George Yu, on the ground in China

I've known George Yu of SAP for many years, starting when he was assigned as the point of contact for our Americas' SAP Users Group (ASUG) liaison, helping to find speakers and other resources, speaking at conferences, and being an email contact. I'll sheepishly admit I spaced out his name and face one time when meeting him at an ASUG conference as he worked a booth for SAP. He has always been good-natured, quick to help, and a deep fount of knowledge on installation, ramp-up and other SAP product challenges.

I spotted his name this morning as I started closing down a home workstation before traveling. Again, it was a bit out of context, and although there may be a few George Yu's in the world, his SDN bio says he's been with SAP since 1998, so I know this is my friend George.

His blog "My First Two Days at Wen Chuan Earthquake, China" is a chilling first hand account of living through a life-threatening experience, the after-shocks, and the struggles for survival. If you might have heard about this disaster on the news, on the internet or other media, Ge0rge gives a very different perspective.

George also presents an inside view of news availability within China. Since he witnessed the horror first hand, he was expecting information to be given about routes to safety, food and water locations, and other emergency broadcast help. However, censorship and denial of responsibility led to a news blackout. I'm sure everyone appreciates the risk George is taking in describing the official reactions.

Safe travels, George!