Dictionary.com defines an evangelist as “a person marked by evangelical enthusiasm for or support of any cause” (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/evangelist)
Merriam Webster defines evangelist as, “an enthusiastic advocate <an evangelist for physical fitness>” (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/evangelist)
At Microsoft the IT Pro Evangelist is responsible for “enthusiastically advocating” and teaching about Microsoft IT Pro related products. This includes all Server and Desktop products as well as other products that would be used in the enterprise. While we are at it, we have the opportunity to evangelize other products and services (such as Zune and XBox) or whatever else we are excited about. We do this in a myriad of ways. We blog on a regular basis. Face to face discussions with customers, online and onsite seminar style training events. We will do webcasts, podcasts, as well as small and large training events.
My region is the North East. This territory will include New York to Maine and everything in between. I will also be “assisting” other regional IT Pro Evangelists’ as needed. In addition to the regional event, I will assist with large national events such as TechEd. All that know me know that I will have no problem “enthusiastically advocating” Microsoft products. I have been doing it for years. There are really three primary differences.
- I will get paid for doing it. (It’s about time I found a way to get paid!)
- I will get an incredible amount of training (mostly for free, more information I can share)
- I will have a much bigger stage to speak from (I will be able to help far more people)
The IT Pro Evangelist to Microsoft is so much more than an “enthusiastic advocator” it is someone that will take the personal responsibility to help and teach the community what they need to know about Microsoft and their products. I am very happy about this new position and I am really looking forward to helping the many communities in the north east and across the country. Most of this help in the community revolves around the training events that Microsoft puts together. Some of the events I am responsible for are TechNet events and product launch events. I am basically the person on stage talking to customers about all IT Pro products… the face and voice of Microsoft for our region. I am part of the Microsoft Across America team.
IT Pro Community
I am not officially on the “community team”. There are three people on the team for the US. As I have much experience working with the user group community, I will be a consultant to this team. So, in a round about way, one of my many responsibilities will be to assist the user group community. I am particularly excited about this aspect of my new responsibilities. I want to use this post as my personal commitment to the IT Pro User Group community that I will work hard to help you whenever possible. Microsoft is committed to helping the user group community and I am just as committed to that success. I am looking forward to meeting you all and assisting you in any and every way that I can. I hope to introduce the user group community to the MVP community and help all with collaboration and knowledge sharing.
“This blog as with all my postings contain my own views and does not necessarily reflect the views of Microsoft”
Across Country » Blog Archive » What is an IT Pro Evangelist Anyway?
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Dan Stolts ITProGuru
Dan Stolts ITProGuru
Microsoft & Bay State In…
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Recent Achievements 5 2 2New Blog Rater Blog Party Starter Blogger III4 Jul 2008 10:16 AMHi John,
Not sure where your thoughts of religion come from. Perhaps it is due to the title. Rest assured… I will not be using my blog, my stage time or my face to face time to talk about religion or politics. I intentionally stay away from both of these. Though the term evangelist is more widely used in a religious setting, it is not only for this purpose. Highlighting that fact was actually my intent of the post in the first place.