Look at that, it is once again that time of the month that has come to be known as TSQL Tuesday.  TSQL Tuesday is a recurring blog party that occurs on the second Tuesday (most generally) of the month.  This event was the brainchild of Adam Machanic (Blog | Twitter).  

Anybody who desires to participate in this blog party is welcome to join.  Coincidentally, that open invitation is at the base of this months topic – Family and Community.  The invitation, issued by Jeffrey Verheul (blog | twitter), for this month said the following.

This month I would like to give everyone the opportunity to write about SQL Family. The first time I heard of SQL Family, was on Twitter where someone mentioned this. At first I didn’t know what to think about this. I wasn’t really active in the community, and I thought it was a little weird. They were just people you meet on the internet, and might meet in person at a conference some day. But I couldn’t be more wrong about that!

Once you start visiting events, forums, or any other involvement with the community, you’ll see I was totally wrong. I want to hear those stories. How do you feel about SQL Family? Did they help you, or did you help someone in the SQL Family? I would love to hear the stories of support, how it helped you grow and evolve, or how you would explain SQL Family to your friends and family (which I find hard). Just write about whatever topic you want, as long as it’s related to SQL Family or community.

What is it?

We have all likely seen SQL Family thrown about here and there.  But what exactly is this notion we hear about so often?

I think we have a good idea about what family might be.  I think we might even have a good idea of what a friend is.  Lastly, I might propose that we know what a community is.  When we talk of this thing called SQL Family, I like to think that it is a combination of family, friends and community.

These are people that can come together and talk about various different things that span far beyond SQL Server.  We may only see each other at events every now and then.  Those events can be anything from a User Group meeting to a large conference or even at a road race (5k, half marathon, marathon).

These are the people that are willing to help where help is needed or wanted.  That help can be anything ranging from well wishes and prayers, to teaching about SQL Server, to lending a vehicle, or anything along that spectrum.

I have seen this community go out of their way to help provide a lift to a hotel or to the airport.  These people will help with lodging in various circumstances when/if they can.  These are the people that have been known to make visits to hospitals to give well wishes for other people in the community.

Isn’t that what friends / family really boils down to?  People that can talk to each other on an array of topics?  People that go out of their way to help?  Think about it for a minute or three.