Voice of the DBA

Tag: PASS

  • Closure with the Professional Organization for SQL Server

    I know that this isn’t the correct name, though the by-laws still list this as the corporation. Perhaps this is one more sign of the failure to evolve and grow that I’ve felt from the organization.

    Three directors of the PASS Board of Directors resigned this week. Mindy Curnutt, longtime member, volunteer, and advocate for the community was first, with Melody Zacharias and Hamish Watson following suit. You can read their open letters (Mindy, Melody, Hamish), which appear to hint at some sort of disagreement, argument, ethical or moral failure, or maybe just anger. I have no idea what happened, I’m curious as to what it could be, but I also think this might be something better left to fade away.

    I’ve had my disagreements with the organization in the past, and I certainly think the culture and governance of the executive board is broken. In the aftermath of outcries from various prominent members of the community, Grant Fritchey left a note that there are legal issues as to what is happening now. I do not know if these are financial/debt issues or something else, and I am not speculating on what these are.

    I do appreciate Grant’s engagement with the community, and in my memory, since Kevin Kline, he has been one of the very, very few to actually engage with the community on controversial issues. I haven’t always agreed with him, but I respected and appreciated the effort. However, most directors that have served on the executive committee, which includes the Executive Director from C&C, release very little information. Updates take place relatively rarely and little is proposed or discussed with members publicly.

    There is no law or legal liability that would prevent an announcement of acknowledgement of the resignation of directors or a news release that thanks Mindy, Melody, and Hamish for their service. No penalty for noting they have resigned. Here, I’ll make it easy for you on Twitter:

    @SQLPASS: Today Mindy Curnutt resigned from the PASS Board of Directors. We thank Mindy for her many years of service and wish her well in future endeavors.

    @SQLPASS: Today Melody Zacharias resigned from the PASS Board of Directors. We thank Melody for her many years of service and wish her well in future endeavors.

    @SQLPASS: Today Hamish Watson resigned from the PASS Board of Directors. We thank Hamish for his many years of service and wish him well in future endeavors.

    No copyright here, feel free to cut and paste. It would be even easier to drop these three notes on the https://www.pass.org/About-PASS/PASS-News page, because, well, this is news.

    Instead, we have the same lack of engagement, trust, respect, and leadership  that have permeated the culture for well over a decade. No accountability to the membership, or the board of directors, that I can see. Whether this is the appointed members (President, VP-Finance, VP-Marketing), and/or the executive director, they operate indepedently of the community and the board. This has been my primary complaint, and I suspect also, the complaint from many in the SQLFamily community.

    I see no reason for a large organization to exist primarily to run a profitable conference that pays salaries and bonuses to an organization that are de facto employees, with management that doesn’t seek to be a part of the community.

    As I write that, I’m saddened, mostly for the employees of C&C. Over the years I have had many opportunities to work with Marcella, Craig, Anika, Leeza, Erick, Audrey, and likely others I am forgetting. They have worked hard to ensure events have run smoothly, and I’ve appreciated their help and assistance in various matters. They have been a part of the community and I hope they continue to do so. I’m saddened that they may find themselves cast aside if the organization fails. I do hope they receive proper notice and compensation if this is the case.

    My one regret in all of this is that SQL Saturday is inextricably bound up in the legal mechanisms of PASS. Andy Warren, Brian Knight, and I gifted this to the organization, trusting they would be good stewards of the events. They have been, and I know that these events will continue, either under this moniker or another. Our community is too strong to let these lapse. We will find a way for these to continue, whether with PASS or not.

    I hope Microsoft continues to support community events and organizations, but I do not hope they provide any more assistance to the PASS organization. The lack of governance and transparency along with the poor culture of the executive committee and management company in engaging with the community, lead me to the conclusion this is not the place to invest and engage with a community.

    The organization has helped a strong community grow over the years, but it has outlived its usefulness. It is time for an evolution to something new that better exists to serve the community rather than the organization itself.

    I continue to support SQL Saturday events and chapters regardless of affiliation.

  • Thoughts on the 2020 PASS Virtual Summit as an Attendee

    Last week was the first PASS Virtual Summit. This was the first time that the event wasn’t held in a live setting, and this was the third conference for me this year that I attended virtually.

    I took some notes during the event, and this is a summary of my impressions. I’ve also submitted this feedback to PASS as an evaluation.

    Tl; Dr: I give the event a C

    Overall

    Things went well, and I was pleased with the way that the Summit was handled Huge kudos to the staff at C&C, who were behind the scenes. I saw a number of their efforts as a speaker, but they managed to run this event well.  Thanks to Cadmium and Falcon Events as well for the mostly smooth operation of the event.

    I was able to attend sessions, chat, ask questions, and enjoy the week. I didn’t get to a lot of sessions, but since I can watch later, I wasn’t too stressed. I liked the ability to see live sessions together and just pick one to engage in. The moderator and Q&A seemed to work well.

    The basic event ran well. The bare minimum was there, so I give PASS credit for pulling this off.

    Pre-Con

    I attended Meagan Longoria’s pre-con on Monday. I enjoyed it, learned a lot, and got some notes out of it. I do wish I had the chance to re-watch some of it this week, but I also understand the speaker perspective here.

    There were lots of communications, which was good. One thing I find with many events is that limited communication gets buried in my inbox. It’s nice to get a few reminders the day before and day of to help me remember and figure out how to get into the session. I had to track down credentials, which is fine. I learned to save this separately.

    I do wish I had a calendar reminder. While I saw 5+ emails that said 11amEST, I kept interpreting that as 11am in my time zone, which is where Meagan lives. As a result, I was late to the event. My fault, but I do think an .ics file might have helped me.

    I do wish that this were earlier or later, so that I could actually rewatch some of the pre-con. I had other work to do Tues, though I might have done another pre-con in other years, and I had work and some live sessions on Wednesday. It the pre-con were the week before, I would have more time to review or catch something I might have missed.

    This is still better than a live event, where it’s one shot on one day, but it feels disappointing to me as though I’ve lost something.

    Grade: A-

    Schedule

    While I loved the “live session” list, I wasn’t thrilled with the rest of the schedule. I’m often looking to see what’s on now. I had to scroll down to find the current time, or next time, and then if I looked at a session’s details, the page would often scroll back to the top when I closed the popup.

    The time zone was also a problem. I deal across time zones constantly, and I’ve learned how to schedule things in different time zones, however, I would get confused at times and forget to subtract 2 hours from EST to get to MST. I do think that not supporting a user, really a per-user, time zone is a large failure. While it would be good to auto-detect browsers, at least let me set a time zone for display.

    Search worked well, but I’m a browser, and it was hard to find things. I also found the scrolling through the list by time was difficult and the details of the session put me back at the top.

    I didn’t see many community items, nor did I see the yoga, meditation, and other breaks. Maybe my fault, but not easy to find if it was me.

    Grade: C

    Opening Night

    I went to the opening session, which was the DJ playing tunes. While I enjoyed the music, watching someone spin records isn’t great. The chat was good for a few people that knew each other, but it flew by on my screen. I do think that some separation of chat into channels or some way to allow some interaction here would be good. I’d also prefer some live (or recorded) item on the main stage, with some conversation, some discussion, or something besides the DJ.

    The chat was live, but it didn’t work well for me, having hundreds of people in one chat session doesn’t scale or work.

    I also a little disappointed that the bartender session was at the end, and not sometime earlier. Be nice to make a drink early in the session, not later. I don’t know if things changed after 830EST as I went to a music bubble.

    I hosted one bubble, which were music themed, but no music was provided. Since I have a Yeti mic, I played Spotify with my theme in the background, as I was chatting with a few people. I thought the small, 6-7 people chatting was good, but I also think there’s an opacity here. Someone has to join to see who’s in the room, and if there is any conversation. It’s an awkward time to jump in to see something and have someone then try to engage you when you’re not sure if you want to be there.

    I wish these were open all week, but with more transparency as to who is in them and organized around some topic.

    Grade: B

    Keynotes

    I enjoyed a couple keynotes, with a few more on my list. I was surprised at the screen quality, without the ability to maximize the live screen and be able to see the screen. Two things here.

    1. Presenters need to understand that the attendees see a slightly different view and screen. Please, make things larger in browsers, zoom in, etc. Understand it’s hard to see. It’s something I need to learn to be better at.

    2. The tech platforms need to ensure that we can pause, maybe rewind slightly, move backward, and maximize the screen.

    I also am glad I reviewed my sessions before uploading them as I was really disappointed in the sound quality for Bob and Conor’s demo.

    Overall, these were what we normally see at a keynote, albeit with some issues with display.

    Grade: B

    Sessions

    There were a few types here. For the live sessions, I thought these mostly went well, albeit, without the ability to easily see the whole screen. I liked being able to ask a question and have a moderator bring this up to the speaker.

    I do think we might need some practice as speakers with pauses or asking for questions more during session. That isn’t great for recordings, but it would be nice. I ran into one recorded session that was a mess (Ray Kim’s blogging session). Since we pay for content for the year, that needs to be re-recorded, along with others that are broken.

    I can’t decide what I think about the Q&A and Chat. I don’t like them in the browser window, because that takes up space I could use elsewhere. Really, I preferred the discord server that Jen McCown set up for the event. That was better real time interaction.

    I also didn’t like that pre-recorded sessions didn’t start at the time. I had to press play, which was odd for me. I brought up a session, left it there and started to answer some email, expecting it to play. It didn’t, and when I started it 10 minutes late, the chat didn’t make sense. If we’re going to have the session at a time, it ought to just play. I can watch the recording later.

    For the recordings, I can’t maximize them. That feels like an ergonomic fail. I also don’t have a tooltip on the reverse/forward. These are 10sec, which is good, but it would be nice to know. I also wish the chat or Q&A were available, especially the latter. I don’t see a way to access this.

    Grade: B

    Networking

    To me, one of the great things at the PASS Summit is being able to see old friends and meet new ones. This is a big part of the reason why I go, take the time out of schedule, and make a case to my boss. Or in years past, why I paid to go.

    This was almost non existent. The bubbles on opening night were good. I met 1 new person and saw 5 friends. In one Redgate video chat, and one text chat, I responded to 2 friends, but since I didn’t have times in the chat, I didn’t realize I’d missed that person. After my session, I had 1 friend in a video chat.

    Outside of that, the Community Zone hours never worked for me. One of the great things in Seattle (or any city) is that the community zone is always open, so I can pop by and see a few people. I can walk between sessions with someone for a minute, or stop in the hallway.

    As far as I could tell, there wasn’t a good way to do this. On the discord server, I had a few  conversations with people, but it wasn’t great networking. Not something I think is better than catching many of these sessions at a SQL Saturday, UG, or GroupBy.

    Messaging in the platform was hidden, but more, there just wasn’t an easy way to see someone or know if they were around. I actually had more text conversations with friends on my phone or Twitter than on the platform. The Summit only reminded me of a few people.

    That’s not nothing, but it’s not necessarily great.

    Grade: D – this is a big weight in my mind.

    Security

    Some big security fails, with passwords, emails, and various other information leaking. That might be fine with some events, but it feels like a problem for me. Disclosure of data isn’t good, and this wasn’t well handled by the platform. Not PASS’ fault, but it is in some sense as they should be cognizant of this and check for it.

    I can’t tell how much of an issue this was, and I only saw some complaints, but if this leaks stuff, there could be fines there that wipe out profit. This needs to be taken seriously for next year.

    Grade: D

    Value

    I’m torn here. The content worked, I learned things, and I could ask questions. I still can, I guess, as many speakers have their email on the site, or a link to some social media/blog. That’s a portion of what I get.

    The pre-con was great, and it’s not really much different than in person. I could still get distracted, need to step out, or lose focus.

    The networking was subpar. The community activities were mostly non-existent, and I felt less energy on Twitter and other places than I have in years past. Some might be me, but this wasn’t great.

    Ultimately, I think at $599, it’s not bad for the content and the ability to watch it for a year,

    except

    Lots of these sessions are being presented at SQL Saturdays, user or virtual groups, and other events. With a lot of other events moving online, is this worth it? Everything is together, and I can search for something like “polybase”, but is this better than Google?

    Maybe I can assume these speakers do a better job than random videos on the internet, this is curated, and that helps. However, I’m really not sure. There is something here, but it’s hard to judge.

    Before the event, thinking of maybe interacting with people, I thought $200/day for content and networking wasn’t bad. Now, with networking essentially non-existent (1 new person, 10-12 old ones), I think I’m not sure.

    Overall Grade: C – I don’t think this was great, but also not horrible. Mostly, meh.

  • The Virtual Experience

    I just completed the 2020 DevOps Enterprise Summit a few weeks ago, and it was enlightening to me to see that so many people liked this experience. They appreciated not traveling, being able to drop in and out of sessions while near their home and family. I found that lots of people also liked the MVP Summit last spring, which was also virtual.

    The PASS Summit went virtual recently, and I went through an all day pre-con as well as a few sessions during the week. As many of you, I’m a bit screen and Zoom fatigued, and while I enjoy learning and seeing people passionate about a technology, I’m tired of seeing it inside these four walls.

    I worry that I’m in the minority. I recognize the value of the inclusion of those that don’t have the time or money to attend a conference live. I appreciate that the ability to watch when and where it fits into my schedule. I love that others can pause, rewind, get captions, and more that spread knowledge out.

    However, I think we’ve lost something, and certainly lost some of the collaborative, discussions and debates that we can have in live events. While I can reach out and discuss with anyone, it’s hard to discuss with just someone. Others can join in, and semi-private channels, and especially the times during breaks when I can get up and walk while talking, are things I miss in the virtual experience.

    If virtual events were spread out more, and not everything in my work world were virtual, perhaps I would feel differently, but for now, I don’t love the virtual experience, and feel it’s a pale shadow of a SQL Saturday, user group, or live conference. I hope that this isn’t something I do too often, but I suspect this will be a permanent part of our lives forever.

    Steve Jones

  • PASS 2020 Board of Director Endorsements

    The election for the next PASS Board of Directors starts today, with a slate of 7 for three spots. I asked them for their vision last week, I’ve read the few statements published, and I attended the AMA on Twitter yesterday (Tuesday).  I wanted to see what the candidates had to say and then decide.

    Tl;dr Here are my endorsements, reasoning to follow.

    • Steph Locke
    • Joey D’Antoni
    • Hamish Watson

    I wrote the rest of this first, thinking through things and then provided my result above.

    Things that Matter

    There are some things that matter to me, and I’m voting for someone that represents me. So, these are the important items I look at.

    Communication

    I am big on communication and transparency. We’ve often had to write and disclose plans ro how we are changing SQLServerCentral over the years. I need to provide justification, even if it’s hard or I get criticism. I also believe that explaining yourself doesn’t mean people agree, but they can understand your rationale.

    I see too little of that from the PASS org. The communications are also careful and couched to avoid commitments, limitations, or disclosure in advance. Not enough debate and discussion in the public sphere for things that aren’t secret/financial/HR related.

    I have had discussions with Steph Locke, and I’ve seen her publish, blog, and debate specifics for events and business. I have seen that from Joey this year as well, with his posts on PASS. Like them or not, agree or not, I think this sort of public thought is important.

    In the last year, I counted up blog posts on the PASS blog from others. I found

    • Lori – 5
    • Hamish – 1
    • Roberto – 1

    Jose’s site is down, but I didn’t see a statement or other item. So, for that, Lori leads for communication.

    Diversity

    I want diversity in a board, to present different views and help push others to make informed and thoughtful decisions. The current BoD is:

    • 4 women, 8 men
    • 6 US, 3 non-US
    • 4/11 non white

    There is an open seat, but this is a fairly diverse group. However, I think more minorities help with different thoughts. I also think more variety of business experience matter, as well as different culture/geographies.

    With that in mind, I like Lori as a women with a different perspective. I like Steph, Joey, Roberto, and Hamish as independent business owners. I like Roberto, Jose, and Hamish as non-US citizens.

    Quite a toss up here for me. I lean towards non US people here. PASS needs to grow outside the US. Or, I think it should. Need is probably the wrong word.

    Business Acumen

    Pass is a not-for-profit business. Not a non-profit, but their aim isn’t money, or at least, not a lot. Here’s a definition I found

    Not-for-profit organizations are types of organizations that do not earn profits for its owners. All of the money earned by or donated to a not-for-profit organization is used in pursuing the organization’s objectives and keeping it running. (emphasis mine)

    I did see a definition that not-for-profits are run by volunteers, which would mean that PASS can’t hire someone. I don’t know if that’s true, but I do know that PASS tends to make money to keep PASS and the Summit going. Not a lot else.

    Some other things, but really, it’s a bit of a treadmill. Is that the best use of money? Should 360Sales cost $400k to make $460 (round-ish numbers)? I don’t know, but I want more business savvy people, not corp employees thinking about this. There is a difference. I’ve worked for a lot of people and owned a business. You view things differently and it’s not an easy skill to acquire.

    Steph is my top person here, though I also think Roberto, Hamish, and Joey are people I consider.

    Conclusion

    At the end, as I work through this, Steph and Joey check a lot of boxes for me. They were easy choices.

    The last one is harder. Hamish is on the board, and has diversity of thought and business experience. However, I haven’t seen a lot from him this past year. Same for Roberto. I don’t know Jose, and honestly, am not sure Matt brings something different from Joey.

    I like Lori, and I appreciate her comms. I also think a diversity of gender brings different thoughts.

    In the end, Hamish has only had a partial term, and when I doubt, I tend to be a “vote them out” person. The diversity and passion he brings are outstanding. The communication and engagement less so, but he gets my vote and endorsement. I’m also going to be a thorn in his paw during the next year to engage more with the wider community.