My first real introduction to PASS was back in 1998. I was an “Accidential DBA” and needed some training. I heard about this conference in Chicago and my boss agreed it was the best place to start. Little did I know how that conference would influence the rest of my career.

Fast forward to 2010, after taking a slight hiatus from SQL Server, I was ready to get back into it. What better place than a local user group? After moving over 1,600 miles (a couple of years earlier) from where I started my career in SQL Server, I needed to make some new local connections. That’s when I was introduced to the Triad SQL Server User Group. At the time, Miguel Cebollero (B | T) was the chapter leader. Miguel was so friendly and welcoming and I remember Kevin Goode was presenting a session on CLR and how it really is NOT the devil’s work, but a great tool if used correctly. I was hooked.

In early 2011, Miguel decided to move back to his home state of Florida and handed the reins over to Kevin. Kevin moved the meeting location from Winston-Salem to Greensboro and I attended meetings on a semi-regular basis, but let’s face it, life just gets in the way. By 2012, our meeting attendance started to drop off and a new BI Group had started up in Winston-Salem. It became obvious that something had to change. Kevin had the foresight to work with the new BI group and asked for volunteers to help him out with the chapter. I decided to step up as “Speaker Wrangler” and we worked out a schedule with the new BI group that would be mutually beneficial.

Now it’s 2015 and Kevin has taken on a new role in his company which means he has less and less time to devote to the user group. When Kevin approached me about taking over the user group I was both honored and excited (and a little scared) that he considered handing the reins over to me. I have accepted the challenge and I hope that I can continue to lead the group as well as both Kevin and Miguel did and provide a much needed resource to local SQL Server professionals.

We will be a little more active on social media, we tweet at @TriadSQL and use the #TriadSQL hashtag, and welcome any suggestions that will make your user group more useful to you.