—–Matt’s Response—–

Hi ,

Thanks for the note and feedback.

Since my nom profile on PASS explains that [as co-founder and launch partner in] every Redmond asset, been on the team of 4 that went through the extensive bid process to earn the TN/MSDN partnership should address your first question, and if it made you pause, my email address and phone number were out there. This is the first time, anyone has asked this so interesting and appreciated feedback. Brent’s interview also details a lot of what I have done/accomplished in my career [which has been dedicated to improving the careers of IT pros by providing useful and great information resources]. Also my title should tell you what I do and also have done [my background is in media, all media including online, face-to-face, print [with my career related to IT Professionals] as all the other things on this page.

The irony is the nom process ended when I got phone call from….(could not answer), then the email from PASS at the time of announcement while on campus in Redmond in meetings, discussing man things related to the TN/MSDN partnership. Now your points are taken and I will be the first one to tell you that my campaign effort could have been better in addition to some other key points:

1) As the call came [prior to the election result release] I was in a meeting at Microsoft – and as an extension of a broad IT pro “marketing group” (RMG) they were briefing us on community objectives including SQL. So, I have a unique level of perspective….RMG combined w TN and MSDN will be doing more to help SQL pros and shape the information dialogue, along with 1000′s of MS stakeholders in the market and SQL community.

2) I emphasized diversity and [IMO] PASS missed an opp bc all 3 nominees are more or less the of the same [ilk w/varitions of course - but SQL Pros 1st and foremost]. You may see differently, but I don’t [really] especially if viewed against my own unique profile.

3) Why was I on the ballot? Because I represent someone in the community with an alternative voice, deep insight to the marketplace, someone who is aligned closely with MS communities, [understand what it takes to ensure the sucess of a media endeavor?] [That would be my guess.]

4) Look at your own board if you work at a company (hard to tell since the email is under a gmail account), do they all come from different backgrounds? This was the best thing about my nomination opp – that it is not a stretch as this is my community too – but just a different angle or skew.

What if I had used my influence outside of PASS and encourage people to join the constituency? It is stated in the by-laws we cannot use our company websites, but I have other resources….but as mentioned, it was a solo journey, and a measure of what PASS really is about; a vocal minority. Don’t we want a more involved, more inclusive, a more [diverse]community?

So in summary, whether or not I have been to PASS or Chapter meetings is of no consequence IMHO (again, we send representative(s) each year – someone who I work with and they would not be there if we did not think it worth their while and the expense. [Additionally} I have been to more IT Tech events than I care to share, and we attend to support our business and our vendor partners. That said, did you review the marcomm plan we helped developed to promote registrations to PASS Summit 09? Have you attended any media conferences (I'm not going to relent on that point anymore - PASS is a B2B media organization for profit or not - another mistake made during the nom process). Could you put together a good marketing commutations strategy for PASS? Likely not, but that does not discount your ability in any way shape or form - you are also part of the community, but from a vast and diverse segment of it. My sense is you are probably among the worlds top Pro's in SQL's in addition to being a top notch developer (judging by your LI profile). Could I write a complex SQL based database.....no!

So, I'm [grateful] for your email, glad for the feedback, but the biggest lesson learned is “how not” to communicate to a technical audience, how protective and inclusive the vocal minority at the PASS community is (totally fine), but how threatened (some) people are by change, new thinking. Totally not my intention to upheave the effort (someone suggested I may “cripple” the community which is just slightly [on the dramtic side] as the board is a team of people who must agree, work together – a team effort. Believe me, PASS needs money [and as a nominee that has a track record in driving and growing the "business']. IMO revenue is the key to help guide our community into the future or you can just call it BrentOzar.com or the SQL Blogosphere because it is fragmenting PASS’ revenue stream and there is simply vocal minority at PASS who have a stake in some shape or form. With a 578 voting constituency, the community could do well to vote more like the passionate community that was consistently portrayed as deeply connected. Engaged? That # 578 says a whole lot. 578 votes. Lets say the [voting constituency] could use an improvement and maybe that is [another issue the BOD must tackle].

How big really is PASS [regardless of member registrations], how much do people really care about the B0D? 578? How can we improve that (my commitment is strong and endures), and how can we propel PASS into something that has lasting appeal, a destination resource hub, a dynamic community center? PASS must have lost a massive rev stream (a trade off for member names which is the currency of the web?) when membership became free so how do we plug that kind of economic erosion and keep the community engagement broader and more vibrant than ever? [what is the plan for PASS to grow revenue, give back and grow the community? Why is media representative employed to sell sponsorships and other media opps? To help the community, PASS in general, and maintain its vibrancy?]

Last point, the fact that only 2 of the 3 voting nominees had the grace to respond to my concession email, thanking me, reaching out, and sharing their gratitude, tells me more is at play in the nomination objective of the current BOD.

Why not open up to my SQL world – take a peak at the people who help drive SQL professional development and proliferation as I do yours? Why not evaluate it, and open up to new dialogue? How can we make this a more open, less inclusive community, and truly work to expand the benefits that SQL offers developers and IT pros alike around the world? Those are the questions that need to be addressed so the long term viability of PASS is a model that sustains and flourishes. That would be in my best interest (whether community wants to note or not) and my suspicion yours as well.

With Sincerity and Respect,

-Matt

[PS - to the author below; we do share one thing in common; analysis. Whether it financial, business, market-oriented, much or my time is spent analyzing the business for future strategy and development.]

__________________________

Matt N. Morollo VP, Publishing
1105 Enterprise Computing Group
T: 508 532 1418 M: 508 294 8183
http://www.RedmondMediaGroup.com

The Best Microsoft News from Around the Web
http://www.RedmondReport.com

http://www.Twitter.com/MattMorollo

——————————————————————————–
From:
Sent: Thu 10/22/2009 1:12 PM
To: Matt Morollo
Subject: PASS Board Candidacy

Matt,

I’ve been following the thread about your candidacy for the PASS Board on Brent Ozar’s blog with interest, and I had a few thoughts that I wanted to share with you.

First, one thing that gave me pause is that you talked at length about what your company has done, but very little about what you yourself had done. I’m impressed by your company’s activities, and I read your company’s publications regularly, but those don’t give me any insight about what you might do if elected.

Second, you seemed to take offense at some of the comments. I agree that some comments may have stepped over the line. However, you also have to remember your audience: we analyze things for a living. Yes, we looked for faults, but not because you aren’t “a MVP or Rockstar blogger”. It’s who we are, and it’s what we do.

Finally, some of your last posts mentioned that this was your community, too. You’re absolutely right – PASS is open to anyone, not just developers and DBAs. I lead a local PASS chapter, and I encourage anyone interested to attend and learn, regardless of whether they work directly with SQL Server or not, because there are things that we can all learn from each other. However, I got the impression from your responses that while you had watched the community for quite some time, you had never participated – never attended Summit, never attended a local user group meeting, never written for PASS, never participated on the forums. Your initial responses, both to Brent’s questions and to some of the initial comments, also seemed to indicate that you really didn’t understand how we, the community, see PASS. Even though media is a vital component of PASS, we see ourselves as more than just our publications, websites, conventions, or content. It all comes down to the people. I don’t think that the majority of us would object to a director that does not actively work with databases, but we do expect that those we elect would understand what we’re about. After all, we have in PASS a thriving organization that we can be proud of, and we’re very protective of that.

I appreciate that you took so much time and effort to run for the Board. Speaking as someone who worked for a media company for ten years, I have no doubts that your insight into that industry would be valuable to PASS as we continue to grow, and I hope you consider running again.

Thanks for your activity and perseverance on this blog. I’m glad you were will willing to engage in the dialog.

Are you attending the Summit this year? If so, perhaps we’ll have some time to catch up over coffee or something.

Also, I may have missed it before, but how many PASS Summits have you attended in the past?

Thanks!

Joe