.NET Musings

On April 1st, I was notified that I had received an MVP award from Microsoft.  This is a great honor, and not one that I could have accomplished alone.  I wanted to take a moment to thank many people who helped me on this journey.  If I inadvertently leave someone out, flame me, and I will fix it!

First and foremost, Mike Wood, who pushed me into speaking for the community.  I have done a ton of speaking and teaching over the years, but always for private classes and/or customers.  It wasn’t until I spoke at the Cincinnati Day of .NET in 2007 that I realized how important the community really is to me as a developer, and how I can give back to that community.  Mike has given me advice, urging (where necessary),  and criticism (where warranted) over the past two years, and for that I am very thankful.

Brian H. Prince has been an excellent influence and mentor as my Architect Evangelist from Microsoft DPE, and Jeff Blankenburg additionally has helped me along the road as my Developer Evangelist.

Jim Holmes for having the faith in me to have me speak at CodeMash (even though he didn’t really know me that well yet). Leon Gersing for all of those great conversations and debates over beverages, Wally McClure has made a point of introducing me to everyone he knows (which is a significant number of people) whenever we share the same geography, and Alan Stevens who went out of his way at CodeMash this year to bring me onto the radar screens of some people I hadn’t yet met.

Suzanna Moran, my MVP lead, and the Client Application Development Group at Microsoft who gave me the award.

And lastly, all of the user group leaders and conference organizers for all that you do, and for allowing me to speak in front of your attendees. You guys are the ones that make the community as great as it is, and I’m glad I’ve been able to contribute and support your efforts.

Happy Coding!