WIRED said:
Just a simple thanks.
Your continued presence in this newsgroup answering sometimes very
repetitive questions as well as support with website material is well
deserving of that thanks.
I have never left this newsgroup without an answer or direction.
Actually the Award MVP is truly an award since it is based upon past
efforts, not some contractual obligation. The award this year is for efforts
last year in other words. Nobody can apply for MVP, it depends only upon
nominations, which actually makes it all the more pleasing.
The other thing that often escapes people is the fact that the selection is
not made on the basis of "Blind Loyalty" to Microsoft - MVPs can collect
feedback for Microsoft and this is not always positive, but it IS expected
to be realistic and constructive. Rants are not really very influential with
anybody after all...
As to rewards there are some. Microsoft give us access to a lot of products
that we would normally never buy (mainly because we wouldn't have a
justifiable use for them) but which are valuable to experiment with and help
our understanding of what they are trying to integrate with which. Of course
this is not entirely one sided. These products help us to learn so we can
pass on more useful info to others. One of those rare instances perhaps
where a huge corporation and it's customers can get along together
I guess the more popular you folks make these groups the better for users in
general and I think it's fair to say that trying to make things better is
the aim of most, if not all MVPs. If you feel like suggesting a visit here
to friends who have problems I tried to do a simple walkthrough on this page
that you can direct them to. The site is far from complete but the newsgroup
stuff is okay I think.
http://www.charlietame.org/ . Hopefully it will save
you a long explanation of how to get here
And thanks for the appreciation, Happy New Year to you all.
Charlie