No, really, I’m board. It will be officially announced today, but as of December 11th, I’m the new Director of Program Development for PASSMN, the Minnesota chapter of the Professional Association for SQL Server. What does this mean exactly? Well, here’s my new job description:

The Director of Program Development shall provide strategic leadership in program development, which offers personal and professional development to members and prospective members. Schedule and coordinate presentations and presenters for the regular meetings. Coordinate with the Executive Board to determine the content of future meetings. Work with the Director of Membership to determine specific expertise from within the chapter or group, identify potential external presenters, and identify vendors for presentations. Identify potential social-gathering events outside the recurring monthly meetings. Organize catering of the monthly meetings.

Again, what does this mean exactly? It means that I’m now the guy in charge of bringing great content and great presenters to the monthly user group meetings. The bar has been raised pretty high by the past Program Directors, and Mike Donnelly (blog/twitter) has left me some big shoes to fill. I’m excited about the new role, and I really hope I’m up to the task.

Local veteran presenters – I know who you are and I know where some of you live. If necessary, I will hunt you down and beg for your time! Save me the embarrassment – if you’d like to be on the schedule for 2014, contact me directly or through the PASSMN site.

Local wannabe presenters – here’s your chance. One thing I’ve learned through my own presentations and writing – there is a demand out there for basic, fundamental content. You don’t have to present on the cool new SSIS features coming in 2027, you can talk about normal everyday T-SQL tuning, troubleshooting, “stuff developers do wrong”, whatever. Somebody out there hasn’t yet learned what you know. I’m going to really focus on getting this type of material on the schedule for this coming year.

Lastly, I have some ideas for some “extracurricular” activities, networking opportunities outside of a regular monthly meeting. Stay tuned as these ideas get fleshed out.

Here’s looking forward to my new role for 2014 – it’s gonna be fun!