My, how the years have flown by! And there has been more changes to the SAP Business Objects Community than I can remember. The Business Intelligence topic wasn't always a topic space on SCN, you know.
In fact, when SAP announced the acquisition of Business Objects, there was a separate community called the "Diamond Technical Community." However, I will let Kirby Leong or Kuhan Milroy tell that story, since they have more history with Diamond than I have.
I've been a member of SCN since February 2008, and was immediately struck by how many members and how much content there was - for me, it was like walking into the Russian State Library - where I couldn't understand the lingo of ABAP, R/3, NetWeaver.
Luckily, Kuhan, Kirby and I had the support and attention of SCN guides like Brian Bernard and Christine Merten to help us plan and start our migration to SCN. I liken this experience to moving house, where Kuhan planned the move and made sure there was enough room to fit all our stuff, Kirby looked after what stuff we were keeping and which room they would go to, and my main job was to make sure our friends weren't left out in the move - especially the really strong ones with big trucks. Then, we all rolled up our sleeves, packed, moved, and celebrated!
There were over 70 moderators waiting to help us unpack - you'll still see many of them actively supporting our community on SCN. Some of the first guests to our house-warming party included SAP Mentors Ingo Hilgefort, Dave Rathbun, James Oswald, Simon To, Dan Grew, Ken Hartman, Mark Frederick, joined shortly by Vitaliy Rudnytskiy, Mico Yuk, Bhanu Gupta, Vijay Vijayasankar, Tammy Powlas, Derek Loranca, Greg Myers, and Paul Hawking.
Thanks also to Marco ten Vaanholt who reduced a lot of headwind for us, and Natascha Thomson and Chris Kim who helped us define and promote the community of BI and analytics fans.
SAP is sexy!
My favorite memory from the community was hearing "SAP is sexy!" when I showed off a few slick dashboard models at SAP TechEd in Las Vegas. This had a lasting impression on me, because I saw that perceptions can change, and our community can help.
I hope that perceptions will continue to be changed through SCN, not only about SAP, but also about what is possible from the collaborative efforts of community members.
Happy birthday SCN! May you stay young and vibrant forever!