Comments on: You Want Answers?

By: Christian Hasker

Christian Hasker — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 18:05:27 +0000

As an observer it seems that PASS is really struggling with whether or not to be transparent, and if to be transparent, how transparent to be. As companies/organizations evolve from the traditional way of doing things there will be teething issues. It seems that there is a bit of a philosophical disagreement at the moment; some board members want to push the organization to a place it’s uncomfortable going at the moment. This is a good process, but can be a bit frustrating to the general public. Better to have the strategy meetings behind closed doors and then come out with a strong unified way forward.
On the survey results the cynic in me says that the survey came out completely differently than expected, and PASS had already made a decision, irrespective of the survey results, so releasing them would show that.

By: Thomas LaRock

Thomas LaRock — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 23:49:26 +0000

In reply to Steve Jones. Having Microsoft on board is no different than anything else that can be guarded by an NDA clause. I doubt the Microsoft BI conference is aware of our survey results, despite having Microsoft on our board, for example. The fact that the results could be leaked is no reason for marketing to just release them anyway. I would hesitate to say that this hasn't been thought through. In fact, if anything, it is being thought about quite a bit right now.

By: Steve Jones

Steve Jones — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 23:19:09 +0000

I’m not sure I buy the espionage angle. My guess is, with Microsoft on the board, that they see the results.

Same for Connections. They are heavily involved in the SQL community, and likely could get the results from a board member.

More likely the marketing people are being cautious and not thinking it through. The data here isn’t going to affect things. And if it does, it’s because PASS is not meeting the needs of the community.

By: Thomas LaRock

Thomas LaRock — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 19:24:12 +0000

In reply to Jack Corbett. that's a thought, no doubt. I can pass it along, thanks!

By: Jack Corbett

Jack Corbett — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 19:20:07 +0000

How about including the survey results in the Chapter Leader powerpoint deck? Gets out to the likely interested people, leaders and chapter attendees.

By: Thomas LaRock

Thomas LaRock — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 19:16:22 +0000

In reply to Jack Corbett.

i don’t worry about espionage either, but we pay folks to think about such things and they would rather be cautious before releasing anything, and I respect their decision.

i’m confident we can figure something out. not only that, but i am confident that whatever we do get figured out, we can apply to future surveys as well. transparency is a goal, not just a buzzword.

By: Jack Corbett

Jack Corbett — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 19:14:36 +0000

Oops, forgot to say thanks for taking the time to respond. I do appreciate those of you serve on the board, just like to see a it more information shared by board members. Andy, Jeremiah, and yourself appear to be more willing to share what is happening than other members. I say “appear” because I don’t really know the other members, but I also haven’t seen any blogs out there by others.