[cross-posted from Allen Kinsel's blog at allenkinsel.com]

Ive officially been on the Job as a Director for PASS less than a month and already I’ve had the chance to participate in 2 in person Board meetings.  1 at the summit (non-voting) and 1 this past week in Dallas.  Ill be the first to admit, I didnt really know what to expect going in but, I had some ideas.

Going in to the 2 day meeting last week I figured there would be some good conversations, a bit of brainstorming, a fair amount of arguing, and at least  touch of indecision.  What I found was roughly what I expected in that regard.

The Specifics of the actual meeting were by in large important but boring for the casual observer, so I wont be spending countless bytes that you wont want to read rehashing everything.  After the meeting minutes are published (2 weeks im told) I may revisit this post with thoughts but until then I figure I can wait a few months to rock the boat on details that werent overly “interesting” to the community at large.

Things I learned at last weeks Board Meeting

• When you have an Ipad in the meeting room, expect plenty of offhanded comments
• We’re doing a whole bunch of really good things in a piss poor less than optimal way
• The SQLRockstar who brought bacon to breakfast on the BOD wont eat it as he’s a Bacon Snob
• That a person can be a Bacon snob
• The ability to give a backhanded compliment is an art form best demonstrated during meetings
• Takeout Mexican food consumed in a hotel lobby will get strange looks
• Coups have been attempted (successfully??) in some user groups
• Getting 11 people to agree to a place for dinner is sometimes harder than getting them to agree about PASS Direction

What I was surprised the most by wasnt the funny quips, or the amount of good discussions, nor was it the ability of the board to identify problems.  Nope, I was totally expecting to find that the board really does “get it”, and for the most part on whole I think they(we) do.  What I was surprised the most by was the fact the hotel we were meeting at was channeling its inner Bush Garden: