What is MVP and how do I get it?

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This was one of the common questions in TechEd India 2013. This blog post will try to answer this and some other Frequently Asked Questions:

What is MVP?

MVP Stands for Most Valuable Professional, which is an award given to those exceptional community leaders who are voluntarily contributing to the technical community and helping other understand the true potential of Microsoft Products and solutions.

Is there an Exam to write, to become an MVP?

Please don’t relate it with Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) program. MCP program is part of Microsoft Learning (MSL) and requires successful completion of exam/s. While MVP is an award which is no where related with MSL and doesn’t have any certification requirements.

Then how to achieve the MVP status?

As we mentioned, MVP is an award and you can’t just achieve it because you want it Smile If you are a community contributor and regularly share your knowledge with the broader community in form of Professional/Technical Blog Posts, Speaking Engagements (Online/Offline), Publishing articles, books, e-books etc. and assist others through Online Forums and your contributions are considerably high in terms of both quality and quantity, you can certainly look at the possibility of being awarded as an MVP.

Am I expected to contribute on both forums and blogs and/or speaking?

Technically yes. MVP Award Program compliments three areas of product life cycle (advocacy, support and feedback). We expect contributions in at-least two areas to process the nominations but there may be exception depending on the product trends etc.

Oh yes, I started doing all these. When will I be awarded as an MVP?

Hold on…let’s first understand the award process. MVP Award Program processes candidates in a quarterly basis. Therefore, every quarter we award many individuals as an MVP. The processing includes assessing/evaluating your contributions for last one year (and nothing beyond that). So let’s say, if you are submitting your nomination on Jan 2014, you need to submit your contributions from Jan 2013 till the date when you are submitting the nomination to be considered. So if you just started, we would suggest you to continue with your contributions and submit your nomination when you really have considerable amount of contributions.

And where do I submit my nominations?

Nominations can be submitted through MVP Global Site: https://mvp.microsoft.com/en-US/Nomination/nominate-an-mvp

What details should I mention while submitting my nominations?

Make sure to provide your online identities (not just your Facebook profile link but the links to your blogs, forum profiles etc.) and detailed list of contributions. Also, don’t provide counterfeit data as it may cause rejection during the evaluation process. Each contribution entry should be supported through some links or reference to the contribution.

Can I expect any confirmation or acknowledgement of processing my nomination?

No. There is no confirmation or acknowledgement process but if your nomination is in the process and more details are required, Microsoft Staff would contact you accordingly. Just follow our blog or Facebook page for quarterly announcements.

I have submitted my nomination for “x” technology but never received any communication?

Depending on country and local communities, we can only award fixed number of MVPs on a particular product area. In you case, we may have already achieved the max number of MVPs possible in your country and that’s why your nomination was not processed. In future, whenever there are any possibility of adding new MVPs in the product area, you nomination would certainly be considered. Please continue with your contributions. Keep in mind that at the time of processing, only past one year’s contributions would be considered.

What happens once I am awarded?

Your award was based on your contributions from last one year and valid till next one year. As an MVP, you are given many options and opportunities to contribute to the community or engage with Microsoft in various forums. Your basic contributions on forums and blogs may continue. You need to continue with your contributions to be awarded again next year. Being an MVP, you are eligible for many benefits (as listed on MVP Global Site) which are also valid for an year.

You said fixed number of MVPs on a particular product area. So does that mean unless one of the existing MVPs retire, there is no possibility of getting awarded in that area?

Yes we have a max cap of how many awards we can give on each product area but fortunately we revisit that number in a quarterly basis to include instances like new product releases, market trends etc. So every quarter, there may be changes in the max cap Smile

Who can be awarded as an MVP?

Anyone contributing in the community in a positive way and have deep technical insight about the product can be awarded. There are few exclusions such as:

  • Microsoft Employees
  • Microsoft Contingent Staffs
  • Government or State Owned Entity Employees

 

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Do you have more questions? Please ask us through the comments and we would be happy to add them in FAQ.