VMware vExpert program is an accreditation given to an individual for their past year effort in contributing to the VMware community via multiple channels. This is a yearly accreditation and the application is open twice a year. The second application opening allows those who lack contribution to have at least 6 months more to prove themselves.
I was fortunate to be appointed as a
vExpert Pro with other professionals, we were tasked to assess the applications for vExpert 2019 based on past year, 2018, contribution.
We have to go through thousands of applications and able to see some with great work while some fall short.
This article is to provide some feedback based on my observation and hopefully, those who didn't make it can start improving your contribution when the next application comes in the middle of the year.
There are three tracks and I like to mention what to expect in general first and focus on each track later.
General
In the application form, an example of content is displayed to assist applicants to fill up as relevant content as much as possible.
In the application form, there are two handlers to provide, one is twitter and one is VMTN. These two handlers when provided, can be used to assess what you have contributed. In twitter, if it is just retweeting and posting advocacy article, this will not make it. This just shows you are active however another contribution will be needed to showcase more effort. Where in VMTN, activity is assessed to see your contribution in 2018 be it in answering a question to starting a thread or providing best practice. It does not matter if you have thousand over points but you did nothing in 2018.
Activity prior the past year is not taken into consideration since vExpert is a yearly program based on past year work.
If you do have a blog, video channel, etc., make sure you have done some articles in the previous year. If you have no blog article in the year, 2018 and you are applying for vExpert 2019, then this will be disregard. We also see a lot of applicants providing blog articles in past years used in past year applications. Those are for the year before vExpert 2019. You cannot reuse them.
Accuracy, accuracy, accuracy. Make sure you spell your handler or blog links correctly, there are over thousands of applications, it impossible for anyone corrects it unless someone in the group knows you. Even your reference needs to be correct. Imagine when we try to contact your reference and receive a bound reply due to invalid email, that just screw up your chance.
Evidence, evidence, evidence. If you have spoken at an event such as VMUG, provide a link of the event that specify your name or a picture tells a thousand words. If you organized an event, provide the source of this event. Not all of us attended your event so we won't know. Do note event must have some relationship with VMware such as VMUG. Example, organizing a Microsoft topic event or speaking in a Citrix event talking about non-VMware topics for your MVP. I have seen many applications with lots of justification but all non-VMware related activities. The person might still get vExpert because, out of the 100 activities, less than ten are VMware related activities. So be smart, don't waste unnecessary time filling up the application where it is not even been used. Even contributing to
VMware {Code} can also be considered! Or even better, you have written a
VMware Fling, show us!
Job? Work?! If what you did is work related such as writing a blog article on your company site, speaking on your company product as you are the specialist for that product, or hosting a workshop as part of your work, that is NOT community contribution. You are paid to do that. Just use this example, can you don't do it since is a community activity. If cannot choose not to do as it is a job-related activity, then it is not a community contribution, not a personal contribution. vExperts are not paid to do a job. However, if you are a product specialist be it in a vendor or from VMware and spoken on a VMUG webinar or event or UserCon, yes that is a community contribution.
Tracks
For the tracks, I am extracting from vExpert blog
site. And added some of my own comments. Choose the right path else you end up been assessed on the wrong track.
Customer Path
The Customer Path is for leaders from VMware customer organizations. They have been internal champions in their organizations or worked with VMware to build success stories, act as customer references, given public interviews, spoken at conferences, or were VMUG leaders. A VMware employee reference is recommended if your activities weren’t available in public. This is pretty easy for a VMware advocate in a customer environment 😀
Evangelist Path
The Evangelist Path includes book authors, bloggers, tool builders, public speakers, VMTN contributors, and other IT professionals who share their knowledge and passion with others with the leverage of a personal public platform to reach many people. Employees of VMware can also apply via the Evangelist path. A VMware employee reference is recommended if your activities weren’t available in public or were in a language other than English. This is path is where I started from my blog as well as maintain and response to Facebook VMUG and vExpert groups.
VPN (VMware Partner Network) Path
The VPN Path is for employees of our partner companies who lead with passion and by example, who are committed to continuous learning through accreditations and certifications and to making their technical knowledge and expertise available to many. This can take the shape of event participation, video, IP generation, as well as public speaking engagements. A VMware employee reference
Is required for VPN Path candidates. Often this reference is from VMware Partner team. Speaking at VMware event for VMware or VMUG is considered.
VCDX Path
The VCDX path is for VCDX holders only. If you hold the VCDX title you will still need to apply for vExpert each year. We verify all VCDX applications via the
VCDX Directory. If you are a VCDX, you are automatically accreditated. That would be the easiest way if you find any of the above too hard to achieve 😉
Last but not least, if in doubt, contact your various
vExpert Pro for more information.
