>>I didn't see this in NY, but the PA .NET and SQL groups that meet in Malvern are excellent. I have no idea how the people who run those labs, etc. find the time to prepare for them and still make a living at a day job.
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>Yup, people who run community events put in a great deal of work. The Malvern events in particular are very large.
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>I'll kill the proverbial two birds with one stone here, and answer JR's claim of the "checking the boxes" to get the perks from the vendor, as opposed to true community recognition. Here is my situation, and I know other MVPs who have similar situations.
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>Every year, I do about 20-25 community sessions, 10-12 conference sessions with the VS Live/SQL Live brand, about a dozen webcasts (some on my own and some sponsored by PASS or Microsoft) and a few articles for CoDe. Aside from the conference sessions, all others are essentially free.
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>Even if I never set out on my own to do any of these - at this stage, I'd still wind up getting asked. The honest truth - in at least a third of those situations, the people who run the events reach out to me (and certainly others). I can say with certainty they do it based on past performance, eval numbers from attendees, etc. In the last month, 3 user group reps emailed me with the basic, "hey, we had you last year and we liked your session, can you come back next month?" Many MVPs get asked "back to the table".
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>That's not boasting, it's statement of fact. Doesn't make me the best...I'm not. Sometimes I have great sessions, some are decent, and some just aren't that well received. But I do enough in the first two categories that when there are events and I haven't yet submitted sessions, I often get emails asking, "hey, you're going to sign up for such-and-such, we're going to need you!" When I stopped writing for CoDe last year, I got emails from readers asking if I was going to write again. Those situations are definitely "community driven".
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>I do it for several reasons. I love technology and I always wanted to be a teacher. I'm also a bit of a gypsy, so it's kind of cool to drive a few hours to a place, do a few sessions, eat at a place I've never been to before, and then drive home (especially since I have XM Radio in my car and get to listen to hours of jazz uninterrupted).
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>The road trips I had with JB a few years ago were some of the zaniest times I've had as an adult.
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>I've made contacts from community work and it's led to client work.
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>I give community work everything I have, and I know that many have benefited. I also benefit as well. I have about 10 community sessions these days and I'm regularly tweaking them. To expand the troubadour analogy, I think of myself like a musician looking to constantly improve his performance. I learn something new every time I present. I also pay roughly $1,500 out of my own pocket in the course of a year (travel costs, train costs, etc.). Yes, MVPs get the MSDN license - as well they should. They are the ones providing knowledge in the community and so they should get access to the product line. I've never viewed myself as a salesman for the products. I figure people are there because they already own the products (or their employer does) and they want to learn more.
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> I think this is (and always has been) a very honest way of looking at it. Yes, I love helping people and I'm glad that people are able to get things out of community presentations. I certainly have learned from free sessions in the past. But as far as I'm concerned, anyone who states it's a selfless motive with no personal objectives is not being honest, and anyone who is in it ONLY for the perks is likely going to be exposed.
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>Monday I drove from White Plains to Haddon Heights to do 2 sessions. I wouldn't do it if I didn't love it. As Ernie Banks once said, "let's play 2". Back to JR's point - do I keep a general tally? Of course I do...I'm a data and numbers guy. :) There's nothing wrong with a certain level of pride in being prolific, so long as the person is also consciously trying to keep the quality up.
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>So JR, is that good enough for you? :)


Our VFP group does good sessions on how to use VFP and related products, but most of them have been around for at least a decade and the sessions show new or novel ways to use them. That's been really useful.

However, I've been going to Malvern since around 2007 and some of these .NET people have gone through 2 or 3 iterations of the "next great thing" and have been pretty deeply informed about the topics- some of which had only been around for a few months.
Fortunately, I avoided all but one of the "next great things" that flamed out quickly (I was burned by LINQToSQL and should have known better) but it's always impressed me that these people can absorb fairly complex concepts so quickly and thoroughly and it's been a good way for me to keep up with the latest things in the .NET world.
With regard to their motivations... based on what I can see.. these people are all in demand professionally and can command top rates.. especially in today's market.. so any monetary perks wouldn't seem to matter.
As you say, some people like to teach and share what they've learned and this is a good way for them to do it.