>J.
>
>I was disappointed as well at some of those who didn't make it this year, who had made it previously. I was quite frankly surprised that I did make, and had previously resigned myself to be on the "out" list. I think, however, it goes to show that the program's integrity is as high, if not higher than it ever was. It used to be that once you received the award, as long as you kept some visibility, you continued to receive it (or at least that was the impression I got). Now, however, it appears that you have to continually be active, and maintain the standards of excellence outlined by Microsoft.
>
>In my mind this has an up and a down side. The up side is that new names will appear who are deserving. The down side is that some, perhaps through circumstances, who couldn't participate as fully as they'd like, but are still deserving won't.

I agree. Seems like the bar has been raised a few notches, and it also seems like the criteria for being on the list is diverse and you can score points depending on how active you are on the area where you participate. It also seems that you don't necessarily need to be involved in all of these areas.

So I guess it will take good qualities to make the list now, not just a recognized name. Of course I'm talking about other people that fell off the list, not myself :)

About your renewal, I would say it is well deserved. OTOH this year I dropped the ball on my participation here, mostly lurking around and getting into flame wars :)

Anyway, congrats to all who made the list this year.