January 28 2014, Sitecore revealed the 2014 MVP list, and guess what, i was re-elected to the title :-) This also means that I’ve been a MVP for one full year, and just thought that I would blog a Little about what I’ve gotten from the title, and why you should go for the title, if you have the chance.
I was elected for my first MVP title in January 2013, and I was quite surprised that I got the title. I had talked a little with my boss, and we decided to make a proper effort to win the title. We started really focusing on the title in the summer time, but the goal was to get an election for 2014. Fortunately, the work already paid off for 2013, and that was awesome.
Once you have signed the non-disclosure agreement (NDA), from Sitecore, you gain access to an extra forum on Sitecore Developer Network (sdn). This a MVP forum, where only MVPs are allowed. This means that you won’t run into beginner’s questions. One of the things I’ve found characterize an MVP is that they won’t just start asking questions without having done some investigations into the subject.
I was elected the year that Sitecore 7 was released, which was perfect timing, as the MVPs got an edition of Sitecore 7, about 2 months before the preview was released. This meant that we had the opportunity to try the new product out, and comment on the features. During the year, the Danish MVPs have been invited to Sitecore headquarter twice to meet the people in the core team, and to discuss some core features that they have been implementing. This has really given us the chance to see the product up front, and gives us a chance to comment on the features.
The biggest event of 2013 for MVPs was by far the MVP Summit. This was held in Miami, Florida. Almost 70 MVPs attended, and we had a great conference. Two days of sessions, and lots of social activity with other MVPs. The sessions was from Sitecore internal people, telling us a lot about future product release. Tjek the webpage here, and some pics here.
As for my workplace, it gives some credibility and a quality stamp, to have an MVP onboard, during the year, I’ve been presenting for both our internal developers, but also for a large group of customers that was invited for an inspiration day.
Through the MVP program I've meet atleast all of the Danish MVPs. This gives a great new social network of people who share the same passion for the Sitecore product.
If you have some passion for Sitecore, and likes sharing your knowledge with you co-workers/social networks/customers etc. I would definitely recommend try going for the MVP title. There are currently 120 MVPs in the world, and for 2014, they made a new kind of MVP, the Digital Strategist, which might not just be the hardcore developer type, as most MVPs was until now.
Im looking much forward for 2014, also to meeting some of the newly elected MVPs.