Rob explains how speaking is the natural evolution from teaching your coworkers. He reminds us that the audience is “on your side”.

Kenneth explains how blogging both helps other people and creates an online resume.

Don’t be scared. “Whatever you have to contribute is good enough.”

Organizing and speaking is fun, it helps you learn, and a blog provides a reference for you and others. It also pays back all the benefit you’ve gained.

“Blogging helps you become a better technical person.” Plus it saves time in the long run; write once, read many. Speaking makes you double-down on prep, which cements your learning and makes you a better presenter. Helping others also enhances your personal life.

Like me, Thomas had to be convinced to start speaking. He started with his local PASS chapter and then on to a SQLSaturday– with Steve Jones in the audience.

Our #sqlfamily vlogger talks about moving to video to save on travel costs. He aims for the niche of short, entertaining tips. Making them has been fulfilling and rewarding. Don’t let fear stop you. “If you give it your best then the SQL Server community won’t let you down.”

Cláudio began learning about SQL Server through SQLServerCentral and print magazines. Then he explored other blogs, then user groups and SQLSaturdays. With encouragement, he began speaking and then working with dbatools.

“We all love to give back and help each other.” Her laptop wouldn’t cooperate for her first demo-laden presentation, but she gave it anyway. And then again the next week. She’d been “bitten by the speaking bug” and is now a mentor. She also blogs and is riding the SQL on Linux train.

Peter details the long history of helping in our community and notes that he has’t “seen this level of sharing in many other tech communities”. He blogs, speaks, and contributes on StackOverflow and SQL Slack. He encourages every else to get involved: “you probably know something that nobody else does”.

A 23-year MVP, Steve got his start in Microsoft Access, answering questions on CompuServe. He eventually migrated to SQL Server and then System Center Configuration Manager. He explains that speaking is fun and benefits your career.

Like so many others, a local user group and SQLSaturday were Björn’s introduction to PASS. He started volunteering at conferences, founded a meetup, and eventually spoke at a SQLSaturday. He also confirms that speaking is fun and helping people makes you happy.

We already knew Aaron was legendary, but Stack Exchange confirmed it for us. He’s been answering questions online since before that was a thing. Then he started blogging for efficiency and reach. He focuses on best practices to “help the helpers”, hoping to spread good habits. Ultimately, as with so many others, he’s “just trying to help people”. And he wants you to know you can, too.

Kathi describes how PASS Summit 2004 changed her life forever, prompting her to immediately sign up to volunteer for PASS. She didn’t realize how much she was helping others or how it would open doors for her. But now it’s clear she’s “making a difference in the world”. She says you’ll be glad when you, do, too.

Allen started getting involved in PASS by bringing knowledge back from Summit to his local community. Eventually he led that local group and about a decade later he’s part of the global PASS leadership. He echoes that “the more you give, the more you get in return”.

First time participant Tim explains how he learned about SQLSaturdays at Summit and shortly thereafter attended one, then spoke at one, and then organized one. He continued volunteering, blogging, running a user group, and was hired at SQLskills. Hearing that he’s helped someone makes all the hard work worth it.

Nate blogs to help himself remember, in addition to helping the community. He’s attended SQLSaturdays and hopes to volunteer in the future. He also hosts “lunch and learn” events at his company. He reminds us that having to teach something forces you to learn it really well. Finally he cautions that, while being generous with your time really does make a difference, don’t forget to prioritize yourself and your family.

Andy claims he consumes more than he contributes, which is striking since he’s been an author of 11 books, has built open source SSIS utilities, blogs, and speaks at SQLSaturdays. He’s lived the “virtuous cycle” in the SQLServer community.

James commits to, by the end of the year:

• Answering more questions than he asks.
• Submitting to speak at 3 SQL Saturdays.
• Attending 80% of the local user group meetings.
• Creating 6 technical blog posts and 10 T-SQL Tuesday posts.
• Releasing a reusable solution into the community.

Deb plans to volunteer to help first timers at PASS Summit. She’s also considering submitting to speak at a virtual group or GroupBy.org. She emphasizes that it’s ok to help behind the scenes or in little ways. There’s a way for everyone to help.

Rich has been helping one-on-one, but commits to run one lunch-time training course per month for at least a full year for his coworkers. He’ll also make the recordings available internally.

Kevin is taking mentorship to a new level by running an apprentice program. He’s looking for his next recruit, especially among folks who don’t have the same opportunities as many in the tech industry.

Shane has been blogging weekly, is a contributor to dbatools, and has volunteered at SQLBits. He plans to contribute more to open source tools, submit to speak at SQLSaturdays, and write deeper technical blog posts.

A new website is born with the creation of Hugo’s SQLServerFast.com all about execution plans. By the end of the month, he will publish his first set of articles, with a new one arriving each month.

Another first time contributor brings us another new website. Janice rekindled her local user group, organized her first SQLSaturday this March, and began speaking. She’s planning on submitting to more speaking opportunities this year and she will continue her work organizing the PASS Professional Development virtual group.

Doug has adopted the Getting Things Done time management process and commits to writing a series of blog posts on how we can all get started… and presumably how we can finish, too.

Originally worried about not having “anything worth sharing”, Jess is now convinced we all have something to teach. She’s committing to 6 more blog posts this year (3 technical), 50 merged pull requests into the dbatools module, and to present at a user group meeting and (hopefully) a conference.

PROJECT SQLImaginarium has officially launched. Todd will use virtual reality to introduce folks to SQL Server. It will provide an immersive experience and will enable users to visualize how the engine works in ways never before possible. But he needs your help to make it work.

Nick was worried about having something to contribute which hadn’t been done before, but then he realized that “[e]veryone has a voice, and my experiences working with SQL Server can’t be the same as everyone else”. He plans to blog at least twice per month, host a lunch and learn at work, and speak at a public event.