John,

I don't want to get into an discussion about if Rod not being named an MVP is right or wrong. You are assuming that Rick was chosen for his FoxForum postings. I do want to point out that Rick does alot more than post on the FoxForum. He writes books and magazine articles and speaks as conferences. Perhaps he was chosen for that.


>Nice try Ken - but I think you are back-tracking a bit. I think everybody knows that external opinions don't count. I don't think that issue had to be clarified.
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>The fact is, politics and opinion play a part. Here is a concrete example: On foxforum.com - you have a guy - Rod Paddock - who funds that site and receives no renumeration in return. He acts in the true spirit of what the MVP program is all about - VOLUNTEERISM. Specifically, Rick Schummer provides support on that forum almost exclusively - and with good reason - he is in MVP. As a result, you are left the anomolous situation that while a participant on the forum can get the award - the guy who provides the forum year after year for gratis - does not get the award.
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>Regarding the UT - which is a for profit enterprise - you have elected to award Michel the MVP yet again. Don't get me wrong - I have zero qualms with Michel receiving the award. He provides a valuable service to the community -and as such - is as deserving as anybody - but so is Rod. Last I saw - foxforum was listed as a developer community on the MS Fox webpage.
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>Just to underscore the point - all the improvements Michel does here helps him in selling premier memberships. While not visible - Rod does have to expend some amount of resources in keeping foxforum online as a recognized MS Developer community. Does the UT have more bells and whistles than the foxforum? Absolutely. But - the key difference is that the UT is a business. Foxforum is not a business. Michel - in order to keep his business thriving -has to make those investments - its in his best interest to do so. It seems to me that you are short-changing big time - the fact that Rod has graciously dedicated resources to the Fox Community - which does garner a regular amount of activity that does appear on MS's radar screen to the extent that activity there qualifies for MVP consideration.
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>How you decide to pick and choose who gets the award is entirely your business. That said, when you say that opinion and politics are not part of the equation - that is when you have to be reeled in and held accountable for those statements. In fact, you have elected to make the subjective point (ie opinion) - that one on-line provider is deserving and the other is not. Clearly, there are factors that differentiate that are based on opinion and/or politics and as a result - a choice is made. It is clear that there is no one set of objective criteria that can be used to guage whether somebody gets the award or not. At some point - somebody's opinion is going to be THE determining factor.
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>With all due respect - your assertion is refuted.
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>< JVP >