VMware rolled out its virtualization red carpet in honor of its newly awarded vExpert recipients For years now, VMware and its sales and marketing groups have had the luxury of a very vocal and organized community of end-users. But to be fair to VMware, it takes a pretty amazing piece of technology to inspire us IT folks to pause World of Warcraft long enough to stand up and sing its praises. Early on in the company’s history, news about VMware and its “black magic” virtualization technology was spread via word of mouth from one excited customer to another. And as the company’s products matured, a well-organized community grew alongside of it. Today, with so many different social media mechanisms available on the Internet, the virtualization conversations continue online 24/7 across the globe. And to thank these evangelists for what they’ve done and continue to do, VMware has created a new vExpert award to offer its appreciation. [ InfoWorld’s Test Center recognized virtualization technology in 2009 with its Technology of the Year Awards ] Without any glitz and glam or paparazzi on the scene, and with no afterparty taking place at P. Diddy’s house, VMware announced the conclusion of its VMware vExpert Award ceremony.John Troyer, VMware Communities Outreach and VMware vExpert Program Manager said, “VMware vExperts were chosen on the basis of the contributions they had made to the community of VMware and virtualization users in 2008.” Calling the nominees an amazing group of people, Troyer added, “The amount of intelligence, experience, and energy in the entire list of nominees was humbling.” The vExpert selection process was made up of individuals who had either nominated themselves, were nominated by VMware employees, or were nominated by people in the industry who believed those individuals should be recognized for their efforts. Troyer said that choosing the final list was a challenging task because VMware had a limited number of awards. There were highly qualified candidates who were either: (1) deeply experienced VMware experts but without as much demonstrated or organized community contribution as others; (2) great bloggers who just recently started; or (3) early adopters who made valuable contributions, but before 2008. While VMware doesn’t necessarily like comparing the vExpert Award to Microsoft’s MVP program, it does provide a simple way to help explain the award to people. And as this is a 1.0 award program, it leaves a lot of room for someone as creative as John Troyer to further develop and expand on the project in the years to come. In the meantime, here’s what the VMware vExpert award winner receives: An award certificate and gift Access to a private vExpert community vExpert logo to display on Web site or e-mail signature Free subscription to conference session materials on VMworld.com Access to exclusive online events and other opportunities to participate in activities Inclusion in public vExpert directory The vExpert award’s duration is one year (through February, 2010). And as a proud recipient of this award myself, I look forward to participating in vExpert activities and watching the program evolve over time. Software Development