Microsoft Dynamics Profile: Community Service Drives GP Veteran As New MVP

One year ago, Microsoft Dynamics GP expert Harry Lee, aka Redbeard, didn't even know what a Microsoft MVP was - and now he is one.

Lee's MVP journey began with a moment of loss - the passing last year of long time Dynamics GP community member Richard Whaley. It was Whaley's influence as "a bright light in Microsoft Dynamics GP Constellation of stars" that inspired Lee to become involved in the Dynamics GP community, posting blogs and answering questions in the forums.

"Richard was an amazing manufacturing resource," Lee says. "He and I had talked numerous times at events and argued about what Microsoft needed to do to execute better - like we were going to solve the world's problems. He passed away last year in July right around my birthday."

After Whaley's passing, it occurred to Lee that the community had lost a person with tremendous expertise.

"I thought, he writes the textbooks for what we do. He's on the forums. He's doing all these things that I'm not doing," Lee says. Although Lee realized he was never going to fill Whaley's shoes, he decided he could at least figure out how he could do something.

"At that point I had been asked by Microsoft to present at conferences but I wasn't spending my free time on the forums addressing questions," he says. "And [Richard's passing] was the catalyst that changed the way I behaved. But then once you get involved, and you're moving in the direction of helping people and people are ...