Couldn t ask for a more ringing endorsement to kick things off! (Best of luck, Trika--we miss you already!)
So:
Hi.
If you re a Microsoft Certified Trainer, we probably know each other already, since I ve been an active member of that community since 1993 and its custodian (in multiple senses of the word) from 2003 through earlier this year. And when I say "active," I tend to understate: most of my friends are MCTs (or MCT alumni), I ve lived next door to MCTs, my kids godparents are MCTs. I d have big gaping holes in my social life without MCTs. (Yes, I realize I need to expand my social circles a bit (says my wife, who is friends with the spouses of MCTs, including one I don t even know).
Anyway:
If you re not an MCT, but you hold another Microsoft certification, we might still know each other: I used to be the product manager for the Windows Server 2003 MCSA/MCSE certifications and related training and books, and back around that time I used to make the community rounds the public MCP newsgroups, MCP Magazine s forums, and a few other active certification sites.
And if you a *real* old-timer, maybe we ran into each other at TechEd anytime between 1995 and today--I ve been a regular at that event since before I joined Microsoft... don t think I ever missed an MCP party! (and there are incriminating photos you can goog--*whack!* (ow!) um, Live Search for to prove it)
(Part 1 of a Continuing Series: Ways in Which Ken is Different from Trika: #1) Ken doesn t avoid cameras. #2) Ken isn t nearly as photogenic)
Most of my community interaction for the last several years has been in the private MCT newsgroups, which on a good day is like a United Nations version of a "Cheers" episode (and on a bad day is like a United Nations version of an "All in the Family" episode). Had a blog for a while, but ended up just repeating what I was posting in the newsgroups.
But these days, my scope is a lot broader: my team manages our learning/certification-related communities (most notably MCT and MCP, but also our engagement with user groups, authors, readers, pretty much anyone interested in learning or certification on Microsoft technologies). We re a new team--chartered earlier this year but only fully staffed since July--and we re pretty jazzed by the slate of new benefits, opportunities, and programs we ll be bringing your way over the next year.
Unlike Trika s blog, this one s a team effort: you ll see all of us participating here, sharing the things we re working on, looking for some input and feedback from you guys, sharing the cool resources we come across, and spotlighting the great people we meet in our communities. You ll find us here, in our newsgroups and forums, at events, on Facebook, and occasionally even in our offices.
Here s our starting line-up--I ll let them introduce themselves in more detail as they post:
...and I m sure we ll cajole invite a few of our distinguished colleagues to guest-blog along the way as well.
We d like to hear from you, too! Not just your comments on our posts--we d love to hear about stuff you guys are doing in our communities. If you manage or participate in web forums, user groups, social networks, or any other venue where learning and certification on Microsoft technologies is a frequent topic, we d love to know, and we d love to share the spotlight!
Looking forward to some great conversations!
Ken