We’re conducting a short 5 minute survey & invite your participation. Would you like to participate?
Benefits of MCM (Part III) - It Definitely Pays Off
Posted by Bojan Nenadic on 10 Jun 2011
Benefits of MCM (Part II) - Community
Tech Ed Day 1: Meeting Career Factor
Posted by Bojan Nenadic on 16 May 2011
Benefits of MCM (Part I) - Knowledge
Posted by Bojan Nenadic on 4 May 2011
They Shoot Horses, Don't They
Posted by Bojan Nenadic on 20 Apr 2011
Bojan's final video from the January MCM-Exchange rotation
Posted by erwinc on 8 Apr 2011
The Microsoft Certified Master Qualifying Lab
Posted by Bojan Nenadic on 3 Apr 2011
Bojan's Second Video Post
Posted by erwinc on 31 Mar 2011
Bojan's first video update
Posted by erwinc on 25 Mar 2011
Microsoft Certified Master - Week 3
Posted by Bojan Nenadic on 23 Mar 2011
Bojan's Story Starts!
Posted by erwinc on 18 Mar 2011
Microsoft Certified Master - Week 2
Posted by Bojan Nenadic on 1 Feb 2011
Time to Dust Off and Move On
Posted by Bojan Nenadic on 25 Jan 2011
Microsoft Certified Master in Figures - Week 1
Posted by Bojan Nenadic on 21 Jan 2011
Mastering the Aspirations
Posted by Bojan Nenadic on 18 Jan 2011
Other articles in this series:
There have been only a few hundred MCMs awarded across all five Microsoft technologies over the last eight years. The Exchange community, which spawned the whole Master certification from its original Ranger program, is the largest. But, that is largely irrelevant. The spirit of the community is the same across all five technologies in the MCM program. For example, in my case, the greatest influence on the decision to join the Master program was by a post on the blog of Brent Ozar, a SQL MCP and MVP - and his experience is typical whether you complete the SQL, Exchange, AD, SharePoint or Lync MCM programs. More to the point, I spoke to a number of MCMs before, during and after my rotation and every one of them listed the community as one of the greatest benefits.
The most obvious example of the benefits that this community brings, is the membership of the MCM distribution list. Counted amongst its members are all the Rangers and Masters from the last nine years, as well as members of the Exchange Product Group and Microsoft's Technology Adoption Program. So, in one place you have pretty much the people that influence features of Exchange, produce the product itself and then deploy it in some of the most complex examples in the world. When you take into account that something like 50-60 messages are exchanged on the list every day, you can imagine the volume of hands-on, real-world, high-end experience you get to share in. Whether this is about best practices, performance queries, bug discovery or just to remind yourself of a specific feature - the list is the first port of call for most Masters when looking for answes.
Apart from email distribution list, the community is very active in other areas, too. At recent TechEd in Atlanta, there were about 40 Masters from all technologies. We had MCM/MVP events, dinners and parties organised. There are also special training sessions organised for existing Masters. Upgrade courses are done at a discount. We all get to participate in developing new content and exams for the next generations of MCMs.
The training and exams provide the initial Master-level knowledge, but through community, that knowledge is developed far beyond the mere certification.
All in, once you're in, you will not be bored.
Other articles in this series: Benefits of MCM (Part I) - Knowledge Benefits of MCM (Part II) - Community
Thanks for all of your support the last 6 months! Stay tuned for plans for Career Factor FY12. Season
Interseeding is one of the acceptable Mid-Contract Management (MCM) activities required by most Conservation Reserve Program contracts. Without MCM activities, like interseeding, the quality of grassland habitat steadily decreases about five years after the initial seeding. The MCM activities like interseeding, reset the plant community conditions so habitat quality will improve for early successional wildlife species like pheasants and quail.