Two weeks ago 1,400 Microsoft MVPs gathered in Redmond, Washington (the MotherShip, as some call it!) to ‘geek out’ for three days (or as many as six for some, depending on pre-day and post-day events). We spent at least two and as many as four days in closed-door sessions with the product teams for which we were awarded… in my case it was with the Windows Client product team, which includes Windows 8, Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP), Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) and other deployment technologies, and of course the folks behind the Microsoft Surface.
While we all enjoyed ourselves immensely, I realized early on that although I do spend a lot of time discussing and presenting Windows 8, it is simply not the area where I spend most of my energies and focus. As such, after meeting with both Stephen Rose (a Senior Product Marketing Manager for Windows) and Ben Armstrong, and then making the formal request through proper channels, I am proud to say that I have officially switched MVP competencies to Virtual Machine.
For those of you keeping score, here is the official list:
- Windows Server – Customer Experience
- Small Business Server
- Essential Business Server
- Windows Desktop Experience
- Windows Expert – IT Pro
- Virtual Machine
I want you all to know that this is not because I cannot make up my mind… simply over the years interests and areas of focus change. A couple of years ago I was spending a lot of time talking about desktop deployment, which put me square into the Windows DE (and then Windows Expert – IT Pro) camp. My primary focus of late has been virtualization, and it looks like that is where I am going to stay for at least a couple of years. I am sure you all know that this is not simply a whim – I am as passionate about virtualization as is possible.
For any of you who might be interested in seeing my MVP Profile Page, it can be viewed at: http://mvp.microsoft.com/profiles/Mitch.
I want to thank all of my friends in the Windows space – Stephen Rose, David Trupkin, Michael Niehaus, and everyone else (too many to mention!) for everything they have done for me over the past few years. I promise that I am not abandoning you – simply adjusting to the realities. I will continue to participate in the STEP (Springboard Technical Experts Panel) as long as I am allowed, and will speak at every user group that invites me!
I am looking forward to my new program – new lists, mail servers, and so on… time to reintroduce myself to another group of poor, unsuspecting souls who have no idea what they have coming to them fine MVPs with whom I have so much in common!
