The Best Dang Design Book for SQL Server Professionals - EVER!

I thought I’d liven things up a bit with a little contest.  The rules are simple:

A. If you don’t follow me on Twitter, then follow me by clicking here.

B. If you already follow me on Twitter, then tweet the details for tonight’s event.

C. Every new follower or current follower who retweeted the details and then attends the event tonight will get a free ebook for Professional SQL Server 2008 Design and Implementation by my buddy and fellow Nashvillian Louis Davidson (blog | twitter).

As the fine print usually says, “Must be present to win”.  But just to liven things up a little bit extra, I’ll pull several names from the hat of all the folks who were NOT present but followed or retweeted the event details between now and 6:30 PM EST tonight.

Thanks and good luck!

-Kev

So I’m going to try to better, henceforth and forever more!  Two entries ago, I talked about the The 8 Characteristics of Exceptional Leaders.  This month, I’m drilling into the characteristic on that list that generated the most controversy in emails and messages – “Absolute Integrity”.  Many people took issue with the concept that integrity can be learned, instead believing that integrity is innate, like a sense of humor or a dancer’s rhythm.

What do you think?  Read the article here and weigh in with your opinion! (Be forewarned – the PASS website is free, but does require registration.  And I encourage you to do so since there are many other great resources there to take advantage of.)

Enjoy,

-Kevin

Twitter @kekline

Let me be direct with you.  I love SQL Saturday.  If it were a woman, I’d marry it.  (Avoiding all extraneous thoughts of what my real wife would say, etc etc).

Check out this fun Flickr Feed from the recent SQL Saturday in Chicago or these picks by Jorge Segara (blog | twitter) to see the sort of fun that’s in store.  But who can argue with a day of free SQL Server training and a chance to network with great presenters and a wide swath of your peers?

Keynotes are more fun when the put-downs fly!

I’ve tried to support SQL Saturday as much as I can since Andy Warren (blog | twitter) launched the program a couple years back and have spoken at several.  You might say to yourself, “Self, Kevin works for a vendor. Don’t they want him to speak at as many SQL Saturdays as is humanly possible?”  Well, Mr. Self, you’d be mistaken.  You see there’s a keyword in the name that might reveal why my employer doesn’t provide unlimited enthusiasm for me to speak … it’s the SATURDAY part of the whole thing.  Yes, of course, my employer wants me there.  But they also recognize that Saturdays are my own and that, if I spend a day or two there on the weekend (including the travel time), then that’s a sacrifice of my own choice.  I would still need to be at work and on task bright and early on Monday morning.  Not that they’d make me, it’s just that my job is the sort that work is never simply skipped, it is only ever deferred.  So if I took a comp day, which they’d gladly provide, I’d still have to finish the work somehow, someway.  All of this goes to say that I really, really love SQL Saturday, the community vibe that it creates, the volunteers who drive it, the folks who attend.  So I’m happy to give up a few days throughout the year to support it.

Come to Nashville in August!

Guitar, Cowboy Boots, Cowboy Hat, and Tight Denim NOT Required

My good friends Joe Webb (blog | twitter) and Louis Davidson (blog | twitter) have been angling to host a SQL Saturday here in Nashville for quite a while.  As co-leaders of the local PASS chapter in middle Tennessee, it made a lot of sense to host an event like this.  I wasn’t at all resistant to the idea, I just didn’t want to do the work myself.  However, they did a great job of getting the ball rolling and even took on the majority of work themselves.  Together with other volunteers in our local chapter – Shelton Dickson, Roberto Lopez, and Christina Leo – we’ve all set to work to host SQL Saturday #51.

The event will be hosted on Saturday, August 21st at the shiny new facility of Nashville State Community College located at 120 White Bridge Rd. Nashville, TN 37209:

• If you’d like to attend, check out all the details here.  Joe Webb and Christina Leo get all the credit for logistics.

• If you’d like to speak, read the details in our call for speakers here.  Louis Davidson is running the program selection process.

• If you’d like to sponsor, sign up on-line here.  This one is my responsibility.

• It’s free to register, there is a $10 fee if you want us to provide lunch.  And remember, seats always fill up fast!

• If you’re going to attend and you have a twitter account, be sure to tweet using #sqlsat51!

I hope to see you there in August!

Join Us for 24 Hours of SQL Server Training

(with a special focus on SQL Server 2008 R2)

Did I mention that your Cohorts in Crime (that be me and Brent Ozar) are presenting?!?

The FREE 24 Hours of PASS event is bringing an exceptional lineup of SQL Server and BI experts to your computer starting at 12:00 GMT (UTC) on May 19.

Get an in-depth look at the hottest SQL Server and BI topics, including (but not limited to!) – the new SQL Server 2008 R2, with its business intelligence and data management innovations, and much more.

When does it start? 12:00 GMT (UTC):

New York: 08:00
Chicago: 07:00
San Francisco: 05:00
London: 13:00
Paris: 14:00
Moscow: 16:00
Mumbai: 17:30
Singapore: 20:00
Sydney: 22:00

The roster of phenomenal speakers features many MVPs and top-rated presenters, including Adam Machanic, Andy Leonard, Brad McGehee, Brent Ozar, Brian Knight, Chuck Heinzelman, Dean Richards, Don Kiely, Don Vilen, Donald Farmer, Glenn Berry, Greg Low, Jacob Sebastian, Jessica Moss, Kevin Cox, Kevin Kline, Louis Davidson, Maciej Pilecki, Peter Myers, Peter Ward, Rushabh Mehta, Sean McCown, Simon Sabin, Thomas Grosher.

Check out all the great SQL Server sessions you can attend for FREE. Share this information with a friend or colleague.

PASS is looking forward to having you join us all for this exceptional event. Please contact us at 24hrs@sqlpass.org with any questions.  You can also find lots of general details at http://www.sqlpass.org/24hours/2010/.

Isn’t it funny how life gets in the way of the stuff we want and intend to do?  As they say – “The road to hell is paved with good intentions”, or was that Detroit?  But I digress.

A New Translation!

I don’t like to toot my own horn.  [sarcasm on] You can tell that I’m completely honest when I say that since I have a couple blogs and a twitter account. [sarcasm off]  But one thing I’m really proud of is how popular SQL in a Nutshell is.  It’s now translated into approximately eight languages, with Russian being the newest language:

I'm even more proud of my lil' girl than that book!

I also had the pleasure of working with another translator and I’m looking forward to having a copy of the book in simplified Chinese soon too!

Lots of Speaking Events Coming!

There will be more details on my Events page soon, but here’s the run down on what’s just around the corner:

• May 4; recording a spot for TechNet Radio
• May 13-14; Louisville, KY; Two sessions – SQL Server Internals & Architecture, and Ten Things DBAs Want .NET Developers to Know
• May 20; 24 Hours of PASS; Top 10 Mistakes on SQL Server
• May 22; Indianapolis, IN; SQL Server Internals & Architecture
• June 7-11; Microsoft TechEd Conference in New Orleans, LA; Birds of a Feather and Ask The Experts
• June 23; Knoxville, TN; ditto the Indy event
• Aug 5-7; DevLink in Nashville, TN; several sessions throughout the conference

I also have three “Pain of the Week” webcasts schedule with Quest over the next couple months, with great co-hosts like Buck Woody and Grant Fritchey.  The sessions aren’t officially scheduled yet, but you can find them here.

Also, a big thanks to the local PASS chapter in Houston for the warm welcome they put out when I spoke there on April 12 and to the fine folks in Chicago for their awesome SQL Saturday on April 17th.

New Articles and Session Recordings

I had a couple new articles come out last month which I either wrote or added commentary too, including Master Data Services could spur SQL Server 2008 R2 migrations appearing at SearchSQLServer.com.

The PASS DBA Virtual Chapter just posted a recording of my session on SQL Server Internals and Architecture.

I made an appearance on Microsoft’s Thrive website as their IT Pro of the Month for March.  I also had the opportunity to work with Steve Wynkoop at his SSWUG.org vConference in March.

And don’t forget about the incredibly popular Quest vConference that Brent, Ari, and I did on troubleshooting and performance tuning using SQL Server DMV’s.  You can get the code samples, download the slides, and rate the presentations at http://questkb.com/live and/or http://www.vconferenceonline.com/shows/spring10/quest/conference/ondemand.asp

Click here to register.

You don’t have to register to attend.  But if you register today, you’ll be entered into the drawing to win one two copies of my bestselling reference SQL in a Nutshell, covering the ANSI standard plus Oracle 11, SQL Server 2008, MySQL 5.2, and PostgreSQL 8.3.

This is NOT the Chameleon in the Bud-Wise-ER commercials. At least I think it's not.

I’ve put the slide deck up in my Slides area of the website.  However, because it contains a lot of big images, I had to publish it as a PDF file to meet my size limits.  That means that all of the animations in the slide deck are shot – and this presentation relies heavily on animation.

Notice the bluetooth ear piece fashion faux pas? Yes, she's truly a geek.

I’m happy to report that Barbie is now a cognizeti, a digerati, … yes even an IT Professional! This year’s new Barbie is Computer Engineer Barbie.

Several months back, I encouraged all my friends and followers on Twitter to vote for the IT job for Barbie in Mattel’s recent public job selection for the eponymous doll.  That encouragement was founded in an experience I’d had years earlier – becoming a dad to a very beautiful baby girl.  When I was growing up as a kid, I clearly recall how odd it was for a woman to have a career outside of a handful of “traditional feminine jobs” like teacher, nurse, telephone operator or secretary.  It wasn’t until years later, as a new dad, that I realized how asinine this preconceived notion really was (and, in fact, still is in many cultures around the world). I even wrote about this a few years ago in my personal blog, where I mentioned how I’d love to see my daughters grow up and take on an IT career.

Sadly, many IT professional societies report dramatic imbalances in gender demographics.  For example, the IEEE Computer Society reports that their membership is only 7% female. Similarly, universities in the USA shows about a 10% representation of female faculty and 14% of their students in computer-related majors.

One of the things I’d always found to be rather amazing about PASS was it’s strong emphasis on Women in Technology (WIT).  In fact, as far as database professional societies go, PASS was the first to work hard to make WIT prominent within its culture (although I believe that the International Sybase User Group had a WIT group before PASS).  I’d like to also give credit to the women within PASS who made this happen.  I can’t even begin to list them all here, but without them, WIT at PASS would not have been possible.  A few women who immediately come to mind include Rebecca Laszlo, , Kalen Delaney, Denise McInerny, Kathi Kellenberger, Stefanie Higgins, Lynda Rabb, Kimberly Tripp, and many many more.

All of these outstanding women deserve accolades for making PASS a welcoming place for women.  Don’t think that it’s a big deal?  You should attend an IT conference without a strong WIT community – you’ll see the difference in 30 seconds flat.  (I’m not going to name any names here.  But attend the top conferences for certain IT companies headquartered in Redwood City, California or Armonk, NY and you’ll see what I mean).

So, thank you ladies, for making PASS in particular and the overall Microsoft SQL Server community much better for everyone by making it better for women.  I hope to see this trend continue and for your contributions to continue to improve our community.

-Kevin

Those TPS reports are due at 3:30 pm sharp, Mister!

If you’ve ever dealt with a manager who questioned your every move, hijacked meetings, nit-picked over inconsequential details, or made you jump through endless hoops of administrivia, then you know what I’m writing about.

This article is part one of a two part series.  Part one deals with identifying how and why managers become micro-managers.  Part two, coming in the next issue of the PASS Community Connector, gives you strategies you can use to survive and even thrive in these scenarios, and also tells you when to cut-n-run.

There are already questions showing up on the post.  So come join the fun.  Post your own questions or experiences, and help the community grow.

Enjoy,

-Kevin

Twitter @KEKline

Everybody Needs Training

Everybody enjoys a little free training now and then.  I’ve got mountains of free training in the works.  Some of it is in-person and local while some are in webcast format.  Please join me as you’re able!

Tomorrow – Wednesday!

Wed, Feb 10, 2010 at 12 pm (noon) MST – PASS DBA Virtual Chapter; Top 10 Administration Mistakes on SQL Server

There are a short list of mistakes that, if you know of them in advance and prepare for them, will make your life much easier.  This presentation shows you these mistakes, the “low hanging fruit” of database administration.  Once you apply the lessons learned from this session, you’ll find yourself performing at a higher level of efficiency and effectiveness than before.  Quest is sponsoring this and raffling off a copy of my book, SQL in a Nutshell, and O-M-G a KINDLE!!!  (Free, but registration required.)  And if you haven’t already done it, join PASS!

Day After Tomorrow – Thursday!

Thu, Feb 11, 2010 at 11 am EST – Quest Software Pain of the Week; Understanding & Preventing SQL Injection Attacks – with Kevin Kline and K. Brian Kelley

SQL Injection attacks is the most common hacker trick used on the Web and yet, one of the easiest to prevent. Learn what they are and why you need to be concerned about them. In this webcast, I and SQL Server MVP K. Brian Kelley (blog | twitter) will demonstrate different types of SQL injection attacks. You’ll learn how to find and block them to keep your databases safe, preventing disruptions to your organization. Quest is sponsoring this as well and raffling off more goodies.  (Free, but registration required.)

Thu, Feb 11, 2010 at 6 pm CST – Nashville .NET User Group; Ten Things DBAs Want .NET Developers to Know

Stereotypes abound for different types of people in the IT world. Developers think DBAs are control freaks. DBAs think developers are unruly cowboys. How do we overcome these differences? If you’re a developer, your best strategy is to manage your DBAs’ anxieties and demonstrate your competence and credibility. Attend this session to learn about 10 techniques that developers can apply to their code which will calm your DBAs’ fears and earn their admiration. Techniques include how to analyze a query plan and how to make sure your query is taking advantage of the best available indexes.  Attendance is free although registration is encouraged so we can get a good count for the food, plus there’s free pizza and a raffle at the end.  Drinks afterwards at Chilis.

Coming Soon

Mar 03, 2010 >>>FULL DAY OF FREE TRAINING!<<< – Quest Software SQL Server vConference; Troubleshooting and Performance Tuning with Kevin Kline, Brent Ozar, and Ariel Weil

Join SQL Server MVPs, Kevin Kline and Brent Ozar (blog | twitter), along with Quest Product Manager Ari Weil —all from Quest Software—as they interactively present tips and tricks to help you monitor your SQL Server environment with ease. You’ll learn how to use Dynamic Management Views (DMVs) to simplify troubleshooting and significantly enhance SQL Server performance. The day consists of eight sessions with live Q&A – a great way to get answers to your questions straight from the source. Chat live with Quest experts. Plus, you can visit the Quest booth to download helpful resources like white papers, watch demos and more.  This virtual training day is free and you can attend the sessions that fit your needs – perfect for tight budgets and busy schedules.

Mar 06, 2010 – PASS SQL Saturday, Charlotte, SC

The SQL Server Community will experience an event like no other in the Southeast region. Renowned speakers from around the world will gather in Charlotte, NC to share their knowledge on Microsoft SQL Server. This is your opportunity to meet, network with and learn from the SQL Community leading experts such as Andrew Kelly, Rick Heiges, John Welch, Brian Knight, Geoff Hiten, Andy Warren, Jessica M. Moss, Rafael Salas, Sergey Pustovit and Tim Ford. Also scheduled to present are current SQL PASS President Rushabh Mehta and former SQL PASS Presidents Wayne Snyder and Kevin Kline.

Mar 24, 2010 – PASS DBA Virtual Chapter; SQL Internals & Architecture

Apr 08, 2010 – Quest Software Pain of the Week; The Admin’s Guide to SQL Server w/ Buck Woody

Apr 12, 2010 – PASS Chapter, Houston; topic TBD

Apr 17, 2010 – PASS SQL Saturday, Chicago; Keynoting w/ Brent Ozar

May 13, 2010 – Quest Software Pain of the Week; SQL Server for the Oracle DBA w/ Buck Woody

May 13, 2010 – PASS Chapter, Louisville; topic TBD

May 15, 2010 – PASS SQL Saturday, Louisville; topic TBD

May 22, 2010 – Indy Tech Fest; SQL Internals & Architecture

January 1st, 2010 marked a very special day for me.  It was the first time in the past ten years in which I had no official PASS responsibility at the HQ level.  (I’m still serving in the local PASS chapter here in Nashville, along with the awesomeness that is DrSQL (blog | twitter) and the whackness that is Joe Webb (blog | twitter).  We also have the irreplaceable Shelton Dickson and Roberto Lopez helping us out).  I also intend to stay active as a speaker for PASS.  I spoke at the PASS 2009 Summit, earning a top presenter spot in the Professional Development track, and plan to speak there in the future.  And I’m also already booked for some upcoming Virtual Chapter meetings as well as local PASS chapters and SQL Saturdays.

10 Years on the Job Takes Its Toll

I have to admit that I’ve been surprised by the number of friends and acquaintances who’ve asked if I’ll miss it.  Isn’t it obvious?  Ten years of long hours with zero pay and a heavy burden on family time don’t rest easily on your shoulders.  I’m sure that PASS’ first two presidents, Pam Smith and Guy Brown, can corroborate my story – except that they’ve taken a solemn oath never to speak words that includes the letters S, Q, and L in a single sentence.  That makes it really hard to ask their opinion on much of anything these days.  The heinous nervous twitch that spasmodically attacks their left and right eye, respectively, whenever they hear the words “Micro” or  “Soft” uttered in the same conversation is also telling…

All joking aside, I’m honestly very happy to leave PASS in the hands of the next generation of leaders.  For more a much more in-depth discussion about my years on the PASS board of directors, check out Brian Moran’s interview for SQL Server Magazine here. The enthusiasm and passion demonstrated by the young turks on the board of directors will keep the organization in stead for many years to come.  I’m also very pleased with the new emphasis on community-connectedness (thank you Twitter!) and openness (thank you bloggers!) sweeping the community.  It’s already produced much goodness within PASS, which I expect to see multiplied many times over in the future.

A PARTING BOW

I was amazed and surprised when, during the keynote of Day 3, Bill Graziano called me on to the stage along with el presidente Wayne Snyder.  PASS did an online postings in a few locations. The PASS Volunteers page spotlights my award under the PASSion Awards section. Then, on the PASSion Award page, the award is the top featured article. This write-up includes a link to the interview with Brian that I mentioned earlier.  Funny story – I’d been working in the PASS ready room on Day 2 of the Summit, feverishly trying to improve my slide decks.  At the exact same time, Bill and the staff were also feverishly working on their slide deck a mere two seats away – of the presentation to come on Day 3!

I had hair when I started this job. Just sayin'...

Normally, I don’t care very much about how my slides look and would’ve caught Bill red handed in his sly surprise.  But today was different because I’d seen two ominous portents of doom – a ferret consorting with a chicken (on Cartoon Network) and a woolly caterpillar crossing the threshold of the Sheraton Hotel and Convention Center lobby.  My keen senses as an Oracle DBA kicked off an internal alarm that even 14 years of SQL Serverness could not suppress – eminent disaster at the hands of the demo gods was nigh.  So once I got to the PASS ready room, I equipped myself with several diet Mountain Dews, my favorite MP3 tunes via massive ear-buds, and a bag of mixed nuts.  Yes – I never knew, not even for a second, that they were talking about me.  Several hours later, as if waking from a daze, I realized that I didn’t have any slide decks with demos.  Clearly, Graziano had stronger juju than I.  Next time, I’ll directly divine the future using turtledove entrails – as all good Oracle DBAs are trained to do – rather than rely on those pathetic woolly caterpillars like MS-Access developers recommend.  [All elements of the preceding story concerning divination are a blatant lie.]  But I digress…

At the Day 3 keynote, Bill and Wayne surprised me by calling me to the stage and presenting me with the biggest award I’d ever personally seen.  I was gobsmacked.  On top of that, the attendees gave me a standing ovation for receiving the “Lifetime Passion Award” (no relation to Lifetime “TV for Women”).  Again, I was taken aback.  Wayne had, evidently, intended on giving me the mic to say a few words.  But because he was a bit choked up, he left the stage a bit earlier than he meant and never handed the mic to me.  Good thing too – I would’ve blubbered like a baby.

A Special Word of Thanks

Honestly, I can’t thank you enough for your kindness as a community. I never got into PASS for any form of praise or profit.  To have a hand in the making of something bigger than me which reflected my own values was all I ever hoped to achieve.  And thank you again to all the bloggers who had a kind word about the award as well:

• Sean and Jenn McGown – (blog | twitter)
• AaronBertrand – (blog | twitter)
• Jack Corbet – (blog | twitter)
• Kendal Van Dyke – (blog | twitter)
• Great photos from Pat Wright -  (blog | twitter)
• Todd McDermid – (blog | twitter)
• Steve Jones – (blog | twitter)
• Andy Warren – (blog | twitter) and here.
• Grant Fritchey – (blog | twitter) and here.
• Brian Egler at Network World also mentioned it here.

This year was also a great year for photos like these.  If you know of any other mentions about the award that day back in November 2009, please post a comment here.

With a grateful heart to call you all friends…

-Kev