The Social Web

SQLBingo is still on at Pass Summit 2009; we’re less than a week away, and this should be a lot of fun.  To sum up, a bunch of us SQL Tweeters are going to be wandering around Summit; if you want to play Bingo, you have to match the real person with their avatar on the card, meet the person, and get their codeword.  Should be a lot of fun, but I have a few more things to add.

If you haven’t read the following posts, you may want to start with them first:

SQL PASS Twitter Bingo: The rules so far…

A basic summary of the rules for squares (with some general advice for players).  I’d like to add some things to the “how to play” list, but we’ll get to that in a minute.

#SQLBingo: Meet nice people and learn their safewords.

Brent (as usual) writes a very succinct post on how to play if you’re not a square.  What’s important about Brent’s list is that he lays out some guidelines for things to do BEFORE you go to Summit.

Wanna play?  It takes some prep work…

It should be noted that this is a low-budget game at best; I think one of squares called it “guerrilla networking”, which I think is an awesome term for it.  What it means is that we’re trying to keep the rules and the play very simple, but unfortunately, that also means that the players have to provide some of their own resources for playing.

If you are playing, follow the steps at Brent’s blog:

1. Print your cards ahead of time from http://sqlserverpedia.com/bingo. (Be sure to refresh in between)
2. Find the tweeps.
3. Turn in a card per day when you’ve filled out a row on Tuesday, 2 rows on Wednesday, and blackout on Thursday.

You may also want to set up a Twitter account between now and then.  If you’d like, you can check out sqlbingo’s profile; this is a dummy account set up by Aaron Nelson and myself to follow all of the squares.  The whole point of this account is to simply give you a quick list of all of the Twitter accounts that are on the cards.  You may also want to set up a search for the term #sqlbingo; remember, the squares will be broadcasting their location periodically throughout the day, and using this term will help find them.

Already a square? It takes some prep work…

Same rules for players applies to the squares; however, we’ve decided that squares are not eligible for prizes.  Sorry.  However, if you’d like to make it easy for your adoring fans to find you, you may want to print out a simple badge with your avatar and username on it.  Just a 2×4 scrap of paper, and tape it to your standard Summit badge.  If you forget, c’est la vie!  It’ll just be tougher for people to find you.

Looking forward to meeting all of you face to face!

Stu

Sorry for the late posting on this, but it’s been a heckuva day 🙂  Anyway, we (Brent Ozar, Blythe Morrow, several others and I) have had several logistical discussion about how Twitter Bingo will be played at PASS Summit 2009, and I thought I would post what we’ve discussed so far.

The goals!

The goal of the game is to increase networking opportunities between the SQL Twitter community and face-to-face PASS Attendees.  Our hope is to a) strengthen existing relationships between SQL tweople, and b) encourage new people to start using Twitter and contribute to the social interactions beyond Summit. 

What is NOT the goal!

To win fabulous prizes.  Quest and SQLServerPedia are putting together some encouragement for new people to play, but the focus isn’t on “winning”; it’s on community interaction.

“Squares” and players…

Squares will be the volunteers who agreed to have their Twitter avatars placed on the cards.   Squares may certainly play the game by printing out cards and pursuing other squares, but at this time, squares are discouraged from entering the prize drawing (Sorry about that; the prizes are fabulous, but not that fabulous).  Again, we want to encourage new people to join the community; if you’re a square, you’re already there (ooh, that was a horrible rhyme.)

How will players mark off squares on their cards?

Each square has a code word; when asked for that code word, they should provide it to the player, who can write it on their card.  I realized that code words will probably be shared among players, but again, the goal is to encourage community interaction even at the risk of minor “cheating”.   We may come up with a more secure scheme next time, but this time, it just seems easier for Quest/SQLServerPedia employees to validate code words.

Arlene Gray (@whimsql) suggested that she write her code word on the back of her business card; I think that’s a great idea.

How will players know where to find me?

Twitter is an option 🙂  If you can, tweet your location throughout the day using the hashtag #sqlbingo.

Brent also suggested that if you’re a speaker, you may want to ask squares in the room to stand up before you begin your session, so players can identify them.  We’re also planning on asking squares to print out a small badge to tape to their regular conference badge showing their avatar and username.

Where do players get their cards?

We’re going to ask players to print out their own cards and bring them with them; we’ll also have some cards available at the Quest/SQLServerPedia booth.  Blythe Morrow also suggested that we use the PASS help desk booth as well.

How do players play?

We’re planning on adding this to the card:

Here’s how the contest works: print out 3 Bingo cards.  Try to meet as many people as possible that are on your card each day.  Each person has their own code word, and you have to write down their code word in their space on the Bingo card.  When you get a straight line (5 people in any direction) on Tuesday, you can drop off your card in the SQLServerPedia booth in the exhibit hall.  Each day, we’ll draw 2 winners and email them with their prize package – things like signed books, gift cards, and more.  On Wednesday, it gets tougher – you have to have two straight lines filled out.  On Thursday, you have to have a blackout – all spaces covered!  Only one entry per person per day.

Who’s a square?

Below is the list of squares:

That’s all for now; I’m sure more will come up as I think about it 🙂

Lots of interesting conversations about the PASS nominations happening on Twitter today; if you are not up to speed, you’ve got a lot of reading to do.  I’ll try to sum up as best I can:

• Some people applied to be nominated for board positions; a nominating committed approved 4 applications for 3 open positions.
• 3 of the 4 positions are well-established members of the SQL community; one is a bit more controversial.
• All 4 candidates have been invited to express their opinions on various forums, and all have been “interviewed” by Brent Ozar on his blog.  Links are below.
  • Brian Moran
  • Tom LaRock
  • Jeremiah Peschka 
  • Matt Morollo 

If you haven’t read these interviews, you need to.  For the most part, they’re pretty insightful, and they suggest what direction each of the candidates is moving in when it comes to PASS.  Matt’s candidacy raises some interesting questions about the nomination process, and the role of the Board in determining the direction of PASS.  It also raises some definitional questions about what PASS is, and what it should be.  I applaud him for his comments on Brent’s blog, because it takes a lot of guts to stand up under fire (even though I disagree with some of his positions). 

EDIT: I should have also stated that I applaud ALL of the candidates for their willingness to engage the members of PASS, including the first step of applying for the job. 

Before I go too much further, let me say that this post is intended to be an indictment of myself; I did not apply to be on the Board, nor did I even express much interest in the nomination process before today. I also didn’t even blink before I voted; I picked the three candidates that I felt comfortable with, and was going about my business until the conversations began on Twitter today.  I will not be so lax in the future.

What bothers me most about Matt’s candidacy is not his position, nor his background, nor the responses he gave to the questions asked of him; it’s the fact that he’s the only candidate that the community seems to have engaged in this fashion.  Granted, many of the questions asked were for him to clarify how his professional expertise would make him a good fit for the Board, and those are legitimate questions.  There were also other questions that were asked to help clarify his vision of direction for PASS which would have been suitable for the other candidates as well.  All of that’s fair game, but why didn’t we challenge the other candidates as well?

When I asked the question on Twitter, the general response I got was that “we know the other candidates; we don’t know Matt”.  That may be true, but even though we know someone, that should give us the opportunity to engage them on a deeper level than the “dark horse” candidate.  Instead, we as a community let 3 out of 4 candidates express themselves with little or no interaction from us, and instead focused on 1 controversial candidate.  I am not suggesting that Matt should not have been questioned; I am suggesting that we should have taken more advantage of the opportunity to get to know the other candidates better.

EDIT: As pointed out in the comments below, Matt was not the only candidate to engage with questioners; I didn’t mean to overlook the efforts of the candidates to make themselves approachable, but I did want to point out that many of us didn’t take them up on that offer.

Again, I’m pointing the finger at myself as much as anyone else.  I should have applied for the position; at the very least, I should have asked more questions before casting my vote.