Gratitude

It was a great feeling to hold the new SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence 4.0 book for the first time at last week’s ASUG SAP BusinessObjects User Conference.  I had a great time participating in Developer Wars with my co-authors Jim Brogden, Gabe Orthous, and Heather Sinkwitz (Mac Holden was unavailable off the coast of Spain).  But my participation on this book didn’t just “happen”.  I’ve been blessed with a lot of help from my friends along the way.  Here are the acknowledgments that I included in the front of the book.

First I would like to thank my mom and dad for everything.  Special thanks are due to Jerry Bedilion, my tenth grade English teacher, who endured a lot of bad grammar and patiently taught me to enjoy writing. Thanks to Jim Brogden for inviting me to participate in this book-writing adventure.

I am grateful to Jeff Bartel and Tom Somerville, who gave me my start with SAP BusinessObjects and totally changed the trajectory of my professional career.  I am also grateful to Bob Dissinger and Sharon Peters for the years we organized the Southern Ohio/Northern Kentucky BusinessObjects User Group. I would also like to thank Penny Brewer, Deanna Glinka, Eileen King, Gary Kuertzel, and Alan Mayer for helping me become a better instructor and presenter.

Thanks to Diversified Semantic Layer hosts Greg Myers, Jamie Oswald, and Eric Vallo. I value your friendships as much as your professional advice.

Last, I’d like to thank my wife, Kristin, and my children, Emily, Catherine, and Benjamin, for their patient love and support during the development of this book.

My deepest thanks.