Farewell Microsoft MVP Program

🎓 All Good Things Must Come to an End

Well, here we are… Everything has a beginning and an end. It’s just how life works, right?

After 13 years as a Microsoft MVP, I’m officially stepping down from the program this year. And I want to do it properly—by saying a massive THANK YOU to everyone involved: Microsoft itself, and especially all the amazing people I’ve met along the way. We’re talking Microsoft employees, fellow MVPs, community folks, the whole gang! 🙌

🚀 How This Journey Started

I started contributing to the community way back in 1997 (yeah, I’m that old 😅) in those ancient development newsgroups. And honestly? I was just paying it forward after getting tons of help from more experienced developers for a couple of years.

Once I realized I could actually answer some questions and help newbies who were just starting out, it felt like the most natural thing to contribute my little grain of sand. Over the years, I became part of this awesome group of people who not only answered questions but also moderated the forums because, well, it basically became our second home! 🏠

Then one day I got this email about some award or recognition from Microsoft. I genuinely thought someone had made a mistake, but I played it cool and showed up at the Microsoft offices in Madrid for my first MVP Open Day to see what the hell this was all about and what kind of people I’d find there 😂

💝 What I’m Taking Away

At the end of the day, beyond all the awards and recognition, meeting all these incredible people has been the absolute best part of this entire experience. I can honestly say that some of my closest friends today are people I met through this program. And that’s saying something!

Truth is, I’d been telling mama Cristina (the ultimate mother figure of all MVPs) for the past couple of years that I was thinking about leaving the program for various reasons. But she always managed to convince me to stick around for just a bit longer… Cris, you absolute legend, you were so right about everything. Thanks for everything! ❤️

Over the years, we’ve had the chance to meet up at all kinds of events (MVP Open Days, Summits, Techdays, you name it) and shared some absolutely fantastic moments and incredible experiences. Like getting to visit Redmond, Seattle during MVP Summits, meeting the actual development teams at Microsoft, walking around the campus, and enjoying some epic after-parties 😎

Oh! And there was that totally unexpected MVP of the Year award in 2011—whatever that means, but it sounds pretty cool! 🏆

🤔 Why I’m Stepping Down

The main reason is simple: I don’t think I deserve to be among the recognized contributors anymore based on my current efforts. And this isn’t just impostor syndrome talking (though we all have that, right? 😅). I consciously chose to change how I contribute to the community—shifting from making small daily (or almost daily) contributions to focusing on 2-3 bigger contributions per year.

I just don’t have the same time or—let’s be honest—the same drive I had a few years ago. And frankly, there are people out there who contribute way more and way better than I do in that daily grind mode. So I figured where I can add the most value is in big events like DotNetConference or organizing the annual GAPAND (which, by the way, will continue for now).

Of course, that’s not the only reason.

There are some things about the program I’m not 100% on board with, and as I get older, I handle these things less well… I know, I sound like a grumpy old man! 😂

But this isn’t the time or place to get into all that. In this post, I just want to do what I said at the beginning: say thank you to everyone and let you know I’ve had an absolute blast during this time.

I’ll always remember this period with tremendous fondness!

👋 See You Around

I’ll be heading down to the Tech Summit in Madrid on October 5-6 to say goodbye to everyone I run into, and then I’m taking a well-deserved sabbatical from all this—it’s about time! 😎

Thanks to everyone, and now it’s time for others to take the wheel! #NewBlood 🩸

L

I was thinking about waiting until October 1st to write this, but decided to do it now so it wouldn’t overlap with all the excitement of the new (and renewed) MVPs getting their announcements.