MVP Global Summit – from a Rangers perspective

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Due to a pressure cooker type delivery schedule I was only able to attend the MVP Global Summit ad-hoc during Wednesday and Thursday. What I saw, however, truly amazed me …

  • The growth in the number of Team System MVPs and their involvement is phenomenal.Group Of A Diverse And Colorful Group Of People Seated And Holding A Meeting About Running An Environmentally Friendly Company Around A Round Conference Table Clipart Illustration Image
  • The sharing of ideas and brainstorming collaboration amongst MVPs and the Product Group was amazing … it was often difficult to judge who was more excited and committed to the product :)
  • The excitement and willingness to share ideas, knowledge, intellectual property and the frequent joke was amazing to watch.

While I was always extremely excited and honoured to be part of the Team System MVPs, I am now truly honoured and proud to be part of the Developer Division. The combined family is a force that is difficult to define … phenomenal comes to mind, but that is just the beginning… Sam and Chuck, well done on a phenomenal event! Looking forward to 2011 already :)

Our Rangers specific session was well attended, with the regulars supporting our initiatives. During the session and especially during 1:1 discussions I realised the following:

  • Our vision and purpose needs to be defined and shared with the communities … who are we?
  • Our Rangers program enhancements need to be highlighted … is there a win-win?
    • The Rangers Recognition program strives to reward contributors, especially MVPs, assisting them with the MVP renewal process, as well as bubbling potential MVPs onto the nomination radar. We have two MVPs who were once active community leads and now proud Team System MVPs.
    • See VSTS Rangers – Introducing the VSTS Rangers recognition program for details on the recognition program and let us know what else we can/should/must include to create a win-win environment for “you”.
  • Our most recent Rangers solutions and imminent solutions are not that well known … why should I care?
    • The most recent solutions are listed on the left under “News”.
    • The complete list can be found on this blog in the TOC and on our Rangers landing page.
  • There is a question around what next … when will we announce the next wave of Rangers projects?
    • As soon as we ship our next wave of Rangers solutions, we will enter a new circle of solution nomination, voting and planning.
    • Watch this blog for announcements in this regard.
  • The VM Ranger factory is hard to implement from scratch.
    • We are working on a starter kit for the VM Ranger factory, which will allow you to implement a base factory, using TRIAL media, within minutes …not hours.
    • We are planning to trial the kit in the next two weeks and will be sharing the results as they become available :)

Hope the above clarifies a few of the uncertainties that were highlighted during the summit. There is a platter of other issues, concerns, recommendations and other feedback we collected, all of which will be analysed and digested with the attention it deserves. Watch this space for more feedback.