I currently write the editorial for the PASS Connector which is published every two weeks as part of my role on the Board of Directors. I'm cross posting those editorials here as well as to the main PASS blog.

For those of you that have been PASS members for a while you may remember that we published a magazine for a while in conjunction with SQLServerCentral.com called The SQL Server Standard (free back issues available for download). We stopped publication in 2008 due to rising costs. It was a necessary step, but one that left us without a good process for obtaining content for sqlpass.org.

Beginning this week we’re going to reuse the great magazine name to call out premium content that will get posted on sqlpass.org. Grant Fritchey, MVP and author, will be the editorial lead on this project; the guy who reviews abstracts and decides what to publish. Brad McGehee, MVP and author, will be the lead technical reviewer, tasked with making sure that the content is accurate, and we’ll have a real copy edit done to make sure the grammar and spelling is correct.

We’re going to aim for 26 articles per year (one per Connector) that will each run 1000 to 4000 words. Authors need 5 years professional experience and to have been previously published. More details on the requirements can be found here, but the fun part is that you can get paid to write for PASS. We’re paying $500 per article and you’ll earn every penny of it!

In addition to that, we’re also accepting two other types of content from PASS members. One of them are PASS Tips, 1-5 minute video tips that focus on SQL Server (not third party products), and the other are our very popular Top 10 Lists. These go through a lighter review phase and are unpaid contributions, a great way to participate in PASS and build your resume. Just remember that you’re putting this in front of your peers, give it your best effort!

We’ve tried to frame our content plan to encourage growth in our members, to give them a place to grow and prove their skills before moving on to books and speaking at the PASS Summit. We’ve also tried to build it in such a way that we don’t appear to be competing with the many great content sites that are already out there, trying to carve out a niche that is good for PASS, our members, and the overall community.

Have a question about this, the PASS Summit, or PASS in general? I answer questions for free! Drop me an email, andy.warren@sqlpass.org.