I’m running for the ODTUG board, again

Probably because I eat pain like candy

It’s time to make your ODTUG voice heard – there are three members of the board whose two year term is expiring, and I am one of them.  Do you like what we’ve done?  Think we’re a bunch of bums who ought to be tossed out on their ears?  Somewhere (hopefully more towards the “like” side of the scale) in the middle?  If you are a paid member of ODTUG as of 1 October 2012, then you can vote until midnight Pacific 30 October 2012 (that’s 3 am Eastern 31 October 2012).

I would love to tell you to vote early, vote often, and you can – for up to four candidates.  Hopefully, one of the four you vote for is me.  :)  

I also hope you vote to return the expiring members of the board (Barbara Morris, Tim Tow, and yr. obdnt. srvnt.) because we are committed, active, and effective members of the ODTUG board but of course the choice is yours.

To give you a feel for why I want to continue in the is-it-pleasure-or-is-it-pain board director role, take a gander at my expanded campaign statement below.

Good luck to all!

Do I still love ODTUG?

You bet.  In the last two years I have:

• Gotten that ODTUG tattoo.
• Blogged, tweeted, and generally bored everyone I can lay hands on, personally or electronically, with the Awesomeness That Is ODTUG.
• Served my freshman term on the ODTUG board.  In spite of knowing exactly how the sausage is made, I am coming back for more.

Why reelect me to the ODTUG board?

I am still passionate about ODTUG because our user group gives us all an unmatched environment for knowledge sharing, camaraderie, and incredible value.  ODTUG continues to be the user group I dreamt of finding.  

ODTUG board membership means (Hah!  More like requests, requires, and demands.) hard work and dedication.  I think that my record shows that I embrace those sometimes almost overwhelming requirements to ensure that all members of ODTUG and the wider Oracle community are served to the very best of my abilities.  I am an independent consultant – when I take time out during the workweek to do ODTUG tasks, the opportunity cost of that volunteer work hits me directly in my pocketbook; I do it regardless because I love ODTUG.

Sometimes the anticipation of an act outweighs the consummation.  I think that my desires, hopes, and accomplishments around my first term have been more than fulfilled.  In the past two years I have:

• Led the charge to lower individual membership rates.  It’s now just $99 a year.  What an incredible (really) bargain.
• Initiated and stewarded the BI/EPM Kscope Labs in the Cloud, i.e., no more Lab Laptops From Hell.  If I had to point to a single accomplishment this is it!  As someone who has been both a trainer and a student, I know that the last thing I want to focus on during a lab as I feverishly try to process the material is “Why doesn’t my laptop have the right software/enough memory/the correct setup?”
• Passionately and effectively advocated for the EPM community.
• Been incredibly active in the BI/EPM content selection process.  Remember that crack about sausage making?  Meet the butcher’s apprentice.

As a returning member of the ODTUG board, I will channel that passion and energy into making ODTUG even better value for your paid membership through:

• New and innovative outreach initiatives like the soon-to-come virtual Ask an Expert Panels.
• Leveraging ODTUG’s relationships with Oracle and vendors to provide better online content.
• Increased outreach to all areas of Oracle’s product line.
• Being a fanatical advocate for continued and sustained focus on the technical subjects that make ODTUG so great.

Biographical Sketch

I first worked with OLAP technology in the dinosaur days of Comshare’s System W and saw the Essbase light in 1993.  

Since that life-altering event, I have:

• Introduced what was then Arbor Software’s Essbase to Johnson & Johnson Corporate.
• Independently consulted since 1996, with a brief foray into working for consulting companies.
• Created solutions for customers using Oracle’s Essbase, Planning, and anything else that ties to those two products.
• Actively posted on OTN’s and Network54’s Essbase board – sharing knowledge makes his day interesting.
• Presented at multiple conferences including Hyperion Solutions and of course ODTUG Kscope.
• Taught multiple formal classes and webinars.
• Served on the ODTUG Hyperion SIG.
• Assisted the BI/EPM Content Chair with conference content selection for the past two Kscopes.
• Been an Oracle ACE since November 2010 and an ACE Director as of August 2012.

Free For All

ODTUG is your user group and as a paid member, you can influence what your user group does.  To do so, you must vote.  Make ODTUG work the way you want.  Be seeing you.