{"id":3953,"date":"2011-12-15T11:31:00","date_gmt":"2011-12-15T19:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.technet.microsoft.com\/dataplatforminsider\/2011\/12\/15\/sqlfamily-is-giving-back-week-1\/"},"modified":"2024-01-22T22:49:52","modified_gmt":"2024-01-23T06:49:52","slug":"sqlfamily-is-giving-back-week-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/sql-server\/blog\/2011\/12\/15\/sqlfamily-is-giving-back-week-1\/","title":{"rendered":"#SQLFamily is Giving Back \u2013 Week 1"},"content":{"rendered":"
Wow <\/span>#SQLFamily<\/span><\/a>\u2026just wow. <\/span><\/p>\n The SQL Server Team has been overwhelmed by the amazing outpouring of support from the #SQLFamily. In just a few days, the community is off to a great start in sending us submissions that have raised money for the <\/span>Pragmatic Works Foundation<\/span><\/a>, a non-profit that provides free technical training to veterans, the jobless, and underemployed. We will donate $50 to the Foundation for each of the first 400 submissions we receive from the SQL Server community. We are off to a good start and we encourage those of you who haven\u2019t submitted your stories so that we can reach our $20,000 contribution goal by December 31st<\/sup>, 2011. <\/span><\/p>\n We are now making it easier for you to submit your story! In addition to sending submissions via email to <\/span>sqlfamilysubmission@live.com<\/span><\/a>, you can now send your submission via Twitter as well on <\/span>our Facebook wall<\/span><\/a>. Be sure to send the tweet to <\/span>@SQLServer<\/span><\/a> and include the <\/span>#SQLFamily<\/span><\/a> hash tag in your tweet (one tweet is all it takes).When posting on our Facebook wall, please start your post with \u201cThe SQL Family\u2026\u201d to help us identify your submissions. If you didn\u2019t see our first blog post in announcing this campaign, you can get all the details it <\/span>here<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n We truly appreciate all the stories and blog posts submitted thus far as a part of \u201c#SQLFamily Gives Back\u201d, as well as the tweets and blog posts helping us promote the cause. The stories have been so touching, we\u2019re compelled to share a few excerpts with the community. <\/span><\/p>\n #sqlfamily<\/span><\/b><\/a><\/b><\/p>\n by Grant Fritchey (<\/span><\/i>twitter<\/span><\/i><\/a>)<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n \u201cAfter a 40 minute drink from the fire hose, I had a much better understanding of extended events, as well as several pages worth of notes and links to information I had previously missed. Why did this person do this? Because someone they knew needed some help. That\u2019s #sqlfamily to me.<\/span><\/p>\n You gotta think of it like this. Technically, we\u2019re all competing for jobs. If I know something really well and you don\u2019t, that makes me more marketable than you so I\u2019ll be damned if I\u2019m going to give you a leg up for free. And there are technical communities out there that behave exactly that way. We don\u2019t. We share. We share our knowledge, our time, our struggles, our passion. And the funny thing is, we all get better for it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n What @SQLFamily Means to Me<\/span><\/b><\/a><\/b><\/p>\n By Dustin Ryan (<\/span><\/i>blog<\/span><\/i><\/a> | <\/span><\/i>twitter<\/span><\/i><\/a>)<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n \u201cSince that day my life has never been the same. I won\u2019t ever be able to thank Brian enough for giving me my shot. Because of Brian\u2019s generosity, optimism, and faith in me, my life has changed for the better. And it\u2019s because of Brian\u2019s tremendous example that you can find me speaking at SQL Saturday and Code Camp events or answering questions on my blogs or the forums of BIDN.com. If I can have a fraction of the impact on someone else that Brian had in my life, then maybe in that way I can say thanks.<\/span><\/p>\n So that\u2019s what #SQLFamily means to me. It means helping others because someone somewhere at some point gave you a helping hand. Whether it was a coworker who answered a question for you or someone who proofread your resume, take the time to say thanks and pay it forward to someone else who just needs a little faith, optimism, and a helping hand.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n