Blogger Disclosure Information

The US Federal Trade Commission requires that bloggers (and celebrity endorsers, woohoo!) disclose their relationships in public.  You need to know my motives behind writing stuff here and around the web, so here it goes – all my dirty laundry.

Where My “Day Job” Income Comes From

I’m an independent consultant and trainer.  Microsoft is one of my clients, including the Microsoft Certified Master program.  I am not paid to blog – I’m a consultant, and any blogging I do is to promote myself, my causes, and things that make me lol.

I co-founded SQLCruise, a training event at sea for SQL Server database administrators and developers.  SQLCruise accepts sponsors, so I’m paid indirectly by several technology companies.

From 2008 to mid-2010, I was employed by Quest Software as an evangelist.

Where I Write and Syndicate Content

My writing, presentations, and videos show up at a few places around the web:

  • BrentOzar.com (my personal blog) – all content reflects my own opinion.  No sponsorship is accepted.  If any posts mention products or services, it’s because I believe those products or services are worth mentioning on their own merit.  Some posts include Amazon, BlueHost, CommissionJunction, GoDaddy, NewEgg, or other affiliate links to purchase the product, and I make a commission through those links.
  • Quest.com (my former employer) – I worked at Quest Software from 2008 to 2010.  I produced whitepapers, blog posts, podcasts, and other content for them as a part of my employment.  I stand behind what I produced while I worked there – I don’t feel that I was ever pressured to produce content I didn’t believe in.  I just wanna make it clear that I wasn’t a talking head, because my content is still available there, and it’s good stuff.  (Brilliant, I tell you.)
  • SQLCruise.com – content reflects the sponsors as listed on the SQLCruise Sponsors page.
  • SQLServerPedia.com (syndicated from BrentOzar.com) – same policy as BrentOzar.com.  I only syndicate a subset of my content to SQLServerPedia.  I do not receive any compensation for that syndication – I do it to promote some of my content, and I’m compensated in the form of additional exposure for my material.
  • TheInfoBoom.com (IBM) – all content reflects my own opinion, but I was compensated for those posts in 2010-2011.
  • Twitter (my short thoughts) – all content reflects my own opinion, but I may link to other sites like TheInfoBoom.com where I am being compensated for content.
  • YouTube – Quest Software Channel – these videos were recorded when I worked for Quest Software in 2008-2010.

I also use FaceBook.com, Flickr.com, LinkedIn.com, ServerFault.com, StackOverflow.com, and others to promote myself and my businesses and to make fun of Microsoft Access users.  On those sites, I maintain the same editorial policy that I use here on BrentOzar.com.

If my content appears anywhere else on the web, feel free to contact me to clarify this policy.  For example, on interviews and podcasts where I promote my consulting or SQLCruise, I’m acting on behalf of those companies.

Comments and Identities

Comments on BrentOzar.com and SQLCruise.com are under my control, but comments on other sites are not.  When comments are under my control, I use Askimet to reduce spam, and due to the volume of spam comments my blogs receive, I’m not able to examine every spam comment.  It’s possible that comments may be flagged as spam when they’re not.  Barring spam comments, I read every single comment I receive, and I approve every comment that isn’t spam, regardless of anonymity or content.  (I do believe that if a vendor leaves a comment saying, “Check out my product here!” without bringing anything else to the table, then that’s spam.)

Comments on these sites may list one name, but be from someone else.  For example, you may read a comment from John Smith, but it was really written by Jane Doe.  I do not use online identification tools like OpenID to enforce identity of commenters, and I allow anonymous comments.  Whenever you read a comment, you should take the writer’s identity as unknown and question their motives behind the comment, especially when these comments involve promotion or bashing of a product or service.  Whenever I’m online, I use my real name – Brent Ozar – or a variation such as Brent or BrentO.  I do not post comments anonymously or under names.

Events and Community Organizations

When I speak at or attend an event, the event organizers compensate me in the form of free admittance to the conference, travel expenses, an honorarium, and/or a split of the revenue (for pre/post conference sessions).  This compensation is the same for all speakers – I don’t receive any kind of extra fee, and the travel & expenses are at typical business travel rates.

If I cover the event on BrentOzar.com, I am not compensated for those posts.  If interviews with me show up on other sites, the author may be compensated, but I’m not.

I often connect volunteer community organizers with vendors for sponsorship relationships.  I don’t broker these transactions directly – I just make introductions and get out of the way before the swag starts flying around.

Goods & Services I’ve Received and Reviewed

I don’t track gifts under $100 unless they show up in my content.  For example, if I’ve received a free copy of a book to review, and I publish a review of it, it’s listed below.  If I didn’t review the book, it’s not shown.

Lest you think my integrity is swayed by a $20 paperback, think again – I receive a *lot* of books that I don’t review publicly.  That isn’t to say your book sucked if you sent it to me, but I may not feel like enough of an authority to review its particular content, or I might be busy, or… it might suck.  (Ewan, if you’re reading this, your book does NOT suck, but I haven’t published the review yet.)  I have also reviewed things without compensation, such as my Fusion-IO drive review.

When a vendor approaches me to review something, and it’s not something my clients have an immediate need for, I’ll usually ask the vendor if they’re interested in a consulting engagement.  Reviewing things is hard work – anybody can write a fluff PR piece about how the WedgeMaster 5000 is so much better than the WedgeMaster 4000 – but really digging into a product’s strengths and weaknesses in the real world takes days or weeks of work.  Since that’s beyond what I can do for free, I ask the vendor to pay the bill.  To date, no one has accepted, and that’s fine with me.  Think about that when you read short product reviews at other sites.

Other Goods & Services I’ve Received

Microsoft MVP Program – I’m a Microsoft MVP, and as a part of that relationship I get free MSDN and TechNet access.  Other vendors like VMware, Quest Software, Red Gate, Starwind, etc. also recognize Microsoft MVPs and give them free software licenses.  As a result of this, their products show up in my demos and screenshots.  The requirements to be an MVP are murky at best, but it’s fair to guess that I’m being compensated for my work in the Microsoft user community.

VMware – I get some free VMware licensing as a Microsoft MVP, but I want to disclose this separately because I frequently talk about VMware products and show them during my demos.  The only compensation I get is the licensing via the MVP program.

Apple – I give Apple large quantities of my money, and they give me hardware.  Sadly, this is just a normal consumer relationship, and I wouldn’t mention it here except that I really love a lot of their gear, and I’ve invested directly in their stock.  (The rest of my holdings are mutual funds, so I don’t hold any company directly.)

If you have any questions about this disclosure, please feel free to contact me.  If you’d like to copy this Blogger Disclosure Page format for your own site, feel free to go ahead.  I couldn’t find a good template either, and you’re welcome to use this.  I was inspired by Rick Vanover’s disclosure page.