Once again I was given the MVP Award in the area of XNA and DirectX. I’m really excited about being apart of the MVP program again this year. Because of Windows Phone 7 there is a lot more interest in XNA which is great because if you are wanting to make games then there isn’t an easier framework to use. There are tons of 3rd party components and engines being written now.

Writing apps in Silverlight is also extremely easy to develop in. This all stems from .NET in general. Back in 2000 when I first heard about .NET and ASP+ (to be called ASP.NET) I fell in love with it. The turn around time on new technology has been remarkable over the last few years. I believe this is because of the maturity of the .NET Framework and Microsoft being able to build upon that excellent foundation.

I encourage you to download the developer tools at http://developer.windowsphone.com/windows-phone-7

Also, I really encourage you to look at http://communitymegaphone.com/ to determine what community events are going on around you. You will grow as a developer tremendously by connecting with likeminded people and discussing technology that you are passionate about.

Also, and most importantly, get involved in your local user group. INETA has a great tool for this: http://ineta.org/UserGroups/FindUserGroups.aspx

I’m really thrilled that I received this award for 2010. I’m really looking forward to going to the Summit again next year. Being able to talk directly with the teams that create the technologies I use every day is outstanding.

The last thing I want to mention is that if you attend a user group and you have never presented on a topic before then I strongly encourage you to pick a topic you are passionate about and talk to your user group leaders about presenting. I really enjoy hearing folks who are passionate about a technology even if they have never spoke publicly before. Get active!