Hello Coders! 👾

After (almost) 16 incredible years, my journey as a Microsoft MVP has come to an end. It’s a moment I knew might come someday, but it still feels a bit surreal to actually write these words.

My MVP journey began back in 2009, during the early years of Silverlight and HTML5. I spent countless late nights experimenting and exploring how I could bring rich graphics and interactive experiences to browsers. Expression Blend and Silverlight were my playground, and I loved sharing that enthusiasm through writing and speaking. I’m still proud that my first tutorials are still online (useless, but they’re there). For example one on how to transform a button to a nice looking glass orb using Expression Blend and Xaml.

Throughout my MVP years, I’ve always marched to my own beat. While many in the community focused on C#, I was deep into Web and JavaScript. When I built Windows Phone and Windows apps, I chose WinJS over the more traditional approaches. I remember attending sessions at the MVP Summit where I was one of only a few using JavaScript in a room of 100s of people. Today, I’m still following that same instinct, creating XR experiences with WebXR instead of more mainstream tools.

The tech landscape has changed a lot. In the last years, Microsoft’s focus has pivoted heavily towards AI, and while I do some AI projects ( Rosie ) for fun, it’s not where my passion truly lies. A bit of exploration and hacking, yes. But not the enterprise level I think Microsoft would like to see. Besides that, the Mixed Reality MVP category I called home for the last couple of years has been discontinued. Over this past year, I found myself in an unexpected place: the activities that once energized me as an MVP started feeling more like obligations than the creative exploration I love. Hobby became more “work”, than my job. Thus, I made the hard decision to keep the focus on what I personally love to do and hope for the best.

So here I am, no longer an MVP, but still the same coder who gets excited about pushing boundaries and exploring new frontiers in tech.

Future

As I look ahead, I see this transition not as an ending but as an exciting evolution of my journey. I’ve always viewed every step behind me as the tiles on the path that brought me to where I am today. Some steps were more challenging than others, but together they form the path of my life.

My passion for exploring new technologies and sharing knowledge remains unchanged. This is an opportunity to reconnect with the “why” that has driven me all these years. To get back to the thrill of solving complex problems, the joy of collaboration, and the excitement of pushing boundaries. I will stay engaged with the tech community, I will keep mentoring others, I will be organizing events, and I will continue to contribute to the future of the web.

At the core of it all is there’s still my old hacker mindset. I still want to to explore, experiment, and uncover the invisible layers of technology. It’s about bending the rules, finding creative solutions, and seeing possibilities where others might not. This mindset has always been a part of who I am, and I look forward to channeling it into new challenges and opportunities.

“There’s no right or wrong. There’s only fun and boring.”, Hackers(1995)

This new chapter is a chance to rediscover myself, find new challenges, and honor the incredible experiences that have shaped my path so far.

To everyone who has been part of my journey: Thank you for your support, collaboration, and encouragement! You’ve made this experience unforgettable. We will meet again!

Happy Coding! 🚀