I thought this was an interesting post for you all to read. I have benefited a thousandfold from giving back to the community but I do it because of passion. Let me know what you think!
> Guys,
>
> I want to start giving back to the IT Community, and start helping
> out. I would appreciate if you guys could answer some of the below
> questions.
> 7. What do I need to do to make sure I get credit for giving back to
> the community, this way I can work my way up to an MVP?
>
> 8. How else can I become part of the IT community and start giving
> back and networking? Any Ideas?
>
> I appreciate you taking your time to respond to my posts, and I plan
> to begin giving back to the IT community, and hope we can become
> friends.
>
7. If you are spending time giving back to the community with the intent of earning credit for it and being nominated an MVP, take up another hobby. What I do is very time-consuming and if I had started out with the intent of getting credit for it I can tell you that the rewards were not worth the effort. There are great advantages to being an MVP, but the thousands (yes, thousands) of hours I have spent over the past two years could have been better spent and enjoyed if I did it for the reward. Do it for the passion, and if you are serious and true (and not obviously gunning from the getgo for reward) we notice you and you will be nominated. That will not happen in 2006 or 2007 if you are starting now.
8. Find a local user group and participate. Contribute to on-line forums. Write blog posts about relevant (and sometimes irrelevant) topics that will be useful and interesting to your peers. I started the Montreal IT Professionals Community two years ago because there was a void but honestly I would have been better served joining an existing group, and participating and attending seminars.
Remember Julio that we all exist on a scale. A combination of our experience and expertise will eventually place you in the right place on that scale. Those on the lower end ask questions. Many of those questions will be... less informed. When you start rising on the scale your questions will start being more informed, and you will start answering but will still mostly ask. You rise on that scale by answering more questions intelligently. I am not saying that I do not ask questions - I do. But the questions I ask are much more advanced. The issue is the higher you are on the scale, the fewer people who can answer your questions. It also increases your likelihood of being noticed.
Good luck!