Preface

Each year Microsoft invites all the MVPs from every technology and country to Redmond for an MVP Summit—all top secret—“don’t tweet what you see!” During the MVP Summit, each product team holds a series of presentations where they explain their technologies, share their vision, and listen to some honest feedback.

At the 2007 MVP Summit in Seattle, Bill Gates presented his vision of the future of computing to the MVPs and then took questions for about an hour. I really enjoy these dialogues. I get the sense that if BillG wasn’t the founder of Microsoft, he’d make a great MVP. You can tell he likes us as fellow Geeks, and he’s rather candid in the MVP Q&A time. It’s one of my favorite parts of the MVP Summit.

During the Q&A, the lines at the microphones are far too long to bother to join, so I daydream a few questions I’d ask BillG:

• As the world’s wealthiest Geek, what can you tell me about your PC?
• Even with all your accomplishments, do you still find the most happiness and satisfaction with your family?
• Do you play Age of Empires 2, and if so, want to join me in a game?
• Kirk or Picard?
• Can I buy you lunch?

And then I thought of a good, deep, Charlie Rose-type of question: “Centuries from now, would you rather be remembered as the guy who put a computer on every desk, or as the guy who ended malaria and fought the good fight against poverty?”

As I try to guess what BillG might say, the answer is obvious. I’m glad that BillG’s intellect and resources are being directed at improving the human condition, and as an original Windows fan I’m proud of BillG. But the answer to my question is both—Windows has already done as much to fight poverty as will the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Toward the end of the Q&A time, which was mostly taken up with technical questions, I was thrilled to hear one of the MVPs ask for his advice as a philanthropist. BillG said that we should all be involved in our communities and give of ourselves in creative ways: at the library, at schools, and with charities. “Do philanthropy where you are.” This idea of giving of ourselves is central to the MVP community.

I’d been noodling for a while with the idea of an MVP charity book to help children, and I discussed it with my friend, Kalen Delaney, who liked the idea. The next step was to float the idea past the other SQL Server MVPs and see if it resonated with any of them. The response was overwhelming—within a couple of days, about 50 MVPs had signed on to the project. The question was, would a publisher bite?

My agent, David Fugate of Launch Books, offered to help us for free. As David worked out how to assemble a contract with 50 authors, with all the author proceeds going to charity, Kalen and I pitched the idea to those we know in publishing. When Michael Stephens of Manning Publications heard about it, he told me that Manning wanted in—that this was exactly the type of project that Manning wanted to publish. Mike liked both the community aspect of the project and the charity goals of the project. Manning also offered us a higher than usual author royalty, because we’re giving it all to charity.

With a book contract under way, Kalen and I recruited Adam Machanic, Greg Low, Paul Randal, and Kimberly Tripp to help us with the editing. The book was divided into five sections aligned with the five job roles around SQL Server—database architecture and design, database development, database administration, performance tuning and optimization, and business intelligence. There was no rigid organization to the outline—MVPs were simply asked to submit abstracts for chapters that they wanted to write, and those abstracts were directed to the appropriate section editor. This would be a book driven by the MVPs’ individual passions, not by a comprehensive feature list. The section editors selected the best abstracts, but we committed to the idea that every MVP who wanted to contribute to the book could contribute.

To select the charity, the MVPs nominated their choice with the restriction that it had to be a non-sectarian group that benefited children. And we wanted to give to a smaller charity—we didn’t just want our contribution to be added to a billion-dollar fund. Hugo Kornelis had heard good things about War Child in the Netherlands, and his nomination was selected in the first round of voting.

I’m still amazed that this project came together. The 53 MVPs who contributed to this book did so for numerous personal reasons—a desire to make a difference in children’s lives, wanting to share knowledge, wanting to participate in a group effort for change. For some of us, it was an expression of our faith. Several MVPs told me they were glad to be a part of a project that reached beyond their typical circles and helped children.

If you are reading this book, then you are “rich.” Considering your place in human history, you’re wealthier than most kings of centuries past—you are well educated, your grocery store shelves are full, you have a family doctor. For too many in the world, that is not the case. There are communities without clean water, children hurting from war, and AIDS orphans who have no family or place to sleep. When one ponders the immense need and poverty in the world, it’s easy to become overwhelmed with hopelessness. How can a single drop of ink change the color of an ocean? But we have no other option than to do what we can. My philosophy is that of Confucius: “It is better to light one small candle than to curse the darkness.”

Some (not all!) of the SQL Server MVPs contributing to this book were photographed by Bill Vaughn at the 2009 MVP Summit.

Even BillG can’t heal the world, but we can each make a difference. By buying this book, you’ve supported War Child. I echo BillG’s words, that we should all find ways to do philanthropy where we are. I encourage you to find the best way you can to make a difference.

So, welcome to SQL Server MVP Deep Dives—a collaborative work by 53 passionate MVPs.

PAUL NIELSEN