Who is answering all the questions here?

[tom c]

I have gotten great help in this forum. I am working by my self,
developing with a new technology, and it would be extremely time
consuming and frustrating without this forum.

So who are the folks answering all the questions? Are you microsoft
employees or just kind helpful people or what?

If you are microsoft employees, is this your full time job to answer
questions here, or do you just do it a few hours a day?

 

[Juan T. Llibre]

Most of those who are Microsoft employees ( there's very few of them )
can be told from the rest by their e-mail addresses.

They use a (e-mail address removed) e-mail address.
Others include either [Microsoft] or [MSFT] in their "From" ID.

The rest aren't Microsoft employees, and that includes the MVPs.

 

[Jacek Stawicki]

I have gotten great help in this forum. I am working by my self,
developing with a new technology, and it would be extremely time
consuming and frustrating without this forum.

So who are the folks answering all the questions? Are you microsoft
employees or just kind helpful people or what?

If you are microsoft employees, is this your full time job to answer
questions here, or do you just do it a few hours a day?

I'm not from MS Personally for me, answering the questions is a great
entertainment during coffee break

Regards

 

[Ken Cox [Microsoft MVP]]

Hi Tom,

Some of us are MVPs whose hobby is to help others with our favourite
technologies. MVPs are strictly volunteers but recognized by Microsoft. We
put in a few hours here and there as time is available.

There are many people who also feel the spirit of community and want to
"repay" the help they've received in the past. Others just want to "pay it
forward".

Some answers are by Microsoft employees. They respond to "customers" who
have registered with them for online support as part of an MSDN
subscription.

Ken
Microsoft MVP [ASP.NET]

 

[Mark Rae]

Most of the frequent contributors are not Microsoft employees.

Which is why you almost always get an honest answer rather than the "one
hive-mind" attitude...

My hidden agenda for answering the questions is picking up these little
pieces of knowledge here and there. I make extensive use of them in my
projects.

I couldn't agree more!

I reckon I ask nearly as many questions as I answer too...

 

[Eliyahu Goldin]

Most of the frequent contributors are not Microsoft employees.

My hidden agenda for answering the questions is picking up these little
pieces of knowledge here and there. I make extensive use of them in my
projects.

 

[tom c]

Well much thanks to you all.

Hi Tom,

Some of us are MVPs whose hobby is to help others with our favourite
technologies. MVPs are strictly volunteers but recognized by Microsoft. We
put in a few hours here and there as time is available.

There are many people who also feel the spirit of community and want to
"repay" the help they've received in the past. Others just want to "pay it
forward".

Some answers are by Microsoft employees. They respond to "customers" who
have registered with them for online support as part of an MSDN
subscription.

Ken
Microsoft MVP [ASP.NET]

I have gotten great help in this forum. I am working by my self,
developing with a new technology, and it would be extremely time
consuming and frustrating without this forum.

So who are the folks answering all the questions? Are you microsoft
employees or just kind helpful people or what?

If you are microsoft employees, is this your full time job to answer
questions here, or do you just do it a few hours a day?

 

[Alvin Bruney [MVP]]

let's not forget to mention that MVP's are paid a generous allowance from
microsoft for pushing the .net technology.

--
________________________
Warm regards,
Alvin Bruney [MVP ASP.NET]

[Shameless Author plug]
Professional VSTO.NET - Wrox/Wiley
The O.W.C. Black Book with .NET
www.lulu.com/owc, Amazon
Blog: http://www.msmvps.com/blogs/alvin
-------------------------------------------------------

Well much thanks to you all.

Hi Tom,

Some of us are MVPs whose hobby is to help others with our favourite
technologies. MVPs are strictly volunteers but recognized by Microsoft.
We
put in a few hours here and there as time is available.

There are many people who also feel the spirit of community and want to
"repay" the help they've received in the past. Others just want to "pay
it
forward".

Some answers are by Microsoft employees. They respond to "customers" who
have registered with them for online support as part of an MSDN
subscription.

Ken
Microsoft MVP [ASP.NET]

I have gotten great help in this forum. I am working by my self,
developing with a new technology, and it would be extremely time
consuming and frustrating without this forum.

So who are the folks answering all the questions? Are you microsoft
employees or just kind helpful people or what?

If you are microsoft employees, is this your full time job to answer
questions here, or do you just do it a few hours a day?

 

[Jesse Liberty]

I'm sorry but I really have to respond to that. While Microsoft has been
very generous in its allocation of resources to MVP's, and I'm very
grateful, I've never felt myself asked to "push" any Microsoft technology,
nor would I ever consider doing so.

I write about Microsoft technology because that is (principally) what I use
as a developer, but I do not push it, and I recognize fully that it not
only has limitations but that there are times when other technologies are
more appropriate, cheaper, better, etc., and I'm not shy to write that nor
to recommend that to my customers. If I thought for a moment that being an
MVP meant compromising my objectivity, I don't see how I could accept the
reward or the honor, and my clients and readers would correctly stop seeing
me as a trustworthy source of information.

I don't mean to jump on innocent words, but I do think we want to be very
careful about the relationship between MVPs and Microsoft. As I see it, the
MVP is a recognition by Microsoft for those who have been helpful in
spreading information about Microsoft technology to the developer community,
and the balance between accepting such a recognition and being bribed and/or
accepting an incentive is one which those of us who are consultants and/or
authors or writers must watch very very carefully.

Thanks

-j

--

Jesse Liberty
Author, Programmer
Microsoft MVP

let's not forget to mention that MVP's are paid a generous allowance from
microsoft for pushing the .net technology.

--
________________________
Warm regards,
Alvin Bruney [MVP ASP.NET]

[Shameless Author plug]
Professional VSTO.NET - Wrox/Wiley
The O.W.C. Black Book with .NET
www.lulu.com/owc, Amazon
Blog: http://www.msmvps.com/blogs/alvin
-------------------------------------------------------

Well much thanks to you all.

Hi Tom,

Some of us are MVPs whose hobby is to help others with our favourite
technologies. MVPs are strictly volunteers but recognized by Microsoft.
We
put in a few hours here and there as time is available.

There are many people who also feel the spirit of community and want to
"repay" the help they've received in the past. Others just want to "pay
it
forward".

Some answers are by Microsoft employees. They respond to "customers" who
have registered with them for online support as part of an MSDN
subscription.

Ken
Microsoft MVP [ASP.NET]


I have gotten great help in this forum. I am working by my self,
developing with a new technology, and it would be extremely time
consuming and frustrating without this forum.

So who are the folks answering all the questions? Are you microsoft
employees or just kind helpful people or what?

If you are microsoft employees, is this your full time job to answer
questions here, or do you just do it a few hours a day?

 

[Ken Cox [Microsoft MVP]]

Hmmm. I guess the cheque's in the mail!

 

[Mark Rae]

I'm sorry

What are you apologising for...?

 

[Eliyahu Goldin]

Jesse,

I am not going to disagree with you on your points, but you will probably
admit that easy access to online community support is one of the major
deciding factors in choosing technology. I think that's what Alvin meant.
Online community contributors push the .net technology by providing free
comprehensive online support.

--
Eliyahu Goldin,
Software Developer & Consultant
Microsoft MVP [ASP.NET]

I'm sorry but I really have to respond to that. While Microsoft has been
very generous in its allocation of resources to MVP's, and I'm very
grateful, I've never felt myself asked to "push" any Microsoft technology,
nor would I ever consider doing so.

I write about Microsoft technology because that is (principally) what I
use as a developer, but I do not push it, and I recognize fully that it
not only has limitations but that there are times when other technologies
are more appropriate, cheaper, better, etc., and I'm not shy to write that
nor to recommend that to my customers. If I thought for a moment that
being an MVP meant compromising my objectivity, I don't see how I could
accept the reward or the honor, and my clients and readers would correctly
stop seeing me as a trustworthy source of information.

I don't mean to jump on innocent words, but I do think we want to be very
careful about the relationship between MVPs and Microsoft. As I see it,
the MVP is a recognition by Microsoft for those who have been helpful in
spreading information about Microsoft technology to the developer
community, and the balance between accepting such a recognition and being
bribed and/or accepting an incentive is one which those of us who are
consultants and/or authors or writers must watch very very carefully.

Thanks

-j

--

Jesse Liberty
Author, Programmer
Microsoft MVP

let's not forget to mention that MVP's are paid a generous allowance from
microsoft for pushing the .net technology.

--
________________________
Warm regards,
Alvin Bruney [MVP ASP.NET]

[Shameless Author plug]
Professional VSTO.NET - Wrox/Wiley
The O.W.C. Black Book with .NET
www.lulu.com/owc, Amazon
Blog: http://www.msmvps.com/blogs/alvin
-------------------------------------------------------

Well much thanks to you all.


Ken Cox [Microsoft MVP] wrote:
Hi Tom,

Some of us are MVPs whose hobby is to help others with our favourite
technologies. MVPs are strictly volunteers but recognized by Microsoft.
We
put in a few hours here and there as time is available.

There are many people who also feel the spirit of community and want to
"repay" the help they've received in the past. Others just want to "pay
it
forward".

Some answers are by Microsoft employees. They respond to "customers"
who
have registered with them for online support as part of an MSDN
subscription.

Ken
Microsoft MVP [ASP.NET]


I have gotten great help in this forum. I am working by my self,
developing with a new technology, and it would be extremely time
consuming and frustrating without this forum.

So who are the folks answering all the questions? Are you microsoft
employees or just kind helpful people or what?

If you are microsoft employees, is this your full time job to answer
questions here, or do you just do it a few hours a day?

 

[Mark Rae]

Online community contributors push the .net technology by providing free
comprehensive online support.

Agree 100%. After Google and/or MSDN, this is my main source of support.

 

[Eliyahu Goldin]

For me it is not after Google. It is with Google. When I have a problem, I
first try Google Groups and in most cases it brings something useful from
the newsgroups.

 

[Kevin Spencer]

Paid? Darn, and I've never bothered to collect a check!

--
HTH,

Kevin Spencer
Microsoft MVP
Professional Chicken Salad Alchemist

Big thicks are made up of lots of little thins.

let's not forget to mention that MVP's are paid a generous allowance from
microsoft for pushing the .net technology.

--
________________________
Warm regards,
Alvin Bruney [MVP ASP.NET]

[Shameless Author plug]
Professional VSTO.NET - Wrox/Wiley
The O.W.C. Black Book with .NET
www.lulu.com/owc, Amazon
Blog: http://www.msmvps.com/blogs/alvin
-------------------------------------------------------

Well much thanks to you all.

Hi Tom,

Some of us are MVPs whose hobby is to help others with our favourite
technologies. MVPs are strictly volunteers but recognized by Microsoft.
We
put in a few hours here and there as time is available.

There are many people who also feel the spirit of community and want to
"repay" the help they've received in the past. Others just want to "pay
it
forward".

Some answers are by Microsoft employees. They respond to "customers" who
have registered with them for online support as part of an MSDN
subscription.

Ken
Microsoft MVP [ASP.NET]


I have gotten great help in this forum. I am working by my self,
developing with a new technology, and it would be extremely time
consuming and frustrating without this forum.

So who are the folks answering all the questions? Are you microsoft
employees or just kind helpful people or what?

If you are microsoft employees, is this your full time job to answer
questions here, or do you just do it a few hours a day?

 

[Juan T. Llibre]

You might be getting "paid". I certainly am not.

I don't "push" anything.
I do, however, try to help my programmer peers if I have a solution to their problem.

I do that for free, not for pay.

let's not forget to mention that MVP's are paid a generous allowance from microsoft for pushing
the .net technology.

--
________________________
Warm regards,
Alvin Bruney [MVP ASP.NET]

[Shameless Author plug]
Professional VSTO.NET - Wrox/Wiley
The O.W.C. Black Book with .NET
www.lulu.com/owc, Amazon
Blog: http://www.msmvps.com/blogs/alvin
-------------------------------------------------------

Well much thanks to you all.

Hi Tom,

Some of us are MVPs whose hobby is to help others with our favourite
technologies. MVPs are strictly volunteers but recognized by Microsoft. We
put in a few hours here and there as time is available.

There are many people who also feel the spirit of community and want to
"repay" the help they've received in the past. Others just want to "pay it
forward".

Some answers are by Microsoft employees. They respond to "customers" who
have registered with them for online support as part of an MSDN
subscription.

Ken
Microsoft MVP [ASP.NET]


I have gotten great help in this forum. I am working by my self,
developing with a new technology, and it would be extremely time
consuming and frustrating without this forum.

So who are the folks answering all the questions? Are you microsoft
employees or just kind helpful people or what?

If you are microsoft employees, is this your full time job to answer
questions here, or do you just do it a few hours a day?

 

[Juan T. Llibre]

re:

Online community contributors push the .net technology by providing free comprehensive online
support.

No. We don't "push" anything.

When I have to criticize .Net for not having a feature,
or for having a poorly implemented one, I do.

The word "push" has a shill-like, or marketing, meaning which I despise.

Yes, we *do* provide free support, but we do it because
we enjoy helping people with their problems, not for any payment.

In my case, I find that helping others not only makes me feel good but also keeps
my skills sharp. Not all the answers given are canned or given from memory.

Sometimes I have to do significant research to get the answer.
Doing that helps me as well as it helps those who posted the problem.

re:

I think that's what Alvin meant.

Alvin used an untrue description when he wrote that
MVPs are "paid a generous allowance from microsoft".

We are not *paid* anything.

Furthermore, linking such alleged, non-existent,
"payments" to "pushing the .net technology" really irks me.

MVPs receive technological tools from Microsoft as a way
to say "thanks for helping out", and not as payment of any kind.

I accept them gratefully, but they aren't "payment" for anything.
I don't sell myself for a few trinkets.

Jesse,

I am not going to disagree with you on your points, but you will probably admit that easy access
to online community support is one of the major deciding factors in choosing technology. I think
that's what Alvin meant. Online community contributors push the .net technology by providing free
comprehensive online support.

--
Eliyahu Goldin,
Software Developer & Consultant
Microsoft MVP [ASP.NET]

I'm sorry but I really have to respond to that. While Microsoft has been very generous in its
allocation of resources to MVP's, and I'm very grateful, I've never felt myself asked to "push"
any Microsoft technology, nor would I ever consider doing so.

I write about Microsoft technology because that is (principally) what I use as a developer, but
I do not push it, and I recognize fully that it not only has limitations but that there are times
when other technologies are more appropriate, cheaper, better, etc., and I'm not shy to write
that nor to recommend that to my customers. If I thought for a moment that being an MVP meant
compromising my objectivity, I don't see how I could accept the reward or the honor, and my
clients and readers would correctly stop seeing me as a trustworthy source of information.

I don't mean to jump on innocent words, but I do think we want to be very careful about the
relationship between MVPs and Microsoft. As I see it, the MVP is a recognition by Microsoft for
those who have been helpful in spreading information about Microsoft technology to the developer
community, and the balance between accepting such a recognition and being bribed and/or accepting
an incentive is one which those of us who are consultants and/or authors or writers must watch
very very carefully.

Thanks

-j

--

Jesse Liberty
Author, Programmer
Microsoft MVP

let's not forget to mention that MVP's are paid a generous allowance from microsoft for pushing
the .net technology.

--
________________________
Warm regards,
Alvin Bruney [MVP ASP.NET]

[Shameless Author plug]
Professional VSTO.NET - Wrox/Wiley
The O.W.C. Black Book with .NET
www.lulu.com/owc, Amazon
Blog: http://www.msmvps.com/blogs/alvin
-------------------------------------------------------


Well much thanks to you all.


Ken Cox [Microsoft MVP] wrote:
Hi Tom,

Some of us are MVPs whose hobby is to help others with our favourite
technologies. MVPs are strictly volunteers but recognized by Microsoft. We
put in a few hours here and there as time is available.

There are many people who also feel the spirit of community and want to
"repay" the help they've received in the past. Others just want to "pay it
forward".

Some answers are by Microsoft employees. They respond to "customers" who
have registered with them for online support as part of an MSDN
subscription.

Ken
Microsoft MVP [ASP.NET]


I have gotten great help in this forum. I am working by my self,
developing with a new technology, and it would be extremely time
consuming and frustrating without this forum.

So who are the folks answering all the questions? Are you microsoft
employees or just kind helpful people or what?

If you are microsoft employees, is this your full time job to answer
questions here, or do you just do it a few hours a day?

 

[John Timney \(MVP\)]

MVP's are never paid by Microsoft and never will be - not you or I or any
other MVP. We may get some benefits for being an MVP like MSDN access and
the odd free conference, but pay is certainly not one of them (if only).

I also dont "push" Microsoft technology, I answer questions, review books
etc. about a technology I am interested in and most MVP's would be just as
likely to suggest a non-microsoft technology if that was a more appropriate
solution to a question posed. I'm an MVP because I like to help in the
communities I tend to frequent not because Microsoft pay me or expect to to
push their latest buzz technology, I frequent these groups because I learn a
lot from people posting and answering questions.

--
Regards

John Timney (MVP)

let's not forget to mention that MVP's are paid a generous allowance from
microsoft for pushing the .net technology.

--
________________________
Warm regards,
Alvin Bruney [MVP ASP.NET]

[Shameless Author plug]
Professional VSTO.NET - Wrox/Wiley
The O.W.C. Black Book with .NET
www.lulu.com/owc, Amazon
Blog: http://www.msmvps.com/blogs/alvin
-------------------------------------------------------

Well much thanks to you all.

Hi Tom,

Some of us are MVPs whose hobby is to help others with our favourite
technologies. MVPs are strictly volunteers but recognized by Microsoft.
We
put in a few hours here and there as time is available.

There are many people who also feel the spirit of community and want to
"repay" the help they've received in the past. Others just want to "pay
it
forward".

Some answers are by Microsoft employees. They respond to "customers" who
have registered with them for online support as part of an MSDN
subscription.

Ken
Microsoft MVP [ASP.NET]


I have gotten great help in this forum. I am working by my self,
developing with a new technology, and it would be extremely time
consuming and frustrating without this forum.

So who are the folks answering all the questions? Are you microsoft
employees or just kind helpful people or what?

If you are microsoft employees, is this your full time job to answer
questions here, or do you just do it a few hours a day?

 

[Sahil Malik [MVP C#]]

Oh hey, where is my generous allowance??

- Sahil Malik
http://blah.winsmarts.com

let's not forget to mention that MVP's are paid a generous allowance from
microsoft for pushing the .net technology.

--
________________________
Warm regards,
Alvin Bruney [MVP ASP.NET]

[Shameless Author plug]
Professional VSTO.NET - Wrox/Wiley
The O.W.C. Black Book with .NET
www.lulu.com/owc, Amazon
Blog: http://www.msmvps.com/blogs/alvin
-------------------------------------------------------

Well much thanks to you all.

Hi Tom,

Some of us are MVPs whose hobby is to help others with our favourite
technologies. MVPs are strictly volunteers but recognized by Microsoft.
We
put in a few hours here and there as time is available.

There are many people who also feel the spirit of community and want to
"repay" the help they've received in the past. Others just want to "pay
it
forward".

Some answers are by Microsoft employees. They respond to "customers" who
have registered with them for online support as part of an MSDN
subscription.

Ken
Microsoft MVP [ASP.NET]


I have gotten great help in this forum. I am working by my self,
developing with a new technology, and it would be extremely time
consuming and frustrating without this forum.

So who are the folks answering all the questions? Are you microsoft
employees or just kind helpful people or what?

If you are microsoft employees, is this your full time job to answer
questions here, or do you just do it a few hours a day?

 

[Cheryl D Wise]

You get paid?

I've never received a dime from but then I don't "push" MS technology
either. If a competitor's product is better for the tasks I'll recommend
using it. I am more likely to use php or classic asp since most of my
clients are not on web hosting that supports asp.net 2.0 and asp.net 1/1.1
does not output valid acoessible html. Which means I
can't use it.

The primary benefit I've received from MS as a result of being an MVP has
been the ability to tell someone on a dev team face to face where they
screwed up and also when they have done an outstanding job. ASP.NET 1.0 and
1.1 had a lot of the screw up conersations while 2.0 had many of the "that's
a big improvement" type. With Expression Web Designer there has been many
more of the "good" than "what were you thinking" conversations.

I participate in various communities because I appreciate the help I have
received in the past and believe in the paying of forward principle. Plus, I
continue to learn by participating, sometimes its a new apprach or it may be
something I've never thought about will be triggered by threads and
discussions. Like others of I have a hidden agenda it is to learn something
new myself.

--
Cheryl D Wise
FrontPage MVP
http://by-expression.com
http://groups.google.com/group/by-expression-web-designer
Online Instructor led training at http://starttoweb.com

let's not forget to mention that MVP's are paid a generous allowance from
microsoft for pushing the .net technology.

--
________________________
Warm regards,
Alvin Bruney [MVP ASP.NET]

[Shameless Author plug]
Professional VSTO.NET - Wrox/Wiley
The O.W.C. Black Book with .NET
www.lulu.com/owc, Amazon
Blog: http://www.msmvps.com/blogs/alvin
-------------------------------------------------------

Well much thanks to you all.

Hi Tom,

Some of us are MVPs whose hobby is to help others with our favourite
technologies. MVPs are strictly volunteers but recognized by Microsoft.
We
put in a few hours here and there as time is available.

There are many people who also feel the spirit of community and want to
"repay" the help they've received in the past. Others just want to "pay
it
forward".

Some answers are by Microsoft employees. They respond to "customers" who
have registered with them for online support as part of an MSDN
subscription.

Ken
Microsoft MVP [ASP.NET]


I have gotten great help in this forum. I am working by my self,
developing with a new technology, and it would be extremely time
consuming and frustrating without this forum.

So who are the folks answering all the questions? Are you microsoft
employees or just kind helpful people or what?

If you are microsoft employees, is this your full time job to answer
questions here, or do you just do it a few hours a day?