[MUSIC].
>> We've just wrapped up a week here in Paris.
We spent some time with Martine,
the Microsoft MVP Program Manager,
who explained how to get involved and the benefits of the program.
>> Welcome Sed, welcome to France.
>> I love it here.
So for people that don't know what you do,
why don't you explain what you do as a Community Program Manager?
>> I am the Community Program Manager, also named CPM,
for a series of countries: France,
French-speaking Belgium, French-speaking Switzerland,
New Caledonia, and also the whole Africa.
>> That's a whole swathe of
the world that you get to help out with.
>> Yes, it is.
>> So for those who don't know what an MVP is,
why don't you describe the program?
>> MVP, so it means most valuable professional.
>> Okay.
>> It's a worldwide program,
and Microsoft is awarding people,
top influencers, top experts
because they share freely their knowledge with other people.
>> What does it mean to share their knowledge freely?
Why don't you describe that a little bit?
>> It means that they are very involved in communities.
So as they share that knowledge.
It can be offline by organizing technical events, by speaking.
They can have also online contribution like blogging,
developing some projects through GitHubs,
these technical activities which are shared with everyone.
>> That's awesome. Is there a path for becoming an MVP?
>> You need to apply to be an MVP.
To do that, you need to be nominated
by either a Microsoft employee or another MVP.
>> I see.
>> When you will post your nomination,
you will need to fill out all your contribution or
the community contribution you have
delivered during the 12 past months.
>> So that is not too hard to do.
I mean, if basically every time you write a blog post,
you speak in an event, is it that thing?
>> Yes, but we only award the top experts.
So the most expert and the most active in communities.
>> That's amazing. So in the French-speaking MVP community,
can you give me examples of
the kinds of things that MVPs are doing?
>> So some MVP organize events.
>> Okay.
>> Also they are delivering session,
and we will have some MVPs tomorrow at the Ignite Tour,
who will deliver session and who will be
presenting their community at the community hub.
>> So you mentioned Microsoft Ignited The Tour.
>> So Microsoft Ignite The Tour,
it's a worldwide tour organized by Microsoft.
>> Okay. How many MVPs are there around the world,
and how many MVPs are there here in France?
>> We have a total now of more than 2,550 MVPs worldwide,
and we can have new MVPs every month.
In France, we have a total of 117 MVPs.
>> One hundred and seventeen.
>> Exactly.
>> That's amazing. It's so great to be with you.
It's always a joy to speak with you and learn about
the French Community and what MVPs are doing.
>> Thank you, Sed. It's always
a pleasure for me to have you in France.
[MUSIC]
>> Welcome to Microsoft Ignite The Tour, Paris.
I found a friend, Jean Francois,
that have been part of some activities here in France.
>> I am Jean-Francois Berenguer.
I live in the South of France.
I'm in MVP since 2008 now,
on the Cloud and Datacenter platform.
I'm [inaudible] community in South,
which is Azure Devops.
>> So you took parts on
the last MSDev Roadshow we went to South of France.
>> Yeah.
>> Can you tell us a little bit more
about what have you done during the roadshow.
>> During the roadshow,
I first contacted a school,
just in for near our office,
to have the opportunity to deliver the roadshow to the school.
After that, we also made a meet
up in the specific topics on DevOps,
and it was a learning party.
It was a new way for us
to deliver our meet up because it was an ends on the lab.
So we deliver our lab and we have mini-batches events,
and their follow-ups on
DevOps technologies like Kubernetes Containers on Azure.
>> Yeah. So basically,
atomis of the meet up go to Microsoft Cloud and
actually our practicing module on Microsoft Cloud.
>> Yeah.
>> Then we were here together to advance the goal to the
end.It wasn't easy for us because it was
first time for us to deliver a learning party.
>> What excites you most
to be part of the tech community in France?
>> In France, we've got
a very huge technical community with Microsoft.
We have many, many communities,
but we all worked together.
It's very, very exciting to be part of this
and to meet all fellow,
all MVPs, all technical experts in France.
So it's very interesting for us.
>> Right. Thank you for time.
Have a great Ignite Tour, Paris.
>> Thank you.
>> See you around.
[MUSIC]
>> I am so lucky to be joined by an MVP and an RD.
Why don't you introduce yourself?
>> I'm Estelle Auberix,
I'm an Azure MVP and I'm Co-founder of AZUG-FR,
which is a front confirm as your user group,
and also creating a new community as CloudHersity.
>> That's amazing. So tell me how did you become an MVP and an RD?
>> I used to receive an e-mail each year for
three or four years by Microsoft.
So a really nice image saying you're eligible as an MVP,
would you want to be one?
I used to say no, because I thought that becoming
an MVP will oblige me to say everything is nice about Microsoft,
and I didn't want to do that.
>> No. What made you change your mind?
>> I had an interview with Martine and she told me,
don't say bullshit but just
say we still have to work on it though,
and that's what I'm doing now.
She explained us everything about Microsoft,
about the mind of Microsoft,
and she's really helpful
to introduce us to the right people at Microsoft,
because it's a huge company,
so we should have the right contact in Microsoft.
>> So what kind of technology stuff do you teach,
build, you said you're an Azure MVP,
what kind of stuff do you work on?
>> I'm mainly working on cyber security and IoT.
>> The good stuff, as we like to call it.
>> The funny stuff.
>> The funny stuff, that's right.
So tell us how did you meet?
How did you get her into the program?
>> So I met her. I had a discussion with
her at the Microsoft France in the cafeteria,
explaining her about what the MVP program is,
and then after a few months,
she became an MVP.
Two or three years after,
she also became a regional director.
>> So do you get to say whatever you want still?
>> Yeah.
>> Yes, you should.
>> The first surprise for me is that
the French MVP and also with foreign MVP,
it's like a family and I really like that.
>> That's amazing.
[MUSIC].
>> We just left Microsoft Ignite The Tour,
where we met some passionate MVPs and learned about what they're
doing to contribute to
the local developer community here in France.
Be sure to head over to MVP.Microsoft.com to learn more.
There you'll find a list of all the local MVPs in your region.
They are here to help. Thanks for watching.
Be sure to like and subscribe to CodeStories to see what
else we're up to this week in Paris, and where we go next.
[MUSIC]