{"id":112300,"date":"2026-08-11T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.red-gate.com\/simple-talk\/?p=112300"},"modified":"2026-08-04T14:58:40","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T14:58:40","slug":"the-full-story-of-pass-data-community-summit-25-years-of-connect-share-and-learn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.red-gate.com\/simple-talk\/resources\/the-full-story-of-pass-data-community-summit-25-years-of-connect-share-and-learn\/","title":{"rendered":"The full story of PASS Data Community Summit: 25 years of connect, share, and learn"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

PASS Data Community Summit is celebrating a milestone most communities never reach: 25+ years of data professionals showing up for each other. From a single Microsoft-seeded user group in 1999, to the global, multi-platform conferences everyone knows today – here\u2019s how it all unfolded. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This story was originally posted on the PASS Summit West website<\/a><\/em>. It was written by the PASS Data Community Summit event team at Redgate.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where it all began<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In 1999, Andrew \u201cFlip\u201d Filipowski, owner of Chicago database-tools company Platinum Technology, Inc<\/a>., partnered with Microsoft to launch the Professional Association for SQL Server (PASS) – an independent, user-run organization backed by seed funding from Microsoft and CA. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A founding board of roughly nine volunteers, including long-serving leader Kevin Kline<\/a>, set the tone for what PASS would become: built by data professionals, for data professionals<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The engine behind the community<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

PASS Summit launched the same year and quickly grew into the largest conference in the world for the Microsoft data platform, drawing 5,000+ attendees at its peak in Seattle. But it wasn\u2019t just the marquee event: it was the<\/em> financial engine funding everything else, from local user groups and free training, to online learning and staff. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This single-event revenue model worked for the next two decades. Alongside the flagship conference, more than 270 local and virtual groups met monthly around the world, feeding speakers and volunteers up to SQL Saturday<\/a> and PASS Summit, and pulling energy and content back down to the local level. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
A PASS Summit gathering in 2015.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019d ever shown up to a chapter meeting, you were part of PASS, whether you\u2019d registered anywhere or not.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SQL Saturday: grassroots training goes global<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In 2007, three Florida-based community leaders – Andy Warren<\/a>, Brian Knight<\/a>, and Steve Jones<\/a>, launched SQL Saturday<\/a>: free, one-day training events designed to be run entirely by local volunteers. Saturday was a deliberate choice so that attendees didn’t have to miss work, and low-cost venues to host the events (like schools and universities) were easier to book, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The formula spread fast. At its peak, SQL Saturday ran close to 120 free events a year, from Los Angeles to London, with event numbers climbing past #900. For a huge share of today\u2019s data community, SQL Saturday was their first event, and often their first time on stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2010, at SQLSaturday #33 (Charlotte, NC)<\/a>, the franchise was handed over to the PASS organization to manage and support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"In
In 2010, at SQLSaturday #33 (Charlotte, NC), the franchise was handed over to the PASS organization to manage and support.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

SQL Saturday still runs today, as successful as ever, and is rebranding to Day of Data.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the music stopped: COVID-19’s impact on PASS Summit<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

COVID-19 didn\u2019t just cancel a conference – it broke the business model underneath the entire organization. The 2020 PASS Summit moved online, virtual registration fell far short of in-person revenue, and multi-year venue commitments didn\u2019t disappear just because the events couldn\u2019t happen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On December 3, 2020, the PASS board voted unanimously to dissolve, and by January 15, 2021, PASS had ceased operations. This put SQL Saturday, the user-group tools, and a library of thousands of recorded sessions at risk of going offline for good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Redgate steps in to save PASS Summit<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

On January 28, 2021, Redgate Software acquired PASS\u2019s assets<\/a>, including SQL Saturday and its full content library. Redgate wasn\u2019t a stranger stepping in cold. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As former co-founder and CEO Simon Galbraith – also one of the creators of Simple Talk – put it, Redgate had started at roughly the same time as PASS and traveled alongside the community for two decades as a Global Alliance Partner.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the acquisition, Redgate moved fast to protect what mattered:<\/p>\n\n\n

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