System Administrator Appreciation Day, also known as Sysadmin Day, SysAdminDay, SAD or SAAD, was created by system administrator Ted Kekatos. Kekatos was inspired to create the special day by a Hewlett-Packard magazine advertisement in which a system administrator is presented with flowers and fruit-baskets by grateful co-workers as thanks for installing new printers. Kekatos had just installed several of the same model printer at his workplace.
The holiday exists to show appreciation for the work of sysadmins and other IT workers. It is celebrated on the last Friday in July. The first System Administrator Appreciation Day was celebrated on July 28, 2000. The official SysAdmin Day website includes many suggestions for the proper observation of the holiday. Most common is cake and ice cream. Many SysAdmin Day cakes are featured on photo sharing websites.
- 2011: July 29
- 2012: July 27
- 2013: July 26
- 2014: July 25
- 2015: July 31
Many geek and Internet culture businesses, such as ThinkGeek and CafePress, also honor the holiday with special product offerings and contests. Various filk songs have been written to commemorate the day. The songs have reached a level of popularity where they are also covered by other performers.
Attempts to have Hallmark Cards recognize the holiday as a Hallmark Holiday have yet to be realized. Many e-card websites already have special SysAdminDay cards available.
The holiday has been recognized and promoted by many IT professional organizations, the League of Professional System Administrators and SAGE/USENIX.
Famous quotes containing the words system, appreciation and/or day:
“When the finishing stroke was put to his work, it suddenly expanded before the eyes of the astonished artist into the fairest of all the creations of Brahma. He had made a new system in making a staff, a world with full and fair proportions; in which, though the old cities and dynasties had passed away, fairer and more glorious ones had taken their places.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“We like the idea of childhood but are not always crazy about the kids we know. We like it, that is, when we are imagining our own childhoods. So part of our apparent appreciation of youth is simply envy.”
—C. John Sommerville (20th century)
“Oh, a day in the city-square, there is no such pleasure in life!”
—Robert Browning (1812–1889)