First of all, thanks to all who are involved with the Microsoft MVP program for acknowledging the technical community. It is much appreciated.

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It’s hard to believe, but it’s been 10 years since I first became a Microsoft MVP. I still remember where I was 10 years ago.

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Since that time, I feel that I’ve grown as a community leader and have become a better developer. I think I’ve learned that our user group, .NET Valley, will always have peaks and valleys. Even though we haven’t had consistent attendance, we’ve still managed to observer over 20 IT professionals and developers successfully secure jobs through user group networking at our events. When someone’s livelihood has been positively affected, it’s worth it.

To find out more about the MVP program and similar programs in the technology community, be sure to read my blog post about the MVP program at http://jasongaylord.com/blog/microsoft-mvp-2012.

Finally, I can’t take all of the credit. Besides coworkers and other friends in the technology community, I have to thank my wife, Lisa. She’s tolerated my late nights writing articles, prepping for talks, answering community forums, and traveling to events. Even in all of her spare time, she’s pitched in and helped stuff giveaway grab bags for our TECHbash and NEPA GiveCamp events.

I can only hope that I can continue to help out the technology community for the next 10 years with as much success as I have the first 10 years.