It was a pleasure making the video to celebrate your first anniversary. For anyone who wants to watch it again, you can see it on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgXzqid22M8

I am including here the original transcript for the video. I plan to post each of the words of advice in separate posts over the next few days..

I am proud of all of you!

Trevor

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I woke up this morning, looked out the window and saw the snow falling. I realized that you are all starting summer, and it may be a little hotter there. My thoughts went to all of you as you celebrate your first anniversary, and the snow reminded me how far away I was geographically. Regardless of the distance, I am with you in spirit.

Having grown up in a small town in the bush in Australia, and now living in the US, I consider myself fortunate to be able to travel the world with my job. I love to see new places, experience new cultures, meet new people. In the last couple of years, I have had the pleasure of visiting South Africa several times, and I am honored to have met many of you and worked with some of you.

I have been in the midrange industry as a consultant since 1983. I know many of my peers have been working with the platform even longer - which means that while we were working, some of you were running around getting in everyone’s way! While the platform has evolved quite a lot since then, some of the people working in the industry forgot to evolve. What this industry has needed for some time, is an injection of passion. Something to stir the excitement, something to allow the developers to feel that same urge to create that they had when they started in this industry. For a long time, there was very little new talent learning to code in our world.

Then I was introduced to Marinus in Joburg. In turn, he introduced me to Ernst and Janine, and I heard some positive stories about students learning RPG. And, one year ago, I was astounded when I walked into the IBM auditorium and saw more than just ~some~ students! The room was packed with smiles, laughter, and excitement. I also met Richard for the first time, and was impressed by the commitment and dedication from all of you.

I have since had the pleasure of being able to help Richard attend the COMMON Orlando conference this year, where he had an impact on everyone he met. As an ambassador for the YiPs, he represented all of you well. I am proud to have met you all, and I know you will all have an impact on our industry, and on the world.

In my career, I have been offered many words of advice. I offer some of them to you today.

- If you do the right thing for the customer, it will be the right thing for you

- Always do more than asked

- Don’t listen when people tell you that you can’t do something

- Stick to your principles, maintain integrity in everything you do

- Never lie about anything, even the small things

- Don’t be angry at other people’s insecurities

- Respect your fellow human beings

This week has been Thanksgiving in the US. While it is a tradition that helps Americans remember they should be thankful for many things, I am thankful ~every~ day for the amazing life I get to live. I am very thankful for the opportunity to have met many of you, to see the light in your eyes, the fire in your soul, and the passion in your actions. You represent the future, and I am confident that you will all make a major contribution to our industry

Happy Anniversary. You have the passion! Go change the world!

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