Blog it Forward – Karin Tillotson

Hello SCN, my name is Karin (pronounced “car-in”) Tillotson.  I was honored to be tagged for Blog it Forward by Moya Watson .  Moya is an unbelievably amazing person.  She was the force behind SAP’s “It Gets Better” video.  To read more about this initiative, please read Cathy Brook’s Huffington Post article.

As for me, I am a SAP Mentor.  Here is one of my favorite Mentor photos taken at the 2009 SAP TechEd in Phoenix:

I am also an ASUG Volunteer for the Archiving and ILM Special Interest Group.

My area of SAP expertise is in Archiving with a side of Basis.  I have been doing SAP Archiving since 1999, but started my IT career back in the stone ages (mid 1980’s).  Technology fascinates me as it is constantly changing and there is always something new to learn.

Fun Facts From Home:

I am originally from Minnesota.  If you ever visit there, you will hear phrases like “you bet”, (or “Yah, you betcha”), “you got that right”, “can’t complain” (which really means you can complain), and “Uff da”.  It is the home of the hotdish and jello salad.  At the end of summer, there is the MN State Fair – “The Great Minnesota Get-Together” where you can get any type of food on a stick.  The state bird is the mosquito and there are 2 weather seasons; Winter and Road Construction (ok, this statement is a slight exaggeration).  Minnesota is the Land of 10,000 Lakes (there are actually 11,842 lakes that are 10 acres or more, but 10,000 was an easier slogan).

This is an example of why I now live in Texas:

Fun Facts about Texas:

I live in San Antonio, the home of The Alamo.  As for Texas in general, it is the Lone Star State, the place where Dr Pepper was invented, and where the armadillo is the official state mammal.  If you ever visit Texas, you will hear phrases such as “Bless his/her heart”, “you’re not from around here are you”, “Y’all come back now”, and, it took me a little while to get used to being referred to as “Ma’am”.

If you follow me on twitter, you also know I am a huge tennis fan.  In fact, I am writing this blog while watching the Federer vs. Verdasco US Open match.  It reminds me of when I saw Verdasco play at the 2011 SAP Open Tennis Tournament.  Below is a picture that was taken in the Champions Hall of the Rod Laver arena in Melbourne (Federer and Nadal are my 2 favorite tennis players):

Moya’s Blog if Forward Questions:

In the spirit of “everything old is new again”, we have some serious issues facing the globe, and crumbling financial institutions may or may not be a passing fad.  Imagine your work life.

What will SAP be like in 10 years?

While I realize that everything changes,  I do hope that some things will remain the same at SAP.  I hope it will still value and maintain its Corporate Sustainability  Program. I believe it is important for companies to give back to the community.   One of the best initiatives at the company I work for is its Volunteer Program.

What would you be doing here for your daily work then?

As I do not actually work for SAP, I do imagine I will still be working with SAP Solutions in 10 years (unless I win the lottery 😀 ).  I believe that SAP Archiving will be changing, as alluded to by Hasso Plattner at this year’s ASUG/SAPPHIRE Conference where he stated that archiving will be replaced by Data Aging rules in HANA.  Data Aging will move data from HOT storage to COLD storage based on “rules”.  I also believe that not everything will change.  For example, as a SAP Basis person, I am sure I will still be using the SAP GUI for some things.  SAP GUI FTW!  

What is the best thing you’ve ever given to someone?

I found this question hard to answer as, to me, that should come from the receiver, but, here is my answer.  I have 2 examples.

The first one is about when I worked for a company that held a dinner at The Harvard Club to celebrate milestone employee anniversaries.  When I reached my 5 year anniversay, I was invited out to Boston and I could bring a guest.  As it was close to Mother’s Day, I invited my Mom as my guest.  We had a wonderful Mother-Daughter weekend in Boston.

The second example of the best gift would be adopting 4 rescue dogs over the last 12 years.

My first 2 adopted dogs were Sadie and Peanut (they are in doggie heaven now):

And here are my current dogs, Heidi and Freya (getting them to pose for a picture was like herding cats):

Although, adopting rescue dogs is more of a gift for me so I am not sure if this counts.

Extra credit: Image today is your birthday.  What are you going to do and who will you celebrate with?

I happen to have a milestone birthday coming up next year and have been thinking of how to spend it.  I have always wanted to go to Hawaii and may do that for my birthday.  And, I am thinking of going alone and have it be a “reflective” birthday.  A few years ago at my previous job, we had to take the Myers-Briggs Test for a team building exercise.  I found one of the results very interesting.  It showed that I am actually an introvert, as I get re-energized by being alone, but I am really good at being an extrovert.  I am already getting push back from my family and friends about spending my birthday alone.  I am not sure if it is because they want to be with me on my birthday, or be in Hawaii 😉 .

It is now my turn to Blog it Forward.  The people I am tagging are:

Dagfinn Parnas – a fellow mentor who I am sure will appreciate the “Uff da” mention in my blog.

Chip Rodgers – I hope he can spare a few minutes while preparing for SAP TechEd.

Gail Moody-Byrd – my partner-in-crime for front row seats at concert events.

My questions to you are:

What do you like most about SCN?

What was your favorite SAP related project and why?

What would your ultimate vacation be?

And, be sure to continue to follow the activity for the Blog It Forward Chain.