Today is an important day. Today is Renewal Day for a sizeable amount of the Microsoft MVP population, and I was renewed as well for the 10th year in a row.
Ten years is a very long time…why do I keep doing everything I do (which eventually can bring to the Award, but never the other way around)? Because I love it.
I love running a Meetup, despite massive drop rates and a perennial struggle for attendance. I just organised Global DevOps Bootcamp 2019 in London, which was a huge experience. I just love meeting people and listening to their experience while sharing mine, over the years I became friends with a huge amount of people, and being an MVP became an enriching experience at a deeply personal level.
I am a founding member of several other communities all over Europe, and I travel at my own expense (except if the conference has paid for tickets!) to speak anywhere I can find a stage, large or small. I do it because I believe that sharing is the cornerstone of cultural growth, and I try to venture in new territories whenever possible. It is also an excellent excuse to travel and visit new places :-)
I started my first few open-source contributions this year, and I hope I will pick them up again whenever I have time. I have a huge mountain to climb in that regard, but I am not giving up on that…it is still part of the sharing concept above.
All in all, it’s been a fantastic ride. Let’s turn this corner, and keep going.