Thoughts On the NomCom Process

We’ve just wrapped up the interviews and I wanted to jot down a few thoughts on what I’ve seen from using the process that we have today: The time requirement for the NomCom members seems reasonable We still have a lot of work on explaining the “why” of the tasks so that we get year […]

Reviewing the PASS 2015 Budget

I just spent a few minutes reviewing the 2015 PASS budget, things that I noticed: Anticipating a change in revenue of 1.1 million. That seems…optimistic IT spend is now $550k, up $150k over 2014. Probably good, but what are we doing with that? Ah, the budget doesn’t say Chapter spend is reduced $50k, from $141k […]

Being a Volunteer Leader Is Hard

I’ve been thinking about this topic for a few weeks, maybe longer. It’s based on the three years I served on the PASS Board, and observations of others who served before during, and after that time. I’m trying to look at behaviors and patterns, not people and personalities, though surely the latter plays a part […]

The End of The Professional Association Of SQL Server? It Should Be More Than Just An Acronym

I read with a bit of despair this post by Denise McInerney this morning. Going forward, it’s just “PASS”. Somehow we’ve transitioned to being a data organization, which I think means big data, Power Query, Sharepoint, Excel, and everything else. I always thought the SQL Server community was plenty big enough without needing to expand […]

Joint oPASS/MagicPASS Meeting Scheduled for October 15, 2014- Featuring Mark Souza In Person!

Big news for us in Orlando! On October 15th Mark Souza, General Manager – Data Platform Group at Microsoft, is going to speak to a joint oPASS/MagicPASS chapter meeting. Just having a joint meeting is a big deal, but having Mark as the speaker – hard to believe! The topic? We’ll share more on that […]

Tableau Conference Is Bigger Than PASS Summit

I was reading http://paultebraak.wordpress.com/2014/08/11/the-wisdom-of-the-tableau-crowd/ and, no disrespect intended at all to the Tableau universe, I was astounded to see that the Tableau Conference is bigger than the PASS Summit. Both are in Seattle (different dates), and the prices look to be similar ($1495 is the number I saw for TC, but registration is closed/sold out). […]

Apply Now for the PASS Board of Directors

One of the better graphics I’ve seen in a Connector that shows the timeline: My thoughts: Should You Run for the PASS Board? How Do You Decide? Encourage Someone You Respect to Run for the PASS Board of Directors How to Encourage Someone to Run for the PASS Board. I’m on the […]

The Growth Of SQLSaturday

A recent Connector showed the following stats for SQLSaturday for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2014 and mentioned 86 events completed: Impressive numbers to be sure, but are we adding events? Kendal Van Dyke sent me this projection he did while on the Board of Directors: That looks like reasonable growth and […]

A Question From The NomCom

One of the many things we’re discussing going into the 2014 PASS election is what the planned two official campaign events should be. I asked on Twitter yesterday and got some good comments, still looking for more. Last year was (I think) the first year PASS hosted live events, one in a town hall format […]

SQL Speakers–Will You Accept The Chapter Challenge?

Most SQLSaturday’s do ok when it comes to finding speakers, the results of an incredible speaker mailing list and a lot of reasons for speakers to participate – I’d say a combination of a chance to learn in addition to presenting, the chance to spend time with other speakers, and the sheer fun of going […]