It's weird how something that seems to be perfect, can slowly
turn into a monster. For me it often happens just as I dare to lean
back in the chair, take a deep breath of satisfaction and pat my
own back thinking, "nailed it". Maybe it's because you're
exhausted, maybe because you get lazy or maybe it's because you
start "choosing your battles". Prioritizing if you will. Maybe even
maturing.
My number one pet - the Umbraco community - has certainly
matured. What started out as a crazy dream by a selected few is now
the daily life of thousands. And during the journey - which is
seven years in a few weeks - we've all been doing a great job of
adjusting. What seemed right in 2005 may not be that great in
2012!
Why all this rambling? Well, because it's time to make an
adjustment of what I thought was an evergreen in the Umbraco
community - the MVP program - our "Most Valued People". It was
started in 2007 as a way to recognize the selected few who really
made a difference. The crazy ones. It was easy then because there
weren't more than a few to pick from and I knew what every one had
done. Read every post, tried every package.
As time went on and things grew, I couldn't keep up. Who could?
So in 2010 I moved the responsibility to nominate the MVPs to the
collective intelligence of the community. Based on the 20 community
members who had the most karma, the community voted and the top
five were honored with the recognition of being an MVP. Over five
years Casey, Doug, Jesper, Per, Thomas, Warren, Dirk, Morten, Paul,
Tim, Lee, Richard, Darren, Matt, Sebastiaan and Jan wrote a little bit of Umbraco history as the
Umbraco MVPs.
We've been blessed with this fantastic bunch of people who were
crazy enough to believe in an unknown project like Umbraco, crazy
enough to help because it came naturally to them and crazy enough
to share their work for free because it felt right.
Because it felt right. Not because they searched for
recognition. Not because they wanted a badge, an honor, an ego
boost. But simply because it was the building blocks Umbraco is
made of. And the MVPs that followed went in the footsteps of what
became known as the Umbraco culture - we really became the friendly
cms. These are our roots.
Our culture is fragile, yet it's our most important asset and
what really sets us apart. Our culture is about helping and sharing
because it's the most natural thing to do and because we can't help
it. Not because we strive for recognition. Before that becomes the
norm, I've decided to close the MVP program. It's not worth
striving for. What is worth striving for - while much harder - is a
community that helps each other despite not getting anything
tangible in return.
So the MVPs of 2011 will be the last ones. There won't be any
voting this year nor the years that follow. The MVP program is
history and we'll only miss it because it never got devalued. Kudos
to the MVPs who brought us here and created a culture that made
recognition obsolete. What a community!
"The unselfish effort to bring cheer to others will be the
beginning of a happier life for ourselves.", Helen
Keller