We are pleased to announce the new Forum Ninjas blog "ForumNinjas" in short. The Forum Ninjas blog is the official blog of the MSDN and TechNet Forum members.

In fact, TechNet and MSDN forums are one and the same. We navigate to the forums using different URL address, but behind the scene these are one and the same, only the GUI interface is different. In one of the future blogs, we will elaborate on this issue, and we will explain the URL address format of the forums.

   

Who are we, and what this blog is about?

Forum Ninjas is a group of forums' contributors who share their knowledge with the community. Basically, any user who helps others at the TechNet/MSDN forums is a Forum Ninja. After years of running the TechNet Wiki Ninjas blog, we decided to start this Forum Ninjas blog. The idea is similar: we'll interview the top forum contributors, feature forum threads, feature forums, and give best practices for using the forums. In this blog, we are planning to give full reviews of the global forums and international (non-English) forums. This is a good opportunity to help encourage valuable contributions and reward/encourage good practices. If you are not familiar with the TechNet Wiki Ninjas blog, then we HIGHLY recommend to visit it, and join us in the TechNet Wiki community (Facebook, Twitter, Forum).
   

Calling more bloggers

We'd love to add additional bloggers to our team. The first basic requirement for joining as a blog contributor is to serve as Moderator at one or more of the TechNet/MSDN forums. If you are currently serving as a forum moderator, then you can get more information in this thread (open only to moderators), or contact one of the current team members.
   

What's next?

Here are some simple steps to become a Forum Ninja:

1. Find the forums in your fields of interest. You can check the list of forums here.
2. Help people in the forum.
3. Join us in the Forum Ninjas Blog, and other community activities.

Guest blogs will be welcomed from time to time. If you are Forum Ninja and you want to write quality blog regarding TechNet/MSDN forums, then please contact one of the members of the Forum Ninja team.

   

To summarize

Welcome to the official blog of the MSDN and TechNet Forum Ninjas. Follow our posts and please feel free to send feedback and recommendations regarding the blog, the forums, and the forum community.

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The people behind the scenes

The blog founders and current administrators include Peter Geelen, Ed Price, Carmelo La Monica, Peter Laker (aka Pedro, or XAML Guy), Saeid Hasani, Noel D Paton, Trevor Seward, Naomi, and Ronen Ariely (aka PITUACH). Let's meet the people behind the scene.

	Welcome to the Forum Ninjas blog! I'm Ed, a Microsoft employee who runs customer feedback in Azure. I've been wanting to franchise the Wiki Ninjas blog like this for a few years now. That blog has even spawned other language versions (BR, FR, TR, & IT). So when Ronen was asking me about writing blog posts about the forums on the Wiki Ninjas blog... I knew it was time! So here it is, a long time coming! Hopefully you can feel our appreciation for what you do! As far as who I am, well, currently I'm #2 on MSDN/TechNet, with nearly 500K Recognition Points and a gallery of medals. I think I moderate 100+ forums, focusing on Azure, SQL Server, BI, and MSDN/TechNet related ones. Welcome!
	Hello, my name is Peter Geelen. freelance & managing consultant at Quest For Security, with a strong experience in enterprise security, enterprise architecture, identity and access management.  Specialized in Microsoft IDM/IAM solutions: FIM 2010 and MIM 2016 and related platforms. Spending my free time on TechNet Wiki: http://aka.ms/wiki, Wiki blog and Forum + FIM Forum.. I'm having a lot of fun to share knowledge and bring the community to the next level. Check my user page on TNWiki (http://aka.ms/pgpage) and my LinkedIn profile if you need more info or to get in touch.
	Hello, my name is Carmelo La Monica. While not a developer by profession, but doing programming is one of my greatest passions. I follow the development of applications .NET Framework preferred development languages like C #, VB.NET, LINQ, and most recently on Windows 8, Windows Phone 8, Windows 10 mobile and Internet of Things. I am passionate about programming in Dot.Net, where I can contribute to the MSDN Forums in Italian and English. I write simple code examples on the TechNet Gallery and wiki TechNet. I had the opportunity to be his debut as a speaker and in the Italian community Visual Basic Tips & Tricks and Torino Tecnologies Groups. Recently i'm author of articles on the TechNet Wiki Ninjas Blog and author of Microsoft Community Forum for Windows Phone. Recently, i've been nominated Moderator on Msdn Italian Forum on Windows Phone category, and Moderator on the Italian Forum Microsoft Community for Windows Phone consumer. I'm also one of the seven leaders of the Italian MS community "DotNetCode".
	Hello, my name is Peter Laker. I have worked in traditional IT development for over 20 years and find myself currently obsessing over IoT (Internet of Things). Over my career, I have worked on every aspect of software development, from back-end data to front end design. I've been through big names like IBM and Microsoft. I've helped set up Cyber Cafes, as well as being the Head of IT for Guinness World Records. More recently I've been involved in what will be the next wave of connected device data, monitoring and analyzing everything around building automation. Also as a senior IoT Consultant for Microsoft, collecting and analysing car telemetry. Within TechNet and MSDN, I have always strove to pass on some of this knowledge and help others achieve results. For the TechNet WIki, I have worked for over four years, helping to grow the community through incentives like Top Contributors Awards and TechNet Guru. I have also centralized all of our community efforts in what we call the TechNet Dojo, a TechNet internal database and website for managing and querying the collective activities of our community. I have also created a Ninja Belt Calculator, which collates the statistics from community efforts and rewards users with belt ranking promotions and virtual prizes. This year I was awarded an MVP for my community and technology evangelism, which I am very proud to have achieved.
	Hi, my name is Saeid Hasani. I am a Database Consultant/ Contributing Author & Blogger to Microsoft TechNet Wiki/ MSDN Forums Moderator.
	Hi! My name is Noel Paton. I’ve worked with computers of one kind or another since the days of tickertape terminals (was that really 1974?). Learning my computing skills has been a "school of hard knocks" experience rather than any formal training. My current specialization is WGA/MGA problem-solving for XP/Vista/7, with a backstop in Windows Update troubleshooting (yes, there is a link there!). I act as forum Moderator for the WGA forums on Technet – and am also almost the only contributor there (all assistance gratefully received!). My personal website is at www.crashfixpc.co.uk, and I also act as host/webadmin for a number of other sites. I respond to MGA/WU queries on a number of other forums, mostly the MS Community Forums, Sysnative.com and SevenForums.com.
	Hello! My name is Trevor Seward. I've been working in the SharePoint space since about 2004 and am currently a 4 time Office Services and Server (formerly SharePoint Server) MVP. While proficient in SharePoint, I work on a wide range of the Microsoft stack, from Azure to identity management to development (C#). I often contribute daily to the SharePoint 2010, 2013, and 2016 TechNet forums providing answers on a wide range of topics. My personal blog is located at https://thesharepointfarm.com and I tweet @NaupliusTrevor. Always feel free to reach out with SharePoint questions!
	Hi, my name is Naomi Nosonovsky. I am an IT professional with more than 20 years of experience in a variety of programming languages and technologies. I am a Microsoft Community Award Recipient and Personality of the Year at UniversalThread.com forum. I am also a TechNet Guru competition multi times Gold Winner. I am an active contributor in MSDN SQL Server related forums. I am also a Moderator of many forums. I wrote numerous TechNet Wiki articles as well as several blogs at www.lessthandot.com and www.beyondrelational.com.
	Hi, my name is Ronen Ariely (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn). In 1999 I was already attracted by the idea of online communities and forums. In 2000 I managed my first forum, and at 2001 I developed my first community website with forum interface. For the last several years I have the honor and the privilege to serve as Moderator in several global forums and in several local Hebrew forums at TechNet/MSDN interface, in the field of SQL Server, C# development, and Azure. In addition, I serve as Admin on all the TechNet WIKI groups on Facebook, I write TechNet WIKI blog, TechNet WIKI articles, Technical personal blog, and so on... You can read more at my TechNet WIKI User Page. I got an MVP award in the field of SQL Server.