Two weeks ago I received a mail out of the blue from Aaron Houston, the program coordinator of the Java Champions project. He announced me that I had been nominated and accepted through a peer review process by the Java Champions Selection Committee. The committee is made up of over 50 influential Java leaders around the world!

Needless to say I was extremely surprised and very honored. I learned about the project at JavaOne this year and saw a number of Java Champions slide by on the main big screen. I secretly said to myself that it would be awesome to receive the same title one day. Little did I know they were voting on my acceptance at that very time.

I know that this is all very ego-stroking, but I feel great about finally getting some public recognition from peers for all the work that I've been doing on RIFE. It also looks like my conference talks have been paying off, since evangelizing Java and publicly talking about Java technology is one of the requirements for nomination. Anyway, this is all a big pat on the back for myself. My girlfriend even understood that this is something special and proudly talked about it to her friends. Guess it's easier to say that 'her boyfriend is considered one of the 100 most influential people in the Java community' than to try to explain what I'm actually working on.