How to Become MVP?

  • Thanks Ninja ,

    you opened my eyes, I mean after your calculations I don't want put that much of time in my life to SQL server to become an MVP.

    I'll will just will do help what I can and learn from you guys what I don't know.

    This thread helped me a lot to make a decision.

    You guys are amazing!

    Thanks all who replied on this thread.

    Happy Weekend!

  • Ninja's_RGR'us (8/5/2011)


    And then you do your own work + presentations (at your own expanse, travel, hotel & all). And your blog... and answer e-mails from those blog posts...

    And you write articles - well researched, useful articles. Those can often take a couple days to get to a publishable state, more if a lot of research is required.

    And the blog posts, not copy-paste from the Microsoft site with a few words added above and below. Blog posts like this: http://sqlskills.com/BLOGS/PAUL/post/Capturing-wait-stats-for-a-single-operation.aspx, http://www.sqlservercentral.com/blogs/brian_kelley/archive/2011/07/25/bad-admins-taking-advantage-of-maintenance-periods.aspx, http://sqlblog.com/blogs/adam_machanic/archive/2011/04/13/how-queries-are-processed-a-month-of-activity-monitoring-part-13-of-30.aspx, http://sqlblog.com/blogs/jonathan_kehayias/archive/2010/12/13/an-xevent-a-day-13-of-31-the-system-health-session.aspx

    Gail Shaw
    Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server, MVP, M.Sc (Comp Sci)
    SQL In The Wild: Discussions on DB performance with occasional diversions into recoverability

    We walk in the dark places no others will enter
    We stand on the bridge and no one may pass
  • Was it you Gail that said you don't even make 1$ / hour on your articles (this site pays 25$ / article)?

    P.S. 1 article = maybe 10 posts if you have a lot of feedback / questions :-P.

    Which then probably prompts a <full> rewrite.

  • kishoremania (8/6/2011)


    Thanks Ninja ,

    you opened my eyes, I mean after your calculations I don't want put that much of time in my life to SQL server to become an MVP.

    I'll will just will do help what I can and learn from you guys what I don't know.

    This thread helped me a lot to make a decision.

    You guys are amazing!

    Thanks all who replied on this thread.

    Happy Weekend!

    1 final point. You have ± 266 posts at this point right?

    That's my best DAY, THIS week. :hehe:

  • Ninja's_RGR'us (8/6/2011)


    Was it you Gail that said you don't even make 1$ / hour on your articles (this site pays 25$ / article)?

    Wasn't me, but it's very true. What Steve pays (and no offence intended to Steve) is pocket money. Even the quickest articles (like the one you edited for me) takes me 5-10 hours), ones like my corruption article took several days over the course of a few weeks

    Even books aren't worth it in terms of money. I'm doing some work on a book for Tony Davis (tech edit, not write). Considering what he's paying me for it (a generous amount) and the time spent, maybe $10-$15 an hour (and Grant's busy writing 3 books at the moment. Crazy)

    Gail Shaw
    Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server, MVP, M.Sc (Comp Sci)
    SQL In The Wild: Discussions on DB performance with occasional diversions into recoverability

    We walk in the dark places no others will enter
    We stand on the bridge and no one may pass
  • Ninja's_RGR'us (8/5/2011)


    6K posts / year = 500 /month = ±25 per business day. That's 25 items on your todo list that you cross EVERY DAY, for someone else, for free, 0$. 240+ days a year.

    However if it's a chore, if it's something that you're forcing yourself to do every day, then you're doing it for the wrong reasons. Anyone who's checking off items on a list is not doing those things because they love doing them, and it's that love of helping, writing, presenting that MS looks wants.

    Gail Shaw
    Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server, MVP, M.Sc (Comp Sci)
    SQL In The Wild: Discussions on DB performance with occasional diversions into recoverability

    We walk in the dark places no others will enter
    We stand on the bridge and no one may pass
  • There are a number of ideas mentioned in the ebook "How to become an Exceptional DBA".

    Its a good place to start on knowing what it takes.

    Jayanth Kurup[/url]

  • GilaMonster (8/6/2011)


    Ninja's_RGR'us (8/6/2011)


    Was it you Gail that said you don't even make 1$ / hour on your articles (this site pays 25$ / article)?

    Wasn't me, but it's very true. What Steve pays (and no offence intended to Steve) is pocket money. Even the quickest articles (like the one you edited for me) takes me 5-10 hours), ones like my corruption article took several days over the course of a few weeks

    Even books aren't worth it in terms of money. I'm doing some work on a book for Tony Davis (tech edit, not write). Considering what he's paying me for it (a generous amount) and the time spent, maybe $10-$15 an hour (and Grant's busy writing 3 books at the moment. Crazy)

    And getting paid far less than $10/hour for it too.

    Books aren't about the cash, although by the end of it, you have some, and may even make a tiny amount in royalties down the road. They are about name recognition and that's pretty much it. If you bust your behind and get lucky, you might produce a useful book, think Kalen Delaney's Internals book. That's the best you hope for.

    Fortunately, I enjoy the writing process, which few people find much fun.

    "The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood"
    - Theodore Roosevelt

    Author of:
    SQL Server Execution Plans
    SQL Server Query Performance Tuning

  • GilaMonster (8/6/2011)


    Ninja's_RGR'us (8/5/2011)


    And then you do your own work + presentations (at your own expanse, travel, hotel & all). And your blog... and answer e-mails from those blog posts...

    And you write articles - well researched, useful articles. Those can often take a couple days to get to a publishable state, more if a lot of research is required.

    And the blog posts, not copy-paste from the Microsoft site with a few words added above and below. Blog posts like this: http://sqlskills.com/BLOGS/PAUL/post/Capturing-wait-stats-for-a-single-operation.aspx, http://www.sqlservercentral.com/blogs/brian_kelley/archive/2011/07/25/bad-admins-taking-advantage-of-maintenance-periods.aspx, http://sqlblog.com/blogs/adam_machanic/archive/2011/04/13/how-queries-are-processed-a-month-of-activity-monitoring-part-13-of-30.aspx, http://sqlblog.com/blogs/jonathan_kehayias/archive/2010/12/13/an-xevent-a-day-13-of-31-the-system-health-session.aspx

    Ya those Paul Randal articles might be on the short side in the amount of words, but there's no way in hell he writes that in only a few minutes... or even only half a day. No offense to the other links, I just read the ones from Paul.

  • Ninja's_RGR'us (8/5/2011)


    I say "then" because between all 5 of us we probably close 100-150 threads / day and we pretty much cover 24 / 7.

    You should be looking more to the quality of your posts not the quantity! It's a common misconception that 1000s of posts are better than just a small portion providing sound advice.

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    "Ya can't make an omelette without breaking just a few eggs" 😉

  • Perry Whittle (8/6/2011)


    Ninja's_RGR'us (8/5/2011)


    I say "then" because between all 5 of us we probably close 100-150 threads / day and we pretty much cover 24 / 7.

    You should be looking more to the quality of your posts not the quantity! It's a common misconception that 1000s of posts are better than just a small portion providing sound advice.

    When did I start giving wrong advice to increase post count?!?!

    Not taking it personally but I'm not sure I understand what you mean. I do agree that quality is prime and I always give my best, like 90+% of the people here (jus tto give conservative figures).

  • From the MS site...(nothing more than Gail has already stated)

    https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/gp/mvpbecoming

    List of SQL MVPs.....dbl click on any name to give an idea of the committment these people make to the community.

    https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/communities/mvp.aspx?product=1&competency=SQL+Server

    I have great respect for these people (not just SQL MVPs but in many other disciplines as well)....I find that the quality of their blogs / articles / question repsonses etc are well written, researched and documented....and always provide accreditation where deserved and links to external resources if used.

    There are also many people. on this site in particular, who are very willing to give up their time to assist us with our queries; they are not MVPs but that does not neccessarily demean the quality of their replies.

    To all of those people, MVPs or not, who continue to assist us, my sincere thanks.....

    ________________________________________________________________
    you can lead a user to data....but you cannot make them think
    and remember....every day is a school day

  • gah (8/6/2011)


    From the MS site...(nothing more than Gail has already stated)

    https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/gp/mvpbecoming

    List of SQL MVPs.....dbl click on any name to give an idea of the committment these people make to the community.

    https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/communities/mvp.aspx?product=1&competency=SQL+Server

    I have great respect for these people (not just SQL MVPs but in many other disciplines as well)....I find that the quality of their blogs / articles / question repsonses etc are well written, researched and documented....and always provide accreditation where deserved and links to external resources if used.

    There are also many people. on this site in particular, who are very willing to give up their time to assist us with our queries; they are not MVPs but that does not neccessarily demean the quality of their replies.

    To all of those people, MVPs or not, who continue to assist us, my sincere thanks.....

    It's posts like that that keep a lot of us going. Thanks, Gah.

    --Jeff Moden


    RBAR is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for Row-By-Agonizing-Row.
    First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
    ________Stop thinking about what you want to do to a ROW... think, instead, of what you want to do to a COLUMN.

    Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.


    Helpful Links:
    How to post code problems
    How to Post Performance Problems
    Create a Tally Function (fnTally)

  • @SQLFRNDZ (8/5/2011)


    Craig Farrell (8/5/2011)


    @SQLFRNDZ (8/5/2011)


    Thank you for the information.

    I was just posted this topic because I see this MVP tag on most sites and blogs of experts and I wonder why I shouldn't have that on my resume? not for pay but pride.

    Thanks Gila

    So, who are you?

    Thanks Kraig and I will be an upcoming MVP in near future as I love to help people.

    Speaking as one who had been nominated, this is not enough.

  • Interesting. So how much had you done that year Lynn? Maybe that gives a bottom marker to "aim" for and surpass.

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