>George
>
>>>It might be better for me to defer to Garrett here. Let me say that, AFAIK, this is no longer the case. If he thinks some more information is appropriate, I hope that he'll post here.<<
>
>OK. But as of very recently (try the latest Foxtalk) there are MVP's who are undoubtedly experts, but who do not seem to attend on-line forums at all. They have risen above it, it would seem, and are now life-MVP's.

There are other forums and newsgroups. As far as "life-MVPs", that's no longer the case.

>>>They don't select each other, John, and perhaps this was the case years ago, but it certainly hasn't been since at least 1998. They are selected by MS Support Professional who do the evaluations.<<
>
>The nature of a self-selected elite is that it protects and promotes its members. If, as you say, people whose message count in UT is <5 during 2000 and similar in the MS groups are nevertheless selected by MS Support Professionals as the most suitable recipient of an award for technical assistance to others... QED.

I don't hang out at the other newsgroups so it'd be inappropriate for me to comment.

>Perhaps if Garrett posted the list of VFP MVP's here, we could do a straw poll of whether people know who they are.

I don't know if all the reports are available to BUTMs or not. There is one titled "Top 50 Posters - MVP" that lists a bit less than than the total number that's available to all PUTMs. I think it shows 38 of around 50 MVPs.