Every year since 2004 I have had the unique privilege to receive an email on Canada Day ( July 1st ) from Microsoft with a subject line of “Congratulations Microsoft MVP!”. The tradition continued this past Sunday, and I am very honored to be recognized among elite company in the Microsoft ecosystem for 2012. The Microsoft MVP award is based on contributions to the Microsoft developer community over the past year in a variety of key areas including speaking at developer events, authoring books and articles, attending conferences, and participating in social channels in a way that provides value to other members of the Microsoft developer community.
As I mentioned I have been a Microsoft MVP since 2004. My area of expertise is ASP.NET/IIS and over the past 9 years I have witnessed quite a number of significant transitions in Microsoft .NET technology: ASP.NET 1.0 to 4.0, Visual Studio 2002 to 2010, Web Application Projects, Web Site Projects, and MVC… and I am really looking forward to rolling up my sleeves and being part of the next shift to Web API and Windows Azure.
The Microsoft MVP program provides some very valuable benefits to recipients including an MSDN or TechNet subscription, direct access to product groups at Microsoft, early access to new Microsoft product releases, and a Global MVP Summit hosted by Microsoft in Redmond which usually occurs in the first quarter of the year. It was at the 2012 MVP Summit this past Spring that I learned about some of the future plans for ASP.NET which helped formulate the strategy and roadmap for DotNetNuke.
I should also mention that every Microsoft MVP is assigned an MVP Lead whose job it is to ensure constant communication of announcements, news, and promotions from Microsoft. My MVP Lead for the past few years has been Simran Chaudhry ( Microsoft Canada ). I think Sim does a stellar job of keeping me informed and ensuring that I am taking full advantage of my MVP benefits.