DougieVan said:
John McGhie [MVP - Word and Word Macinto said:Hi Doug:
Why would you ask him to do that? Does anyone take any notice of those
silly ratings?
I wonder if you know that most of the posters in here are coming in via NNTP
or some other site and can't even SEE the ratings
Cheers
--
Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.
John McGhie <[email protected]>
Microsoft MVP, Word and Word for Macintosh. Business Analyst, Consultant
Technical Writer.
Sydney, Australia +61 (0) 4 1209 1410
]John McGhie [MVP - Word and Word Macinto said:Hi Doug:
Why would you ask him to do that? Does anyone take any notice of those
silly ratings?
I wonder if you know that most of the posters in here are coming in via NNTP
or some other site and can't even SEE the ratings
Cheers
--
Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.
John McGhie <[email protected]>
Microsoft MVP, Word and Word for Macintosh. Business Analyst, Consultant
Technical Writer.
Sydney, Australia +61 (0) 4 1209 1410
DougieVan said:John,
In retrospect, my previous response was overly glib.
I request that people mark my responses as having answered the question
when
warranted in order to increase my reputation within the community and to
mark
myself as a reliable source of information about Office. As someone new to
the profession, and even newer to working as an Office Solutions
Specialist,
I am searching for ways to increase my participation and enhance my
abilities.
I am not sure if you are aware, but when you get to 50 questions answered,
you get a bronze medal next to your name in these forums. You get the
silver
medal at 100 and the bronze at 500. MVPs get an MVP badge. While I don't
pretend that getting a bronze medal is a "great" accomplishment, it is
something. Additionally, I hope to become an MVP in the next few years,
and
since community participation is one of the considerations for MVP status,
I
see participation here, and my reliability here, as one of the means to
achieve that goal. Additionally, obtaining one of the medals is something
I
can mention when reviewing my performance with my boss as evidence of my
professional development and my involvement in the Microsoft Office
community.
Since I am helping people here largely voluntarily (though I do admit that
I
often post during "down time" at work or while waiting for things to load,
copy, or save, and I do have the alterior motive of having my posts drive
traffic to my blog), I do not feel bad about asking people to mark my
questions as helpful. I have spent as much as several hours on individual
responses (usually much less!), so asking for a few seconds doesn't seem
too
overbearing. I also only try to ask when I have clearly answered the
question
and the poster has responded thanking me for my post.
Doug
--
Douglas Ryan VanBenthuysen
Office System Solutions Specialist
3Sharp
http://blogs.3sharp.com/Blog/dougv/
John McGhie [MVP - Word and Word Macinto said:Hi Doug:
Why would you ask him to do that? Does anyone take any notice of those
silly ratings?
I wonder if you know that most of the posters in here are coming in via
NNTP
or some other site and can't even SEE the ratings
Cheers
--
Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not
me unless I ask you to.
John McGhie <[email protected]>
Microsoft MVP, Word and Word for Macintosh. Business Analyst, Consultant
Technical Writer.
Sydney, Australia +61 (0) 4 1209 1410
Robert M. Franz (RMF) said:Hi Doug
John will speak for himself in time.
There are many MVPs awarded by Microsoft these days, and not everybody
has got the title for the same community "achievements." For most MVPs
you meet in this forum, newsgroups are a prime factor of their
"MVPhood." But there are other users, other products, other communities.
But many of us are "here" in the newsgroups because, well, we fought
with the product like so many other users out there, we profited from
feedback in here, and then we gradually started giving something back.
Many will do so no matter any award or not. And many feel that, the more
we start caring about ratings and some such nonsense, we don't do what
we are here for: to learn, and to share.
And many of the posters who do a lot of newsgroup postings are thinking
pretty poorly of all web-based access mechanisms to the forums. [At
least I do, for those I've seen so far -- FWIW
It might be OK for somebody to ask a question once and read the answers.
[Many comming through the web interface are having a hard time
retrieving their original thread.] It's already pretty clunky to read a
lot through the web interface. If you try writing 20 answers in a short
time, then it simply won't cut it -- unless you access via NNTP.
Greetings
Robert
--
/"\ ASCII Ribbon Campaign | MS
\ / | MVP
X Against HTML | for
/ \ in e-mail & news | Word
JoAnn Paules said:Those "medals" only count when you use the Microsoft web interface. I think
it's safe to say that most MVPs do not use that. We use various newsreaders
instead.
(And mentioning an MVP award only impresses your boss if your boss has any
idea what it is.)
--
JoAnn Paules
MVP Microsoft [Publisher]
~~~~~
How to ask a question
http://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375
DougieVan said:John,
In retrospect, my previous response was overly glib.
I request that people mark my responses as having answered the question
when
warranted in order to increase my reputation within the community and to
mark
myself as a reliable source of information about Office. As someone new to
the profession, and even newer to working as an Office Solutions
Specialist,
I am searching for ways to increase my participation and enhance my
abilities.
I am not sure if you are aware, but when you get to 50 questions answered,
you get a bronze medal next to your name in these forums. You get the
silver
medal at 100 and the bronze at 500. MVPs get an MVP badge. While I don't
pretend that getting a bronze medal is a "great" accomplishment, it is
something. Additionally, I hope to become an MVP in the next few years,
and
since community participation is one of the considerations for MVP status,
I
see participation here, and my reliability here, as one of the means to
achieve that goal. Additionally, obtaining one of the medals is something
I
can mention when reviewing my performance with my boss as evidence of my
professional development and my involvement in the Microsoft Office
community.
Since I am helping people here largely voluntarily (though I do admit that
I
often post during "down time" at work or while waiting for things to load,
copy, or save, and I do have the alterior motive of having my posts drive
traffic to my blog), I do not feel bad about asking people to mark my
questions as helpful. I have spent as much as several hours on individual
responses (usually much less!), so asking for a few seconds doesn't seem
too
overbearing. I also only try to ask when I have clearly answered the
question
and the poster has responded thanking me for my post.
Doug
--
Douglas Ryan VanBenthuysen
Office System Solutions Specialist
3Sharp
http://blogs.3sharp.com/Blog/dougv/
John McGhie [MVP - Word and Word Macinto said:Hi Doug:
Why would you ask him to do that? Does anyone take any notice of those
silly ratings?
I wonder if you know that most of the posters in here are coming in via
NNTP
or some other site and can't even SEE the ratings
Cheers
On 4/2/07 7:01 AM, in article
(e-mail address removed), "DougieVan"
I'm glad it could help. I would appreciate it if you could mark this
post as
having answered your question in the forum.
--
Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not
me unless I ask you to.
John McGhie <[email protected]>
Microsoft MVP, Word and Word for Macintosh. Business Analyst, Consultant
Technical Writer.
Sydney, Australia +61 (0) 4 1209 1410
Would you say then that it is the consensus of MVPs that trying to
earn the medals is not a proper goal? Why then are the medals awarded?
Those "medals" only count when you use the Microsoft web interface.
I think it's safe to say that most MVPs do not use that. We use
various newsreaders instead.
(And mentioning an MVP award only impresses your boss if your boss
has any idea what it is.)
--
JoAnn Paules
MVP Microsoft [Publisher]
~~~~~
How to ask a question
http://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375
DougieVan said:John,
In retrospect, my previous response was overly glib.
I request that people mark my responses as having answered the
question when
warranted in order to increase my reputation within the community
and to mark
myself as a reliable source of information about Office. As someone
new to the profession, and even newer to working as an Office
Solutions Specialist,
I am searching for ways to increase my participation and enhance my
abilities.
I am not sure if you are aware, but when you get to 50 questions
answered, you get a bronze medal next to your name in these forums.
You get the silver
medal at 100 and the bronze at 500. MVPs get an MVP badge. While I
don't pretend that getting a bronze medal is a "great"
accomplishment, it is something. Additionally, I hope to become an
MVP in the next few years, and
since community participation is one of the considerations for MVP
status, I
see participation here, and my reliability here, as one of the
means to achieve that goal. Additionally, obtaining one of the
medals is something I
can mention when reviewing my performance with my boss as evidence
of my professional development and my involvement in the Microsoft
Office community.
Since I am helping people here largely voluntarily (though I do
admit that I
often post during "down time" at work or while waiting for things
to load, copy, or save, and I do have the alterior motive of having
my posts drive traffic to my blog), I do not feel bad about asking
people to mark my questions as helpful. I have spent as much as
several hours on individual responses (usually much less!), so
asking for a few seconds doesn't seem too
overbearing. I also only try to ask when I have clearly answered the
question
and the poster has responded thanking me for my post.
Doug
--
Douglas Ryan VanBenthuysen
Office System Solutions Specialist
3Sharp
http://blogs.3sharp.com/Blog/dougv/
:
Hi Doug:
Why would you ask him to do that? Does anyone take any notice of
those silly ratings?
I wonder if you know that most of the posters in here are coming
in via NNTP
or some other site and can't even SEE the ratings
Cheers
On 4/2/07 7:01 AM, in article
(e-mail address removed), "DougieVan"
I'm glad it could help. I would appreciate it if you could mark
this post as
having answered your question in the forum.
--
Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do
not email
me unless I ask you to.
John McGhie <[email protected]>
Microsoft MVP, Word and Word for Macintosh. Business Analyst,
Consultant Technical Writer.
Sydney, Australia +61 (0) 4 1209 1410
I really struggled with answering this, and I thankJohn McGhie [MVP - Word and Word Macinto said:Hi Doug:
Well, you have inadvertently asked three of the questions I find most
difficult to answer
you for making me do it
To begin with, I am sure you have indeed helped many people with your
answers, and I hope you will help many more. I, for one, congratulate you
on your effort, and your knowledge!
I am one of many MVPs who believe that chasing "ratings" is not a proper
thing to do. It's a bit like touting for business in these news groups:
it's not "illegal", but most of us wouldn't do it.
But I guess your implied question is "Will getting a high rating help win
the MVP award?" And that's a tough one to answer. It certainly won't hurt.
But I doubt if it will have any effect, one way or the other.
The process that considers us for the MVP award considers a wide range of
factors. Our posting record is only part of it.
When considering our posting record, they assess how many "correct" answers
we give over the past 12 months (and compare that with the number of wrong
answers we give during the same period ...). The ratings you speak of
(which are different on the Microsoft, Google and Yahoo servers...) are not
visible to, or considered by, the mechanism that considers candidates for
the award. That may change in the future, but currently, the system can't
see those ratings at all.
Currently, the assessment is made by human beings: experienced and
knowledgeable Microsoft staff assess a sample of our work manually, and
grade the answers for correctness and completeness. Ultimately, the result
is a person's judgement.
These days, posting in the groups is not enough to get or maintain the
award. The score is heavily biased towards other activities, such as
websites, blogs, and particularly, face-to-face public engagements.
It is also worth mentioning that a person who is obviously here just to get
the award is unlikely to actually get it. The criteria has a very strong
component of "public service" in the old fashioned sense of that term. They
tend to be looking for the kind of person who is not only highly skilled,
but enjoys helping others for its own sake, without expectation of 'reward'.
Why did I accept the MVP award, back in 1997? Well, eventually they
convinced me that I had earned it. Certainly not immediately. I remember
that I refused to believe it when the first email turned up from Microsoft.
I thought it was Spam, and send a very rude response!. Then it took me a
while to believe that it wasn't a mistake
It's great to have you here: I really value your contribution. I really
hope you're having fun
Cheers
--
Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.
John McGhie <[email protected]>
Microsoft MVP, Word and Word for Macintosh. Business Analyst, Consultant
Technical Writer.
Sydney, Australia +61 (0) 4 1209 1410
DougieVan said:Would you say then that it is the consensus of MVPs that trying to earn
the
medals is not a proper goal? Why then are the medals awarded?
--
Douglas Ryan VanBenthuysen
Office System Solutions Specialist
3Sharp
http://blogs.3sharp.com/Blog/dougv/
JoAnn Paules said:Those "medals" only count when you use the Microsoft web interface. I
think
it's safe to say that most MVPs do not use that. We use various
newsreaders
instead.
(And mentioning an MVP award only impresses your boss if your boss has
any
idea what it is.)
--
JoAnn Paules
MVP Microsoft [Publisher]
~~~~~
How to ask a question
http://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375
DougieVan said:John,
In retrospect, my previous response was overly glib.
I request that people mark my responses as having answered the question
when
warranted in order to increase my reputation within the community and
to
mark
myself as a reliable source of information about Office. As someone new
to
the profession, and even newer to working as an Office Solutions
Specialist,
I am searching for ways to increase my participation and enhance my
abilities.
I am not sure if you are aware, but when you get to 50 questions
answered,
you get a bronze medal next to your name in these forums. You get the
silver
medal at 100 and the bronze at 500. MVPs get an MVP badge. While I
don't
pretend that getting a bronze medal is a "great" accomplishment, it is
something. Additionally, I hope to become an MVP in the next few years,
and
since community participation is one of the considerations for MVP
status,
I
see participation here, and my reliability here, as one of the means to
achieve that goal. Additionally, obtaining one of the medals is
something
I
can mention when reviewing my performance with my boss as evidence of
my
professional development and my involvement in the Microsoft Office
community.
Since I am helping people here largely voluntarily (though I do admit
that
I
often post during "down time" at work or while waiting for things to
load,
copy, or save, and I do have the alterior motive of having my posts
drive
traffic to my blog), I do not feel bad about asking people to mark my
questions as helpful. I have spent as much as several hours on
individual
responses (usually much less!), so asking for a few seconds doesn't
seem
too
overbearing. I also only try to ask when I have clearly answered the
question
and the poster has responded thanking me for my post.
Doug
--
Douglas Ryan VanBenthuysen
Office System Solutions Specialist
3Sharp
http://blogs.3sharp.com/Blog/dougv/
:
Hi Doug:
Why would you ask him to do that? Does anyone take any notice of
those
silly ratings?
I wonder if you know that most of the posters in here are coming in
via
NNTP
or some other site and can't even SEE the ratings
Cheers
On 4/2/07 7:01 AM, in article
(e-mail address removed), "DougieVan"
I'm glad it could help. I would appreciate it if you could mark this
post as
having answered your question in the forum.
--
Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not
me unless I ask you to.
John McGhie <[email protected]>
Microsoft MVP, Word and Word for Macintosh. Business Analyst,
Consultant
Technical Writer.
Sydney, Australia +61 (0) 4 1209 1410
JoAnn Paules said:That's a real good question - and to be honest with you, I haven't a clue
what the purpose of those medals could be. I don't worry about it. I read
and respond to the groups in Outlook Express so I'm not exactly racking up
whatever counts to accumulate medals. That's *not* why I try to help.
--
JoAnn Paules
MVP Microsoft [Publisher]
~~~~~
How to ask a question
http://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375
DougieVan said:Would you say then that it is the consensus of MVPs that trying to earn
the
medals is not a proper goal? Why then are the medals awarded?
--
Douglas Ryan VanBenthuysen
Office System Solutions Specialist
3Sharp
http://blogs.3sharp.com/Blog/dougv/
JoAnn Paules said:Those "medals" only count when you use the Microsoft web interface. I
think
it's safe to say that most MVPs do not use that. We use various
newsreaders
instead.
(And mentioning an MVP award only impresses your boss if your boss has
any
idea what it is.)
--
JoAnn Paules
MVP Microsoft [Publisher]
~~~~~
How to ask a question
http://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375
John,
In retrospect, my previous response was overly glib.
I request that people mark my responses as having answered the
question
when
warranted in order to increase my reputation within the community and
to
mark
myself as a reliable source of information about Office. As someone
new to
the profession, and even newer to working as an Office Solutions
Specialist,
I am searching for ways to increase my participation and enhance my
abilities.
I am not sure if you are aware, but when you get to 50 questions
answered,
you get a bronze medal next to your name in these forums. You get the
silver
medal at 100 and the bronze at 500. MVPs get an MVP badge. While I
don't
pretend that getting a bronze medal is a "great" accomplishment, it is
something. Additionally, I hope to become an MVP in the next few
years,
and
since community participation is one of the considerations for MVP
status,
I
see participation here, and my reliability here, as one of the means
to
achieve that goal. Additionally, obtaining one of the medals is
something
I
can mention when reviewing my performance with my boss as evidence of
my
professional development and my involvement in the Microsoft Office
community.
Since I am helping people here largely voluntarily (though I do admit
that
I
often post during "down time" at work or while waiting for things to
load,
copy, or save, and I do have the alterior motive of having my posts
drive
traffic to my blog), I do not feel bad about asking people to mark my
questions as helpful. I have spent as much as several hours on
individual
responses (usually much less!), so asking for a few seconds doesn't
seem
too
overbearing. I also only try to ask when I have clearly answered the
question
and the poster has responded thanking me for my post.
Doug
--
Douglas Ryan VanBenthuysen
Office System Solutions Specialist
3Sharp
http://blogs.3sharp.com/Blog/dougv/
:
Hi Doug:
Why would you ask him to do that? Does anyone take any notice of
those
silly ratings?
I wonder if you know that most of the posters in here are coming in
via
NNTP
or some other site and can't even SEE the ratings
Cheers
On 4/2/07 7:01 AM, in article
(e-mail address removed), "DougieVan"
I'm glad it could help. I would appreciate it if you could mark
this
post as
having answered your question in the forum.
--
Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not
me unless I ask you to.
John McGhie <[email protected]>
Microsoft MVP, Word and Word for Macintosh. Business Analyst,
Consultant
Technical Writer.
Sydney, Australia +61 (0) 4 1209 1410
Dan Freeman said:Hmmmm.... we're missing out on SWAG!!!! <g>
Dan
JoAnn Paules said:That's a real good question - and to be honest with you, I haven't a clue
what the purpose of those medals could be. I don't worry about it. I read
and respond to the groups in Outlook Express so I'm not exactly racking
up whatever counts to accumulate medals. That's *not* why I try to help.
--
JoAnn Paules
MVP Microsoft [Publisher]
~~~~~
How to ask a question
http://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375
DougieVan said:Would you say then that it is the consensus of MVPs that trying to earn
the
medals is not a proper goal? Why then are the medals awarded?
--
Douglas Ryan VanBenthuysen
Office System Solutions Specialist
3Sharp
http://blogs.3sharp.com/Blog/dougv/
:
Those "medals" only count when you use the Microsoft web interface. I
think
it's safe to say that most MVPs do not use that. We use various
newsreaders
instead.
(And mentioning an MVP award only impresses your boss if your boss has
any
idea what it is.)
--
JoAnn Paules
MVP Microsoft [Publisher]
~~~~~
How to ask a question
http://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375
John,
In retrospect, my previous response was overly glib.
I request that people mark my responses as having answered the
question
when
warranted in order to increase my reputation within the community and
to
mark
myself as a reliable source of information about Office. As someone
new to
the profession, and even newer to working as an Office Solutions
Specialist,
I am searching for ways to increase my participation and enhance my
abilities.
I am not sure if you are aware, but when you get to 50 questions
answered,
you get a bronze medal next to your name in these forums. You get the
silver
medal at 100 and the bronze at 500. MVPs get an MVP badge. While I
don't
pretend that getting a bronze medal is a "great" accomplishment, it
is
something. Additionally, I hope to become an MVP in the next few
years,
and
since community participation is one of the considerations for MVP
status,
I
see participation here, and my reliability here, as one of the means
to
achieve that goal. Additionally, obtaining one of the medals is
something
I
can mention when reviewing my performance with my boss as evidence of
my
professional development and my involvement in the Microsoft Office
community.
Since I am helping people here largely voluntarily (though I do admit
that
I
often post during "down time" at work or while waiting for things to
load,
copy, or save, and I do have the alterior motive of having my posts
drive
traffic to my blog), I do not feel bad about asking people to mark my
questions as helpful. I have spent as much as several hours on
individual
responses (usually much less!), so asking for a few seconds doesn't
seem
too
overbearing. I also only try to ask when I have clearly answered the
question
and the poster has responded thanking me for my post.
Doug
--
Douglas Ryan VanBenthuysen
Office System Solutions Specialist
3Sharp
http://blogs.3sharp.com/Blog/dougv/
:
Hi Doug:
Why would you ask him to do that? Does anyone take any notice of
those
silly ratings?
I wonder if you know that most of the posters in here are coming in
via
NNTP
or some other site and can't even SEE the ratings
Cheers
On 4/2/07 7:01 AM, in article
(e-mail address removed), "DougieVan"
I'm glad it could help. I would appreciate it if you could mark
this
post as
having answered your question in the forum.
--
Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not
me unless I ask you to.
John McGhie <[email protected]>
Microsoft MVP, Word and Word for Macintosh. Business Analyst,
Consultant
Technical Writer.
Sydney, Australia +61 (0) 4 1209 1410