Today, I attended the PASS Volunteer Training from 8am-5pm. It was a long day, but it was very informative. I was very impressed by the strong commitment and passion that all of the PASS Board of Directors and other committee chairs have. They all want to contribute to the Organization in a positive manner and create a culture of collaboration.
I was very fortune to hear many of the folks below speak on their various responsibilities at PASS in the earlier sessions. In the afternoon, we were divided into different groups focusing on different aspects of PASS. I attended the PASS Chapter breakout session and had the great fortune of hearing how many group leaders operate their chapters. It was amazing to see how many different ways that a PASS Chapter can market itself. I need to reflect on this as I develop my strategy for the NJSQL Chapter in 2007.
Speakers at the PASS Volunteer training:
Kevin Kline(President), Joe Webb(Executive VP), Wayne Snyder(VP, Marketing, aka Wayne the SQL Guy, pseudo cousin to Larry the Cable Guy), Lynda Rab(SIG Chair), Rushabh Mehta/Joe Lax(Chapter Committee), Christoph Stotz(Director of EMEA and International Regions), Randy Dyess(Director of Membership Development and Volunteers), Bill Graziano(Director of Program Development), Paul Nielsen(Director of Online Content), Rick Heiges(Director of Event Operations) and John Stoiber (SmithBucklin Relationship)
In the evening, I attended the Welcome Reception/SIG Quiz Bowl. As usual, these types of events are very good. A little food… A little beer/wine… And a bunch of great conversations… The highlight of my evening was seeing SQL Server GAL and meeting her creator. Definitely a moment when you need a camera... Hopefully, I’ll be able to get my hands on one of the SQL Server Gals figures by the end of the conference(see previous blog post).
I would like to thank everyone who went out of their way to speak to me during the volunteer training. It’s somewhat un-nerving to be attending my first PASS Summit as a volunteer without already having many SQL PASS buddies.
SQLDiva