Community is core to the success of MongoDB and the people that use it. This year is the fifth year we've held the William Zola Award for Community to honor those whose contributions to support have made a significant difference to people around the world. The William Zola Award for Community Excellence was created in 2014 to honor those whose support contributions make a significant difference to people around the globe.
One of our strongest Community Support advocates was William Zola, who passed away unexpectedly in that year. William, Lead Technical Services Engineer at MongoDB, had a passion for creating user success and helped thousands of users with support problems, much of it on his own time. William was so effective at meeting users in their time of distress that people often asked for him by name on the MongoDB User Forum. Most engineers at MongoDB went through his customer skills training to learn how to create an ideal user experience while maintaining technical integrity. William taught us the following.
- How the user feels is every bit as important as solving their technical problem.
- We should work to solve the problem and not just close a case or ticket.
- Every user interaction should drive the case one step closer to resolution.
- It’s all about the user.
Over time, William’s advice and philosophy towards user success came to permeate MongoDB’s entire organization and community.
The Award
This year at MongoDB World we will announce the 2019 winner of “The Zola.” We will award an individual who has offered exceptional support to our community in line with William’s philosophy. The winner of the Zola will receive a complimentary hotel stay while at MongoDB World along with a $1,000 Amazon Gift Card.
Today we open nominations and begin the search for this year's winner of the Zola. MongoDB users who support others on StackOverflow, MongoDB Google Groups, at a MongoDB User Group, or in person through ad-hoc or structured mentoring are all qualified to receive the award.
Nominations will be accepted until April 30th, 2019 through this form, so please send in names of people who have positively impacted your experience with MongoDB. Individuals will be judged on the impact of their work and their demonstration of William’s values.
William’s extraordinary contributions are remembered in users like you who pass along your knowledge of MongoDB and do it with gusto. Even if you do not qualify for the Zola now, there is always an opportunity for you to contribute to the MongoDB ecosystem by sharing your ideas and experience on StackOverflow, the MongoDB User Forum and in your local communities.
Tell us who you think should receive this year's “Zola”.
Prizes
- $1,000 Amazon Gift Certificate
- Ticket to MongoDB World 2019
- Hotel stay during MongoDB World
How Winners Will Be Selected
MongoDB will pick the winning applicant by May 8th and will notify the winner via email. The winners will be chosen based on a combination of user votes and contributions made to the community.
For more information see the Zola Award Terms and Service.