A day with Andy (and Matt..) #SQLSAT111 #SQLPASS

I first met Andy Leonard at my first PASS Summit (2008); he was sitting at the back of the room in the Chapter Leaders meeting.  At the time, there was this newfangled social technology called Twitter (perhaps you’ve heard of it), and everybody was live tweeting during the meeting (shades of things to come).  I had been following his twitter stream for some time, and I saw a tweet of his go by.  I responded with something clever like “I’m watching you tweet @AndyLeonard”.  Immediately his head popped up, and looked around the room.  After the meeting, I walked over and introduced myself. 

Talking to Andy is probably one of the easiest things to do in the world; there have been time throughout my association with the SQL community where I’ve bumped into him at some event or another, and he always seems to remember who I am, and what’s going on with me.  I’m nowhere near the prolific writer that he is, and neither am I as plugged in to what’s going on, but yet he always seems to slide into a conversation with me like an old friend.  Andy is just a good guy to know, and I’m glad he’s a friend of mine.

Now, we haven’t always agreed on things; during the PASS elections of 2010, Andy and I looked at the process from two very different perspectives.  Some of our discussions got heated online, and going back and reading those posts today makes me a little sad.  But then I have to pause and think about the face-to-face conversations Andy and I had regarding the same subject, and it’s clear that he really does have a heart for the SQL community; even though I don’t always agree with him, I know that he’s trying to encourage people to do the right thing.  Again, he’s a good guy.

Why do I bring this up? Well, it’s because I’m on the team to bring SQL Saturday 111 to Atlanta on April 14.  We’ve invited Andy Leonard to do a precon for us on April 13; $100 to spend a day with Andy (and Matt Masson).  I know that Andy brings that same outlook to his teaching that he does to his community activities; with a certain amount of encouragement, people can do better.  If you’re not already registered for his class, you should.  You’ll learn something about SSIS, and maybe a little bit about friendship.