I read Andy Warren’s PASS Update #3 the other day and I was amazed. Actually I’m late in getting this published due to a scheduleding conflict and Andy has Update #4 out now as well.

Update #3 had a tremendous amount of openness and information about PASS, more than I think I’ve seen in almost 10 years combined. While there are things I know Andy can’t disclose or talk about directly, it was still amazing to see how much  he could share about the PASS board meetings and plans.

  Andy is my business partner in End to End Training and JumpstartTV and we’ve talked about this a bit,so it wasn’t a complete surprise to me, but it was a surprise how much he published. We’ve talked about PASS before since it impacts his ability to work on our other businesses and we have to plan the business around his commitments to PASS. I’m OK with him spending time there and I hope he can help the organization grow.

At the same time we have to be aware of potential conflicts of interest so that he can recuse himself where needed. PASS has talked about adding video content, something we do at JumpstartTV, and they’ve talked about community events, similar to the SQLSaturday franchise that Andy started to try and both serve the community and give us a way to get the word out about our training business.

In any case, I’ve been a member of PASS since 1999, when I attended the first Summit in Chicago. I thought it was a great idea for SQL Server DBAs to have a professional group and I have high hopes for the organization.

Over the last 10 years I’ve worked with them on various things, including the SQL Server Standard magazine, the opening night reception at the Summit and some other items and each time I’ve been frustrated by the lack of progress and openness from the group. For various reasons it seems that PASS has not done a great job of growing itself over the years and making itself more useful for DBAs.

I’m hopeful with a bit of turnover on the board that things will change and I think Andy was a good choice for the board. I debated running last year and I think that I might throw my name in the hat next year if things work out well for Andy. In any case, read the update and let Andy know what you think.