Regional Directors FAQRegional Directors are influential leaders and trusted advisors to Microsoft and the technology community
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Program Information
Established in 1993, the program recognizes the world's top technology visionaries for their proven cross-platform technical expertise, community leadership, and commitment to business results. You will typically find Regional Directors keynoting at top industry events, leading community groups and local initiatives, running technology-focused companies, or consulting on and implementing the latest breakthrough within a multinational corporation.
- Regional Directors are advisors to Microsoft.
- Regional Directors are recognized for their cross-platform technical expertise, community leadership, speaking experience, influence, and commitment to business results.
- Regional Directors advise Microsoft leaders, engineering, and product marketing teams on how to win in the marketplace
No, Regional Directors are not employed by Microsoft. In some cases, Regional Directors or their companies may have contracts to deliver goods or services to Microsoft, but they are not employees.
Regional Directors are hand-picked by Microsoft based on a rigorous set of evaluations designed to help us select the best representatives of developer, IT Pro, and strategic technology needs of the world's most impactful businesses.
A Regional Director's term is two years.
Regional Directors act in a non-paid advisory capacity with Microsoft. On an ongoing basis, RDs are asked to participate in scheduled strategic feedback sessions with Microsoft senior leadership teams. Because of their community leadership positions, passion, commitment to technology and business excellence, RDs have a regular outlet where they can express real-time customer and community feedback directly with Microsoft engineers and the senior leadership team.
We actively search for amazing leaders. RD nominees come from Microsoft full-time employees or other RDs. If you have a relationship with either of those you should express your interest. We open nominations once a year, and to find out more, please contact mvpga@microsoft.com.
We like to think of RDs as technology generalists. Most of them have significant technology backgrounds but have progressed their careers to the point where they have architect level depth across both Microsoft and non-Microsoft platforms. This uniquely helps qualify them to work with our product teams to understand the needs of all customers, which ultimately helps us build better products.