Last week, I had the honor and privilege of attending Microsoft's sometimes-annual MVP Summit. This year, there were over 1700 Microsoft Most Valuable Professionals (MVPs) in attendance, which is only a portion of the thousands of individuals who have been recognized by Microsoft for their support and activity in the community. This event is hardly a love-fest, though, because in general, MVPs are not apologists for Microsoft. Benjamin Romano summed up the relationship well in his article covering Stave Ballmer's Keynote speech to the MVP crowd, referring to the MVP community as "friendly but also highly knowledgeable and unabashedly critical." In many of the hallway discussions I had with MVPs from other product groups, there was one theme that was echoed almost unilaterally - MVP interation with the product groups this year was wide open with feedback flowing fully in both directions. For some groups, this was the first time this type of interaction had occurred. Some MVPs finally had an opportunity to interact directly with the people (yes, people) responsible for planning, coding, and marketing the various Microsft products, and give those people their thoughts on product direction, functionality, problems, successes, etc. (I must admit, that as an MVP within the WESS product line, I've almost come to take this level of interaction with the SBS product team for granted, but even our group this year had, I believe, our most open interaction with the product team to date. And that's not something that i ever want to take for granted, because it could very easily be removed.
I have received the MVP award three times now, and I continue to be honored by the recognition. I have an opportunity to interact with some truly amazing people, and I continually wonder why I've been chosen to be a part of this group. These people have a passion forthe Small Business Server product and, if possible, an even stronger passion for working with other IT Pros and end-users who ply their craft while using the product. The wealth of knowledge, experience, and insight that this group collectively possesses is awe-inspiring, and Microsoft is fortunate to have collected this group together and sought their opinions and expertise to help improve the product and their relationships with the community. Not that they get it right all of the time, but that's not the point of this post.
The point of this post is that community exists with or without the presence of Microsoft. Whether I continue to be awarded MVP status or not, I will continue my activites in the community. I'm working harder to get more involved with my local SBS User Group, and after issues with my day job settle down a bit and I get further along with a certain book project, I'm looking forward to getting more involved in the newsgroups and the forums over at smallbizserver.net again. Right now my reality encompasses keeping my customers happy and keeping my publisher off my back for a little longer, not to mention keeping my home life in order, too. Working 70-80 hour weeks since the first of the year has put a strain on a lot of things, both in my personal and professional life. But while it would be easy to walk away from the community altogether, I simply cannot. Community has been an inspiration and resource for me for the last 20+ years, and I plan to continue working with and giving back to the community that has given me so much over time. If Microsoft chooses to continue to recognize that part of my life by awardin me with MVP status, great, but I'm not out to make a minimum number of newsgroup or forum posts, blog posts, user group meetings, conference appearances, etc., I see people who do, and that disappoints me, because I think theyre doing it for the wrong reasons. I'm not active in the community just to get an MVP award. I'm active in the community because I believe I have something to offer back, and that is what motivates me.
I will admit, though, that attending the Summit, despite the stress of travel, etc., was actually a bit of a break for me, and one that I needed to get myself re-energized to tackle the next 3-6 months. I have a book to finish, and when SBS 2008 gets released, I'll have a number of community members to help get adapted to the new product. That's going to take a lot of energy, and honestly I was reminded of the reason for it during my week at Summit last week.
For those who are interested, I've blogged about my week's activities on my personal blog, under the Summit2K8 category.