Len,

MVP is not a status, it is an award that MS gives to folks who have provided a high level of peer to peer support through one of the electronic media during the previous year.

If one receives the MVP award for 1999-2000 it is never "taken away". That person may or may not receive the award again for 2000-2001, but they will, forever, have received the award for 1999-2000.

Each year MS reviews the postings in the various newsgroups, on the web sites and at compuserve to see who the people are that are giving execellent support with a high sound to noise ratio. A number of those people are awarded the MVP award which includes some goodies and access to technical information to assist them in continuing to provide a high level of support. MS encourages MVPs to continue to provide the level of support that earned them the award but there is no requirement to do that.

Historically, most of the folks who have earned the award have continued to provide a high level of support, probably more because of who they are than because of any goodies that MS gave them.

The program started in 1993 with the award being given to 30 something people world wide who gave support for the developer products. It was later expanded to include the office desktop products. A year or so ago there was a message that the award program was to be disbanded but that was overturned based on feedback from MVPs, users who were not MVPs and many of the technical support staff within Microsoft who appreciated the assistance that the peer to peer support avenues provide them in their work.

So, there really is no meaning to a "Lifetime" MVP. Since it is an award for service already provided, and not an indication of status, once it has been received the award is never "taken away". Not receiving the award again in a subsequent year may be seen as MVP being "taken away" but it isn't.

As to the question, "Then what is the value of the program?". Two points:

1) It is very nice and somewhat pleasing to receive recognition for the work that one has done in these venues providing answers to folks questions. It takes time to answer questions and there is no payment for that time. The goodies are nice to receive.

2) The moniker of MVP gives the information that these people have been recognized for their accurate and helpful responses in the past. It does not mean they are never wrong or that their answers should be given any more or less weight than other answers. It simply means that they have been recognized by Microsoft as having provided helpful and accurate assistance in the past.