What’s New in the MTC? September 2023 – Community Ranks
Our Mission at the MTC is to provide a community Microsoft users can get the latest news, ask questions, learn new skills, and connect with peers and Microsoft experts from around the world. This month, we are rolling out a new ranking system designed to recognize users’ contributions to the community and add a little more ‘Microsoft’ to the MTC. What are the Community Ranks? We now have two ranking ladders to recognize both types of our tech community members. We have our Contributors Ranks for those who come to the MTC to interact and ask/answer questions in our forums, blogs, and events. Some of you Microsoft gamers may notice the subtle nod 😉 Contributor Ranks Onyx Contributor Titanium Contributor Diamond Contributor Platinum Contributor Gold Contributor Silver Contributor Bronze Contributor Steel Contributor Iron Contributor Brass Contributor Copper Contributor And for our members who come to the MTC to catch up on news and learn something new from the blogs, we have our Reader Ranks! These are replacing our Visitor/Member ranks, and once you start posting in the MTC, you will move into the Contributor Ranks. Reader Ranks Senior Reader Prolific Reader Regular Reader Frequent Reader Casual Reader Occasional Reader New Reader (Please note that these rankings are intended for fun and are not a measure of MTC’ers technical competence.) What goes into the Community Ranks? When you become a member of the MTC, you start climbing the ranking ladder, starting as a New Reader. As you contribute more and more to the community, you will start to climb the rank ladder. Here are some of the key ingredients that go into our ranking recipe (*These points are awarded each time an activity is completed): Viewing messages (0.25 points) Commenting on blogs, ideas, and TKB articles (1 point) Creating new discussion topics (1 point) Replying to forum discussions (2 points) Giving (2 points) and receiving Kudos (4 points) Contributing Ideas (5 points) Authoring blog articles (10 points) Publishing Knowledge Base articles (10 points) Getting your replies marked as a solution (15 points) Simply put, the more you engage and interact with the MTC, the more points you earn and the higher your community ranking will be! If you have any questions on these new rankings or you’d like to share feedback with the Tech Community Team, let us know in the comments below.
(New here) Need help acquiring a copy of a game for a project
Hello, I am a college-prep student and I am doing a project comparing different versions of a game. I am not sure where I should go to talk to a developer or a higher up who could possibly get a (test) copy for me to use for my studies. If anyone could point me in the right direction that would be greatly appreciated.Ranks
Hi all, We are currently considering refreshing the community rank structure and making it clearer what rank community members have. Presently our ranks are made up of the following 'generic' user types: Members / Visitors Typically, users with this rank have joined the community, visited a few times and maybe read a few articles but that is the limit of their participation Contributors This overly broad range of users is everything from someone who has commented on at least two posts / started two conversations all the way up to our honored contributor who must have reached (btw this is also why previously we have not shared this information, it's not a straightforward as you might imagine): (posts - deleted posts) + ideas >= 8000 Been a member for at least 208 days Likes received + (accepted solutions * 10) >= 1500 Has been given admin points totaling 300 or more Employees MVPs Community Managers Now we are going to leave out Employees, MVPs and Community Managers, at least for now. but my broad stroke idea is to make the rank names marry up closer to user activity i.e. New Members (Users who have just joined and not really done anything) Visitors (Users who have been a member over two weeks who have visited at least twice and only read pages) Praisers (per visitors + have given at least 1 like to a post or user) Conversation starters ( per visitors + praisers and also have started at least one new topic) Knowledge sharers ( per visitors, praisers, conversations starters and have replied at least once) Experts (per visitors, praisers, conversation starters, knowledge sharers and have at least 10 Accepted solutions) Now all these broad strokes are still to be defined (i.e. exactly what each level in each rank will be) but I would like to ask the community what the rank names for all these roles should be. Now keep in mind we can't use names that are trademarks or copyrighted to anyone else, so everyone thinking of their favorite superhero cartoon.. forget it that is a definite no!! Unfortunately, the current rank engine doesn't let us target specific communities either so we can't have Excel Expert etc.. In 1 week - on Monday, 28th Feb - we will create a shortlist poll of the names we can proceed with and ask you all to vote for your favorite. I am hoping by then I will be able to better define how many levels will be present in each rank as well. To be clear, there is no prize for the winner and names will be accepted and shortlisted purely at our Team's discretion. To get you started here are some very simple ones we have considered: New Member Visitor Supporter Conversationalist Knowlegable Expert We have also considered using the same rank structure that is used in other Microsoft Communities, i.e. Power Users & Power BI As we are larger than these communities, we may need to tweak some of the thresholds of these ranks and our concern was you all might find it confusing if you had a different rank in each community. Or convert activities into points and use a levels system like the Microsoft Rewards team do, although this would be much more complicated to ensure progression through the levels at a reasonable rate. Hope this gets your creative juices flowing.Until Next Time!
Hello all, After over two years of working with the Microsoft Tech Community team, I am sad to say that my time managing the community has come to an end. We've been through a lot of exciting community changes, product updates and fun events both online and in-person. What's next for me? I am packing up my things and moving to SE Asia to pursue a little sunshine and relaxation. For the first few months I will be travel through Japan, South Korea, and China before landing in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam where I plan to soak up to sights, sounds, and smells for the foreseeablefuture. To celebrate the end of this chapter,here's a countdown of a few fun moments we've been through together. 109 - The number of Weekly Roundup's I've published on the Office 365 Network and the Microsoft Tech Community. I've loved putting together the roundup each week as it gave me the excuse to read through all the great conversations here. It also allowed to to pick a Member of the Week each week that exemplified the spirit of the community. Wetruly couldn't have created this community without the amazing members here. Don't worry, the Weekly Roundup is is good hands withEricStarkertaking the lead. 64 - The number of AMAs & YamJams that I've hosted. By far one of my most favorite things in the community are the 'Ask Microsoft Anything' events (and not just because I always pick-up coffee & donuts for the team). AMAs, or if you love Yammer- YamJams, are truly one of the best ways we've been able to let our customers peek behind the scenes and and get to know the members of the teams creating the products. My favorite one? A close call, but perhaps the 'How to YamJam, YamJam'; so meta! 18 - Microsoft Tech Summits around the word. I attended 5 Tech Summits (Toronto, Mexico City, Chicago, Washington DC, and Copenhagen) and WOW! What an experience. While traveling is great (obviously I've got the bug), the best part is being able to evangelizethe community in person. It's incredibly fulfilling whenafter a 30 second elevator pitch,someone sees the value of the community, signs up on the spot, and continues to interact in the community weeks later. 6- The number of members on our rockstar community team. I couldn't be more lucky to work with such an amazing group of people. A big shout-out and thank you to MichaelHolstewho hired me and has taught me so much during my time here. I may be leaving, but there's no stopping this team.Withjeffmedford,AnnaChu, andDaniMartMSleading the Office 365 and C+E strategy, andMaddie_Egan,EricStarkerandMackenzie Lyngin the Microsoft Tech Community and BAPI communities on the ground, this place has the people-power in full force. 2 - Microsoft Ignite's under my belt. From the photobooth, to the Community Spotlight talks, MVP dinners, community meet-ups, survivingon no sleep, and losing my voice, Microsoft Ignite is always an experience. Watch out for Microsoft Ignite in Orlando, I know the team has some fun ideas planned for community. 1 - One Microsoft Tech Community. From my first day on the job, it was clear that our customerswere looking for something more from community. It's always been our goal to provide something that was inviting, friendly, and most of all, useful. To achieve this we needed to bring Community from across the Microsoft ecosystem together into one place. I'm incredibly proud of the work we've done to realize that goal and I'm excited by thriving place that the Microsoft Tech Community has become. I've truly enjoyed getting to know all of you. Thank you for the experience! If you would like to keep in touch or follow along with my adventures you can find me on Twitter at @lanaobrien. Until next time, -Lana O'Brien
