I just received some bad news and found out that a friend passed away today. Reed Jacobson was one of the early leaders in the Microsoft Business Intelligence community. Somewhere around 2004-2008 I worked with Reed at Hitachi Consulting in Seattle where we travelled, taught classes and worked on client projects together. He was one of the earliest adopters and gurus in the BI community working for a small start-up called OLAP Train who helped bring SSAS (aka “OLAP Services”) to the masses. He spoke at many conferences and taught a lot of classes.
Not only was he one of the smartest people I’ve known when it came to solving business problems with Analysis Service & MDX but he was a kind, friendly man who really enjoyed helping and connecting with people. He wrote many books about data analysis with Excel & SSAS and he wrote the MDX training curriculum for Hitachi Consulting. He was my mentor. We co-taught some of those early classes and I spent some time with him on the road. He bent my brain intellectually and we talked about work, family, politics and religion. He was man of principles who asked questions and gave a lot of thought to his actions.
Reed left a lot more than a collection of old technical books behind. He had many good friends, customers and connections who appreciate his leadership, guidance and friendship. I am privileged to have worked with Reed.
A memorial will be held this Sunday, July 20 at 7:00 PM
Dr. Jose Rizal Park; 1008 12th Ave S, Seattle, Washington 98134
Yes. I remember going to sales meeting in Bellevue in July 2001… When I was in the restroom, I said something to him about how impressed I was with Analysis Services.
He ended up getting me a waiver for my first class at SqlSoft.com and I met with him once or twice after that.
He loved the Roast Beef and Chipotle from Briazz. Cheers Reed. Thanks for everything.
Aaron Kempf
Aaron, thank you for keeping this memory alive. Funny thing is that I was recently remembering sitting next to him on a flight we took to Phoenix to teach a class. He took his shoes off and told me that he never flies with shoes on. It was just part of the quirkiness that was Reed. I’ve learned to appreciate a man who does things his own way and for his own reasons.
So very sorry to hear this! I worked with Reed at HP a zillion years ago — his first job in the industry. Scary smart definitely described him and you couldn’t meet a nicer guy. I was just wondering what he was doing now and looked him up. Did not expect to read this! What a loss!
A day after his bike accident Reed offered to help me with a class I was teaching. He said “I’ll be on pain killers, but I can come and help.” Reed was always enthusiatically willing to share his time and knowledge. Both my personal and professional life have been enriched by Reed. Pleasent journey.
I owe a lot to Reed. I was lucky to have met Reed early in my career and to have since known him professionally and personally. He challenged my intellect with his genius on more than one occasion, bending my mind in ways I never knew possible. l am very grateful to have known him and to have called him my friend. Rest in peace.
Sad day for the BI world. I very much enjoyed all my interactions with Reed. We lost a very good one.
Reed was a brilliant, creative, kind person and I will miss him very much. He was always the first person I would call when I wanted to discuss a solution. I was very lucky to have known him in my early career as he helped me learn to think about things in a whole new light. Rest in peace Reed.
Reed was my BI mentor in, my teacher, roommate and music partner. I had the privilege to work with him and had this long conversations about everything in his kitchen. I learnt so much from his unbelievable genius mind and we had so much fun together. I miss Reed so much
Sad news. Reed did a great job teaching the Ascend Program for SSAS 2005 early adopters. I was one of the students and I learnt a lot.
Very sad. Reed was one of the first people I ever met for whom the description “scary smart” seemed just right. Great sense of humor, and good stories. He will be missed. I know I learned more from him than I probably even realize.
That’s a real shame. I only met Reed face-to-face a few times, but our paths crossed plenty of times online and he was an impressive guy.
Sad news. I will miss Reed as well. My work history with Reed was brief, but he left a big impression both professionally and personally. I will always remember a kind soul and will always think of him as a friend.