How Do You Measure a Decade in the Life of a Commu...
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Individually and as a community member, I owe you so much that I can't hope to succeed at expressing my gratitude and appreciation adequately, but this is a good time to say thank you. You've given so much to so many. We can't pay it back, but we'll pay it forward.
I clearly remember our first interaction, I had submitted my very first blog to SCN - which had to be moderated before being published. You wrote the most lovely comment about my writing style and told me that I would not require any moderation so could blog freely. I was thrilled at the feedback and resolved to keep blogging.
Like many of us I knew and dreaded that this day would come, and come too soon - I have a selfish reason for not wanting this day to come too soon (if you'll forgive me). It is simply because I wanted my little girl Anna to meet you and know how lucky I was to know such a fabulous woman who inspired me in so many ways and whom I look to as an example of being a great lady. That's not to say I'll not find a way to introduce you though :wink: .
Good luck in your future endeavours, being a loving granny and also inspiring a new generation of young men and women on how to live their lives with fun, responsibility and respect for each other and themselves.
We love you and thank you for your work and introducing me to amazing ideas every year at TechEd.
"How Do You Measure a Decade in the Life of a Community Manager?"
The number of comments on a retirement blog would seem to be a good start :smile: If I get half as many, I'll be very happy. You've touched so many people in so many ways that the number and variety of tributes here surprises me not at all. You are the ultimate community builder and an inspiration to us all. The privilege is all ours...
How do you measure a decade as a community manager? It's not with time but by the infinite number of people you've touched and supported over the years through your wisdom, passion and empathy. And I do mean infinite because, even if not directly, other's have learned to follow your example in the community and beyond creating a ripple effect. After all, "What would Marilyn do?"
I want to share with you one of the first things we worked on together. It's from SAP TechEd 2007 where you had these amazing murals created and we had to find a way to share them online. Lots of what is shown here is still relevant but in many cases we've come a long way.
I've been holding off on adding something because the words just fail me, but I'll give it a try. What started as a working relationship between a less-than-social homepage editor (yes, that would be me) and an advocate extraordinaire for community has over the years turned into a personal friendship that I treasure and still learn from every day. You brought me out of my community shell, Marilyn, and into the wonderful world of online social interaction, and I thank you for it. Our team will not be the same without you, but we will all do our best to help fill your giant shoes, and we are happy you will still be guiding us in your advisory role while you traipse around the corners of the earth and bounce grandchildren on your knee. :lol:
Your generosity and kindness (and the flashmob), one of the highlights of my personal career. Our paths will continue to cross, I imagine. Thanks for the lovely words and deeds.
Thank you Fred. It's been so much fun to engage with smart and interesting and global community. Nice thing about this kind of a retirement, easy to stay in touch.
Thanks Dibyendu for your wishes. I'll say what I said to Laure: "L'hitraot" which means in Hebrew until we see one another again. I have a feeling, I'll continuing seeing you all virtually for a very long time :grin:
Can I make a joke at my own expense? Going out to pasture sounds like some old race horse (glamorous) or old work horse (less glamorous). Part of me would like to think of the pasture as the world...so maybe, like Pegasus, I'll spread my wings and fly.....
You know what they do with old horses (besides shoot them), don't you? They make them into glue.
More seriously, thanks for your warm words. No need for succession plans when I work for and with some of the most passionate and hardest working folks it's been my privilege to know. I'm just the visible front sometimes for an incredible team that does amazing work. I've learned and been mentored by them!
Thank you for saying so beautifully, Malin, what inversely is in my heart towards this community and my colleagues. I feel such appreciation for the people I've had the privilege to meet here and the team I've worked with. Not easy to say goodbye so I will really say "L'hit" (Auf Wiedersehen in Hebrew 😉 )
You can benchmark yourself against that and it is a sure win -> Laure said goodbye on 2nd July 2013 and last logged on 3rd July 2013.
Mark Yolton on the other hand is still active in status updates about the auwsomnes (no idea now to spell it?) of the SCN survey enthusiasts who finally got their 10 points.
As I slowly approach retirement age I am also wondering whether to now shelve SAP marketing oriented SCN or keep it as a hobby for technical curiosity interests and ignore the marketing noise.
May I ask you how you plan to "stay in touch" without being formally involved and responsible for issues? Or is that a surprise? 🙂
You are so bad you are good Julius. If my account is merged I'll be able to continue to logon ....else...I'll do what the majority here do and start over.
And how I will "stay in touch" depends on how much my opinions as a non-employee will be welcomed 😉
And I hope I'll know enough to keep my mouth shut be discreet when my advice is unwelcome. Who know? I'll have to be outside of an employee for a bit to know what that feels like and be able to answer properly.
I'm hoping BEFORE you retire you get to experience SCN in a way that makes sense and works for you.
Congratulations on your retirement and hoping that the next chapter of your life brings you also much joy and happiness. I know many people will miss your calming influence on the community.
From your blog, I am really happy that still you would be a leader in SCN. Please continue to give your valuable advice in SCN whenever members needs your inputs.
I'm finding it difficult to find words to post a public comment.
After meeting you at SAP TechEd in 2008, I wanted to work with you and join your team. And I did. :smile: You're had a huge impact on my professional and personal compass, and I want to thank you for this!
I'm glad to hear you'll continue to on as a SAP Mentor in your retirement,and continue to help guide our community. :lol:
Thank you Stephen. I'll be off with the screaming monkeys for a while. (always reminds me of the wicked witch of the west by the way... others can see lukas.weigelt for reference.) Hope to have anything but a calm ride (broomstick ready)
From the moment you landed among us (with a very rich and impressive track record as a community evangelist and cultivator of the BOBJ/Crystal community), I knew we had quite a bit of learning to do about being more humble and inclusive. You've mentored me.
Inclusion, lovely, inspiration, empathy, mentor & Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft. These are words that pop into my head when I think about you. It's surreal that the godmother of SCN is leaving (ish) SAP! Thank you for being an inspiration and a mentor and I certainly hope you will continue to do the good work you do! Strategic Advisor is a fancy name for Community Mentor, am I right? :wink: In other words you will keep being you and that is more than anyone could wish for. Wishing you all the best in your (other) future endeavors!
Each on of these comments Robin is a little gift for me to hold. Thank you for taking the time to post here. Our "Dutch" community has been so very much a fabric of engagement. Keep burning bright.
Now you've made me teary-eyed, Roel. A word missing from your generous and too kind list: Failure.
I'd like that to be associated with me too,please. It's something I really learned about from engaging in many attempts here at things that were less than successful. But if I've left some with those other words, my failures have been worth it. And I've had plenty of community mentors. Without the likes of matthias.steiner and thorsten.franz and heike.vangeel and slim and marciawalker and pkfletcher and mico.yuk2 and tammy.powlas and my team and countless others, many of those words wouldn't exist for us in the context they do. The community helped me use failure as learning opportunity. The greatest gift would be to see you all push this community to continue to "fail forward". Not an easy request.
There is nothing I can add that hasn't already been said here far better than I could say it, except to add my voice to the many others expressing sadness, happiness, congratulations, and "oh my god what are we going to do without her?" all in much the same breath. Yes, SCN as a community will survive, and move on, and prosper, but it will be in large part because of the firm foundation you have laid and steady guidance you have provided. The greatness of others to come will be achieved by standing on the shoulders of giants who came before, and yours have been tall shoulders indeed. One need only read the many references to WWMD to know that your legacy will be long-lasting.
And, like many legacy-makers, doubtless you will go on to new ventures and achieve new and different great things in this new act. Ever the horizon is bright when looked to with shining eyes.
Cheers, congratulations, best wishes, and no small amount of envy for the adventures that lie ahead,
thank you for being such an effective community organizer who has been connecting SAP with the rest of us, both on- and off-line. don't change a thing and don't become a stranger in these very competitive and often faceless surroundings.
Marilyn, Congratulations on this amazing news and thank you for mentioning me in your message to Roel. From the day I met you, you have been an inspiration to me. I learned lessons from working with you that now, years later, I use and think about daily. You showed me one of the most valuable lessons of my life: At times of conflict, always, always, always look for common ground in shared values and outcomes. I think about how you brought me together with one of my favorite SAP mentors thorstenster at a time when, at the surface, there appeared to be only conflict. Now, I can't imagine feeling anything other than awe and gratitude that I know Thorsten and I am proud that he is my friend. There are countless others phil.loewen, Blog It Forward - Heike van Geel, to name a few, who have impacted my life because you made an inclusive community of people, when would have only clusters of individuals. I am honored to have worked alongside you.
My first reaction was: "WHY IS THIS ALWAYS HAPPENING TO ME?!!! First Jon Stewart and now Marilyn! The world is going to hell in a hand basket!!!".
It's hard to imagine SCN not falling apart without the glue that Marilyn was to this community - SAP has very large shoes to fill. No, scratch that - it's just plain impossible, There Can Be Only One!
Now if you excuse me I have to go watch some bad TV and eat the whole pint of ice cream to fill in the void. :cry:
First non-work adventure on the calendar: Hike in Tuscany with dahnpratt . A Pilgrimage to Rome (map just arrived today). If alessandro.iannacci.partner or anyone else of the Italian Community has some suggestions for us: We start in Florence and go on the Via Francigena to San Gimignano to Monteriggioni - Arrivederci Roma! or rather Ciao Roma! And A presto SCN.
I'll learn to be like Zelig (the fictional character that always pops up in historic events and acts like a human chameleon) I'll learn from you how to do that (be everywhere that is). I always enjoyed your surprise appearances and astute evaluations :wink:
I've had so much fun engaging the smartest people to run the most amazing events. You changed some of my community vocabulary and taught me about inclusion rather than plain 'ole diversity. Respect.
Wow - Somehow I missed this important announcement.
Thank you for all your hard work with the community, from back in the days when you were training, through to the launch of SDN (as it was called then) back in 2003 (I think that was the year), on that lovely EP5 platform.
To see where the community was then, to where it has come now, integrated with the many SAP events in the community (TechEd, CodeJam etc) and the great community between the 2M+ members, is quite amazing.
The community too is the really important thing which you've constantly pushed for. It hasn't every been about you, but the community - and what a great community it has become, with you being a key part of that success.
Enjoy life away from SAP. I hope you still make it to some of the community events as an honorary guest - I'm sure everyone on here would love to see you again.
Laughing. You always have such an arsenal of Easter Eggs. I cite sappy "Rent" songs and you go straight for the jugular. Yep, Secret Lives. Beheadings. Murders. Clans. Nothing to do with a certain group you and I sometimes are associated with I hope. :twisted:
Bluesky