EMC World is next week in Boston. It will be the first time I’ll be attending, and I’m very excited. You see, every year at EMC World they have Proven Professional Day. Everyone who is at EMC World who has a Proven Professional Certification gets to wear their Proven Professional shirt (a different color each year), and get together for the Knowledge Sharing Awards Ceremony. We have a contest every year for Proven Professionals to write up a technical paper, the best one wins some cash and serious bragging rights.

What used to really bum me out is that even though I am a Proven Professional (SAN IS Specialist!), and even though I wrote the training that supports our certifications, and I even wrote some of the certification exams, I never got to be part of Proven Day, or get a shirt. I don’t know why that is so important, but it was. Those shirts are important!

This year, we’ve figured out a way that all Proven Professionals can participate, whether or not they are at EMC World. We’re calling it World Wide Proven Professional Day. We’re time shifting it, so it will start on Monday and go through Tuesday, so we can have global participation. If Proven Professionals change their avatar to a Proven Professional avatar in one social media space and comment on a discussion we’ll post on the Proven Professional Community, they are eligible to win raffle prizes we’ll be giving away at EMC World.

All the details are in this post in the Proven Community. If you are a Proven Professional, make sure to follow the instructions so you are eligible! And if you are not Proven, change your avatar anyway. Show your appreciation for the men and women who support the systems that your data lives on!