What is an MVP?

For the past five years, Brian Kvalheim has earned Microsoft MVP status for his work with Microsoft Publisher. He operates a Publisher Web site, which has had about half a million hits over the past few years. Microsoft interviewed Brian to learn a little bit more about him.

He lives in Wisconsin with his wife and 4-year old son. Brian graduated from college with a Bachelors degree in Applied Science and an Associates Degree in Hospitality and Tourism management. He handles the accounting, benefits, and other functions for Nevaiser Investments, a corporation that owns hotels (some with waterparks) and a theater.

Why Publisher?   "When I worked at Mail Boxes Etc., we received some requests from our customers for resume, business card and letterhead designs. I found a neat program on the HP CD that came with our HP Printer. That was Microsoft Publisher 95. I had actually never even heard of Microsoft and didn't know what Windows was. If not for that free CD sampler in the HP driver kit, I would probably never have known about Publisher.

After a couple weeks of using Publisher, I was in need of support for a "how to" question. Contacting Microsoft led me to the Community newsgroups. Once Support walked me through setting up Outlook Express to access the newsgroups, I was able to post my first question looking for assistance. After posting the question, I noticed that other users had questions related to Publisher that I knew the answers to. I decided to post responses while waiting for a response to my question. For two more years, I continued to post answers to questions in the Publisher newsgroups. "Thank you for your help" is what kept me coming back for more. After two years, Microsoft noticed my participation and offered me the MVP award."

• Editor's note   To learn more about newsgroups and how to participate in them, see Office discussion groups.

Most common customer question?   "Is there any way to print, view, or open a Publisher file if you don't have Publisher? Is there a Publisher viewer like there is for Word and PowerPoint? "

• Editor's note   There is no Publisher viewer yet, but you can share Publisher files with people who don't have Publisher. You can find a link to more information about sharing Publisher files in the See Also box.

Example of a great publication created using Publisher   "We used Publisher to create wedding invitations that were sent out to over 400 people. The invitations were designed in Publisher, with full color photos and typeset. This invitation was sent to a digital color and risograph machine for final output.

"The same was done for the wedding bulletins, which were used by everyone in the church during the ceremony.

"I was at the ceremony and saw my work in the hands of hundreds of people, and even heard compliments on the appearance and quality. And it was used for the most important day of this couple's life. "

• Editor's note   While the templates Brian used to create the wedding invitations and bulletins are no longer available, you can find other great Publisher wedding templates at Microsoft Office Templates. Just type "wedding" in the Search box.

Most underused Publisher feature?   "In my opinion, the most underused features of Publisher are the mail merge features, especially catalog merge in Publisher 2003. "

• Editor's note   To use mail or catalog merge, in Publisher, on the Tools menu, point to Mail and Catalog Merge, and then click Mail and Catalog Merge Wizard. To learn more about mail and catalog merge, click the links in the See Also box.

Most helpful Office Online topics?  

Training courses available at Microsoft Office Training.

Favorite quote/motto?   "You only live once, but if you work it right, once is enough." -Joe Lewis

When not at a computer, most likely to be found where?   Golfing, entertaining my son, or working in my garage.

Visit the Publisher MVP Web site by clicking a link in the See Also box.