I have been actively involved as a community technology evangelist for the last 3 years, concentrating mainly on Microsoft technologies. In this time I have been involved in some very amazing events and projects. I have had the opportunity to meet some of the most amazing people, both in the community as well as within Microsoft, worked closely with the South African MVP’s and also managed time to build and breed the Kwazulu-Natal chapter of SA Developer.net. During this process I have grown immensely, and as someone close to me recently described it, evolved. When I am actively evangelising I become an extrovert, interacting and sharing information as fast as what I can talk, assimilating information as quickly as my brain would allow. This however comes with a huge price tag, especially when you have a family and a fulltime job. Most people are not aware that most technology evangelist rarely if ever get any compensation for what they do, apart from the intellectual value received for being involved.

In the last 3 years there has been a few highlights for me and some personal achievements I never believed I would be capable of. These include:

• Planning and running of community events for SA Developer.net KZN. (Events)
• Chosen as regional lead for SA Developer.net. (Announcement)
• Planning of community lounge for Tech-Ed South Africa. (Tech-Ed)
• Speaking at Tech-Ed 2008 on Windows Mobile 6.1. (Tech-Ed Talk)
• Two Tech-Ed Online interviews regarding communities.
• Speaker at DevDays 2009.

The road has been long and hard and I have enjoyed every moment of it. However in the process I have also taken on a lot and this has finally caught up with me. I have therefore after some serious consideration decided to scale down considerably on my community and evangelism activities. My role as lead for SA Developer.net and SA Architect.net for the Kwazulu-Natal chapter will remain, however my involvement will be scaled down to assisting the community with events and sponsors. I will also remain active online through the SA Developer.net website as well as the SA Architect discussion list.

I will also continue my work with Willy-Peter Shaub and the VSTS Rangers, where I am currently involved in the TFS Virtualization Project. I am also planning on providing more support online via Diago.co.za, especially around development using C# and Visual Studio.

I have however decided to remove myself from the Microsoft South Africa speaker panel and I will not be involved in the Community Lounge 2009 at Tech-Ed. My focus will be more on the behind the scenes tasks around the various communities I am involved with. There is also new exciting projects on the horizon I hope to be a part of.

I cannot write this post and not thank the people who have actively been involved in my path thus far, who have guided and assisted me during every step of the process. These people are the pillars that keep the community space alive and well.

• Eben De Wit, my Microsoft “boss” and good family friend. Your support and assistance is amazing and your capability to listen and motivate honouring.
• Microsoft DRP, every member of the team has a special place in my heart. Thank you to each one of you.
• Ruari Plint, your guidance and mentorship has been inspiring and eye opening. Thanks for everything you do every day with the MVP’s and for the various communities you drive.
• Willy-Peter Shaub, words cannot describe your involvement in my life and your guidance in the community.
• My wife, for your never ending support and sacrifice while I was running around in the name of the community.
• The people, without whom there would be no reason to do any of the above.

The community space in South Africa is alive with opportunity and I hope to soon see some new community leads come out of the woodwork, using the platform set by myself and the other community leads as a springboard.