Doesn't anyone at Microsoft monitor these groups?

[Stuart McCall]

I've never known an MVP to hide his or her identity in the
newsgroups. What purpose is served by that? It certainly raises
questions, especially given the number of kooks we've had around
these parts who have issues with the concept of the MVP.

Speaking as a common jerk:

I can't guess what purpose would be served either, but Chris O'C is likely
to be genuine, for no better reason than aaron_kempf (speaking of kooks)
doesn't like him at all. There were quite a few posts earlier this year,
like:

"Warning!

this Chris guy is not credible.
He does not know the basics of MS Access.

-Aaron"

which is quite obviously untrue, judging by the quality of Chris' posts.

 

[Chris O'C via AccessMonster.com]

It's not hard to spot a pretender.

Thanks for the invite. I'll do that when I get time.

Chris
Microsoft MVP

 

[Chris O'C via AccessMonster.com]

You can plonk me right now because I'm not going to jeopardize my job to
satisfy someone's curiosity. I don't want anyone from my company discovering
my name right next to names of known employees of our competition on a site
of authority like microsoft.com.

I can help people online while hiding in plain sight from my company in these
groups. Even if someone spotted my posts, they'd never wonder "Is that
**our** Chris?!" since I don't work with MS Office.

Chris
Microsoft MVP

 

[Chris O'C via AccessMonster.com]

Thanks for a much more positive vote of confidence, but never put any trust
in a troll's posts. The troll wouldn't have come after me so many times if
he hadn't seen the MVP in my sig line.

Chris
Microsoft MVP

[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]

questions, especially given the number of kooks we've had around
these parts who have issues with the concept of the MVP.

Speaking as a common jerk:

I can't guess what purpose would be served either, but Chris O'C is likely
to be genuine, for no better reason than aaron_kempf (speaking of kooks)
doesn't like him at all. There were quite a few posts earlier this year,
like:

"Warning!

this Chris guy is not credible.
He does not know the basics of MS Access.

-Aaron"

which is quite obviously untrue, judging by the quality of Chris' posts.

 

[David W. Fenton]

I can't guess what purpose would be served either, but Chris O'C
is likely to be genuine, for no better reason than aaron_kempf
(speaking of kooks) doesn't like him at all. There were quite a
few posts earlier this year, like:

"Warning!

this Chris guy is not credible.
He does not know the basics of MS Access.

-Aaron"

which is quite obviously untrue, judging by the quality of Chris'
posts.

Um, Aaron says that about anybody who dares to point out his
numerous errors.

 

[David W. Fenton]

You can plonk me right now because I'm not going to jeopardize my
job to satisfy someone's curiosity. I don't want anyone from my
company discovering my name right next to names of known employees
of our competition on a site of authority like microsoft.com.

Eh? You're not posting on microsoft.com. You're posting on Usenet.

I can help people online while hiding in plain sight from my
company in these groups. Even if someone spotted my posts, they'd
never wonder "Is that **our** Chris?!" since I don't work with MS
Office.

If you don't work with MS Office, how can you be an MVP? Or are you
not an Access MVP?

I could claim to be an MVP, too, except that everyone knows who I am
and that I'm not an MVP. You are hiding your identity. I suggest you
drop the MVP. Without an actual identity, it does nothing to
increase your credibility -- your posts do just fine in that regard.

 

[Chris O'C via AccessMonster.com]

It's not about posting on microsoft.com. You're asking me to make my MVP
profile on microsoft.com public, which I'm not going to do. If you can see
it, so can anyone at my company, who happen to be very paranoid about
collaboration with the enemy regarding NDA matters, because they've been
burned before. I can't afford to have my name showing right next to
employees who work for my company's competitors.

I don't work with MS Office because my company didn't hire me for my office
skills, but Microsoft awarded me the MVP award because I help out in the
Microsoft community. Microsoft authorizes me to use the MVP logo and
designation on correspondence, business cards, etc. I can't do that without
advertising to my company that I'm an MVP, just like some very visible
employees who work for our competitors. Since online posts are the only
place I can safely write the MVP designation, I'm not going to drop it.
Besides, Microsoft doesn't make it a requirement, but they do request that we
use the MVP designation in public. It helps with public awareness.

Chris
Microsoft MVP

 

[David W. Fenton]

It's not about posting on microsoft.com. You're asking me to make
my MVP profile on microsoft.com public, which I'm not going to do.

No, I'm not. I'm asking for you to post with your real name.

[]

Besides, Microsoft doesn't make it a requirement, but they do
request that we use the MVP designation in public. It helps with
public awareness.

If you're anonymous, it has no value at all, in my opinion -- anyone
could claim it.

 

[John W. Vinson]

It's not about posting on microsoft.com. You're asking me to make
my MVP profile on microsoft.com public, which I'm not going to do.

No, I'm not. I'm asking for you to post with your real name.

[]

Besides, Microsoft doesn't make it a requirement, but they do
request that we use the MVP designation in public. It helps with
public awareness.

If you're anonymous, it has no value at all, in my opinion -- anyone
could claim it.

David, give the guy a break. I have no way to ascertain who he is, but his
assertion that there are MVP's who do not reveal their real identity is
absolutely true; and I find his reasons for posting under a pseudonym quite
reasonable. Given that he's giving accurate, MVP-quality replies - which seems
to be the case - I'd be inclined to accept his peculiar situation.

 

[David W. Fenton]

It's not about posting on microsoft.com. You're asking me to
make my MVP profile on microsoft.com public, which I'm not going
to do.

No, I'm not. I'm asking for you to post with your real name.

[]

Besides, Microsoft doesn't make it a requirement, but they do
request that we use the MVP designation in public. It helps
with public awareness.

If you're anonymous, it has no value at all, in my opinion --
anyone could claim it.

David, give the guy a break. I have no way to ascertain who he is,
but his assertion that there are MVP's who do not reveal their
real identity is absolutely true; and I find his reasons for
posting under a pseudonym quite reasonable. Given that he's giving
accurate, MVP-quality replies - which seems to be the case - I'd
be inclined to accept his peculiar situation.

I think he should not post with MVP in his sig if he's not willing
to verify his identity.

Quality posts are not limited to real MVPs (or people claiming to be
MVPs), and his posts will stand are fall based on their content,
regardless of what he's claiming in his signature. But having MVP in
the sig implies things to some people (wrongly, in my opinion).

There is one way for him to verify that he is an MVP. If he were to
participate in the MVP newsgroups, then other non-anonymous MVPs
could verify that he's legit.

Absent that, he must be completely bogus.

 

[Douglas J. Steele]

There is one way for him to verify that he is an MVP. If he were to
participate in the MVP newsgroups, then other non-anonymous MVPs
could verify that he's legit.

We've been trying, but Microsoft has implemented very stringent privacy
rules. They will not release any information about an MVP, even to other
MVPs, unless the MVP has made his/her information public.

 

[Tony Toews [MVP]]

We've been trying, but Microsoft has implemented very stringent privacy
rules. They will not release any information about an MVP, even to other
MVPs, unless the MVP has made his/her information public.

Those are two separate issues.

Tony
--
Tony Toews, Microsoft Access MVP
Please respond only in the newsgroups so that others can
read the entire thread of messages.
Microsoft Access Links, Hints, Tips & Accounting Systems at
http://www.granite.ab.ca/accsmstr.htm
Tony's Microsoft Access Blog - http://msmvps.com/blogs/access/

 

[Tony Toews [MVP]]

Absent that, he must be completely bogus.

I find Chris's reasons to be quite understandable so I don't see his
claim as being bogus.

Tony
--
Tony Toews, Microsoft Access MVP
Please respond only in the newsgroups so that others can
read the entire thread of messages.
Microsoft Access Links, Hints, Tips & Accounting Systems at
http://www.granite.ab.ca/accsmstr.htm
Tony's Microsoft Access Blog - http://msmvps.com/blogs/access/

 

[Tony Toews [MVP]]

David, give the guy a break. I have no way to ascertain who he is, but his
assertion that there are MVP's who do not reveal their real identity is
absolutely true; and I find his reasons for posting under a pseudonym quite
reasonable. Given that he's giving accurate, MVP-quality replies - which seems
to be the case - I'd be inclined to accept his peculiar situation.

Likewise.

Tony
--
Tony Toews, Microsoft Access MVP
Please respond only in the newsgroups so that others can
read the entire thread of messages.
Microsoft Access Links, Hints, Tips & Accounting Systems at
http://www.granite.ab.ca/accsmstr.htm
Tony's Microsoft Access Blog - http://msmvps.com/blogs/access/

 

[David W. Fenton]

Those are two separate issues.

Yes. If he's an MVP he can participate in the MVP newsgroups, no? If
he shows up posting the same there as here, then he's legit.

 

[David W. Fenton]

I find Chris's reasons to be quite understandable so I don't see
his claim as being bogus.

Sorry, but I don't see them as legit.

 

[Chris O'C via AccessMonster.com]

There are several ways to verify if I'm really an MVP. Please don't ask MVPs
to get into trouble and possibly lose their MVP status by reporting what they
see in the private MVP groups. If you want to see who posts in the private
MVP groups, you need to become an MVP yourself and sign Microsoft's NDA.

But you can see for yourself whether I'm legit. Only MVPs can sign in and
post with a blue Microsoft MVP icon next to their names on the Microsoft site.
Check
http://www.microsoft.com/office/com...c.access.formscoding&lang=en&cr=US&sloc=en-us

 

[Chris O'C via AccessMonster.com]

Sorry, my earlier message got cut off because of the period after the URL.
Once more:

There are several ways to verify if I'm really an MVP. Please don't ask MVPs
to get into trouble and possibly lose their MVP status by reporting what they
see in the private MVP groups. If you want to see who posts in the private
MVP groups, you need to become an MVP yourself and sign Microsoft's NDA.

But you can see for yourself whether I'm legit. Only MVPs can sign in and
post with a blue Microsoft MVP icon next to their names on the Microsoft site.
Check
http://www.microsoft.com/office/com...c.access.formscoding&lang=en&cr=US&sloc=en-us


Scroll down a little more than half way to my post with my name Chris O'C,
dated 4/27/2008 10:05 PM EST. Notice the blue MVP icon? There's your proof.

Chris
Microsoft MVP

 

[Tony Toews [MVP]]

But you can see for yourself whether I'm legit. Only MVPs can sign in and
post with a blue Microsoft MVP icon next to their names on the Microsoft site.
Check
http://www.microsoft.com/office/com...c.access.formscoding&lang=en&cr=US&sloc=en-us


Scroll down a little more than half way to my post with my name Chris O'C,
dated 4/27/2008 10:05 PM EST. Notice the blue MVP icon? There's your proof.

That works for me. As I can't stand web interfaces I hadn't thought
of that approach.

Tony
--
Tony Toews, Microsoft Access MVP
Please respond only in the newsgroups so that others can
read the entire thread of messages.
Microsoft Access Links, Hints, Tips & Accounting Systems at
http://www.granite.ab.ca/accsmstr.htm
Tony's Microsoft Access Blog - http://msmvps.com/blogs/access/

 

[David W. Fenton]

There are several ways to verify if I'm really an MVP. Please
don't ask MVPs to get into trouble and possibly lose their MVP
status by reporting what they see in the private MVP groups. If
you want to see who posts in the private MVP groups, you need to
become an MVP yourself and sign Microsoft's NDA.

Microsoft has rejected me each time I've been nominated, for
whatever reasons (perhaps because I'm publicly committed to using
non-Microsoft products because I believe in a varied software
ecosystem).

But you can see for yourself whether I'm legit. Only MVPs can
sign in and post with a blue Microsoft MVP icon next to their
names on the Microsoft site. Check
http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx?pg=2&p
=1&tid=7ceedab0-bed0-41c6-87a3-22a064148008&dg=microsoft.public.acc
ess.formscoding&lang=en&cr=US&sloc=en-us

I get "service unavailable" for the URL.