Reasons to Serve on the PASS Board of Directors

A few weeks back I wrote Some Thoughts on How To Prepare to Serve on the PASS Board of Directors. The responses I heard, especially during the Summit last week, had two themes: Recommending that much preparation will deter many candidates from running/is the bar for serving really that high? What is the value in […]

The No-Election PASS Election

I was disheartened to read the post that shows we have three candidates for three positions this year. Started with six, two opted out (this is not uncommon as candidates sometimes realize they are not well enough prepared) and it seems one was rejected. Rejecting someone is unusual and not done lightly especially when it […]

PASS Summit 2019 or Microsoft Ignite 2019?

It turns out that the 2019 Summit and Ignite will be held the same week in 2019, see this post from Grant for details. It’s definitely a terrible situation for PASS, either compete to some degree (perhaps more for speakers and MS employees than attendees) or try to exit a contract and find a new […]

Some Thoughts on How to Prepare to Serve on the PASS Board of Directors

From time to time I’m asked for advice and insight on running for and serving on the PASS Board. I feel like the answer to that might fill a small book! I don’t have time to write that and I don’t think it would sell a lot of copies anyway, so maybe a medium length […]

Notes from SQLSaturday #801 (2018)

We wrapped up our 12th SQLSaturday here in Orlando two weeks ago. Overall things went well. Registration was just a little higher than last year at 505. Last year we estimated attendance at 300. This year Kendal really worked to get an accurate count and it came in at about 260. Perfect counts aren’t impossible, […]

Notes from the September 2018 SQLOrlando Meetup

Notes: 30 registered, 11 attended. No weather or traffic issues. Same as the last meeting we did not send a day of reminder. Torn on that. Attendance matters, but trying to keep the meeting management as simple as possible. Thinking to send once for the next meeting on Dec 5th. Dale Sullenberger presented on temporal […]

Apply for the 2019 Idera ACE Program

Sharing this before I forget, Idera is taking applications for their 2019 ACE Program. If you’re wanting to do more in the community, this is an interesting opportunity.

PASS FY2019 Budget Notes Updated

PASS has updated the notes supporting the FY 2019 budget to answer the questions I raised in my earlier post. They also emailed me directly with those answers, an effort I appreciate. I’ve sent back some follow up questions and will post again if I get more info.

Looking at the PASS FY 2019 Budget

I just spent a few more minutes looking at the FY 2019 budget. It is hard to assess whether it’s good or not beyond being balanced (and that is based on hitting the revenue goal for Summit – if that comes in low, then adjustments would be required). I want to call out a couple […]

Volunteer for the PASS NomCom

The call for applications for the Nominating Committee closes on Sep 10th. If you care about the future of PASS its a great way to engage. I’ve served on the committee a few times and it’s really interesting work.