Why I created a blog

Its been many years since I first created this blog. It has remained true to Essbase and related information over those years. Hopefully it has answered questions and given you insight over those years. I will continue to provide my observations and comments on the ever changing world of EPM. Don't be surprised if the scope of the blog changes and brings in other Hyperion topics.


Friday, August 22, 2014

Is it really fame and fortune?

Fame and fortune and everything that goes with it, I thank you all!

I was reminded about this line from a Queen song as I returned from a speaking tour in Latin America through Oracle Technology Network and the Oracle ACE program.  I travelled to 6 countries in 15 days and may or may not blog about it later. Back to the song; I was asked a few times about how much Oracle paid me to do the tour and was I an Oracle employee. While Oracle paid for the airline and hotel, I paid for food and incidentals and no I don’t work for Oracle. In reality, with lost income and expenses, it costs me a lot to do the tour.

So why did I do it?  Is it for fame as the song says? While I found it funny that participants in other countries wanted to take pictures with me and others on the tour, I didn’t do it for notoriety. It is not fame or infamy that drives me to share my limited knowledge.  As I explained to one person, through the years working in technology, others helped me along the way. They patiently answered my questions, suggested solutions, shared their knowledge and gave me encouragement.  Like most others in the Oracle ACE Director program, I am giving back to the community that helped me. The current overused phrase is paying it forward but this fits to well in this case to use any other phrase. 

My good friend Cameron Lackpour spends too many hours doing the same, researching, giving his knowledge for free for the betterment of the community, all at a great personal loss as much of what he does is non-billable.  Why do I bring this up? I is certainly not for a pat on the back for your pity (for me or MMIP, Cameron), but to urge you to get involved in the same manner.

It sounds like a cliché, but volunteer work is an incredibly rewarding activity. In part volunteering is giving back to the community that helped you get where you are professionally (and even personally) – call it paying forward, or paying your psychic debt, or just helping others as you have been helped. But there’s a deeper aspect to volunteer work as well. Humans are imperfect moral beings, but one of our better drives is to Do Good Things. It just feels good to be good. Try it, you’ll like it.

I know what you are going to say “I don’t know as much as Cameron does or Glenn pretends to (, so I can’t help”. To this I say poppycock. Firstly you probably know more than you think you do and can help others with their questions. Secondly, even if it is true that your knowledge is limited, you can still help. Get involved with your local user group, on-line community, favorite conference, or write a blog about your experiences, trial and tribulations. If you read my blog, you are part of the Hyperion EPM community, are stalking me, or are weird. The Hyperion EPM community is a growing living entity that only gets better by sharing.  I know Cameron is looking for people to help with the ODTUG EPM community that just started up. Become involved, if not with that then with something. Pay it forward and have a personal satisfaction that you helped and I will thank you all!

 

post script. I communicated with Cameron about this post since I mention him heavily in It and got this response:

This is Cameron aka MMIP. If you are interested in getting involved with ODTUG’s EPM community, I encourage you to sign up at ODTUG’s volunteer page: http://www.odtug.com/volunteer

We have many exciting initiatives including:

· Local meetups

· Content sourcing for:

· Webinars

· ODTUG Technical Journal articles

· EPM Newsletter articles

They are starting up and need volunteers to make them happen. This is your chance to define the future of the EPM community.

To Glenn’s point, don’t be shy about contributing. When I first met Glenn at Kaleidoscope 2008, he wasn’t:

· My friend

· An Oracle ACE Director (only an ACE)

· An Oralce EPM community rock star

· A trusted advisor and voice to many

But he is today, in large part because of his endless and valuable volunteer work. I’ve done my best to emulate him and the results have been very rewarding. The same can be true for you. I look forward to talking to you on an EPM community initiative conference call and look even more forward to the great work you’ll do.

Be seeing you.

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