I currently write the editorial for the PASS Connector which is published every two weeks as part of my role on the Board of Directors. I'm cross posting those editorials here as well as to the main PASS blog.
Just as the list issue of the Connector was ready to send we announced the full schedule for the 2009 PASS Summit. In this issue I want to focus on a topic that I think is of critical importance to PASS (and a personal cause) – bringing in new talent each year. If you look at the schedule you’ll see a Who’s Who of people in the SQL Server world, and that is good. Good because they have a lot to share, and good because they find the Summit to be an event worth their time. It’s definitely good for attendees.
- So why do we need new talent? I can think of a few interesting reasons:
- We need a ‘next generation’ of speakers for when the current ones retire
- We need new ideas and new approaches – and new passion
- It makes speaking slots competitive – only so many seats on the island
- It’s the right thing to do. Good organizations constantly look for those with potential and offer them the opportunity to grow – but they have to do the work
I asked PASS HQ to send me a list of first time Summit speakers and it turns out 12 of the 85 distinct speakers are on the list. I’ve linked to their blog where I could find one:
· Jamon Bowen | · Kevin Guinn · Ravindra Gurram · Rod Colledge · Trevor Barkhouse |
Remember, these aren’t first time speakers or newbie DBA’s – they’ve all been using and talking about SQL Server for a while. Read some of their blogs, or search for them and see what you find. I think you’ll see that those listed above are another 12 good reasons to attend the Summit this year.
In the next issue we’ll look at the upcoming PASS elections. Until then, if you have questions about PASS, please email me at andy.warren@sqlpass.org.
