Microsoft MVP | Author Becky Benishek

This was waiting for me when I got home the other day:

Wow. This was way beyond anything I expected, which was nothing, really, since this recognition is the kind of thing that makes you feel awesome all on its own.

I’m serious about that. I was giddy the moment I found out and I’m still giddy, 15 days later.

Trailblazers. Pioneers. Wave-makers. To me, being an MVP means having an added ability to help effect change and shape the future for the better of our communities, online and off.

And this is the first year that we Yammer admins got included in Microsoft’s MVP Award program. That’s enough to make a person feel rather gobsmacked, but in a good way.

On an even more personal note, my CEO announced this recognition at an All Company meeting, and all day I had people coming up to me with congratulations.

I can’t help but smile as I think about it, even now. It really means a lot having your peers think it’s a big deal, too.

So cheers to you all today, and I hope something awesome happens for you, too.

P.S. There are also STICKERS.

Yammy has been there from the start!

It’s one thing to be a data-mongerer, and quite another to show that what you’re mongering is for the good of everyone involved, especially your boss.

Especially when the data you want to gather can come in 3D if not 4D form. Oh yes. Time is involved.

Enter tyGraph to help me show (and prove!) just what my Yammer communities are doing.

You certainly don’t have to be a Microsoft Anything to use tyGraph. Until January 1 of this year, I was all set to use tyGraph and I wasn’t a Microsoft Anything myself.

But I have to say, it’s pretty cool that adding tyGraph analytics to Yammer coincides with this new layer in my own professional life.

Because both of these–things? Entities? Experiences?–are SO AWESOME.

I love data. I love analytics. I never thought I’d say either of these things, yet here I am, saying it and standing by it.

This is a generic view of just ONE of the many screens as seen on http://blogs.msdn.com

And here I am, barely Day 1 in on using these metrics, and I’m already blown away by the results.

I can track dead threads across all my Yammer groups.
- From there I can determine what doesn’t resonate with my audience, which is just as important as what does.
I can identify unanswered questions with a couple clicks.
- A simple @mention will bring in a subject matter expert to help.
I can get Lurker Metrics.
- Among other things, I’ll be able to see what items are being viewed even if nobody says a word about it. How’s that for calculating value?
I can report on top discussion threads.
I can see how many threads were responded to by people OTHER than the original participants. You can’t get that kind of signal boost through email.