Today I received my Microsoft MVP Award for 2009/2010.

On opening the box you get the usual MVP Certificate :-

As you can see the award states October 2009.  There is also an extremely nice crystal award included :-

Again as you can see from the little bead on the left, the award states 2009. So why did I get awarded twice for 2009?

The reason comes down to Microsoft themselves changing the award periods. Over the past years, October was the first award of the new year inline with the financial year. This year however Microsoft is changing the award period to be inline with the calendar year, starting January.  So if you were awarded in October, like I am, then you have essentially been awarded twice for the same year. I now have two very nice crystal awards inscribed with the 2009.

Dear Colin Brown,
Congratulations! We are pleased to present you with the 2009 Microsoft® MVP Award! This award is given to exceptional technical community leaders who actively share their high quality, real world expertise with others.
Also in this email:

• About your MVP Award Gift
• How to access http://www.mvpaward.com to get your technical subscription benefits
• Your MVP Identification Number
• MVP Award Program Code of Conduct

The Microsoft MVP Award provides us the unique opportunity to celebrate and honor your significant contributions and say "Thank you for your technical leadership."
Toby Richards
General Manager
Community Support Services

Yay. This is will be my fifth year as a Microsoft MVP. This year however my core competency is changing from Windows Live to Windows Live Platform (the difference being that Windows Live Platform is more geared towards development and utilization of the various Windows Live offerings found on dev.live.com).