Last year we launched the SDL Tridion MVP program, and being the first time it took a rather "Career Achievement" look to it, and (perhaps unfortunately) many of the nominations (over 60%) were for SDL employees.
No matter what people think of it, we decided to create an independent Selection Panel that would select who deserved the MVP title, and awarded it to those that did make an exceptional job of assisting people in the community.
In preparation for the 2010 MVPs I can confirm that we will keep the independent selection panel (with a couple of adjustments as to the members of the panel to adapt to people's changes in careers), but this year we will not allow for SDL employees to be nominated.
This means that great Tridion resources like Jeremy, Julian, Jeff and Peter will not be 2011 MVPs (and, of course, yours truly).
Now that this is out of the way, here's the 2nd part of my message for today...
Why would you want to be an MVP?
Granted, being the first time we were doing it, there was a lot of guess work as to what people would want. First - and perhaps foremost - you get to have your name in a rather exclusive list of Tridion professionals. I know of at least 2 people that got contacted for work directly from being on that list, and there's probably more.
Second, you get a shiny award to show off to your friends (who already considered you a geek beforehand, and will now have confirmation of your uber-geek status worldwide).
Third, you get access to a MVP-only Linked-In group of very dubious benefit at the moment.
Fourth, you get to spend a "work" weekend with all your fellow MVPs on a nice sunny location, 1-star Michelin restaurant, and breakfast by the beach (aha!).
Fifth, and professionally the most important, you get access to anything related to Tridion. You want to participate in "internal-only" bootcamps? No problem. You want some version of some software? No problem. Want to play around with Tridion 2011 Beta? No problem. Want to escalate an issue with Customer Support? No problem (well, depending on the issue). Need access to a license, information on some upcoming product, you-name-it? No problem.
So, question for the day: What are you doing now that makes you a great candidate for the MVP award next January?
N
8 comments:
it appears that 3 of last year's MVP's were also on the selection panel?
That was indeed the case. Panel members are not allowed to vote for themselves.
And they also cannot nominate themselves. If their name was in the candidate list it's because someone nominated them.
Nuno,
It's an award for assisting the community, however the community does not get to vote? A panel decides?
And exactly who were the nominees of last year?
No, the community does not get to vote - just like in any other MVP program out there. The community nominates people, the panel evaluates them, 3 positive votes from the panel makes that person an MVP. The panel represents the community, which is more than you get, for instance, with Sitecore MVPs or Microsoft MVPs (which have internal selection panels).
I don't see why we should disclose who was nominated, it would only cause needless discussions. I can guarantee that there were no nominations for "Anonymous".
You need more info, I'm sure you know how to contact me.
Nuno
I can confirm the benefits of being an MVP, having just attended the CTP Bootcamp in San Jose. I would never have had the opportunity if the MVP program didn't exist. Plus many customers and potential customers reach out to me for advice, and consulting work.
Now I suppose I better update my blog and start sharing with the community again, it's been a few months since I posted something.
In support of the MVP program, I've added a new Tridion section to my website to share my knowledge and experience with the Tridion community. Here I am posting some of the code samples, hints and tips that I have gathered since I started working on Tridion projects in 2001.
Take a look at www.chrismills.eu/tridion.aspx and let me know what you think.
It would have been much simpler to build my site in Tridion where we have absolute control over the output, but I've learned a lot about asp.net control adapters to fix up the output from Sitefinity controls to make the site W3C, WAI, DDA standards compliant.
I aim to add more Tridion content from my personal archives each month and hope that people will nominate me for MVP 2011.
I was recognized on my company's intranet for winning MVP. I don't think my coworkers really understand what it's about, but they know me as "that Tridion guy" because of the training and support I've provided internally. World-wide uber-geek status aside, the greeting card from the team was definitely the highlight of my "hometown hero" status. I'll put it next to any nifty trophy we get.
The award has definitely shifted my perspective! I've been doing less-and-less technical work and almost forgot how much I like programming. I may not have the depth of expertise as the rest of the MVP's (working on it), but I'm glad to share what I do know.
Validation for XHTML, CSS, and accessibility, Chris? Nice!
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