I think that what John was referring to was forum activity HERE on the UT. Granted, when I got my MVP award in 2003, it was for activity exclusively here ... but back then, there wasn't yet much out there in terms of support forums. The MSDN forums were probably just getting started (I don't remember exactly). I have since branched out to the MSDN forums, and unfortunately they probably count more than the UT, but John's right about the UT. My current MVP Lead has not even been here to check out the place ... even though I've asked him to (my previous Leads did make appearances here, or at least signed up).

Up until starting a blog back in September though, pretty much my only community participation has been forum posts ... so, you can *still* be an MVP just from that. <g>

~~Bonnie



>>Activity on the UT is not even a blip on the radar used by MS.... No amount of forum activity here would qualify a person for MVP status. They need to be active in the local .net community, code-camps, user groups and MS online forums to be considered.
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>Maybe things have changed. It has been several years since I was an MVP, after 5 or 6 years in. (I was dropped at the right time, so that isn't my point; I was no longer earning it). Back then it was PURELY a recognition of online contributions. There were a few legacy MVPs like YAG and Lisa Slater who had a sort of lifetime status, rightfully so, but that was not the norm. Let's not forget the MVP program was Microsoft's way of offloading tech support to the community. That was why the program came to exist. Maybe the considerations have broadened since then.
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>I can tell you seriously that in my own case it was all due to online posts. I wasn't an MVP because of public speaking. By the time I was the head of the Chicago user group and spoke at Whil's conference I had already been in the program a couple of years. I was in there because I spent a ridiculous amount of line answering questions. And I wasn't Mr. Chatter like now.