I was lucky enough to attend the MVP Summit held last week in Redmond and Bellevue. I attended the Summit in 2008, but had to miss 2009 because I couldn't get away from work. The cool thing about this Summit was the number of my friends attending that I know from PASS who are now MVPs. In a way, we have all grown up together, getting started in presenting and writing about the same time. I didn't start out with the goal of being an MVP, but wanted to teach and thought the writing and presenting would help me. Little did I know how my life would change from these activities.

This year, the sessions covered features that are planned for future releases of SQL Server. In some cases, they are just "wish list" features that the product team wanted our feedback about. The areas that I am most interested in are the ones that can help me in my job, such as high-availability and T-SQL. Unlike other conferences, we really can't give details, or even hints, about what we learned. Some MVPs are very passionate about giving Microsoft feedback. I was really there to learn and can't see myself being as vocal as some of the MVPs there.

One of the best things about the conference is networking with other MVPs in the hallways or at the evening events. I met several new people and reconnected with a few I had met several years earlier at other conferences like DevTeach or PASS. I felt like I could immediately start up a conversation with any MVP I met.

Thanks, Microsoft, for this fun event!