In April 2019, Spindogs were lucky enough to welcome Senior .Net Developer, Nik Rimington, into the fold. Nik’s .Net development experience spans over a decade. Specialising in Web for the past 5 and Umbraco for the past 4.
Nik has recently been crowned an MVP for the SECOND year running at Umbraco’s annual event, Codegarden 2019, and we want to shout about it!
We grabbed 5 with Nik to find out a little more about what being an MVP actually means and why he’s focussed his interest into Umbraco.
Where did your interest in Umbraco begin?
So, my interest in Umbraco began about 4.5 years ago now. I moved jobs and locations to start a role in Cardiff. At the time, I hadn’t heard of Umbraco but they were just starting to use it at the new job and coming in as the senior developer I had to get my head around it. I got the company to send me on the two training courses they ran at the time and investigated the surrounding community which immediately sparked my interest.
What exactly is an Umbraco MVP?
MVP is an abbreviation that occurs in quite a few industries, for Umbraco however, it refers to Most Valuable People (or Person in the singular). Umbraco HQ describes MVP’s as “hardworking pillars of the Umbraco community”. Essentially, they are just people at the end of the day- But they have been recognised as provided great contributions to Umbraco and the Community.
How does one become an MVP?
In short, you are selected. I believe over the years the selection process has changed but these days the decision comes from the HQ as far as I’m aware. It’s a fairly “secret” process, in that no one really talks about it and, if you are anything like me, you won’t necessarily know how you got it. My first time getting this award came as a complete shock (second time did as well, to be fair!), and it wasn’t until after Codegarden 2018 that I found that I’d gotten it for my contributions to the Umbraco help & guidance forum.
You’ve been awarded this for the second time now, how many are chosen each year?
It varies, this year there were 14 new MVPs and 32 renewals awarded, the year before 16 new MVPs and 18 renewals. You can see a complete list of MVPs here: https://our.umbraco.com/community/most-valuable-people/ and I highly recommend getting to know as many as you can. They are all great people who have a wealth of knowledge to share!
Tell us three things you love about Umbraco…
Community, Community, Community.
Yes, I know that is a cheating answer, but if it wasn’t for the welcoming community, I don’t think I’d have the interest I do. Being part of something welcoming, that doesn’t belittle new people but instead helps them learn, grow, and adapt is such a wonderful feeling. It’s great when you can give back to it.
If you want to get involved with the community, and I highly recommend you do, there are various ways to do so and the quickest and easiest is the community space on Umbraco.Com, https://our.umbraco.com. It’s full of great information and resources, including a forum for asking questions, links to meet-ups, and other associated communities https://our.umbraco.com/community/umbracians-in-action/
If you’d like to find out more about Umbraco CMS and what it can do for your business, contact one of our specialists today.