I don’t think I’m going too far out on a limb to call Kevin Kline a friend. I’m extremely humbled and honored that I can say that. Kevin is just a good person. Thanks, Kevin.
Years ago, on a guess, about 12-13, I was talking with Tom LaRock, another great guy, and we both said, “Damn, I wish I had Kevin’s job”. Kevin has been an evangelist/advocate for a few different organizations over the years. Within a year, Tom did. About another year after that, so did I. However, Kevin lead the way. He showed us what a good advocate looked like. Thanks Kevin. I wouldn’t have my outstanding job if it weren’t for you showing me how.
Kevin was also one of the founding members of what was the PASS organization and its event PASS Summit (which is reborn, check it out). Kevin, and the other founders came up with a phrase, that Kevin has always lived, to describe their approach to building an event and a community: aggressively friendly. As such, the SQL Server community was born and grew, lead by that core concept, that you can see alive today, all over the world, aggressively friendly. Kevin, thank you for your leadership through all this time and helping our community expand and grow and just, frankly, do good things for each other (run-on sentence, I don’t care).
On top of all that, Kevin is also just a little bit smart. He’s published tons of books on various topics. I’ve attended more than a few of his classes over the years. I’ve always learned from them. Always. Thank you Kevin. I’m better at my job, and so are a lot of people who may not get around to thanking you, because of your hard work.
Thanks Kevin, for the fun we had on SQL Cruise/TechOutbound. Thanks for going to get our noses swabbed out together in England. Thanks for your kind and helpful advice regarding the PASS Board of Directors (lordy, you’ll never know, or, maybe you do). Simply, thank you. You’ve been, done, shown, lead, and partied with us all for a very long time. I truly appreciate everything you’ve done.
Having worked with Kevin for a number of years, I can attest to what a great person he is. Aggressively friendly is one part of who he is, but also kind, compassionate, empathetic, excellent communicator, unfailingly positive, and as you said, super smart.
No arguments here.
I guess it was 2006 or so, I was in the early stage of my SQL Server career and struggling with a problem about replication. Somehow I came up with this great idea “I should ask it to Kevin!”. Then I did and he kindly replied my e-mail and thanks to him, I was able to go on with the project. I’m still thankful to Kevin
Doesn’t surprise me. I had a similar experience with Kalen Delaney. I probably should write up one of these for her. She was also wonderfully kind with sharing her knowledge.