I’m in Austin today, ready for the Redgate Software 25th Birthday celebration. The company started in 1999 and this is their 25th birthday. All of our offices are celebrating, with most of us in the US coming to Austin for a party last night. My wife (and many partners) are here as well, emphasizing that we care about our people and recognize that partners support our employees.

I haven’t known Redgate for 25 years, but I have known one of the founders for 22 years. I first met Simon Galbraith in 2002 at the PASS Summit in Seattle. They were our first advertising customer at SQL Server Central in 2001 and the relationship continues through today. Redgate purchased SQL Server Central in 2006 and I’ve been working for them ever since.

In that time, it’s been interesting how my job has changed and evolved. I remember the early days of SQL Monitor being released and me demoing it from horseback.

There was the DBA in Space promotion, which I was only lightly a part of, but it was fun.

We had the
SQL in the City events, which included a tour around the US.

I still remember the first one in London at the Royal Society of Medicine in London. That was a treat.

and SELECT Star beer.

We ran that series for a long time, with quite a few live and virtual events. It was a fun time for my coworkers to get together in various places in the world. One of our last live events was in Cambridge at the Redgate office, with our 4 advocates.

Now we’ve evolved to the Redgate Summits, one of which is coming to New York next month.

I’ve watched Redgate grow to include Flyway (I’ve got a tips series), SQL Provision, and now Test Data Manager. I’ve done so many blogs and promos, the latest of which is TDM in 10 minutes. One of my favorites was a photo shoot in Cambridge, where they got me on another horse.

It’s been a great time for me and I’ve enjoyed my job with Redgate. I continue to do so today and look forward to the future. I truly hope this is the last job I have.