So I wanna be a Sharepoint MVP too!!
// June 26th, 2008 // Sharepoint
Its been on and off of my mind for so long… i burn for it. yet somehow im not taking an active step forward.
Ive been involved in Sharepoint since December 2005, and when i say involved i mean from writing iffy little webparts to bastardizing Sharepoint 2003 look and feel with webcustomcontrols which spew out reams of html! When MOSS 2007 came out i was playing with Beta 1, Beta 1TR and Beta 2 and involved in some pretty radical projects.
Yet, i have focussed on personal development, finding the ideal work environment and being happy in my personal life. I think i have found that with a move to sydney, and a wonderful company to work for and now i want to take it a step further. I set this as a goal for myself this year. Its not the rockstar status of Sharepoint MVP, nor being recognized in the industry, its just that i really feel i have something to offer the Sharepoint World. Every time i help a customer acheive a process which was otherwise unattainable in their current business system, i feel good. i feel like ive done a job. A great job. The growth of MOSS globally is mind-blowing, the need for it is endless. Im willing to say that i believe MOSS is the type which will change the way an organisation manages every business process there is. I know how, and i want to tell the world.
Ive been reading up on the MVP status every now and again, posts by Joel are most helpful and reading posts from Moss Lover are inspiring. I have something to give, knowledge to share and theres no time like now to impart that.
Heres to that goal!
back to work 
Good luck! I’m a South African SharePoint consultant living in Dallas, Texas with an eye on possibly moving to Oz as remaining family in SA begin making that move (with some there & in NZ already). I’d like to stay in touch – how do I reach you offline? Cheers!
Just one advice from an MVP. You got to start working real hard, you need a national recognition in the industry (you need a very good rep with the clients) as well as with community for being the best (and most knowledgeable) guy for the job (as all those people actually vote for you), also remember that you get awarded on what you have achieved over a period of a year, so if you start now, the earliest you will get awarded in is a year time (depending on award cycles maybe even later). Good thing to do is to become very close with existing MVPs that get re-awarded every year and take a note of what they do, what kind of things they achieved and you’ll get a good idea of what you need to do.
If you think you got what it takes…… I say go for it.
One more advice… first thing you should do is change you blog name from South African to Australian. Since you live in au now you can only be awarded as an Australian MVP and the Australian MVP lead probably won’t really endorse you this way.
Good Luck!
thanks zlatan, means a lot coming from an MVP! i know i need to work really hard, this is not something which will come quickly i realise… still id like to try, give it my best effort.
it would be nice to be recognised, ive started to work on it, getting involved on this side, met some of the guys so far and everyone is super relaxed but hard workers and ive got a lot of respect for them!
hope everything is going well in SA for you!