If you follow Grant Fritchey (B|T) at all, you know that every month he picks a “Speaker of the Month”.  Grant attends SQL events over the course of a month.  Out of all of the sessions he attends during that month, he will pick a winner and write a blog post about it.

I applaud him and think this a great way to showcase speakers, both new and old, to the general public.

As a side note, if you are not following Grant, you should be.  He’s a MVP, on the PASS Board of Directors and he knows a thing or two about SQL Server.

Not Everyone is a MVP But They Can Be

There are a ton of individuals out there that do a lot of work for the SQL community and have yet to achieve MVP status.  They, like me, love to share and give back to others. Having been nominated myself, I can tell you that knowing that someone took the time to nominate you and to recognize your efforts is a complete honor and a huge motivation to do more.

With that being said, much like Grant’s Speaker of the Month, I’m going to do a nominate “MVP of the Month” for 2016.  Essentially, each month next year I will nominate one individual that I think is deserving of the award.  I will take note of individuals speaking physically or virutally, at SQL Saturdays or other events.  They may not be a speaker but contribute and standout, via Twitter, help in online forums or any other medium that showcases their “MVPness” I deem appropriate.

After nominating the individual, I will blog about that person as to why I think they deserve the famed MVP award.  Start watching my blog in January for my first selection!

Nominate Someone

I can speak from firsthand experience that being nominated is indeed an honor.  If you know of someone that has shown the values of being an MVP and isn’t, take the time to nominate them.  I assure you that you will make their day.

I challenge you to nominate someone in your circle.  Even if it isn’t for the MVP award, nominate them for something.  If they are a PASS Volunteer, the outstanding PASS Volunteer award is another excellent choice.   Blog about their achievements and get them recognized.  You will be amazed on how much it can make a difference.

If you do want to nominate someone for the Microsoft MVP award, you will need to know their email address and can submit the nomination here.

Need more convincing?  Fellow SQL Family member Mark Broadbent (B|T) has similar advice.  He has a great blog post about it here.  Do not just take my word for it.

Go recognize someone.