First, a disclosure: a lot of my online and personal friends are Microsoft MVP’s. This article is taking an experience from ONE Microsoft MVP, and rolling it into the whole collective of them. While I have seen my fair share of MVP’s acting very unprofessionally and have the “elitist” attitude, the majority (Close to 99%) are very professional, kind and have earned their MVP designation. They are intelligent, willing and able to help others, and share their knowledge. Of course, it does take a single bad apple to give the rest a bad reputation.

One thing to clarify, however: Microsoft MVP’s do not take a test, it is not a certification showing that they have the skills to support the products. It is an award and a designation showing that they help others in a professional manner. If you want to hire a person, the MVP shows that they can take the initiative to learn and share their knowledge, even if it is only with a “Hello World” type of application.

I’ve also seen some MVP’s that are very, VERY knowledgable with one Microsoft product but lack any skill with another. I’m not sure if the author of this article was misinformed as to what the goals and point of the MVP program is, but I know there are some MVP’s out there that could put people with a Dr. degree and massive certifications to shame. Others, not so much. Copy and paste has been the friend of a few MVP’s, but at least they are out there helping others. Which is more that a lot of other people do. What good is information if it can’t be shared?

The other day I had the chance to peruse the work of another developer, a Microsoft MVP. The code was less than impressive. To be frank, it stunk, but it stunk in a strange way. It had a weird combination of advanced technique and rank naivet