Latest / DevQuestions with Tim Corey / 033 How Do I Become a Microsoft MVP?

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033 How Do I Become a Microsoft MVP? · DevQuestions with Tim Corey

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Dev Questions Podcast with Tim Corey.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: Join us each episode as we tackle the questions you are asking about a career in software development, understanding the industry, and new technology.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: If you're just starting out or you want to grow stronger as a developer, this is the place to get your questions answered.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: Now, here's your host, expert developer and online educator, Tim Corey.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_01: How do I become a Microsoft MVP?
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_01: This is a question that comes up once in a while, and recently Sumana asked it, so I figured I'd address it because I want to make sure that people understand how you become an MVP and why it's important.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_01: So let's first talk about what is a Microsoft MVP.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_01: There's some confusion here.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_01: This is not a paid position.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_01: It's not a um really even an award necessarily, it's more of a recognition.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_01: And so the Microsoft MVP is a recognition of people who give back to the primarily Microsoft community.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_01: But here's the cool thing Microsoft has in recent years looked beyond the idea of they're an island.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_01: And so they have looked at, hey, are you contributing to the community at large?
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_01: You know, kind of around Microsoft stuff.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_01: But you know what?
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_01: If you're helping out in other areas too, that's still valuable and they still value that.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_01: But primarily it's around Microsoft stuff.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_01: So for me, I'm a Microsoft MVP in developer services, I believe, or developer systems, something like that.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_01: They keep changing the name, essentially because of my C sharp contributions.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_01: So that's why I'm a Microsoft MVP.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_01: And what they do is they look at what I've done for the community and said, is this MVP worthy?
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_01: And there is a sliding scale here because they can't accept everyone that gives the community and say everyone's a Microsoft MVP.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_01: And so there is a little bit of a relational thing where they say who is a who is more an MVP in some ways.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_01: So let's just say that you contribute five articles a year to a blog, and I contribute 10.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_01: They would say that uh my contributions have more weight because I have twice as many, or do they have twice as many people reading them?
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_01: And so they try and evaluate those kind of things.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's a behind closed door evaluation.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_01: There's not a clear do this and you'll become an MVP.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_01: It does depend on how many MVPs are in your area and how much, but that's not the point.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_01: And that's what I want to talk about a little bit.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_01: Is I get asked this question, how to become an MVP, as if it's the end goal.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_01: And I really don't want to see you focus your life on MVP being an MVP as your end goal.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_01: Because being an MVP, like I said, is not an achievement, it's not an award, it's not a certification, it's a recognition.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_01: It's a recognition of who you are and what you do for the community.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_01: It's really Microsoft's way of saying, let us help support what you're doing.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_01: Let us help encourage what you're already doing.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_01: And so that's really what an MVP is all about, is just Microsoft encouraging you.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_01: And there are some benefits to being a Microsoft MVP.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_01: You get a cool little, I think it's it's right back over my shoulder.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you get a cool little trophy, and every year you get a little disc to put on it to uh commemorate that next year of being an MVP.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_01: You get free Microsoft products.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_01: I have um free office and I have free Visual Studio Enterprise and Azure credits and a whole bunch of other stuff, and then third parties as well give you stuff.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_01: So Teleric and DevExpress and all those other vendors will give me their suite of tools because they're cool and they want to support MVPs as well.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_01: Now, let's be clear here.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_01: The reason they're wanting to support MVPs is also because they want MVPs who were the people most likely to show off, let's say C sharp stuff.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_01: They want them to be using their tools.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so that's what I can get a free copy of ReSharper.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_01: And I could use ReSharper in all of my videos for free.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_01: And then you're gonna watch my videos and go, man, I need ReSharper because Tim uses it.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_01: So you go out and buy ReSharper.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_01: So it's it's an advertising thing too, it's not just altruistic.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um but that's also why I don't take some of those things.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_01: Because for me, I don't want to make you believe you have to buy stuff in order to have a good Visual Studio experience.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_01: That's why I don't use ReSharper.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_01: Because honestly, I think that most people that use ReSharper are actually not aware of how much Visual Studio can do already for them.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_01: And they just think they have to have a paid product to do some of those things that's already built into Visual Studio.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_01: Little side note there.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_01: But a a Microsoft MVP does get some stuff, some benefits, no money.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_01: And the other thing I want to clear up here is a Microsoft MVP is not told what they can or cannot, well, what they can say about Microsoft.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_01: So I can say anything I want about the C sharp product.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_01: I can be critical of Microsoft, I can be critical of how they do things, I can point out their shortcomings.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_01: They're not gonna stop me.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_01: Now, at the same time, they provide MVPs access to the engineers who actually do the work.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_01: So if you have a complaint, you can go right to the people who build the stuff and say, I don't think this is right.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_01: And in some ways, Microsoft MVPs are the most critical people of Microsoft.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_01: Not because they hate Microsoft.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_01: That's not it at all.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_01: They usually love Microsoft, but they want to see it be better.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_01: And when Microsoft does stupid things, they're the ones that call them on it because they're the ones that are most likely to use it and have to show it off.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_01: When Microsoft changed the name of VSTS, Visual Studio Team Services, to Azure DevOps.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_01: MVPs were given a say or given a vote, or at least a um they were asked their opinion on different names.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not a real big fan of Azure DevOps.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's pretty stupid of a name.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_01: And I told them as such.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_01: And the reason why is because it's hard to Google.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_01: When you Google Azure DevOps, you're like, wait, is it Azure?
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I don't want to have an Azure subscription.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_01: It's like, yeah, no, it's not a paid thing.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, but DevOps is pretty generic, and everybody does DevOps.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I know.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_01: So it's cloud stuff, but it's not really cloud.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_01: And it's DevOps, which is pretty generic.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_01: That's your name.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_01: I'd prefer it be called, you know, Project Orca because it'd be easier at Google.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_01: Or that was just an example, not the real name.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_01: But um, but those are the kind of interactions that MVPs have with the Microsoft team.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_01: And so there is some behind-the-scenes access, there is some more direct communication because Microsoft sees the MVPs as kind of like their power users, the people who are showing off all the stuff that Microsoft is doing.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_01: And when MVPs start saying, hey, I don't think this is right, Microsoft listens a little bit more because they realize that it's not just Tim saying it, it's Tim saying it for his audience.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_01: And that carries more weight than just a random person saying, Hey, I got a problem.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_01: Now, I do want to point out, and I really want to commend Microsoft at this.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_01: When you submit an issue, Microsoft listens.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_01: That does not mean they're gonna fix it.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_01: That doesn't even mean that they are gonna put a high priority on it or even think it's valid, but they're at least gonna listen.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_01: And that's something that I have seen over and over again.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_01: Some people say, Well, you know, my issue didn't get solved for three months.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_01: Neither did mine.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm not Microsoft MVP, but they listened, and I saw them listen to the other things as well.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_01: So just know they do listen.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_01: And even if you're not a Microsoft MVP, you still have a voice.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_01: Use the feedback tool in Visual Studio.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_01: The team does review those things.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_01: So what does it take to get a Microsoft MVP?
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_01: We talked a little bit about this before, but it takes community contributions.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_01: It takes being involved in the community in some form.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_01: Now, for me, you probably know how I'm involved in the community.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_01: I have a YouTube channel.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_01: We have what 200,000 people roughly subscribe to that.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_01: And we have thousands of people every day watching my videos, interacting with them, and learning about C Sharp.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_01: So that's my biggest area of contribution.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_01: Although I'm also a speaker, and so I, when we don't have lockdowns, I go to events and speak.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_01: I'm still speaking occasionally at user groups, and I'll do that remotely.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_01: But um, those are also contributions.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_01: But you can also contribute by authoring a book on something in a C sharp area or by um working open source.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe you're just an open source contributor where you're you're building something awesome.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_01: Cool, that can be worthy of a Microsoft MVP.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_01: It all depends, but you have to you can submit those things and say, hey, I think that I'm a candidate for a serious contributor to the community.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_01: One blog post, not enough.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_01: One little tool, probably not enough.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um, one video or five videos on YouTube, probably not enough.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_01: But if you are consistently contributing to the community, then that's when you say, Yeah, I'm probably a candidate for being a Microsoft MVP.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_01: Now, something that's changed over the past few years is you can't just nominate yourself.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_01: This is a program where you need someone else to nominate you.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_01: You need a Microsoft MVP to nominate you for your contributions.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_01: And the way you do that is you find a Microsoft MVP and say, hey, these are the things that I'm doing.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_01: And the MVP will kind of pre-screen you and look at the contribution and say, you know what, I think you need to work a little more on this.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_01: Or maybe they'll say, you know what, those are great contributions.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_01: I will definitely submit them for you, or submit your name.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_01: And once you get nominated, you fill out some forms and say, these are the things I'm doing, it'll get reviewed, and then you'll either be accepted as an MVP or you won't.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_01: And it's up to you know the committee whether or not you get um awarded an MVP.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_01: If you don't, don't worry, it keep trying.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_01: But again, it's not about being an MVP, it's about contributing to the community, getting involved, helping others.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_01: The more you help others, the more likely it is that you will be considered for an MVP to enable you to help even more people.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_01: That's the point, not to just get stuff.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_01: All right, that shouldn't be your goal.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_01: If your end goal is I'm working to be an MVP, that's really not the goal.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_01: That's not if you came to me and said my goal is to be an MVP, it'd be a red flag for me.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_01: It'd be concerning at least, because that's that's not why we're here.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_01: We're here to help people.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_01: If your goal is to help people and you think that you're worthy of an MVP, um, but that's not the reason you're doing things, then cool.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_01: Let's talk.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_01: So, in summary, be generous and help others.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_01: And if you're an MVP, sweet.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_01: And if you're not, thanks for your contribution.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_01: Either way, it's appreciated.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_01: That's my thoughts on the Microsoft MVP.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um, if you think that you've been consistently donating to the community um your time and effort, definitely email me and we can talk about if you should be nominated.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks to the sharing the questions, Sumana.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_01: If you'd like your question to answer in this series, either use the form on the podcast page at IamTimCorey.com or leave a comment on the YouTube video.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_01: As always, I really appreciate it when you share the video.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for listening, and as always, I am Tim Corey.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for joining us for this episode of Dev Questions.
• 13:31
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• 13:35
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• 13:42
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• 13:47
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, remember, you are too smart and your time too valuable to waste it making all the mistakes Tim did.
• 13:54
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