It’s time for the annual PASS Board of Directors elections!
If you work with SQL Server and aren’t familiar with the PASS organization, please take a few minutes to check it out. (Also note that if you aren’t a member yet, you won’t be able to vote this year.) PASS offers data professionals networking and training through local user groups; virtual user groups; in-person training events like SQL Saturdays, PASS BA Conference, SQL Rally, and PASS Summit; and virtual training events like 24 Hours of PASS. PASS has been instrumental in my professional growth over the last five years, and I give back to the organization as much as I can. I’m glad this a community-supported, community-run, volunteer-driven organization – it’s very grassroots.
There are four excellent candidates for the three seats this year. Here are the three I am going to vote for.
Grant Fritchey – Also known as The Scary DBA, Grant is a longtime, passionate, vocal member of the PASS community. Through conversations with him over the years, and reading his blog, I know that Grant wants the same thing I do for the organization. We want to see it grow. We want to see people’s careers take off because they join the organization, like ours did. We want to give back. I feel that if elected, Grant would make sure the community’s best interests are looked after, he’d communicate his decisions well, and he’d be honest with the community when things don’t go the way we feel they should. Grant also has past experience leading community organizations (even if they weren’t technical).
Wendy Pastrick – Wendy has been on BOD for a year. I’ve known Wendy for several years, as she lives near me and we attend many of the same events. Let me focus on just one portion of what she’s done in the last year as my main reason for supporting her. I’m the leader of my local chapter. Wendy’s current BOD portfolio is chapters, and over the past year she has been wonderful at communicating with chapters, answering questions, and making important changes. She led us through the process of adopting a new Chapter Agreement, despite a lot of dissension and many questions. As a past chapter leader, she knows exactly what it takes to make them work, and is trying to get us all the tools and resources we need. If you believe, like I do, that a strong community starts at the local level, with individual chapters, then vote for Wendy.
James Rowland-Jones – JRJ has been on the board for three years. He is one of the strongest advocates for international PASS growth, and he has been very successful supporting that initiative. JRJ too supports the idea that a strong community starts at the local level, and he wants to make sure that data professionals all over the world have that local support. To support the global initiatives of PASS, I will vote for JRJ.
Your vote can make a difference. Please review each candidate’s page on the PASS website. Please read their applications. Please ask them questions if you have them – through the forums, Twitter, or even in-person if you get a chance. Most importantly, when you get the ballot emailed to you, vote!
Jes Borland is a Premier Field Engineer - SQL Server for Microsoft, where she is a trusted technical adviser, deep technical support, and teacher for her customers. Her experience as a DBA, consultant, and 5-time Data Platform MVP allow her to help the business and the IT teams reach their goals. She has worked with SQL Server as a developer, report writer, DBA, and consultant. Her favorite topics are administration, automation, and performance. She frequently presents at user groups, SQL Saturdays, and other community events. She is also an avid runner and chef.
