Mary Anne, The first Knight was invested in the Order of the Knights of VM in March of 1978. The list of the current 198 Knights and Dames can be found at: http://vm.marist.edu/track/knights.txt Only 198 investitures over 30 years is a 6.6 average per year, although the investitures are only bestowed now on VM birthdays divisible by 5.
For more info... Go to: http://listserv.uark.edu/archives/ibmvm.html Click on: "Search the archives" (you may need to subscribe to the online web page - but that is a terrific tool for searching the IBMVM listserve archives) Search for: Knights of VM Or, for an even more historical perspective, go to: http://vm.marist.edu/~vmshare/ Search again for: Knights The oldest note regarding Knights and Dames that I was able to find therein was from 1982, though the first Knights were named in 1978. That note: ---<snip>--- New Knights of VM At Share 59 in New Orleans new Knights of VM were invested. Because of the general noise level many people missed their titles, so here goes: John Alvord Sir John the Helper Ted Burkett Sir Ted the Shepherd Bob Cowles Sir Robert the Tregatour Charles Daney Sir Charles the Connector Simcha Druck Sir Simcha the Steadfast Gerald Dube Sir Gerald, Duke of PER David Farnham Sir David the Designer Gabriel Goldberg Sir Gabriel the Firebrand David Gomberg Sir David the Epopt Lyn Hadley Sir Lyn the Fixer Fred Jenkins Sir Frederick the White Ted Johnston Sir Ted the Assembler Richard Newson Sir Richard of XA John O'Loughlin Sir John the Impresario Gary Schulz Sir Gary the Persuasive Curt Symes Sir Curtis the Explainer Kent Taylor Sir Kent the Persuader Stu Toledano Sir Stewart the Droll Melinda Varian Princess Melinda of VM Donna Walker Dame Donna the Dedicated Sandra Ward Dame Sandra the Provider *** CREATED 09/02/82 20:05:49 BY $GD *** ---<snip>--- See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VM/CMS which in part describes the "requirements": ---<snip>--- VM mascot In the early 1980s, the VM group within SHARE (the IBM user group) sought a mascot or logo for the community to adopt. This was in part a response to IBM's MVS users selecting the turkey as a mascot (hilariously chosen, according to legend, by the MVS Performance Group in the early days of MVS, when its performance was a sore topic). In 1983, the teddy bear became VM's de facto mascot at SHARE 60, when teddy bear stickers were attached to the nametags of "cuddlier oldtimers" to flag them for newcomers as "friendly if approached". The bears were a hit and soon appeared widely.[5] Bears were awarded to inductees of the "Order of the Knights of VM", individuals who made "useful contributions" to the community.[6][7] ---<snip>--- See also: http://en.wikivisual.com/index.php/VM/CMS Google is pretty helpful for this stuff, but don't know much about the first two lists above. Perhaps someone else knows of a better description of the Knights, and more history? The certificate provided to the new Knight or Dame (the names of whom are always kept secret until the investiture) at the ceremony states: ---<snip>--- Order of the Knights of VM NOW LET IT BE KNOWN THAT UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF THE VM PROJECT <name of recipient> IS THIS DAY INVESTED AS A COMPANION OF THE Order of the Knights of VM BY VIRTUE OF HIS|HER CONTRIBUTION TO THE WORLD OF VM IN CONSEQUENCE OF THIS INVESTITURE IT IS HENCEFORTH REQUIRED THAT ALL AND SUNDRY SHALL ADDRESS OUR HONORED COLLEAGUE AS <title> IN WITNESS HEREOF, THE FOLLOWING COMPANIONS OF THE ORDER HAVE SIGNED THEIR NAMES THIS DATE <date> SIGNED <signature> <signature> ---<snip>--- Mike Walter (Sir Mike the Prestidigitator as of the SHARE Summer 2002 meeting in San Francisco) Hewitt Associates Any opinions expressed herein are mine alone and do not necessarily represent the opinions or policies of Hewitt Associates. (Apologies to those reading the list without benefit of a browser. I felt the certificate's "Align Center" and fonts worthy of a non-plain text post.) "Mary Anne Matyaz" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent by: "The IBM z/VM Operating System" <IBMVM@LISTSERV.UARK.EDU> 05/07/2008 09:08 AM Please respond to "The IBM z/VM Operating System" <IBMVM@LISTSERV.UARK.EDU> To IBMVM@LISTSERV.UARK.EDU cc Subject Re: My 45th Anniversary at SRU Congrats Fran. You gave Joe Paterno a run for his money. " Sir Terry the Weaver" Where do I get one of these names? I've been doing VM fulltime for 2 years now, what are the requirements? The information contained in this e-mail and any accompanying documents may contain information that is confidential or otherwise protected from disclosure. If you are not the intended recipient of this message, or if this message has been addressed to you in error, please immediately alert the sender by reply e-mail and then delete this message, including any attachments. 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