On April Fools' day I received the best news of the year and it was no joke: Microsoft has recognized me as MVP, Windows Consumer Expert. This is great news for me and for us, here at 7 Tutorials. That's why I would like to share with you what this award means for me, for us as a team and for you, our readers.

What is Microsoft MVP?

Microsoft MVP means Microsoft Most Valuable Professional and it is an award given by Microsoft to "exceptional, independent community leaders who share their passion, technical expertise, and real-world knowledge of Microsoft products with others."

MVPs are always people outside of Microsoft as this award is not given to Microsoft employees. Many MVPs are active on several online communities where they help users, others do lots of public speaking about different Microsoft technologies, others have their personal blogs and communities where they help their readers, while some write books about Microsoft technologies, which help the thousands of people reading them.

This award is valid only for one year and, in order for it to be renewed, MVPs must prove that they continued their outstanding work in helping others. The award is given for very specific areas of expertise. For example, MVP awards for Windows are split into Windows Consumer Expert and Windows IT Pro, depending on the area of activity: the consumer space or the IT professionals space. If you are curious to view the list of areas and technologies where the MVP award is given, use this search form and select Technical expertise.

Receiving such an award is very difficult because it means that you have to have an exceptional ability in helping others use Microsoft technologies and products, you have to prove that you are very knowledgeable throughout your entire field of expertise and, on top of that, other MVP's or folks at Microsoft must notice your activity and propose you as a candidate for this award.

There are a couple of thousand MVPs around the world and the list includes many people whose work I deeply respect: Ed Bott (author of dozens of technical books and award-winning computer journalist), Lowell Heddings (chief-editor at How-To Geek) or Joli Ballew (my co-author on the Windows Step by Step books), to give you a few examples. The are about 120 Windows Consumer Experts around the world and, as of yesterday, I am one of them. Also, I am the first Romanian to be recognized as a Windows Consumer Expert.

Why Did I Receive this Award?

Because I managed to meet all the criteria that were mentioned earlier and because I work with a great team who helped me a lot.

Personally, I take this award as a recognition of the work we are doing here at 7 Tutorials. As a team, we publish hundreds of articles and tutorials each year and with each one, we do our best to increase the quality and thoroughness of our writing. To give you an idea, 3 million people have read our work in the last year alone, while our most read guide was read 205445 times in the last year. We're really happy to see our work having such an impact and it is great to see it recognized by Microsoft.

On top of that, with the help of others in the team and while working with other co-authors, I managed to publish 2 books with Microsoft Press in the last year alone, books which you know if you have been following us for a while.

Occasionally, I am also active on public communities like Microsoft Answers, SuperUser or O'Reilly Answers.

What Does the MVP Title Mean for Our Readers?

I think this gives you the guarantee that we publish only quality advice on how to use the products featured on our website. If you have been reading us for a while, I think you are reading us exactly for this reason but, if you are new to 7 Tutorials, rest assured that you are in good company.

Having access to Microsoft's resources and product roadmaps means that we can better plan the work that we do here at 7 Tutorials. We will be better prepared for what's coming from Microsoft and we will publish more articles and tutorials that are useful to you.

Last but not least, we do listen to your emails and comments. Therefore, we will take your feedback about using Microsoft's products and we will share it back to Microsoft, so that they take it into consideration in their future products and updates.

I will have one more reason to travel to the US on a regular basis and attend at least one global event organized each year by Microsoft for its MVPs. This means that we will get the chance to organize meetings with our readers in the United States, get to know each other better and you will have one more way in which you can provide feedback about what we do and what else you would like us to do.

What Does the MVP Title Mean for Us?

First of all, this is a great recognition for our work. The award alone makes us happy and proud. However, it does include some very nice benefits, like:

• Easy access to Microsoft's technical resources and products.
• Private information about Microsoft product roadmaps and upcoming technology features. No, we won't be able to reveal anything to you in advance but it does help us plan our work better, so that we can be of more help to you in the future.
• The chance to give direct feedback to Microsoft related to their products.
• Access to regional and global events, aimed at the MVP community.

Conclusion

That's it for today's good news. Thanks for reading us, thanks for supporting us and remain tuned to 7 Tutorials.