SBSer of the Year

I received a telephone call from Harry Brelsford last week.  He started the conversation with, “First thing I want to say is congratulations. You were chosen as SBSer of the Year this year and we’ll announce it at SMB Nation.”  Then he started to move on to other topics, but I had to interrupt.

My initial reaction to the news was, “Wait a minute…what?”  Then, as it began to sink in, I thought of SBSers of years past, and what an honor it is to be chosen for this designation.  Harry explained that he and SMBTN discussed the possible candidates, and they felt it was time to recognize two people who work “behind the scenes” in the community.  I was one of them.  My friend, Bob Nitrio, was the other. We are about to join an elite group of some really amazing people, many of whom I am privileged to call friends.

Many people may even wonder, “Who in the world is she? How did she earn SBSer of the year when she isn’t even an MSP?”  Two very good questions.  I can answer at least one of them.

I organized the Birds of a Feather sessions at TechEd North America 2012. I am the person who connects your Autotask to your accounting system.  I lobby Microsoft and other vendors for books and swag for your user group meetings.  If you don’t have a user group, I am the person who can help you find one. I organize my own user group meetings.  I connect people who need help with people who can provide it. But, I don’t do any of these things alone.

As Treasurer of the Global IT Community Association, I am surrounded by a group of dedicated people who give their time, money, and resources to promote IT Professional groups throughout the world.  GITCA is the voice of the IT Professional, and we all work together as a team.  Each year, user group leaders around the world meet at SMB Nation and try to build a vision for the next year.  Sometimes, it resembles herding cats, but we are all passionate about bringing value to our respective groups and the IT Profession as a whole. 

We do not do this for recognition, and we certainly do not expect it.  However, it is really nice and quite humbling when your behind-the-scenes efforts are noticed and appreciated.  Thank you, Harry and SMB Nation as well as Josh and Jim of SMBTN for this award.  I will continue my efforts to merit this honor.