July is when Microsoft MVPs learn if they’ve been accepted into the program for another year. There is nervous wait for the notification to arrive in our inboxes followed by a flurry of activity across our social media channels.

I checked my email at 5am Friday morning to see the good news that I was accepted as a Microsoft 365 and SharePoint MVP, two hours later I received another email to say I had also been accepted into the Microsoft Regional Director (RD) programme for the second time.  

My wife told me that I was excited about this than open Christmas presents! Being part of the MVP and RD communities means a lot to me. I live in the South Island of New Zealand, about as far away from most of the people who lead the areas of technology I am interested in. Becoming an MVP for the first time in 2017 helped connect me with many of the people I gain inspiration from and increase the impact of the community IT contributions I was making. It took me a while to feel like I belonged in a group of such esteemed people! Many of them are my heroes!

The MVP & RD programmes have connected me with a diverse range of people from around the planet. It has helped me grow by lifting my horizon from local to global, allowing me to engage with people from different countries and cultures, learn from others who share the same passion and build friendships with a diverse group of people.

Having a vibrant IT community is important for everyone. The MVP and RD communities helps answer questions on forums, fix gaps in documentation, build open-source software, write books, publish blogs, share videos, mentor others, run user groups and speak at conferences. We do this in our spare time often for no reason other than we are passionate about the subject matter. Our reward is helping others.

To my fellow MVP’s and RD’s. Congratulations and thank you for all the amazing contributions you make to the community. I have benefited from the work many of you do and I hope that in a small way I have help some of you also. See you in Redmond!

Thank you to the hundreds of people who have taken the time to acknowledge me and say congratulations. I truly appreciate it💖