Microsoft MVP Spotlight Listing

Yesterday, I was featured on the Microsoft MVP site.

Here are the details…

Estimated reading time 3 min

What is an MVP?

It is like the Most Valuable Player in sports. Microsoft calls it “Most Valuable Professional”.

Microsoft chooses MVPs based upon their expertise and work done for the community. Each product has many MVPs. I think there are around 4000+ Microsoft MVPs around the globe.

I am one of them. Earlier, for 10 years, I was an Office MVP. Now I am an Office 365 MVP.

Microsoft asked me few questions about what I do and why. That was featured on the Microsoft site. Here is the spotlight link.

Contents (Q&A)

One of the veterans and most influential MVPs in the South East Asia region, Office 365 MVP Dr. Nitin Paranjape is known as “Doc” and doesn’t require much introduction. He is well known for his popular speeches on “Improving Efficiency with Microsoft Office Platform.” His strong reach within technical communities, has acted as motivation for other MVPs in the program.

With his charismatic persona and strong technical proficiency in the Microsoft Office platform, Dr. Nitin has empowered many professionals in the last decade or so to improve their productivity at work. His recent sessions around Office 365 were focused to attendees from various organizations including officials from government organizations and many other large private corporations from the South East Asia region.

In a way, he became the face of Office 365 for India and many other markets.

What are you working on?

“I want to help people utilize their time and talent more effectively and grow faster. There are thousands of ways of doing it. I have found ONE area which is common across segments and countries – that is the Office platform. Office is not a substitute for knowledge, expertise and hard work in your field. It is a catalyst. Most people don’t know that. I am helping them realize it and helping them internalize Office based efficiency.”

What does it mean to you to be an MVP?

“I have been an MVP for eleven years, I think. The meaning of the MVP Award is understood in the technical community. It is an endorsement of your expertise and experience. More importantly, it is a responsibility on me to be always current, always exploring and always useful. In my opinion, my job is to learn the technology, simplify it and apply it to the needs of billions of people. I am a walking talking help file!

Users, who are the beneficiaries of the technology, do not care about titles and designations. For them, technology should simplify things and give them new capabilities. It is a work in progress. I have coached 230,000 people in face to face sessions and around 100,000 through the blog. That is just the beginning. There are at least one billion people to reach and empower.

What’s your favorite MVP moment?

I conducted a full day session for a telecom customer in Malaysia. During fasting month, an audience of 1,100 people attended the eight-hour long session. Nobody left. Furthermore, 650 people purchased Office for their personal use (home use program, they pay only for courier charges).

What’s your favorite current technology tip?

Right click at different places and read all options. This is the simplest way to learn in context. Why? Because when you right click, the context menu shows ONLY those things which are relevant in that place.

Adding another tip for technical people, trainers and pre-sales people.
Please, Please, Please use ZOOM while conducting demos.

Read this article to understand how to use zoom effectively.
Knowledge Pack: High Impact Demos and Presentations using ZOOM

***