Please Remember Your NDA

With all the deep dive technical sessions and opportunities to engage with Microsoft product groups and executives, a lot of highly sensitive and confidential information is shared at the MVP Global Summit. If that information gets out, it can be damaging to Microsoft and the MVP community. We wanted to remind everyone that, as in previous years, the content presented at the 2010 MVP Global Summit event is under NDA, and only MVPs and RDs who have accepted the MVP NDA are able to attend. As a reminder, you’ll see the Summit NDA Policy displayed in various places throughout the event:

NDA Policy: All Keynotes and Breakout and Side Sessions are Microsoft Confidential and under your MVP Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) unless otherwise stated by the session presenter. Do not share session content from this event in any manner including: tweeting, blogging, posting, or speaking with others unless approved by the session presenter.

So, what does it really mean to uphold your NDA at Summit? Well, the NDA agreement has the same meaning year-round as it does during Summit but with well over 1,000 MVPs planning to attend this special event, it’s a great time to share these important reminders:

• The NDA is a legal agreement that states you will not disclose Microsoft confidential information that you receive from Microsoft to anyone, in any format, unless you have explicit authorization from Microsoft or until it is publicly released by Microsoft.
• Each NDA is a separate agreement that covers only you, as an individual.
• MVP-to-MVP NDA sharing is not authorized unless in a Microsoft-hosted NDA discussion or with explicit Microsoft permission.
• The MVP NDA does not cover your employer or company.
• Individuals or companies holding the same or different Microsoft NDAs are not authorized to share information with each other.
• “Under Embargo” means the information received from Microsoft is under NDA until the exact date and time provided with the information; be aware of time zone differences.
• Do not participate in any discussions of publicly-leaked information if you have also received the same information under NDA, as the information remains under NDA until Microsoft makes it publicly available.
• Do not use NDA information to correct publicly-leaked information.
• Contact your MVP Lead if you are unsure how to properly handle any NDA information or to confirm if the information you want to share has been made publicly available by Microsoft.

Still wondering what the MVP NDA is all about?

Check out this NDA Jumpstart video which provides more detail.

Almost all NDA violations occur unintentionally, through accidental blogging, tweeting, or sharing of confidential information with others. Some NDA violations occur through file sharing or setting permissions incorrectly to online sky drives. To help keep everyone vigilant, we’ve placed reminders throughout Summit:

You’ll see the Summit NDA Policy displayed at the beginning of each Keynote, Breakout, and Side Session.

And, our Product Group attendees will be wearing these stickers:

Thanks for your commitment to uphold your NDA during Summit and all year long. Remember, if you have any doubts about the confidentiality of information that you have received from Microsoft, check with your MVP Lead before sharing it with anyone.

See you at the Summit!

Authored by: Nicolle Moser
Global MVP Program Manager
Community & Online Support