Contributor Recognition Program Benefits Our Communities and Individual Members
Both the SAP Developer Network (SDN) and Business Process Expert (BPX) communities provide a vibrant environment for developers, business process experts, and other professionals to learn and collaborate directly with their peers. One of the things that makes the communities special, if not unique, is our points system. SDN and BPX are both self-sustaining communities in which members award one another points for important contributions like technical papers, discussion forum answers, demos, code samples, or other shared expertise.
The Points Program Works to Everyone’s Benefit
The points program offers a number of benefits to the two communities (SDN and BPX) at large, and to individual members.
Members work in a spirit of friendly competition to earn points and move up the leader board. The top 50 contributors receive special recognition on the SDN homepage, and this year top contributors receive reduced-price admission to SDN Day at SAP TechEd ‘06. Read the Best of 2006 blog to learn about this past year’s top contributors. Each individual forum page lists the top three forum contributors with their point totals, giving members a chance to establish themselves as experts. Even small contributions to the forums can provide a big career boost through visibility and higher personal credibility. The best of the best are honored under the bright lights on stage at the TechEd Demo Jam, with special attention from SAP Products & Technology group president Shai Agassi, a much-coveted “top contributors” pin, and other nice parting gifts. Top contributing companies are recognized on the contributors’ corner, giving them added credibility with their customers and prospects. Companies like Wipro Technologies and Intelligroup Inc. have already topped 139,000 points and 77,500 points, respectively. The most active and helpful members receive generous, non-financial rewards – namely, praise, recognition, fame, the occasional t-shirt, or even an iPod! Being a top contributor helps members build their reputations. Experts are easy to spot – they always have the biggest point tallies – and are sometimes tapped for special assignments or professional opportunities within their companies or with their clients. Those who benefit from the help have a tangible way to thank other community members who lend their time and expertise in solving questions or providing insight. Forum posts are answered more quickly – five times faster today than one year ago – due to the competition to be the first with the correct answer. Then, there’s also the added bonus of helping others in your field… an intangible but very real warm feeling of doing good for others. The Basics of the Points Program
Whether you’re comfortable writing 30-page whitepapers or three-paragraph blogs, the points program gives every SDN and BPX member – that’s you – numerous ways to be recognized, get published, and earn points.
Calling Miss Manners…
The SDN point system is a winning proposition for everyone – that is, when it’s used to its best advantage. From the community viewpoint, unresponsive members are viewed as unappreciative members. For example, some people ask questions on forums, but don’t close their posts or thank experts by awarding them points. It’s simply poor manners not to demonstrate appreciation when someone else is volunteering their time, talent, and experience to help another person in the community. The issue of basic etiquette has been discussed at length on the SDN discussions forum. How can you help? Always award points if you ask a forum question and receive a helpful and complete response. Close your open forum threads. Recognize the contributions of others. Take time to share your expertise!
Room for Improvement We plan to always have our points and awards program for members of the SDN and BPX communities. You love it, and so do we. SDN and BPX members thrive on the positive energy generated by the person-to-person appreciation, friendly competition, camaraderie, and public recognition provided by the points program. It encourages participation and collaboration in an open, ethical, and egalitarian environment. So rest assured that the points system is here to stay. In fact, we're planning to introduce a few enhancements and improvements in November. These include:
- You can begin accruing points immediately … and how fast and how far you go depends on your dedication and on the type of contribution.
- Weblogs earn 40 points, and exceptional examples may receive up to 120 points.
- In-depth technical articles, such as how-to guides, whitepapers, and FAQs, earn as many as 120 points.
- Code samples may earn up to 120 points.
- Tutorials, videos, or other procedure-focused technical content garner up to 120 points.
- Forum posts earn two, six, or ten points. Posts that initiate threads are not eligible for points.
- Members earn double points when submitting a piece of content that addresses the Topic of the Month. September’s topic, for example, is Technology at SAP, and others have focused on Visual Composer, the NetWeaver Platform, and BPX.
- Members also earn 10 points when updating their business cards. This is an easy update and helps you get your name and expertise "out there" ... add new professional experience, certification, and credentials. Sign up for the SDN Newsletter, or simply add yourself to the new BPX Community.
- Members get 20 points for a new member who provides the referring member's email address when they join. This is an excellent way to accumulate points while growing the community of experts.
- The 250-point mark is an important first milestone, and one which all new members should strive to reach. First SDN t-shirt, first chance to win an iPod, first level of achievement and recognition. It's the starting-point for newcomers to the community.
Display the top three contributors, per forum topic, during the last 30 days Drill down on top contributors by date range Drill down on top contributors by country Show top contributors by company: top 50, all, within the last 30 days, by topic area. But we’re always striving for improvement. That’s why we will re-evaluate the points program at the end of this year, and re-introduce it with enhancements for next year. Stay tuned for more details in the coming months. And be sure to send us your ideas on ways we can improve the points system. The SDN and BPX communities are founded on an ongoing dialogue between our 500,000+ members, our “SAP Communities” team, and the thousands of SAP employee experts globally. We rely on your constant feedback to improve all our programs and better serve your interests. Going forward, we’ll continue to listen and work hard to make the points program more responsive to your needs. In the meantime, please keep sending us suggestions for improvement, be sure to make the most of the opportunity by sharing your expertise with others thru SDN and BPX, and gain the full benefits of the points award program. 
