Riff Raff, just say no..

[xxxxx   Vlad Mazek 8/23/2007 – the day Vlad finally caved in to the vast sucking pressure of MVP mafia]

Dear Riff Raff,

Just say no.

Say no to the paid off MVP mob force that is trying to squash any bit of truth when one of their own screws up.

Say no to the events that make you pay to watch infomercials, eat in a parking lot and then spam you.

I am not paid off to tell you to give my friends money after they screwed you, I do not have an alterior motive, I do not have a competing event/conference. I just believe in truth and value and if you think you’re riff raff there are better places to spend your money:

Spend it on true SMB community events: SBS Migration ITPRO Conference (New Orleans), SMBTN Conference (Dallas),  SMB Focus (Australia)

Spend it with the MSPU, Mobilize SMB, Great Little Book, SBS Unleashed

Spend it to send a thank you postcard from your vacation to the SMB blogging elite that calls it like it is and never asks for a damn thing in return: Susan Bradley, Susanne Dansey, Tim Barrett, Eriq Neale, Andy Goodman Blog, Andy Goodman Chat, Dana Epp, Vijay Riyaait, Chad Gross, Dean Calvert, Andy Parkes, David Mackie, David Schrag,  Steve Wright, Jeff Altman, Bill Leeman, Anne Stanton, Richard Tubb, Bill Waters, Jason Lieb, Karl Palachuk, Mark Crall, Larry Lentz, Nick Whittome, Kevin Weilbacher, Amy Babinchak and the TS2 community guys who although Microsoft employees probably spend more than anyone outside of 9–5 to locally support the SMB community.

Bring some food, drag a vendor, contribute a presentation or share notes from your SMB user group meeting.. or start one.

These are the people and events that build our community, if you like them support them. If you want to call yourself a leader try being honest about the past mistakes instead of glossing over them, try supporting and promoting new blood instead of clapping on your old social circle, try focusing on the big picture of promoting community involvement instead of nitpicking little nuances to support taking people to the wallet cleaners and locking them into your limited frame of thinking. You’re either leading, or standing in its way. I hope you choose correctly.

Bad leader,
MVP,
Community crusher
But not a sold out whore,
-Vlad Mazek