So I applied again last year to get CTP or CTA. If I don't get it this year can anyone mentor me on what more I can provide to get 3 more letters after my last name?

If you are doing community stuff to only get an initialism after your name, you are doing it for the wrong reason

Try for MVP?

That was more just tongue in cheek. I've been taking part since the 90s, but just wondering what more I can provide from what I am doing.

I've long gone from Citrix but it was extremely-formula based for CTPs then - like points based visas - how many blogs written, how many Citrix exams passed, did you post on twitter/linkedin, speak at events, take part in mycugc etc.... and it helped if covered an obscure area that fewer applicants did Cloudbridge, GPUs etc. then, possibly there was a geographic element

Awesome. That's what I am looking for. Basically I just want to help out where I can, and share all this tech stuff I have in my brain pan while I still can.

Blogging alone became not enough, Citrix (rightly) became a lot more rigorous about checking citrix qualifications like citrix exams and possible whether had some proven success with customers or contributing data... there was a glut of bloggers with dicey credentials repeating product release notes and having a CTP label implied some sort of verified competence (in the early days I'm not convinced that was the case) so they raised the bar... and it relies on churn so sometimes there are very few places available... Tobias's 40k+ posts on the Citrix support forum were a huge contribution although he didn't blog etc - so it definitely wasn't 100% formula basis of evidence.... home lab data was always popular... they did try to keep it balanced as it's a feedback program to PM so they wanted a mix people in big, small enterprise, edu / healthcare / finance, integrators / msps / enterprise, apac/emea/usa/australia, and the product portfolio - and often there'd be 10 near equal candidates for a space - I do think adding in the points system made it fairer though especially on expecting some levels of certification

That being said, I don't care if you have those three letters after your name, If I see you providing value to the community, I will listen to/look for your contributions. Letters and badges go own brag walls, IMO. But, that may just my bias because I don't have any 😄 FYI, I also don't get certifications anymore because my experience speaks more than any test that I memorized. also 😄.

Agree 100% with Webster. My two cents... You'll want to ensure that in the new Citrix community platform that your contributions are evident. Could be discussion posts or blogs (community articles). Now that local meetings don't exist, leading a local group isn't an option but was certainly highly valued in 2015-2023. Your name needs to be familiar to the other people in the program because you are voted in by peers. I've been involved since 2015 and have never heard of you. That's fine. I'm not special and can't remember everyone even if I tried. My point remains; however. Follow the people on X/LinkedIn that are currently in the program. Interact with them, promote their content, engage in discussions with them. Contribute to any kind of events that the communities have. Volunteer to lead something if an opportunity presents itself.

While I agree that participating in the community for the good of the community is the right goal, I can also appreciate how nice it is to be recognized for your contribution. I gave a presentation at the Core Conference on how to promote your individual brand. I learned some steps at a Citrix ServTech years ago that I implemented that not only led (IMHO) to being selected as a CTP, but also translated into a larger salary. It certainly helped a lot recently when I was laid off. So, as @Steve Elgan said, interacting with other CTPs and promoting their content, find opportunities to speak at events, promote your name “brand” such that others when they see your name think fondly if you. I don't like to brag about myself, but you can also gain recognition by reposting other people's posts with comments and posting a blog by another. I know I remember those who like and repost my stuff.

I always think people just know me as that loud guy from ptec. 😉 I should have been more clear on my original post. Back in the 90s my friend group and I were called MCS3. There were 3 of us in a house, and we were going to through all the tech certs as part of our job as an IT shop. It became a running joke about which one would have the longest letters after their name on their tombstone. Over the past couple of years I have been trying to up my community content on the forums, my site, and with customers. Just wanted to put out what I am doing, and seeing what else I can do to provide more value to everyone. I pretty much stopped the chasing on certificates as they aren't as necessary in my new roles. But Citrix has been on my daily workload for 27 years, and probably will be here forever and will turn out the lights if we ever move to newer tech.