2011 MVP Summit Preview

Next week I will be attending my second MVP Summit. I wrote up a preview for the 2010 Summit last year, comparing it to the movie “Fight Club“. I was going to just rerun that post again for this preview but I wanted to find a new movie to use. Unfortunately, “Fight Club” is just about perfect when it comes to describing the MVP Summit, what with all the NDA and secrecy.

I had mentioned during dinner the other night that I was having trouble coming up with a new movie to use when my daughter happily suggested that I use “The Princess Bride” for the Summit preview. I laughed, and she laughed, and I thought about how if I did use “Princess Bride” I might need to turn in my Man Card. Since she has seen the movie five or six times by now, and she knows almost every line, when I asked her a question about a quote from the movie for a topic she always had an answer.

So, here you go. The 2011 MVP Summit preview, with quotes from the “Princess Bride”, just for my Princess.

“As you wish.”

The movie opens with the Farm Boy only saying this line every time something is asked of him. It is the ultimate in customer service, no doubt. No matter how silly the request, the Farm Boy simply states “As you wish” and does the task. This makes me think about the times that the MVPs stand up and tell Microsoft “Farm Boy, shine my saddle, I want to see my face in it” and they not only listen to our feedback but they get the task done as well. It does not always happen this way, but sometimes it does. And when it does, it makes you feel good to know that you are helping to provide some direction for the products that Microsoft creates.

“You be careful. People in masks cannot be trusted.”

I don’t recall seeing anyone at the MVP Summit last year wearing a mask. But that is not enough for Microsoft to trust anyone. That’s why we sign our NDA when we become a part of the program. Because of that NDA we get to see and discuss things that are not publicly known. I doubt Microsoft is telling us all their secrets, but they do give us information and indications of future enhancements to their products. And every now and then one of us makes a mistake and we blog or tweet about something, and that comment breaks the NDA and we are dismissed from the program. It happens.

“You seem a decent fellow. I hate to kill you. You seem a decent fellow. I hate to die.”

I needed a quote to cover the amazing amount of networking opportunities that arise at the MVP Summit. Outside of the PASS Summit, where else are you going to get a collection of the best of the best of the best? And this is not just networking for the sake of finding a new job, in many cases it is networking to find other people to help answer questions you have about some piece of a product you want to know more about. I was lucky enough to meet Todd Klindt on the flight to the Summit last year. Todd works for Sharepoint911.com, and now any time I have a question about Sharepoint and why it abuses SQL Server so badly I know I can ask (and trust) Todd’s answer.

Same thing for any other product. Want to know more about xBox? Zune? Visual FoxPro? Yeah, you can find someone.

“You know Fezzik, you finally did something right. Don’t worry, I won’t let it go to my head.”

Recognizing the efforts of others is important, and honestly I don’t think the MVPs as a whole do enough of this. I’m not saying that we bash Microsoft over the head all the time, but the majority of discussions I see take place have fewer “please” and “thank you” than I would like to see. Yes, yes…I know I am either the pot or the kettle here, and I always try to do my best to recognize the efforts of others. Microsoft does an amazing job with the MVP program and with their products in general and all too often we forget to say “thanks”.

“Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.”

This quote is for all of the stuff we see or hear about that never gets released, or is killed before RTM. As with any company of Microsoft’s size you know there are politics in play as well, so there are times when certain features get a higher priority than others and we are left scratching our heads. Some times things don’t get killed completely, they just get pushed back and are released as part of a Service Pack. But there are some items that just get scrapped, no matter how useful they would have been.

“Have fun stormin’ da castle.”

The Summit takes place at the Microsoft campus in Redmond. That means I need to fly out to Seattle. Again. Now, I don’t mind getting the miles, but I do mind that it takes me extra time to get there and back. That is time away from my family, time away from my work, etc. But it is worth every minute, as this is a unique opportunity for me to spend time with members of the product team, to learn about new features coming, and to network with fellow SQL MVPs.

“Who are you? No one of consequence. I must know. Get used to disappointment. ‘kay.”

Get used to disappointment? You mean like when we all screamed to please not release DACPAC and were essentially ignored? This quote works for all those times that we give feedback that goes nowhere. We are essentially told “yes, we hear you, but we are still going to do it this way. Thanks for coming, try the salmon.” At times I start to think that the people working there are essentially Cylons. And of course we know that Cylons have a Plan. That seemed to work out rather well, right?

Look, I trust our Dark Overlords do have a plan, and they are not always at liberty to say. I also trust that politics play a role here as well. The end result is that there are times where we simply feel as if we are not of much consequence. I know that is not true as a whole, but when you speak up and are essentially told “no”, it can lead people to feel as if their feedback carries no value.

“HE DIDN’T FALL? INCONCEIVABLE. You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”

But what about the things we get to see? Well, some of them are truly inconceivable. Well, for most of us they might have been, but clearly for someone at Microsoft it was conceivable, otherwise they would not be showing us something shiny during the Summit sessions. And I enjoy the shiny things, who doesn’t?

“Sonny, true love is the greatest thing, in the world-except for a nice MLT – mutton, lettuce and tomato sandwich, where the mutton is nice and lean and the tomato is ripe…they’re so perky, I love that.”

One thing I enjoy about Seattle is the food I can get there. Unfortunately we are not in Seattle, so I won’t be going to Top Pot Donuts or Le Panier for a croissant and coffee. Don’t get me wrong, the food they serve up is nice. Last year we were in a building that had it’s own food court. It felt like being on a college campus, lots of choices to grab a bite and find a place to sit and talk. I don’t think they serve mutton. Well, not since Paul Randal left.

“You rush a miracle man, you get rotten miracles.”

When it comes to building software, you need to have patience. When you are a company the size of Microsoft, you need to have a LOT of patience. It can take years for a feature to make it into the final product. With a piece of software as large and as complex as SQL Server you cannot expect things to move quickly through the pipeline. When we provide feedback we need to understand that even if acted upon our feedback will not be reflected in the final product for quite some time.

I’ll be in town on Sunday afternoon and I am looking forward to seeing old friends and making new ones.