Developing For .NET

This last week has been awesome, probably the best week of my professional career, and I’m just bursting to share.

Wednesday, June 30th

If you follow me on Twitter you may have seen me mention that I took and passed the .NET 3.5 Windows Forms certification exam.  While I already had an MCTS for WPF, I needed this one to qualify for the MCPD (Windows Developer).  If you check out the requirements, you’ll see only the Windows Forms exam counts.  I would go on a rant about how little sense this makes given that WPF is the future of Desktop development and WinForms is on it’s last legs, but this is a happy post so I’ll skip it this time.

I had debated about whether or not I was going to pursue MCPD, but then Microsoft sent me a voucher for a free exam, so I figured why not?  I won’t lie to you: I was surprised I passed.  It’s been 2 years and 2 versions of VS since I last developed for WinForms, and on top of that I barely had time to review.  Still, I did pretty well on the exam and so now I have another MCTS.

Thursday, July 1st

I posted last week about being awarded Expression Blend MVP: I am ecstatic, honored, and humbled.  I spent the next few days in a haze just trying to adjust, it really is a great honor.  A friend asked me at lunch the other day if I was going to slow down the crazy community schedule now.  Naturally I informed him that it would be quite the contrary!  I expect things will get even more intense and I can’t wait!

Monday, July 5th

Pathetic though it may be, I was in the office working yesterday while everyone else was out frolicking for the holiday weekend. It was near the end of the day and I was about to go home when an interesting email arrived informing me that I had been selected as an INETA Community Champion!  Looking at the past winners shows me I’m in pretty good company.  Again I am honored and humbled.

The accolades are certainly nice, everyone likes a little recognition once in a while.  I want to thank Microsoft and INETA, and specifically those who nominated me for these awards: I hope I can live up to your expectations.

However, while it may sound cliche, the truth is that being part of this community is its own reward: I wouldn’t change a thing.  Thanks everyone, and I’ll see you in the community!