THE OFFICIAL BLOG OF THE SBS "DIVA"

I'm sitting in Portland with a couple of hour layover before I go home after a couple of days in Seattle.  And in my slightly sleep deprived state as I wait for the time to get the next leg of my flight, it’s always a bit of a reflective time as those of us in this “community” all scatter back to the corners of the globe...there's a couple of thoughts I need to express.  This summit feels a bit transitional for me as I’m part of the “old guard” these days.  No longer the newbie, I’m the one who now gets the pride of seeing that newbie ‘oh wow’ glow of a new MVP coming to Seattle for the first time.  THe one who beams when a fellow MVP makes the connection with a product group to help grow the connection between customers and a large company.  This is also a good time to self reflect on what exactly is this thing called community.

To me, I think there are two “communities” out there.  One with a capital “C”, one with a lowercase “c”.  The “C” one is the one seen by the business side of folks.  This is the one that the “buzz” words are thrown out around… you know… we’re going to “leverage this and that” as the business side of “C”ommunity is apt to say.  To me this one is the one that has the logos and the swag handouts.  The “C” is the one that is seen in the business world as a conduit for viral marketing and word of mouth.  The one that Madison Avenue tries to harness.

But there’s another Community out there.  The lowercase “c”.  The voices that I think large companies need to make sure they are listening to.    The lowercase “c” one is the one that folks like Paul Thurrott, I think, missed seeing.  Since he posted about the MVP summit, I'm going to publically comment about some of the issues he brought up....He said that “I'm a bit freaked out by the sense of entitlement I get from many MVPs. Many of these people are fantastic and are true experts in their respective categories. But as in any large group, there is a minority that kind of ruins it for anyone.”  I think he saw the “C” part of the community, not the “c” part.  He saw the minority that do it for personal reasons and not the “c” ones that look at this insane thing we do as ‘paying it forward’ kind of thing, or a calling to keep Microsoft honest.

Another journalist that was at the event didn't want me to introduce them to Microsoft employees.  He said that he didn't want to get too “close“ because of his journalism role.  I guess I see it differently than he does.  Because in my view there are times that I feel I can yell louder when I am known by people behind the wall.  You know how you can argue more passionately and strongly with family members than you can with strangers?  I think there's a bit of that going on.

When meeting with Folks this week, many of the things we asked for were things that the gang has asked for for three summits now.  And the funny thing is, in many cases, the items we’re asking for,...the really obvious stuff like tools to help transition the break/fix businesses into managed care plans are already in the marketplace.  Level platforms comes to mind as one such tool that’s already there making an impact.  It’s often been said that a large percentage of features requested in office are already in the product but people don’t know they are buried under the hood. 

I think Paul was right in that he should be freaked out by the “entitlement” view he saw.  I get freaked out by it too.   In fact embarrassed a bit by it sometimes.  I also strongly feel that the “MVP” view is only one of many data points that Microsoft as a company should look at.  We’re just one datapoint, one set of voices and I would hope that Microsoft is not just listening to MVPs or journalists like Paul.  In fact, there are times, we're not the right “voice” to listen to. 

In all honesty there's been a bit of a concern about Paul Thurrott being an MVP as he says.  He is after all a journalist.  And as a journalist, how can he sign NDAs on the one hand in the MVP program and write about the latest and greatest stuff at Microsoft.  Does Paul Thurrott need to have access to Microsoft in the role that he has.  Definitely yes.  Does he need to be one datapoint as a feeder of information that has impact.  Absolutely.  But is it even fair to him to put him and others in this catch22 of a situation where it's his job to report on the latest and greatest and even not yet released Microsoft technologies and then bind him by a NDA? 

Can a member of the press who's role it is to report, is it fair to him or her to put limitations that might have to be investigated as a potential “leak“.

But I'll be the first to admit when I signed up to the Blackhat brieflings under a Press Pass [that I later on had to back out on going to].... I'll be the first to say that saying I was a member of the “Press“ due ot my Patch management articles I write felt weird.  Interestingly enough I didn't feel independent 'enough'. 

Is the Press a member of the “C“ommunity or a member of the “c“ommunity?

I tend to find that the lowercase 'c' of community are not silos of information and I'm not sure we're pushing enough to get the parts of a large company to better communicate. We had a presentation on Exchange and our SBS group considers Outlook just an extension of Exchange...it's just that platform's communication conduit.  Thus having Exchange be even more aware of Outlook and Outlook of Exchange is key.  Sometimes all of us work in silos of information and don't look at the bigger picture.

I'd argue to Paul that the MVP program is indeed important.  We give a voice to a group. But honestly,the lowercase “c” of community is obviously just fine without us MVPs.  Questions are still being answered, topics are still being discussed even though we were pretty much offline.  Because while the uppercase “C” of Community might have a finite size, a budget, swag and all that... but the lowercase “c” is bigger than that.  

But at the end of the day it is just one voice...one datapoint.  Sometimes I get embarrassed by folks saying that this is “THE“ Susan Bradley.  But what they miss is that I wouldn't be “THE“ Susan Bradley if they rest of you weren't doing what you do.  

And then we get asked “If Microsoft is the richest company in the world, why do guys do this?”  Bottom line it's the 'pay it forward' for many of us.  The 'attaboys'. We'd still be doing what we do even if Microsoft didn't invite us up every now and then. 

A person who has this 'pay in forward' attitude isn't taught this....it's part of the fabric of their personality, twisted that it may bel....

You, the lowercase “c” of community makes me into the Uppercase “C” of Community.

For that I thank each and everyone of you that read the blog, send me questions every now and then so I don't run out of blog topics.  Yeah one could argue always that the MVP program is awarded for past community work, but I think Microsoft gets the most out of me when I'm representing their current customers.I wouldn't be a MVP... a person who represents voices in the community without having people to listen to in the first place.

It's my hope that when I'm in various places as a representative of you, I don't embarrass you so that Paul can't be talking about any SBSer including myself when he says “some MVPs”  have a sense of entitlement.

I still say when you stop worrying about “what's in it for me”, you get rewards ten fold...not to mention an online relationship that is unique and special.

For everyone of you that make the lowercase “c” into the community that it is,....

Thank you.