If drafted, I will not run; if nominated, I will not accept; if elected, I will not serve.
General William Tecumseh Sherman
On July 25th, I was elected president of the Jacksonville Developer User Group. Let me say that while it is not an honor I sought, it is an honor. At the point where Dennis originally approached me about it in April ’07, I declined him then. I didn’t want it, I didn’t think I could perform at the level and standard that I thought the position needed and deserved. After he formerly announced it, I still felt the same, and therefore made no action toward the leadership. Some in the group of malcontents I associate with had different ideas. The said they would just nominate me for it. And that’s when I threw the Gen. Sherman quote at them. I do enjoy a good quote.
The ability to quote is a serviceable substitute for wit.
W. Somerset Maugham
Well, the day came, and while I didn’t intend to be president, I did attend to be a part of the process. But as I said, my friends and co-workers had other ideas. In the split second between getting the nomination and accepting it, I figured that if all of these people took time out of their lives to come and be involved in the process, and this was their decision, who am I to argue?
My God! . . . What have I done?
Talking Heads
So as I left the parking garage to go to Mellow Mushroom for a tasty adult beverage with the aforementioned malcontents, I was struck by the overwhelming sense of “What just happened?” This feeling would be revisited at Jacksonville CodeCamp ’07. I am coming to grips with it.
At this point I am trying to find a balance in my life between work and my extracurriculars and the boat is taking on a lot of water. This was most evident in my recent presentation. I believe my presentation suffered from not being able to coordinate the elements of my life that ultimately led to me not downloaded the 1.1 source files for my talk. While it didn't ultimately impact the point, it would have added and enhanced the presentation. It is like putting a dash of salt on your watermellon -- it makes it a little better, but the watermellon was fine on its own.
I think there are some keys here one of them being tools for coordination, and the other is to ask others for help. While I have used the former on occasion, I have never been very good at the latter. I have recently come to appreciate the power of networking, so from there I think I can ease into letting others help me out.
I suppose this is all a long winded way of saying,
Hi, I am the new JAXDUG president, Jonathan Bates.