One of the truly great heroes of the SharePoint community, Joel Oleson, has decided to drastically reduce the time he spends in the community. For those who do not know yet, I’ll try to describe the loss the community will suffer from this giant’s retirement.

Because I consider Joel a personal friend, who has on several occasions offered his guidance and support both in public and in private, I’ve chosen to write this eulogy not as a simple list of Joel’s accomplishments, but as an expression of what I personally feel at this moment.

Joel Who?

I realize there are billions of rocks in the world, and if you’re just emerging from underneath one of those rocks, or from some cave completely void of internet access, you may not know who SharePoint Joel is. Let me explain.

In days yonder, I started exploring SharePoint and as everyone else, literally had Google search for SharePoint topics as my start up page. More often than not, however, I found myself staring at one particular person’s face, that of some guy called Joel Oleson, whenever I needed something really thorough and well explained.

When Twitter came around and started becoming the de facto standard for community interaction, Joel Oleson quickly became the most followed SharePoint superstars out there. It’s not that he manically followed everyone who followed him, like some people do to increase their followers. In fact, it took me almost a year of hard work before I finally got an email saying that “@joeloleson is following you”.

No, Joel became as popular as he is by being there for the community. By responding to questions, by speaking at events, by providing valuable information in his blog, and by taking an active part in the community that he loved and still loves. Joel has done an amazing job, bringing SharePoint knowledge to the masses, and doing so in an entertaining fashion, making him perhaps the world’s most popular speaker at SharePoint events.

But It Can’t Be All Good, Right?

You don’t get as many fans as Joel has without stepping on some toes every now and then. Joel has fought several battles in the community, but what distinguishes Joel’s battles from most of the other petty fights we see sometimes, is that Joel always fights for what he believes is best for that community. When he launched the idea of the SharePoint knights, for example, he got the wrath of a large group of influential people thrown in his lap.

However, Joel didn’t launch the idea because he himself needed a title; he already was the most popular SharePoint guy in the world. He thoroughly believed that an independent system of community recognition would benefit that community and thus championed the idea. He fought valiantly, but in the end saw that the fight split the community and lay his idea to rest.

Another example is his periodical stabs at Steve Ballmer. In short, and as he himself publically says, he wants Steve Ballmer to step down. In less politically correct terms, he’s saying Steve Ballmer is bad news and doesn’t do his job very well.

However, Joel isn’t asking Steve Ballmer to step down because Joel wants to be the CEO of Microsoft. In his arguments, he always focuses on how communities, not just that of SharePoint, would benefit from having fresh blood in the Microsoft leadership.

It is not even only SharePoint that’s on Joel’s mind. Whenever there is a disaster somewhere in the world, or when people are in jeopardy, or fighting to claim their rights against oppressive dictators, Joel is among the very first to offer whatever support he can, even if that is just changing his Twitter avatar or mentioning a prayer for his friends in need.

It is no coincidence that when Joel now steps down from his role in Quest and from the public eye of the SharePoint community, he moves on to work for a non-profit organization where he can further help and contribute in his own way to a better world.

So, Why Is He Leaving If He Loves The Community?

Only a few people in the world can even be compared with Joel when it comes to single-handedly building and nourishing the SharePoint community. Joel has spent the last few years traveling around the world to speak at everything from small user groups to huge conferences. He never forgets to bring his experiences and stories out to his blog or his Twitter followers and thus contributing to bringing people from around the world together in a common interest.

What he seems to have forgotten though, is that all his dedication has had a price, and a steep one. In the previous three years, Joel has been traveling for 300 days, most of the time away from his family. As he says is himself, they have been getting the short side of the stick, which, I believe, means they’ve been the ones to suffer from his community dedication.

I have no problems understanding that. I don’t think anyone will. Now, it’s time for those even closer to Joel to benefit from his kindness, wisdom, and presence. Now, it’s time for those who have sacrificed access to their father and husband so that we could enjoy Joel, to get their well-deserved rewards.

Joel will receive plenty of thanks. I’m confident the community will not squander our chances to express that gratitude.

However, I’d like to take this chance to thank Joel’s family.

Virginia, thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for letting us spend so much time with your beloved husband.

Dean, Scott, and Jared, you have a father of which you should be very proud, and you should know there are thousands of people in the world who owe your father a great debt of gratitude.

Thank you.

.b