Central Publishing Group Inc., meaning Andy, Brian, & Steve, is pleased to announce the sale of SQLServerCentral.com and DatabaseDaily.com to Red Gate Software. We have always tried to be open with the community and this message continues that spirit as we move into the future. We hope to answer as many questions as we can here, and Red Gate also has a press release today that will discuss their plans for the future.

We've been approached a few times during the past year or so about selling and never really considered it until Red Gate made an offer. Certainly our decision to sell was about hearing a reasonable offer, but just as important to us it was someone with a vision that matched or surpassed our own for what this site could be - and had the resources to try to build that vision. Red Gate was our first advertiser and they have been a great customer over the years. What influenced our decision was their desire to grow a community and run less advertising. Advertising has always paid the bills here, but it's a fine line to walk. Not enough advertising and you can't pay the bills, too much advertising and people start to seek other alternatives. We think we've done a fair balancing act over the years, though we've taken our lumps for things like the 'double underline' and of course the 'page peel' you see running in the top right hand corner of the site right now. Everyone else that had approached us in the past would have increased the advertising immediately, suggesting that they might double the revenues by doing so. Not an attractive option for us, or for those of you who visit us. Red Gate was close as we could get to the perfect candidate.

Why sell now? We've been doing this for more than five years and we've grown something we're really proud of, but we've also started to grow in other directions. Andy and Brian have moved into training (you've seen the ads for EndToEndTraining.com) and some consulting. This is work that interests them and gives them a flexible schedule. We're also planning to launch a very focused recruiting site next year that focuses on SQL Server professionals only - something that if it works could have a very positive impact on our chosen career field. We've got some other ideas still in the early stages, and we're hoping to spend more time supporting PASS and their efforts too. If we had to sum it up quickly, we'd say this - we want to see if we can succeed again, to prove that the first time wasn't luck!

That answers what Brian and Andy will be doing, what about Steve? Steve is a writer at heart, perhaps even more so than he is a SQL Server DBA. He'll be right here doing what he has been doing for the last two years, writing the daily editorial, reaching out to new authors to bring in new content, and continuing to write about SQL Server. He'll also be writing for Red Gate and helping them to support this first class community and grow it even more. Actually all three of us plan on continuing to write and share SQL Server knowledge on this site for years to come.

It's been over 5 years since we started SQLServerCentral.com and in that time we've met a lot of you in person, corresponded with many more, and enjoyed reading the receiving the contributions of countless others. In that time we've also tried to provide a place where you feel comfortable coming to learn more and share your knowledge about SQL Server with others around the globe. We spoke earlier about succeeding, so it's important to say that we think we succeeded at being good hosts and facilitators, it's all of you that have read articles, written articles, asked and answered questions, submitted scripts, and otherwise participated that made this a vibrant and interesting community. It's a strange and wonderful feeling to have 350,000 friends and to have only met a small portion of them in person. All we can say is "thank you" for spending time with us.

This is a bit of a farewell, but we're not going far. All three of us will be at PASS, throwing at least one more exciting party on Tuesday night so be sure you stop by and say "hi". We'll also still be part of the SQL Server community, so look for us at other conferences, local events, maybe even teaching a class you're interested in, and more. We've formed a new company, FourDeuce. You can visit there to keep tabs on all of us. And if you think you know where the name came from, send us a note. First person to guess it gets something special. And if you want the chance to get any of our books in print, they'll be here.

Steve will be here for a long time and Andy and Brian Will still be visiting here too, giving back to the community that gave us so much. Thanks again for letting us get to know you,

Andy, Brian, and Steve