The Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) Award is an annual award that is given to outstanding members of Microsoft's peer-to-peer communities, and is based on the past year's contributions those members make in those communities online and offline.

Microsoft believes that a robust, interactive user community is key to helping customers maximize the solutions and benefits from their software investments. The MVP Award is the way Microsoft recognizes those participants who have made a highly positive impact in the technical and product communities in which they participate. Microsoft wants community participants and leaders to know that their contributions are greatly appreciated. The MVP Award exists as a way to reach out to and thank outstanding members for their past participation and willingness to help others in these communities, both online and offline.

The MVPs are awarded through a nomination period where their past year's contributions to the technical community are compared against those of their peers. Recipients of the award are determined through review cycles in that nomination period.

No. Although many MVPs have in-depth knowledge of more than one product or technology, none of them are experts in all Microsoft technologies or products.

No. MVPs are not employees of Microsoft nor do they speak on Microsoft's behalf. MVPs are third party individuals who have simply received an award from Microsoft.

No. The Microsoft MVP Program does provide a small award of software and other benefits in its core program offering, but MVPs do not receive any monetary payment from the Microsoft MVP Program.

It lasts for the duration of one year. The period between awards is considered an award year during which award recipients are free to refer to themselves as a Microsoft MVP and enjoy all other program privileges included with the award.

Because the MVP Award is an award-based program with criteria based on past contributions, Microsoft has no expectations of MVPs beyond the expectations of courtesy, professionalism, code of conduct and adherence to the community rules that we ask of all Microsoft community members. These rules can be found on the Microsoft Communities code of conduct page.

Individuals are nominated to be considered for MVPs by their peers or Microsoft based on activities in the offline or online technical communities. The MVP Program and annual award is based solely on an individual's contributions from the previous year and those contributions are then compared amongst the other candidates for any given nomination cycle to determine who will be awarded.

Being that the contributions are the decision of the individual, the program is agnostic about what can or cannot prevent those contributions. We look at the entire year's contributions, in total, and make the determination following the review process during the nomination cycle.

While you can find a list of all current MVPs on our awardees page, we do not list contact information given privacy and security reasons.

Email MVPGA@microsoft.com for the universal contact for anyone who wishes to get in touch with the MVP Program Team.

Use the MVP Product Feedback service to submit your comments, suggestions, and reports of abnormal behavior of Microsoft products. You can also report potential virus infections and problems with technology. The MVP Product Feedback service helps you report in a predictable and consistent manner.

For reporting issues, deliver your feedback to the MVP Product Feedback service on the MVP Member site. To exchange technical information about Microsoft products and share your expertise with other MVPs and with Microsoft employees, visit the MVP Private Newsgroups.

MVP Profiles are managed directly by the MVPs by using their MVP Profile on the MVP Member's Web site at www.microsoft.com/mvp (sign in with your Passport Network credentials is required). If an MVP chooses to share their MVP profile "publicly," they can find it on the publicly available Web site at www.microsoft.com/mvp in the MVP Awardee Directory. If an MVP chooses to share their MVP profile only with other MVP members, they can find it on the MVP Member's-only site at www.microsoft.com/mvp (sign in with your Passport Network credentials is required) in the Member's-only MVP Awardee Directory.

As an added service to MVPs, we distribute the publicly available MVP profiles to other Microsoft Web sites. Publicly available MVP profiles are currently distributed to more than 50 Microsoft Web sites. We cannot predict when or where your profile will be displayed in the Microsoft.com community. If you want to refer people to your Microsoft MVP Profile, and you are sharing your profile publicly, we recommend that you direct them to the publicly available Web site at www.microsoft.com/mvp in the MVP Awardee Directory.

You can browse www.microsoftbookstore.com/BooksByMVPs.aspx to find the book you are looking for. If it is unavailable, you can contact BookQues@Microsoft.com to request that a specific book be made available through the eCompany Store.

You can browse www.microsoftbookstore.com/BooksByMVPs.aspx to find the book you are looking for. If it is unavailable, you can contact BookQues@Microsoft.com to request that a specific book be made available through the eCompany Store.

The MSDN Subscription Team at http://msdn.microsoft.com/subscriptions/ will directly manage all aspects of your MSDN subscription including start and end dates, shipping address, subscription fulfillment, language pack, and media type. Note that you may not see your subscription in the MSDN customer support interfaces for as long as 45 days from the date of order at www.mvpaward.com.

A one-way non-disclosure agreement (NDA) protects the information shared by Microsoft to the MVP. MVPs who want to receive confidential information from Microsoft must sign and return a hard copy of the NDA (hNDA) to Microsoft corporate headquarters within 90 days of their award. Confidential information includes, without limitation, such things as pre-release software, product release dates, source code, products specs, prototype hardware, customer lists, and financial information. It includes anything that is not public information and that the party disclosing it would reasonably want to remain confidential. The Letter of Agreement (LOA), applicable only in the United States, is a mandatory agreement document welcoming MVPs into the MVP Program, and outlining the following tenets of the MVP agreement:

Nothing in the MVP Program or the LOA produces any legal obligations by either party, and there are no requirements for MVPs to license, use, or promote Microsoft software. Neither participation in the MVP Program nor any terms and conditions that are contained in the LOA shall be construed as creating an employer-employee relationship, a partnership, a joint venture, or an agency relationship.

Because of the technical depth of many of the product group interactions and the scope of resources available from the Product Groups for the MVPs, MVPs are awarded in only one competency based on their primary area of expertise and community engagement. MVPs have the option of identifying other areas of expertise in their MVP Profile. Additionally, MVPs may visit all the MVP microsites and MVP private newsgroups and participate in opportunities that are identified as being open to all MVPs.

Microsoft is committed to the safety and privacy of minors. Minors are defined as anyone who is not 18 years or older. To help ensure this safety, the Microsoft MVP Program has implemented a policy that all Microsoft MVPs awardees awarded as of April 2006 affirm that they are 18 years or older.

All current MVPs who are younger than 18 will retain their MVP status and may be considered for re-award in subsequent MVP Program award cycles.