Goodbye to the Portland Technology Wizards - and Thanks for the Gift!

I was extremely honored to get an email a few weeks ago from Walt Bell, the board secretary of the Portland Technology Wizards - offering to make a large contribution to the NSITSP.

Technology Wizards is one of the oldest and most successful SMB IT professional groups. They started, as did many, as and "SBS" user group, focused on Microsoft's Small Business Server. When it was clear that that product was going away, they reorganized on what their members really represented: Professional IT Services for the SMB Market. 

I had met some of the key players (Walt, Ken Shafer, Matt Wilson, and others) at SMB Nation. But the first time I ever heard of the group was from Harry Brelsford, who gave them as an example of a group that doubled down on professionalism from the start: They charged businesses to be members and didn't let strangers just show up for all their meetings.

Technology Wizards was organized as a 501(c)3. Now, after twenty-three years serving the IT professionals of Oregon, they are dissolving the group. Membership has dwindled with all the competing organizations and technology. But, as a chartered non-profit, they cannot disperse the money between members: They have to transfer it to another non-profit with a consistent mission.

Walt was emailing me to inform me that the board had decided to donate their remaining funds (just under $2,600) to the NSITSP.  I am saddened by their dissolution and honored that they see the NSITSP as an organization continuing the work they started.

My personal history with the group goes way back. 

When I first started traveling to groups with Harry Brelsford - to promote his books, my books, and one we wrote together (The SAN Primer for SMB), the Portland group was always on the list. Early on, from those tours, I realized that there were groups who always had a good turnout. Portland was absolutely in the top tier. I spoke there many times.

I was honored to be a speaker at their 10th Anniversary festivities in 2013, along with Steven Banks, President of the Seattle user group.

Here's Steve with Tech Wizards President Ken Shafer. 

If my memory serves me right, Steve's wife made an anniversary cake for the occasion. That's a perfect example of how this group was also very involved in the broader SMB IT Community.

In the flurry of emails that preceded the gift above, I exchanged several nostalgic emails with Walt, Ken, etc. Time and time again, they expressed gratitude to Amy Babinchak, Steve, Harry, and others for always being willing to drop by their meetings when they were in town - or close.

Portland has always been a technology hub in the shadow of Redmond, WA. Intel and Nike are headquartered there. Microsoft maintains a nice office there, and that was the home of the Technology Wizards.

And so, for more than twenty-three years, this group has contributed to our industry and community at the local, state, and national levels. Of course, many of their members will continue to be active. So when you see them, thank them for everything they've done - and for the gift to the NSITSP.

Note: I also wrote a short "announcement" blog post on the NSITSP blog, here.

You can learn more about the mission of the NSITSP - and how you can get involved - at www.nsitsp.org.

... And if you want to contribute $2,500 - we'll take it!

:-)