It's time to celebrate - The Tech Community has just passed half-million members!
Published Aug 25 2020 08:49 AM 12.3K Views
Microsoft

The Microsoft Tech Community has officially reached half a million members! We're so excited to be able to celebrate another milestone with you all.

We asked some of our esteemed community leaders to share with us how The Microsoft Tech Community has impacted them. Here's what they had to say: 

 



During milestones like this, it can be good to look back at the highlights and what we've been able to achieve! Let's take a  look at some of our top moments on our journey so far:

 

To celebrate - we're hosting a sweepstakes contest!! 
As you all saw above, we went to our fellow community members with Microsoft to hear about how the Microsoft Tech Community has impacted them. Now, we would like to hear from you!

HERE'S HOW TO ENTER 

No Purchase Necessary.

To enter, you must do all of the following:

  1. Create a video of yourself answering the question “How has the Microsoft Tech Community helped you grow as a professional?”. The video should be 30-90 seconds in length in English.
  2. Provide your Tech Community username and provide a share link to your video for our sweepstakes here.

PRIZES 

10 submissions will be chosen at random after the submission period has closed. Each winner will receive a grand-prize swag package outlined in detail below.


Be sure to read our sweepstakes rules in-depth below before entering:

MICROSOFT MICROSOFT TECH COMMUNITY CELEBRATES 500K MEMBERS! SWEEPSTAKES

OFFICIAL RULES

 

  1. SPONSOR

These Official Rules (“Rules”) govern the operation of the Microsoft Microsoft Tech Community Celebrates 500K Members! Sweepstakes (“Sweepstakes”). Microsoft Corporation, One Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA, 98052, USA, is the Sweepstakes sponsor (“Sponsor”).

 

  1. DEFINITIONS

In these Rules, "Microsoft", "we", "our", and "us" refer to Sponsor and “you” and "yourself" refers to a Sweepstakes participant, or the parent/legal guardian of any Sweepstakes entrant who has not reached the age of majority to contractually obligate themselves in their legal place of residence. By entering you (your parent/legal guardian if you are not the age of majority in your legal place of residence) agree to be bound by these Rules. 

  1. ENTRY PERIOD

 The Sweepstakes starts at 12:01 a.m. Pacific Time (PT) on August 25, 2020, and ends at 11:59 p.m. PT on September 30th, 2020.

  1. ELIGIBILITY

 To enter, you must be 18 years of age or older and a member of the Microsoft Tech Community. If you are 18 years of age or older but have not reached the age of majority in your legal place of residence, then you must have the consent of a parent/legal guardian.

Employees and directors of Microsoft Corporation and its subsidiaries, affiliates, advertising agencies, and Sweepstakes Parties are not eligible, nor are persons involved in the execution or administration of this promotion, or the family members of each above (parents, children, siblings, spouse/domestic partners, or individuals residing in the same household). Void in Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, Syria, Region of Crimea, and where prohibited.

 

  1. HOW TO ENTER

 No Purchase Necessary.

To enter, you must do all of the following:

 

  1. Create a video of yourself answering the question “How has the Microsoft Tech Community helped you grow as a professional?”. The video should be 30-90 seconds in length in English.
  2. Provide your Tech Community username and submit your video for our sweepstakes here.

The entry limit is one per person overall.

Any attempt by any you to obtain more than the stated number of entries by using multiple/different accounts, identities, registrations, logins, or any other methods will void your entries and you may be disqualified. Use of any automated system to participate is prohibited. 

We are not responsible for excess, lost, late, or incomplete entries. If disputed, entries will be deemed submitted by the “authorized account holder” of the email address, social media account, or other method used to enter. The “authorized account holder” is the natural person assigned to an email address by the internet or online service provider, or other organization responsible for assigning email addresses.

 

  1. ELIGIBLE ENTRY

 To be eligible, an entry must meet the following content/technical requirements:

 

  • Your entry must be your own original work; and
  • Your entry cannot have been selected as a winner in any other contest; and
  • You must have obtained any and all consents, approvals, or licenses required for you to submit your entry; and
  • To the extent that entry requires the submission of user-generated content such as software, photos, videos, music, artwork, essays, etc., entrants warrant that their entry is their original work, has not been copied from others without permission or apparent rights, and does not violate the privacy, intellectual property rights, or other rights of any other person or entity. You may include Microsoft trademarks, logos, and designs, for which Microsoft grants you a limited license to use for the sole purposes of submitting an entry into this Contest; and
  • Your entry may NOT contain, as determined by us in our sole and absolute discretion, any content that is obscene or offensive, violent, defamatory, disparaging or illegal, or that promotes alcohol, illegal drugs, tobacco or a particular political agenda, or that communicates messages that may reflect negatively on the goodwill of Microsoft.

 

  1. USE OF YOUR ENTRY

We are not claiming ownership rights to your Submission. However, by submitting an entry, you grant us an irrevocable, royalty-free, worldwide right and license to use, review, assess, test and otherwise analyze your entry and all its content in connection with this Contest and use your entry in any media whatsoever now known or later invented for any non-commercial or commercial purpose, including, but not limited to, the marketing, sale or promotion of Microsoft products or services, without further permission from you. You will not receive any compensation or credit for use of your entry, other than what is described in these Official Rules.

By entering you acknowledge that we may have developed or commissioned materials similar or identical to your entry and you waive any claims resulting from any similarities to your entry. Further, you understand that we will not restrict work assignments of representatives who have had access to your entry and you agree that use of information in our representatives’ unaided memories in the development or deployment of our products or services does not create liability for us under this agreement or copyright or trade secret law.

Your entry may be posted on a public website. We are not responsible for any unauthorized use of your entry by visitors to this website. We are not obligated to use your entry for any purpose, even if it has been selected as a winning entry.

 

  1. WINNER SELECTION AND NOTIFICATION

Pending confirmation of eligibility, potential prize winners will be selected by Microsoft or their Agent in a random drawing from among all eligible entries received within 7 days following the Entry Period.

Winners will be notified via the contact information provided during entry no more than 7 days following the drawing with prize claim instructions, including submission deadlines. If a selected winner cannot be contacted, is ineligible, fails to claim a prize or fails to return any forms, the selected winner will forfeit their prize and an alternate winner will be selected time allowing. If you are a potential winner and you are 18 or older, but have not reached the age of majority in your legal place of residence, we may require your parent/legal guardian to sign all required forms on your behalf. Only three alternate winners will be selected, after which unclaimed prizes will remain unawarded. 

 

  1. PRIZES 

The following prizes will be awarded:

 

Ten (10) Grand Prizes. A Prize Package consisting of the following items:

A Diversity&Techj Samsonite backpacks. Approximate Retail Value (ARV) $54.00.

A Diversity&Tech Bento Box. Approximate Retail Value (ARV) $20.00.

A S'well Tumbler. Approximate Retail Value (ARV) $35.00.

A Humans of IT Laptop Sticker. Approximate Retail Value (ARV) $0.50.

A Humans of IT Bracelet. Approximate Retail Value (ARV) $12.00.

A Humans of IT Keychain. Approximate Retail Value (ARV) $4.55.

A Humans of IT Card. Approximate Retail Value (ARV) $0.50.

A Bamboo Pen. Approximate Retail Value (ARV) $1.60.

A Popsocket. Approximate Retail Value (ARV) $9.75.

An Embossed Journal. Approximate Retail Value (ARV) $9.95.

An Eco Journal. Approximate Retail Value (ARV) $4.60.

A Qi Mousepad. Approximate Retail Value (ARV) $17.35.

The total Approximate Retail Value (ARV) of this Package is $169.80.

The ARV of electronic prizes is subject to price fluctuations in the consumer marketplace based on, among other things, any gap in time between the date the ARV is estimated for purposes of these Official Rules and the date the prize is awarded or redeemed. We will determine the value of the prize to be the fair market value at the time of prize award.

The total Approximate Retail Value (ARV) of all prizes: $1,698

 We will only award one (1) prize per person/company during the Entry Period. No more than the stated number of prizes will be awarded.  No substitution, transfer, or assignment of prize permitted, except that Microsoft reserves the right to substitute a prize of equal or greater value in the event the offered prize is unavailable. Prizes are awarded “AS IS” with no warranty of any kind, either express or implied, including but not limited to, the implied warranties or merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement. Prizes will be sent no later than 28 days after winner selection. Prize winners may be required to complete and return prize claim and/or tax forms (“Forms”) within the deadline stated in the winner notification. Taxes on the prize, if any, are the sole responsibility of the winner, who is advised to seek independent counsel regarding the tax implications of accepting a prize. By accepting a prize, you agree that Microsoft may use your entry, name, image and hometown online and in print, or in any other media, in connection with this Sweepstakes without payment or compensation to you, except where prohibited by law.

 

  1. ODDS

 The odds of winning are based on the number of eligible entries received.

 

  1. GENERAL CONDITIONS AND RELEASE OF LIABILITY

 To the extent allowed by law, by entering you agree to release and hold harmless Microsoft and its respective parents, partners, subsidiaries, affiliates, employees, and agents from any and all liability or any injury, loss, or damage of any kind arising in connection with this Sweepstakes or any prize won.

All local laws apply. The decisions of Microsoft are final and binding.

We reserve the right to cancel, change, or suspend this Sweepstakes for any reason, including cheating, technology failure, catastrophe, war, or any other unforeseen or unexpected event that affects the integrity of this Sweepstakes, whether human or mechanical. If the integrity of the Sweepstakes cannot be restored, we may select winners from among all eligible entries received before we had to cancel, change, or suspend the Sweepstakes.

If you attempt or we have strong reason to believe that you have compromised the integrity or the legitimate operation of this Sweepstakes by cheating, hacking, creating a bot or other automated program, or by committing fraud in any way, we may seek damages from you to the full extent of the law and you may be banned from participation in future Microsoft promotions. 

 

  1. USE OF YOUR ENTRY

 Personal data you provide while entering this Sweepstakes will be used by Microsoft and/or its agents and prize fulfillers acting on Microsoft’s behalf only for the administration and operation of this Sweepstakes and in accordance with the Microsoft Privacy Statement.

 

  1. GOVERNING LAW

 This Sweepstakes will be governed by the laws of the State of Washington, and you consent to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of the courts of the State of Washington for any disputes arising out of this Sweepstakes.  

 

  1. WINNERS LIST

 Send an email to Techcommunity@microsoft.com with the subject line “Microsoft Tech Community Celebrates 500K Members! Sweepstakes winners” within 30 days of END DATE to receive a list of winners that received a prize worth $25.00 or more.

28 Comments

Wow Congrats ! 

I Love the Microsoft Tech Community as an Insider :cool:

Cheers James

Bronze Contributor

What a great milestone for the Microsoft Tech Community as the same for more tomorrow August 27th, 2020 will be the second year being Contributor of the Tech Community.

@Anna Chu  interesting that I Follow you and these great here in MTC and Twitter... as mention in the Sway article and I am already super excited by Masterminds and contributors and trying to contribute some on my end as well.

500000 - that's a great! Actually 500919 at this very moment, community is growing very fast and I believe 1M will be soon. That's a great resource where I picked-up a lot of knowledge from real cases people share and I'm happy to share my knowledge back. For me that's especial resource, back 3 years ago I become MVP having no contributions but on TechCommunity.

 

Special thanks to Microsoft team which develop and support this resource, great job!

Microsoft

Thank you @James van den Berg we appreciate your input as an Insider!

Hi @PDostiyar yes glad to have a dual follower on the Tech Community and Twitter - thank you for all your contributions, they are of immense help to everyone in the community!

@Sergei Baklan you are truly one of our original community superstars, you have put in many hours weekly, consistently, into the Tech Community and the community is so grateful to have you! I have seen so many people personally thank you. The Excel community would not be as strong as it is today without your tireless support - for that I salute you!!

Brass Contributor

The essence of this competition is about community and the sense of belonging that Microsoft has created through this platform. It is not about the prize. The amount of efforts required is too much for a $170 prize.  Great initiative, and inspirational too, especially as it promotes the development of presentation skills, among several others.

Microsoft

I'm glad you feel that way @SaniGarba - totally understand not everyone can create a video quickly. It's just some fun and thought it would be nice to see people speak, especially since we're all so far away from each other. 

Brass Contributor

I've used the tech community for years to find solutions to problems and I'm finally excited to be participating in providing solutions to others. The tech community keeps me ahead of changes to technologies and applications. I'm glad to see that the community is thriving!

Iron Contributor

The form to submit an entry is not working. Or rather I can't open it. I'm using a work account.

diecknet_0-1598630669634.png

 

Community Manager

@diecknet Thank you for flagging! We're taking a look at this now. I'll follow up with you once it's been worked out! 

Silver Contributor

@Anna Chu 

Congratulations to you and your team for passing the half-million member mark :stareyes:

I came to Microsoft Tech Community just for the Edge Insider updates but when the pandemic started and lockdown begun, I had nothing to do at home and I just got a thought in my brain that why don't I go to the Microsoft Tech Community website and talk to and help the fellow community members and from then, everything has changed, I just cannot believe it. I would talk to and help fellow community members and everyone likes to talk to each other here wherever from the world we would be. We help each other in troubleshooting things. Doing some discussion about a Microsoft product or service on this website is lit. I was really a guy who loves tech from the bottom of my heart but got away from it due to some past situation in my life and also I had to give the final school exams for which I was just concentrating on it. When started using Tech Community, I just saw that many things are happening in the tech and just thought that its time to just get immersed into tech again and thank you again all here on Microsoft Tech Community for making me realise that :smile:. Whenever I had problems related or some suggestions to this website or just ask something about this website, the Community Managers were always there to help me with something or just give updates about the problem or situation and they always hear your feedbacks whatever happens which I like very much at Microsoft. At last, I would like to give my best wishes to the Microsoft Tech Community team for the future of the website :smile:.

Silver Contributor

@Anna Chu @Allen 

Why don't you update one of the cards on the homepage of this website with this blog post which would help more of the users to know the passing of this milestone and about the Sweepstakes Contest?

 

2020-08-29_LI (2).jpg

Microsoft

@TheShaunSaw thank you so much for your kind words. You have articulated exactly why we started this community - to bring people together from all corners of the world to connect on the things they care about related to Microsoft Tech, no matter their background. We have lots of community members from all walks of life, whether their training is entrenched in tech or they found themselves accidentally in tech, and later in life. I'm glad you have found personal connection to the Insiders who care about Microsoft Edge!

That is a great suggestion and something we should have thought of when we reached such a significant milestone. @Dylan Snodgrass will be working on promoting this sweepstakes and making sure people are aware of this milestone on the homepage :happyface:

 

Marvelous!

Congrats on achieved half-million members.
Also, thanks to the Windows Community Team for providing us this community.

 

Silver Contributor

@Anna Chu and Microsoft CONGRATS for hitting that milestone!  Looking forward to seeing the Tech Community to get to 1 Million!

Congratulations @Anna Chu !

 

This is an awesome milestone!

Great work from Microsoft experts. Keep up the good work!

Silver Contributor

Wahoo! :)

Thanks,
Kam
Follow me on this community by clicking my name above.

Bronze Contributor

First of All Congrats to all the Winners I have been selected as a winner for this competition....Thanks @Anna Chu

Follow me on this community.

Silver Contributor

@PDostiyar you don't need to put the profile link. I know I have done it in the past but it's not allowed right? Even I stopped doing that.

 

Thanks,

Kam

Follow me by clicking my name above.

Bronze Contributor

@Kamthanks for the advice removed mine but still can see yours.....

Silver Contributor

Yeah that's becuase I don't have time to edit. Are you talking about my old posts or this comment?

Bronze Contributor

@Anna ChuGreat to see the community is growing :stareyes:

But can I ask:

- What is the feedback channel to techcommunity? If I would like to propose new discussion spaces or if I would like to propose some interface improvements. Please, do not say "write a proposal to userVoice". :facepalm:

 

- Currently you do have following communities:

   * Technet Forums

   * Ask the Microsoft Community

   * MSDN forums

   * Q&A

   * TechCommunity

And most likely some others which I'm not even aware. Not sure, but some strange way this sounds like you have a competition inside Microsoft between different community teams. It could be so, that targeted audience for these forums are not the same, but it is still a bit strange idea to spread users to multiple different forums. Currently Q&A is on GA, but does it means that in next year there will be again a new forum? Or how do you see the future of all of these?

 

 

 

 

Microsoft

You bring up some great questions @Petri X and while we don't have a perfect answer to all of them, hopefully this response will give you some insight.

  • The Microsoft Tech Community has an Ideas Exchange as the official forum to collect and respond to feedback on the Tech Community itself. You can find it in the Community Lounge which is where you can find other discussions and blogs containing updates and announcements about the Microsoft Tech Community.
  • The Microsoft Tech Community is the place for community-sourced answers, best practices, official blogs from Microsoft product teams, but it is not the place where people should go for official Microsoft troubleshooting support. You may from time to time find some helpful advice from the community, but this is not meant to replace ticketed support. 
  • We will only create new communities in partnership and with the support of the product teams. This is to prevent further fragmentation and to make it easier for product teams to have central channels to support community discussion and share official announcements and updates directly to you.

We have moved the TechNet blogs (those that plan to continue blogging) to the Microsoft Tech Community, but the others you've listed are focused on ticketed Microsoft support, to my knowledge. I don't manage these forums so unsure if their charter has changed. Hope this sheds some light, I definitely agree Microsoft can do more to make it easier for customers and the community to know where to go to find the answers they are looking for.

Silver Contributor

Yay! TechNet moved to a modern style.

Iron Contributor

We asked some of our fellow members to share with us how The Microsoft Tech Community has impacted them. Here's what they had to say: [Video]

I'm sorry, but you made a typo there. You wrote "fellow members" but those in the video are all Microsoft employees. The fellow members are yet to record the videos and submit them for sweepstakes.

Now, we would like to hear from you!

For me, Tech Community is just a blog. I never use its forums. Both in the roles of a blog and a forum, it could use massive improvements. I have long ceased to try to engage with my peers in a Microsoft-hosted forum, because respondents start by emphasizing that they are not my peers: "Hello, I'm [Name] [Surname], Microsoft MVP; 32 years in IT, last managed 4,000 computers across 400 locations." I'm not that old and never worked in a company with 400 locations. I could have easily ignored the fact that the said person is not my peer if the quality of our discussion on the matter at hand was good.

Microsoft

Hi @The_Smart_One - employees and members are equally part of this community. They work extremely hard to make this community a supportive and inclusive community, that is the intention of including them in the video. Those videos themselves were not entries in the sweepstakes. 

I think it's important to recognize the diversity of this community. Even though an individual may have worked in IT for over 30 years, they all started with 0 years experience. We can all learn from each other's different experiences and perspectives, which is the value of learning from the community together. 

Iron Contributor

They work extremely hard to make this community a supportive and inclusive community, that is the intention of including them in the video

In that case, I think it is important to give them due respect by fixing your typo.

I think it's important to recognize the diversity of this community

This isn't relevant to my original comment, but sure. Let's. Say, how many black people do you see in that video? How many white ones? (To be fair, you're in it and you seem like a person of color.) And how many of them speak in Microsoft's peculiar English register? (Answer: All of them.) Which of the people in the video is Jewish? Which one is Muslim?

Actually, no. Let's NOT talk about inclusion and diversity. Do you know why? A diverse and inclusive community (1.) refrains from all such talk, AND (2.) treats people strictly based on their merit. Nobody cares if a member has any work experience as long as they are able to exhibit expertise on the subject at hand.

In other words, instead of trying to divert the discussion to diversity, please fix your typo.

Microsoft

Hi @The_Smart_One - I respect your opinion and have edited the article to be a better reflection of the roles of the individuals in the video. 

Iron Contributor

...esteemed community leaders...

Well done. It's an apt and professional choice of wording that focuses on their merit.

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