SQL Server MVP Arnie Rowland (blog/twitter) has put a lot of effort into conceiving, organizing, and publicizing Project Phoenix over the past several months. Just in case you have never heard of this effort, the gist of it is to reach out to unemployed/underemployed Developers and to deserving organizations (such as charities, nonprofits, schools, churches, etc.)in order to help both parties.
The idea is to find unemployed/underemployed software/database developers who are able to propose a useful software project for a qualified organization that has a demonstrated need for that software application. The project criteria is shown below:
Project Criteria:
- Client is a USA IRS 503(c)3 non-profit, school, or church, OR a Canadian CRA registered charity,
- Solves a problem or satisfies a need for the client,
- Client desires the project and is supportive,
- Uses any combination of .NET 4.0, Windows Server 2008, SQL Server 2008, or Windows Phone 7,
- May be a new software solution, or an upgrade to an existing software solution,
- Additional consideration given projects that will be posted on Codeplex with a GPL license.
Two developers will be selected every two weeks for the rest of 2010. The selected developers will be awarded a treasure trove of free software, books, and training materials in exchange for completing the proposed software project, and hopefully publishing it on CodePlex. This will help the developer improve and update their skillset and will help out the organization that they are working with.
Arnie has gotten a number of SQL Server MVPs to donate one or more of their MSDN Ultimate subscriptions to the cause, and he has also gathered the support of a number of commercial sponsors to donate their product to the prize packages. This is a very useful effort that has the potential to help a lot of people. I really want to thank Arnie Rowland for continuing to work on this!
