sharing and giving. Thanks to all involved in the program currently and all those who were in the past! MVPs and community leaders have in the past given me information through blogs and social media and websites and books and after a while I started doing that as well and became a part of the group. Hugs!
Whenever you attend an event or a meeting with MVPs, just come and say hello to them. We love talking to people.
Meanwhile I am doing my best to keep working and to keep learning and to keep sharing. Keep following our blog and website to see what we are sharing. I hope it helps some of you out there!
Bob Cornelissen