I have been getting some emails regarding the Microsoft MVP Summit in Seattle Washington, USA which is going to happen in April 2008.
I have been fortunate enough to attend two of these events in the 11 years that I have been awarded a MVP.
But the latest comments from Microsoft have annoyed me.
"
We will issue registration details as soon as we can, probably early in 2008, but I wanted to let you know as soon as possible that the Asia Pacific MVP Award team will not be able to provide any funding to support Asia Pacific MVPs’ travel to the 2008 MVP Global Summit. Although the change may raise some concerns, with this approach, led and supported by management, all MVPs worldwide receive the same opportunity. Travel support to attend the MVP Global Summit will not be provided by any region going forward.
Microsoft will not be paying for any travel expenses for MVPs or RDs. If you are a Microsoft employee who needs to travel to this event, your department will be responsible for travel expenses.
"
Well I do not agree with this statement, well technically this is true, but the reality is not true.
Why is this not true:
- MVP's who are not from USA have to pay a lot more than USA MVP's to get to the event.
I did a quick search on www.zuji.co.nz for the following potential prices MVP's would pay to get to the summit and back home - just for the flights:
- An MVP from Los Angeles - Approx Price is 216 NZD to 450 NZD
- An MVP from Maimi, Florida - Approx Price is 460 NZD to 800 NZD
- An MVP from Christchurch, New Zealand (me) - Approx Price is 1900 NZD to 2600 NZD
Well 216 NZD compared to 1900 NZD is not actually fair for a KIWI to get to the Summit compared to a Los Angeles resident - Since there is no provision to support MVP's getting to the summit the individual from New Zealand has to pay almost 10 x the price of a Los Angeles resident. It would take a Los Angeles resident about 3.5 hours to fly to Seattle, but from Christchurch, New Zealand would take about 20 hours. So who is really paying here!
I believe that Microsoft is actually directly or indirectly limiting the Summit to USA residents based on not helping supporting anyone get to the summit.
How many people do they really expect to pay 1000's of dollars to get there. The last summit I went to was unfortunately a bit of a hour by hour event since the IIS Development team (I am an IIS MVP) had no sessions arranged for us and they made it up on the day.
Microsoft at the end of the day make a large bucket of money per minute but are not that interested in supporting the community that supports them, unless you happen to live in the USA.
I know some people will totally disagree with me, but would you pay close on $2000-$3000 to get to the Summit?