I just sent this email to Mr. Lindstrom...
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Mr. Lindstrom,
I am shocked at the recent decision to terminate the MVP program. Although I have read the announcements on the web site about the new support plans involving Microsoft participation in the newsgroups, I must strongly protest the decision to kill the MVP program.
The MVP's that I have encountered, mostly in the Visual Foxpro newsgroups, the old CompuServe forums, the fox.wikis.com site, and the Universal Thread are truly EXPERTS in Visual Foxpro and in other Microsoft emerging technologies. They actually USE the software daily to make a living, and KNOW FROM EXPERIENCE what the real problems and solutions are.
Their expertise in teaching software design principles goes hand in hand with their technical knowledge of the "guts" of the developer tools. Maybe the other products don't have such a wonderful support community with almost-instant responses to puzzling questions -- I can only speak from my experience.
You should see how they give hours of time, patiently explaining to beginners the things that are not easily learned from reading a manual. You should see how they gently correct mistakes and misconceptions, all the while supporting Microsoft and its technologies.
I KNOW that no matter what problem I may be facing (design, programming, understanding concepts, getting the practical application of new technologies like MTS, MSMQ, etc., or even personal problems), the following is true: If I post a message on one of the above support groups, I am assured that I will get several responses within the hour, and that one or more MVP's will either answer the question, or will check the answers of others for accuracy and jump in where needed.
I have personally been helped time and again by several MVP's. Microsoft has been personally helped THOUSANDS of times each month by these dedicated volunteers. Don't slap them in the face -- reward them. You will benefit far beyond any cost involved.
I suggest that you immediately rescind the decision to terminate the MVP program, and instead SUPPLEMENT it with the added presence in the newsgroups. I have very little faith in the idea that Microsoft will provide superior (or even equal) quality support, unless you go out and hire the MVP's to do the job. Remember -- these are people with REAL-LIFE experience building world-class applications, who must keep their customers happy. They know the right answers.
Regards,
David Stevenson
dsharpie@mindspring.com
