In this post we will glance at some of the recent highlights and focus on the most frequently asked questions we receive in terms of the ALM Rangers program.

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The family of ALM Rangers, all of whom are part-time members and distributed around the world, are coordinated by the team located in Redmond and Vancouver development centre. The ALM Rangers work closely with the product teams, developer product evangelists and services within Microsoft, the Microsoft Most Valued Professionals (MVPs) and ALM Communities.
The Visual Studio ALM Rangers is a community driven by passion for technology, for creating and shipping solutions and for embracing and helping the Visual Studio ALM community. Most of the ALM Rangers are involved on a voluntary basis, dedicating their personal time, expertise and experience.

I am honoured and humbled to work with this “rocking” family of STARs!		 image

Recent ALM Ranger Highlights

image After a successful sim-ship event on 29th of February, the Visual Studio ALM Rangers simultaneously shipped with Visual Studio 2012 RC on May 31st @ high-noon PDT. See Welcome to Visual Studio 2012 ALM Rangers Readiness RC “Wave” for more information.

Recent ALM Ranger Blogs which are worth a visit

See Ranger Publications for the latest list of publications.

Recent MSDN Flash posts by colleague Rangers:

Volume 16, Number 8 - April 16, 2012, featuring Rui Melo
Volume 16, Number 10 - April 20, 2012, featuring Brian Blackman
Version 16, Number 13 – May 29, 2012, featuring Jim Szubryt
Recent Dogfooding and Ruck evolution posts

ALM Rangers switching to single TPC/TP and multiple Teams model
ALM Rangers switching to single TPC/TP and multiple Teams model … Part 2
If you have ever wondered what Redmond looks like Microsoft Redmond Campus is a green paradise

 

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Frequently Asked Questions (from public community)

Now let’s take a look at the top questions we have received in recent months from the public community and from the ALM Rangers themselves.

Who are the ALM Rangers and how do I join them?

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 We have created a consolidated blog post that discusses these and many more topics. See Understanding the Visual Studio ALM Rangers for more information.
New aka link: http://aka.ms/g5esl5

Where can I find the latest news on the ALM Rangers?

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The ALM Rangers are actively blogging and tweeting, so to get the latest news you can bookmark the Visual Studio ALM Rangers Center on MSDN, as well as the following:

Where can I find the list of the latest solutions from the ALM Rangers?

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 Visit the Rangers Solutions and Projects page on MSDN.
New aka link: http://aka.ms/tjisbu

Where can I find the list of the latest publications from the ALM Rangers?

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 Visit the Ranger Publication table of contents (TOC) post.

Where can I find information on the ALM Rangers in my region?

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 Find out who is behind the scenes and get to know the Rangers introduces the ALM Rangers around the world. Either find someone you recognize to start a discussion thread, or contact me on my blog here.

Where can I capture ideas for future ALM Ranger solutions?

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 Submit a suggestion on Visual Studio UserVoice.
See Submit your Visual Studio idea using UserVoice for details.

What are the most important links I should bookmark? (SUMMARY)

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What do the [cryptic] tags on the ALM Rangers blog mean?

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 For information on all tags used, refer to Ranger Blog Tags.

Why are the ALM Rangers blogging in two blogs?

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 We blog topics that are interesting to the ALM community, focused on Visual Studio or announcement that relate to the product group and solutions in the Visual Studio ALM and Team Foundation Server blog, using the Rangers tag as a bare minimum.

Topics that are Rangers specific, personal, general chatter or notes made during events,  when studying or doing research are channelled to Willy's Cave.

 

Frequently Asked Questions (from Rangers)

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What is the infrastructure working group all about?

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 The infrastructure working group is a handful of ALM Rangers who are committed to improve the ALM Rangers infrastructure and experience by ALM Rangers around the world. We have just embarked on phase II of the ALM Rangers infrastructure and planning to introduce innovations on both our ALM Rangers portal and dashboard. If you have any questions or suggestions in terms of the infrastructure, please contact me by email, IM or on my blog here.
Working Group II: Dan Manson, Jeff Bramwell, Jim Szubryt, David V. Corbin, Robert MacLean and Prasanna Ramkumar.

How can I remain active and avoid the dreaded “scrub”?

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See Understanding the Visual Studio ALM Rangers for more information, focusing on sections How do we work? and How do you remain part of the community?

Where can I capture ideas for future ALM Ranger solutions?

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 Submit a suggestion on Visual Studio UserVoice.
See Submit your Visual Studio idea using UserVoice for details.

What are the most important links I should bookmark?

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Please continue to send us candid feedback and questions!