I recently did an interview with Blythe Morrow from PASS HQ and decided to do my next interview with a veteran of the PASS Board of Directors, Rick Heiges.
Rick is currently a Senior Solutions Consultant with Scalability Experts, working with customers on solutions within the SQL Server environment. He speaks at user groups, conferences, labs, and road shows across the USA, Europe, and Africa. Rick has been involved with PASS since the spring of 2001 and started up an Official PASS SQL Server user group in North Carolina and has authored several articles for the PASS technical journal, the SQL Server Standard. You can read his blog at www.sqlblog.com.
My first memories of Rick are watching him line-dance at Billy Bob’s during the PASS Volunteer outing in 2005. If I had the video you can believe it would have been posted by now. I was fortunate that Rick agreed to an email exchange that would serve as the basis for our interview. It cost me some bacon which I intend to pay at our next face-to-face board meeting in May.
SB: You are currently on the Board of Directors for PASS. How long have you been on the Board?
RH: I was first appointed to the Board for 2003. I have been re-elected 3 times since then. That makes this my 7th year on the Board.
SB: That is a long time to dedicate yourself to something. It must be like having a second family at this point, no?
RH: Yes it is… We all have a common goal and know that we need each one of us to function in order to make PASS work well. The “elected” board is only part of the story. We have dedicated liaisons from CA and Microsoft that provide input that makes us better and provide incredible guidance. We have a staff at HQ that makes our tasks run smoothly and adds tremendous value to the organization. It takes a lot of work/time, but it has been worth it over the years as PASS has evolved. As with any family, there are disagreements, but we all know that we are working towards the common goal and the means to achieve that goal may take many forms.
SB: What are some of the portfolios you have managed in that time?
RH: I initially started with Technical Services. I then moved into Membership for two years and then into Event Operations for three years. For the past two years, I have been on Special Projects which is really fun as you are challenged to find creative solutions to address the needs of PASS.
SB: In your time on the Board, what are some of the most positive changes you have seen with the overall MS SQL Community?
RH: The SQL Community isn’t just a single entity. It really is a mosaic of multiple communities from specialization of topics to geographic oriented entities to groups of people with similar interests. Some entities are commercial and others are not-for-profit. What I have seen that is probably the most positive is the growing cooperation among all of these entities over the years.
SB: How is that cooperation being shown today? Is there a particular newsgroup or forum you could provide as an example? Or is the cooperation something you see in terms of networking at conferences?
RH: I do not want to go into specific examples, but we now approach each opportunity more strategically. With the common goal of growing the entire pie instead of fighting each other for a bigger piece of the pie, things have really become much more collaborative than adversarial.
SB: Where does PASS need the most help?
RH: I am going to have to say “Awareness” although that is changing and for the better. It is still something that we need to work at in order to let people know about the resources available online and locally in chapters as well as events. So when you meet another DBA, ask them if they know about PASS and if not, introduce them to the resources available. Even if they know about PASS, the website has changed immensely to have FREE membership and access to recorded sessions from past Community Summits.
SB: Word of mouth is always a great way to generate some buzz, but what about those DBA’s that never seem to leave their cube. How can PASS not only reach out and contact them, but get them to understand the power of community? Do you feel that social networking might be one way to achieve that result?
RH: Yes. As the social networking tools evolve, it is important for PASS to leverage these tools to help our members build their networks. Because SQL Server Professionals (especially DBAs) are often outnumbered in organizations, it is important for them to build a network to bounce ideas off each other and to expand their career options.
If you want to know more about PASS in general, you can visit the website at http://sqlpass.org.
