I have been a regular attendee at PASS Summit for 15 years now. This year (2018) marked my 15th year in a row. It is the 20th year for the summit. In many ways this summit was a significant, special one for me – in my career, personal growth and relationships. It was also a… Continue reading Counting blessings – from Summit V2.0 and beyond

As a follow up to the earlier post I had on harassment issues at PASS Summit – writing this to clarify more on the same. The community seems divided on if or not issues should be reported, if or not those who do not report are guilty, if or not those who say ‘I  will… Continue reading Keep the Quorum…

Members of PASS recently received an email from president Thomas LaRock reminding us of the importance of proper etiquette and behavior at the summit. The email was prompted by a few unfortunate incidents of harassment, atleast one of which was highlighted by board member Wendy Pastrick as a personal experience. These posts were followed by a… Continue reading Feeling safe…

There are 3 kinds of people who keep our user groups and sql saturdays going. They are loyal speakers, sponsors and volunteers. We took extra care to reward our speakers this time – particularly those who have been returning to us every year for the past five years. For sponsors – it is difficult to… Continue reading Thank You To an Awesome Sponsor

Contributing to Thomas LaRock’s Meme Monday: I had an interesting experience at the recent SQL Saturday in Louisville. A young man came up to me at lunch and asked me – Him: ‘So, how long have you been doing this?’ Me: ‘3 years now, this is our third event’ Him:’Wow, great job!’ Me:’Thank you’ Him:’If… Continue reading ON SQL Family…

After running two sql saturdays and a third one coming up I have had exposure to a wide range of comments and experiences. Most of them, am glad to say, have been positive and encouraging. There are however, the few – among speakers, attendees and volunteers that are really irksome and indifferent. Buck Woody wrote… Continue reading Code of Ethics around free events

I have two people from out of the US in my first timers group for PASS Conference 2011 – one from South Africa and another from Australia. There are people from several countries attending the conference, from all over the world. It is a huge effort for someone to travel several miles, take time off from… Continue reading Not in the Bacon League

‘This community thing is not for me’ I got an answer like this from a long time friend of mine. He was a regular attendee at our user group meets, attended the PASS conference a couple of times, and now was running his own consulting company and doing well. He had had some bad experiences – his speaker… Continue reading Right and wrong reasons to attend