The third Tuesday of every September, is National I.T. Professionals Day. First started in 2015, the holiday is meant to show appreciation for the often misunderstood but hard-working help desk people, system administrators, network engineers, software developers, and database administrators.

Not many professions require the level of continual fast paced learning that an I.T. Professional is required to maintain. Without warning, new operating systems, software changes, and exploits just hit the media, often before they show up in training or technical bulletins. It’s not a career for the faint of heart. When someone is calling, it’s usually after they are extremely frustrated due to a problem or frightened due to a potential exploit. I.T. Professionals are seldom called or emailed just to say “Hi”, to be told that everything is working well, or that they have been doing a great job.

For this upcoming I.T. Professionals Day (September 21st), shoot a quick email to your favorite nerd, geek, and/or support person and remind them that they are appreciated.