#PASS Board of directors candidates

Wow, what an amazing list of folks to choose from this year at PASS Summit.

• Andy Warren
• Douglas McDowell
• Louis Davidson
• Lynda Rab (incumbent)
• Pat Wright (incumbent)
• Thomas LaRock

I stole this list from Andy Warren's blog.  

Before i get into who i will be voting for, i wanted to give you a bit of a background with my experience with these folks and PASS.

I have been a member of PASS since 2004 and have been involved as a volunteer at the Summit and at home in various positions.  In 2003, i started attending the Salt Lake City SQL Server User Group, which was headed by Pat Wright, at the time.  I started helping out and presenting at that group.  After attending a PASS summit in Florida, I broke off and started my own User Group in my home area of Utah County. I became a Chapter president with PASS in 2005.  When I attended PASS, I volunteered to be on the Chapter Committee and continued to be a Chapter President.  Meetings were sparse for the Chapter Committee during the year, but i enjoyed getting to know folks and working with PASS.  At the 2007 PASS summit, Pat Wright stepped down as our area's Regional Mentor when he gained a position on the Board.  He put me in as a Regional Mentor, and i gladly volunteered to take on these responsibilities.  The Chapter Committee leadership was altered, and new directions took effect.  Part way through the year we got some good direction on being Regional Mentors, and i started pursuing my tasks.  I continued to be a Chapter President as well.  During this year, i also started a Special Interest Group (SIG) for auditing and compliance.  This has not made a big splash as an important or even very active SIG compared to the other SIGs.  

During this last year, as the PASS Summit had finished, and people were still excited about networking and communicating with other PASS members, many social networking tools have sprouted up.  I joined and kept updating my Face Book page a lot more than i ever did my MySpace page.  I also joined Twitter and started micro blogging there.  I recently started trying to force myself to blog a bit more and keep a journal of activities.

Why do I detail these things?  Well, most of the board have been influential to my career and friendship.  I started blogging because Andy suggests this in his blog.  I started twittering after seeing Tim Ford from PASS mention it on Facebook.  I created a FaceBook group about PASS.  Pat Wright got me going on being a Chapter President and Regional Mentor.  Tom LaRock got my SIG approved and moving last year at PASS.  I have worked with Louis in the Chapter Committee, i think and more recently in the SIG Quiz Bowl and SIG meetings.  I remember meeting and working with Douglas as a volunteer the last couple years of PASS.  And Lynda Rab was on the SIG committee for a bit, and has always been present at volunteer events these past few years.

So, with all that said, its hard to come up with a favorite to vote for.

So, how about this... one guy's view of the candidates, as it pertains presence that i have seen.

Twitter

• Andy Warren
• Douglas McDowell      @douglasmcdowell   joined  4:41 AM May 8th
• Louis Davidson        @DRSql                  joined 7:33 PM May 12th
• Lynda Rab 
• Pat Wright               @SqlAsylum            joined 10:43 AM Nov 7th
• Thomas LaRock         @SQLBatMan          joined 9:05 AM Aug 3rd 

Blogs

• Andy Warren            http://www.sqlservercentral.com/blogs/andy_warren/default.aspx
• Douglas McDowell
• Louis Davidson         http://drsql.org/default.aspx
• Lynda Rab 
• Pat Wright                http://insanesql.blogspot.com/
• Thomas LaRock       http://sqlbatman.com/

How long I've known them

• Andy Warren               from SSC fame, 5+ years.  from PASS 2+ years
• Douglas McDowell        from PASS, 2+ years
• Louis Davidson            from PASS, 2+ years
• Lynda Rab                   from PASS, 2+ years
• Pat Wright                   from home, 4+ years
• Thomas LaRock         from PASS, 2+ years

Have had personal email exchanges with

• Andy Warren           yes
• Douglas McDowell
• Louis Davidson        yes
• Lynda Rab
• Pat Wright                 yes
• Thomas LaRock      yes

Have had group email exchanges with

• Andy Warren          yes
• Douglas McDowell   yes
• Louis Davidson       yes
• Lynda Rab               yes
• Pat Wright               yes
• Thomas LaRock      yes

Have had Instant Message communication with

• Andy Warren
• Douglas McDowell
• Louis Davidson      yes
• Lynda Rab
• Pat Wright               yes
• Thomas LaRock

So, with all that having been said, i suggest that each person that will vote take the time to find these people and get to know them a bit.  Ask them some questions.  Read their blogs, follow them on twitter, or read their twitter posts.  Try to find them online and get to know them there.  But get to know them.  Find the person that will best represent you on the board of the PASS organization we all participate in.