2011 PASS Board Applicants: Sri Sridharan

Introduction

I am interviewing 2011 PASS Board Nominee Applicants. As listed on the PASS Board Elections site the applicants are:

• Rob Farley
• Geoff Hiten
• Adam Jorgensen
• Denise McInerney
• Sri Sridharan
• Kendal Van Dyke

I’m asking everyone the same questions and blogging the responses in the order received.

Sri Sridharan is next up:

Interview With Sri Sridharan

1. What’s your day job?

I work for VHA as a Data Architect. I am responsible for 3 main goals.

· Responsible for Data Governance initiatives in the company.

· Provide consult/advisory services for various projects in the company as a Data Architect, including data modeling, database design, operational help, performance tuning etc.

· Help the Data Management Team on day to day activities related to DBA tasks and key initiatives.

Apart from this, as the President and the Chapter Leader, I have the overall responsibility for North Texas SQL Server User Group and have the individual responsibility as the Director of Marketing.

2. What motivated you to run for the PASS Board of Directors?

As an active volunteer in the SQL Server community, I enjoy spending time meeting and getting to know other SQL Server and BI professionals and helping them on things that can impact their careers. At a grass root level, I want to make sure that every member of a chapter or PASS is able to articulate the value PASS is providing and how it has benefited them.

About 4 months back when we had our SQLSaturday, a person walked up to me and said, "I just got out of college and thanks to the career and networking opportunities with the chapter (NTSSUG), I was able to get a job as a junior DBA and jump start my career.” That made my day. It made it all worth it.

I want every member to be able to tell that PASS has influenced their careers and they are more successful today because of PASS, whether it comes in the form of education and/or networking. Some of that is already happening but there are some gaps and the message is not strong and consistent and I want to strongly influence that. This is one of the key reasons I want to run for the PASS Board of Director position.

3. What is PASS’s largest challenge right now?

In my opinion, PASS as an organization is now going through its teen-age growth spurts. It is growing rapidly across various frontiers, viz. international chapter growth, growth in local chapter member base, growth of various SQL events like SQLSaturday, SQLRally etc., growth in the Summit attendance and its visibility via the social media network. This is a time to nurture that growth with the correct long term vision, strategy and direction. You simply just cannot apply a one solution fits all approach or just concentrate on one growth item and let the others figure their way out. Each portfolio deserves a lot of attention and the right solution that fits its need.

4. What is PASS’s greatest opportunity right now?

With vehicles like SQLSaturday, 24HOP, PASS is very well positioned where it can significantly impact the careers of SQL Professionals in an unprecedented manner. Kudos to the current PASS Board members, much of the work related to this is already happening but there are some gaps that once gets filled, will change the perception of the member about PASS and will take the organization to new heights and horizons.

5. Complete this sentence: "If I only get one new thing accomplished while serving on the PASS Board of Directors, I want to…"

I feel that there is a disconnect between the PASS organization and its chapters. The members of the chapters don’t get ‘PASS’ and there is not much motivation for them to care about it. I want people to think of PASS as an organization that helps with their SQL careers. If I can get one thing accomplished, I want to put the right strategy and execution process in place that creates this motivation for the member of the chapter to care about PASS. Once this happens, the rest will automatically fall in place.

6. Complete this sentence: "If I only get to change one existing thing about PASS while serving on the PASS Board of Directors, I want to…"

I want to…. transform the culture of the organization, to be more feedback and community driven. I want people vested in PASS to really play a big role to in shaping the organization. I am not talking about the person who attends the PASS summit once a year and vanishes. I am talking about people like you (the reader of this blog who cares about who is elected to the PASS Board), people who organize events like SQLSaturday, SQLRally, Chapter Leaders, Regional Mentors , MVPs take on a bigger role in shaping the next gen PASS.

7. Share something interesting about yourself!

I can read and write in 4 languages and partially know 3 more. So while my English might not be perfect, I take pride in the fact I can converse with more than 1/3^rd of the people in the world.