Today we have a guest editorial as Steve is traveling.

In the month of August, I went to three different SQLSaturday events over three weekends. If you’ve never heard of SQLSaturday before, I strongly recommend you check it out. Every one of these events was great in its own way. I just want to take a moment to send a thank you to the organizers.

Putting on a SQLSaturday is not easy. I helped do a couple of them several years ago. It’s a ton of work. From finding a venue, to promoting the event, getting sponsors, roping in speakers, making a schedule, arranging lunch, all of this stuff takes a lot of work. I only did a few of them before I realized, I wasn’t all that crazy about it. Yet, there are people out there who have organized 10 or more of these things. The people who take all this on have a special kind of crazy that we all need to be incredibly thankful for.

What’s more, it’s not just a few people. Every one of these events has a crew of volunteers who step up to carry a part of the burden.

All this work just to set up an environment where it’s possible for individuals who just want to get a little better at their job, maybe step in their career, do a little networking, have the opportunities to do just that. It’s not just SQLSaturdays either. SQLBits, Data Grillen, Data Platform Geeks, these events are doing a ton of work through volunteers and these events make it possible to enhance your career, world-wide.

I just want to take a moment and say thank you to all you mad individuals who make this happen. You may hear a lot of complaints on the day of your event because someone didn’t like a session, or lunch was cold, or, I don’t know, whatever other little issue affected them. However, know this, there are a lot more people out there who are grateful for all that you’ve done and all that you’ve sacrificed than the ones who complain. We may not always say thank you out loud, but know that we really are appreciative in our hearts.

And for those who haven’t said thanks, please, get that done.