Despite the racy title, this is not one of those posts that you can’t read in front of your children. In this post I want to explore human nature, and try to explain what if feels like to be named an MVP.
In the spring of 2013, I got the email telling me I had been named an MVP for the first time. I was full of all sorts of emotions. I felt incredibly honored, very humbled, and 100% totally undeserving of such an honor. It was a rather odd day to begin with. I had shut off data on my mobile phone because I was on the last day of my billing cycle and was dangerously close to exceeding my data plan limit, so it wasn’t until lunch time when I connected my iPad up to WiFi when I noticed a few tweets telling me congratulations. I replied to one of them with a ‘for what?’ and the response I got was ‘check your email’. Oh, wow. Look, I’m an MVP now! Oh &*#^! What does that mean? What’s expected of me now? I was excited, nervous and scared all at the same time. Some of the MVPs were (and still are) heroes of mine. They post so much good stuff to the community, they help so many people solve problems, and all I did was start a user group and host a small regional user conference…so small that some user groups were bigger!
Fast forward a year. I was a little nervous about being renewed. I’m one of the few MVPs who hold zero certifications, and those seem to be gaining a lot more attention. I knew I should be trying to get certified, but I’m not an Admin or a Developer at my job. I’m simply the reporting and analytics guy. I build reports and dashboards all day long. Ok, I do more than that, I do have Admin rights, and I’m allowed to play the admin role, as long as I do it in the sandbox for testing. Once I’ve got things tested out and working as I would like, I pass it all over to our Admin who moves everything to production. I did organize a “little” regional event called Midwest Dreamin’ that seemed to be a success. When I got the email telling me I was re-awarded the MVP title, all those same feelings came right back. I felt incredibly honored, very humbled, and 100% totally undeserving of such an honor.
2015 was no different. I’m still not certified, although I did try the Admin certification exam once, and failed. I also just finished participating in the Salesforce Certification Study Group on the Success Community, but I haven’t yet attempted the exam. I’m not quite ready to try it again. I’ve been too busy with work, planning Midwest Dreamin’ 2015, and helping my wife launch her new business to have the appropriate time to devote to studying and practicing in a Dev org. I got the email again, stating that I’ve been renewed as an MVP yet another time. Needless to say, I was thrilled, but still, all those same feelings came right back. I felt incredibly honored, very humbled, and 100% totally undeserving of such an honor.
I don’t think I’ll ever get used to it.
To all of the Community who has helped me, a very big THANK YOU. I couldn’t be where I am today without YOU!