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| The Voice of the DBA |
Doing Good at SQL Server Central This is part of a few memories from the founders of SQL Server Central, celebrating 25 years of operation this month. We did photoshoots at Redgate many years ago. We had a bunch of props, including some phrases written down. We could create our own, but my handwriting is atrocious (likely why I never became an architect), but I ended up with this one:
I couldn't really explain why I picked "Doing Good", but the more I thought about it over the years, it's been a lot of what has driven my life forward, both here at SQL Server Central and in my personal life. I've been a Boy Scout and Girl Scout leader, have been and am a sports coach, and I have given up no shortage of time to help others with speaking efforts. I put time into the SQL Saturday charitable foundation, trying to get more SQL Saturday and Day of Data events that teach, train, and inspire data professionals. SQL Server Central has a huge reach. We've been very popular, and millions of people have seen our newsletters. Our mission early on was to help database professionals get better every day, and we provided a lot of free (as in beer) resources: articles, quizzes, and answers to your questions. Many community members have also volunteered their time and expertise to help, and I thank them as well. There have been a few times when I've tried to use that reach to do good. I don't want to point out the specifics, but a few times I've known people with very sick children. One was a local friend I'd worked with (tech pro, but not database) and another was a speaker in our community. This started when I was sitting at dinner with a fellow speaker, who was talking about this family struggling and needing help. I thought, surely we as a community could raise money and help them. I used the reach of our newsletter at that time to ask for donations and managed to raise substantial amounts of money to help a family. I did it again a few years later, raising well over USD$10k in both cases. In those cases, as well as with SQL Saturday, I have done what I thought was in the best interests of everyone and ensured all the monies raised went to the intended recipients. The families got all the money donated, and all sponsorship monies to to events. If there are bank charges or other fees, I absorb them. In the case of SQL Saturday, I go begging for donations to support the admin costs and fees. Those might be some of the things I'm most proud of in my life, which is an interesting thing I learned. I really like helping others. As much as I enjoy living my life, I get more satisfaction that I would have expected by helping others grow, learn, succeed, and enjoy their own lives. I think everyone should volunteer some of their time/resources/knowledge/etc. at some point in their life. It might not be now, but think about where you can help make the world better. You'll gain way more than you ever spend from helping others..
Steve Jones - SSC Editor Join the debate, and respond to today's editorial on the forums |
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