I know it sounds crazy given my history.  Yes, I did write about how to become an MVP, and I did run an April Fool’s post about becoming a Natural Keyboard MVP, and then I had to run another post to clarify because people thought I actually *was* a Natural Keyboard MVP. Today, though, it’s the real thing.  The announcement came down through official channels this time:

Official MVP Announcement

You could view the announcement yourself on Twitter, but you have to be following Zannabanana, and her feed is private.  Because, you know, it’s, like, NDA and stuff.  You wouldn’t understand.

Wait a minute – on second thought, this might be another one of those Twitter spam things.  Maybe her feed was private so that I’d beg to get in, like a reverse psychology thing.  I’m not saying I begged to her to approve my friend request, but – okay, so I begged.  Maybe it’s like a honeypot – one of those fake things set up to attract no-goodniks like me.

Wait – I’m not saying Suzanna Moran is a honeypot.  Because this might be legit.  Of course, it might be legit AND she might be a honeypot.  The possibilities boggle the mind – or at least my mind.

Assuming It’s For Reals

The last year of my life has been even cooler than the previous ones, and believe me, they’ve been pretty cool.  In the last twelve months, I’ve:

• Traveled to England, Germany, Switzerland, and all over the US
• Attended the PASS Summit and PASSCamp Germany
• Co-authored a book with some of the smartest people I’ve ever met
  (although it might have a pirate ravishing a woman on the cover – I haven’t seen it yet)
• Helped build a wiki and syndicate almost 40 bloggers
• Started the PASS Virtualization Virtual Chapter
• And finally, been recognized as an MVP along with my former BBnB cohorts Jason Massie, Tim Ford, and Tom LaRock.

Two things have made all of this fun and worthwhile.

First, you, dear reader.  I’ve always blogged in an effort to help other people do their jobs better, and interacting with you is a ton of fun.  I love sitting down each morning and firing up email & Twitter because there’s so many genuinely great people in the community.  Community doesn’t just mean developers and DBAs, either – there’s great people inside Microsoft like Andrew Fryer, Jimmy May, and Zannabanana (I think) who reach out from inside Microsoft too.

Second, Billy Bosworth, Christian Hasker and my coworkers at Quest Software who actually pay me to do this.  I am so grateful for the chance to serve the community, and to get paid for it is cool beyond words.  I really salute all those MVPs out there who have real jobs and yet simultaneously serve the community in so many ways – I just don’t know how you manage to find the time to work, write books, help others, and yet still maintain a family life.  I do this stuff full time, and it still stretches me thin.  Part of me even feels like I’m cheating, but if this job is wrong, I don’t wanna be right.

My Pledges To You

I will never use the term NDA in public. It irks the hell out of me when people tweet from the MVP summit saying things like “There’s so much cool stuff here, and I’d tell you, but it’s under NDA!”  That’s elitist and vain, and it makes people feel excluded.  I pledge to keep my pie hole shut, and you can trust that I will because I see NDA stuff all the time at Quest Software anyway.  I’ve seen amazing tools in development ever since I came here, but I don’t talk about it because it doesn’t do you any good.  When it comes out, you’ll hear more than enough about it.  Trust me, I work in marketing.

I won’t cheerlead products. I won’t gushingly praise anything from Microsoft (or anybody) unless it’s really great.  I do genuinely cheerlead Microsoft stuff like SQL Server, Gemini, and the SQL Server Compliance Guide, but it’s because that stuff is killer.  If I didn’t like where SQL Server was going, I’d pick up my toys and go play in somebody else’s sandbox.  About a week from now, I’ve got a post scheduled that compares SQL Azure to Ikea furniture, and that should settle any doubts.  (It’s not that bad of a review – after all, I did just buy an Ikea coffee table.)

I won’t censor myself. I got recognized as an MVP for – well, I’m not sure what I got recognized for, but I’d be an idiot to change anything now.  It’s worked for me so far.

I won’t start coasting on my reputation. Because compared to the other MVPs out there, man, I’m a n00b.  I’m still stunned to be in a group of people like Kevin Kline, K. Brian Kelley, Gail Shaw, Grant Fritchey, Christian Bolton, Jonathan Kehayias, I could go on and on.  WTF, man?  How did this happen?  I gotta go track down Zannabanana and ask some tough questions.