New OMVPs and Happy 15th Year Anniversary to the OMVP program!

Optimizely's top tier Most Valuable Professionals program honors 3 program leaders and 77 MVPs.

In 2007, EPiServer started a program called the Most Valuable Professionals (MVP) program as a 'thank you' to our most active mentors who lead the way for all other community members. These MVPs are nominated by others in the technical community as individuals who bring their experience in technology and business forward in the spirit of open exchange of knowledge and creativity. They willingly use knowledge gained through their own successes and failures to accelerate the success of others. Once nominated, there is a selection process evaluating the candidate's engagement within the community, Optimizely project involvement, and other factors. When evaluations close, the new OMVP class is selected and receives exclusive status with Optimizely and its partners. Due to these efforts, EPiServer's (now Optimizely's) MVP program has grown to 39 organizations, 77 MVPs, and 15 countries over the 15-year lifespan of the program.

Today, Optimizely honors 3 OMVP veterans: Fredrik Haglund, Allan Thraen, and Ted Nyberg. We asked our honorees to share a little about their experience as an OMVP. Check out what they had to say about the program:

"I've been part of the MVP-program since the beginning, and it has been an interesting journey to follow EPiServer's growth from a small Swedish company to become a global player in Optimizely. I have a passion to understand how things work inside and then also share this with others. It's been fun teaching so many developers about this technology over the years in User Group Meetups and during Class Room training all around the world."

- Fredrik Haglund, Strategist for Kodmentor "I'm thrilled to be in the OMVP program. It's truly an honor to be part of a group with such great, fun, and pleasant people that are characterized by how they constantly share their knowledge and inspire others. I believe the community of developers and users is  the greatest asset to the Optimizely product portfolio - and the powertrain behind that is the OMVPs."

- Allan Thraen, Developer for CodeArt "Does it sound boring working with the same CMS for 15 years? Well, it hasn't been. Websites have gone from 1024x768 optimization to responsive. Back-end has gone from WebForms to MVC to .NET 5+. Front-end has gone from simple HTML/CSS to full-fledged client-side apps with advanced JS frameworks with TypeScript, SASS, etc. Some websites are headful, others headless. Some do content, others do e-commerce. So, the CMS development has been changing constantly - but many of the great people in the community around it remain the same. I'm still talking about Optimizely products with fellow developers that I've known for many, many years now. That in and of itself is a reason for me to stay an OMVP for another 15 years."

- Ted Nyberg, Strategist for ted&gustaf

Becoming an OMVP gives these professionals access to additional exclusive benefits for their partners, and membership only access to events, activities, and sneak-peeks! Events including Local Developer Meetups, Roadshows, OMVP Summit/Retreat, Optimizely Connect, and more can be found on World. Look for more events this year! Optimizely's OMVP Revamp will also include more events and activities for virtual and in-person engagement. You don’t want to miss it!

As aforementioned, OMVPs are the main ambassadors for all Optimizely products as well as the main contributors in our Optimizely World and Slack communities, blogs and forums. These individuals share and inspire others within the community to unlock digital potential. Let's salute our Spring class of OMVPs on this 15th year anniversary! 

The New Optimizely MVPs

Technology

Alain Marsolais
Optimizely Practice Director
Valtech Bob Davidson
Director of Development
Blend Interactive Éric St-Pierre
Solution Architect
Yaksa Johnny Mullaney
Technical Architect
UNRVLD Ram Kumar Kantamneni
Solution Architect
State of Michigan Scott Merical
VP Commerce Solutions / Solution Architect
Xngage

Strategy

Alex Harris
Conversion Optimization Director
Perficient Jaina Baumgartner
Director of Digital Solutions
RDA Corp Joe Albrecht
Managing Partner
Xngage John Peebles
Head of Growth
Chartis Jon Covato
Director, Marketing Technology
Valtech Justin Masters
Chief Technology Officer
Netcel Ryan Lucht
Director of Strategy / Experimentation Practice Lead
Cro Metrics

Congratulations to the 15th anniversary Spring class of OMVPs! This group will enjoy benefits exclusive to them, including early access to new products & features, an audience with Optimizely leadership for feedback, and in-person parties/events and swag! Optimizely welcomes these amazing professionals to the prestigious OMVP group for the 15th year in a row.

If you know someone who you think should be an OMVP, nominate them or send them the link to apply. We look forward to seeing you at our next event! Sign up here.