One last reminder – If you’re interested in learning more about troubleshooting and optimizing SQL Server performance, please consider coming to the full-day seminar I’ll be giving this Friday. Full details are here: http://sqlperftuning.eventbrite.com/. We’ll be working some exercises, so bring your laptop with an instance of SQL Server 2008 (or later) running on it. It’ll be fun!
I also encourage you to come on down to SQL Saturday 130 the following day – whether there’s an official registration for you or not. (But don’t tell ‘em I said that). :^)
Come by the booth for a visit. I’ll be hanging out most of the day and have some nice swag to give away.
This might be most most overcommitted four-week period of time ever in my life. I’m tired just thinking about it! Not only am I traveling internationally and speaking over the next few weeks, I’m also helping on two book projects, learning some new applications from Quest Software, and helping on a small Transact-SQL refactoring project.
Swag on hand? I’ve got a special printing of 500 video training DVDs for this trip:
SQL Server Training on DMVs
Performance Monitor and Wait Events
Plus, I’ll have a few posters, stickers, and other goodies. Come see me!
SQL Saturday 105; Dublin, Ireland; March 24
My maternal grandmother was first generation Irish-American and, somehow, going to Ireland feels a lot like going home to grandmom’s house. And all my Irish friends make it feel like I’m going home to see the extended family – cousins and ‘once-removed’ family types. And on top of that, we get to talk about SQL Server at SQL Saturday #105! I’ll be doing a session called “Top 10 Things Every Developer Should Know”. I’ll also be hanging out at the Quest Software booth much of the day and, just for fun, I plan on doing a completely unscripted lightning talk.
SQL Server User Group; Maidenhead, UK; March 27
From Dublin, I head over to the lovely town of Maidenhead, UK. I’ll be spending a couple days in the Quest Software office there in Maidenhead, whose SQL Server User Group is lead by fellow Questie Richard Douglas (blog | twitter). I’ll be presenting after Business Intelligence impresario Jen Stirrup (blog | twitter). Space is limited, but there are still some seats left.
This is the official launch event for SQL Server 2012! This is your chance to get the best and biggest dose of SQL Server 2012 training for quite some time. The free training day event is sold out. However, some of the training day seminars have open seats, including my seminar Leadership Skills for the Database Professional. This seminar distills the years of formal training and hard-won experience I’ve accumulated throughout my career starting as a developer leading a small team, through the founding and early startup years of PASS, into my later years leading a large, multi-national development organization. You’ll learn all the skills that are crucial for you to make the leap (and it’s a big one) from full-time technologist to a leader and manager of people.
And we’ll be hosting our popular SQL trivia quize and IT Horror Stories sessions as well. So be sure to plan on grabbing your lunch and heading into our fun lunch-time sessions!
I hope to see you at one of these upcoming events! Cheers,
The last quarter of the year is usually my busiest due to the fantastic PASS Summit and SQLBits events. The fall looks a little different … BECAUSE IT WILL BE EVEN BUSIER! Here’s a rundown of where I’ll be this fall through mid-October:
BASTA! SQLCON.NET
September 26 to 29; Mainz, Germany
This big developer and admin conference runs from September 26 to 29 in Mainz, Germany. I’ll be delivering at least one session and hobnobbing with Quest customers, friends, and in a very weird twist, my oldest daughter Emily, who will be in the Rhineland at the exact same time on a graduation present I’d been planning for her since graduation in June.
SQLBits – Query Across the Mercy
September 29 to October 1; Liverpool, United Kingdom
One of my favorite conferences of the year! The organizers are great. The speakers are great! The attendees are great!! The venues are great!!! The lunches are … um … adequate. I’m doing all an new session on SQL Injection attack, this time with LOTS of demos kindly written by an attendee at one of my sessions in Cologne. He like the session so much, he decided to build demos to go along with it. (Thanks again, Volker!)
And if you’ve attended before, you know how much fun our now traditional IT Horror Stories and IT Bingo Trivia sessions are. Make plans to attend these standing-room only sessions, before the fire marshal kicks us all out of the room for overfilling it.
The PASS Summit
Seriously. This is the one. If you can attend only one SQL Server training and community event in a given year, this is the one. Over 150 sessions and pre-conference seminars. Most everyone who is on the list of “who’s who” in the world of SQL Server and Microsoft-related data management and development will be in attendance. And a large number of the Microsoft R&D team that builds, documents, and supports SQL Server will also be there.
SSWUG.ORG’s virtual webcasts will prepare the “Accidental DBA” for patterns and practices they will experience in their role as a database administrator. I will provide easy-to-understand insights and realistic examples for professionals who have not had any formal DBA training. By the end of our four-part series, you should have the information needed to get up to speed on database planning, administration and performance tuning basics.
Session Descriptions
In the first session, you will see what is needed to fulfill the role of a (Database Administrator) DBA by learning more about what is typically expected of administrators and where the bulk of the work is done. Regardless if you are a draftee or volunteer to the position, the information applies to anybody wanting to better understand and fully own their title.
Over the course of the second session, you will find out why it is important to grasp some of the tips and tricks that DBAs have practiced for many years. I will emphasize about the need for documentation, testing, automation, sharing experiences and continuing your education.
During the third session, you will understand the reasons why the DBA is the sheriff in town! That’s why it’s important to know what you’re dealing with in your departments and inside your databases. I will explain how to inventory, determine what is not your responsibility, talk to your stakeholders, learn the business cycles and tackle important tasks.
The fourth and final session will emphasize the four essential skills needed to survive and excel in your database administration position – Communication, Troubleshooting, Benchmarking and Automation. I will explain how to leverage these abilities toward increased job security and professional successes.
I’ve always appreciated how Andy Warren (blog| twitter) operates in the most transparent manner, especially as it relates to his role as a director for the Professional Association for SQL Server. For example, Andy’s latest blog post about prepping for the SQLRally, to kick off in less than 30 days, is insightful and gives you a good idea of the sort of work a strong director for PASS needs to put in. I also enjoy how Andy more or less thinks out loud and offers you the chance to provide your input. In that latest blog post, he was mulling different after hours entertainment options, giving you a chance to pipe up with your opinion if you had one.
Learn from My Mistakes
Times running out for the early registration discount. Save $50 by registering before the end of the week! And while you’re at it, register for my full day, pre-conference seminar on learning leadership and management skills especially tailored for the IT professional. Here’s a quick run-down of the topics we’ll cover in my pre-con:
Earning the respect of your team
A deep understand of effectively motivating technology professionals
Specific skills to lead database professionals competently that broadly fall into the categories of:
Coaching team members to effectively meet goals and deadlines
Facilitating change and navigating organizational disruptions
Promoting communication within the team and with management
Keeping teams and projects on task and within scope
Dealing with difficult team members
Practicing good team time management techniques
Read all about the goals of the session here. If you’re coming to my session, I’d love to hear your thoughts ahead of time about challenges you’re facing!
Personal Experience, Personnel Experience
Also, just a word about my bona fides. I’ve had a lot of leadership and management training over the years, but like many professionals I consider my on-the-job experiences to be the most valuable.
On the education side of the equation, I received a bachelor’s degree in the school of management back in the 1980′s. I’ve also gone through the Center for Creative Leadership‘s leadership training curriculum, the Blessing and White Management Training curriculum, and SmithBucklin’s not-for-profit governance and organizational strategy training curriculum. On the experience side of the equation, I led small dev and admin teams of 3-7 people starting way back in the early 1990′s. In the late 1990′s, I started taking a more strategic direction with my skills as the manager of information architecture at the firm where I worked as well as taking a role as one of the founding directors of PASS. In the early 2000′s, I joined Quest Software as our initial SQL Server product architect and spent several years leading the team to a over 50 individuals in a half dozen teams in as many disparate locations around the world.
A Few Words About Community from SQLBits8
The more I go, the more reasons I find to go back to the SQLBits conferences held around the UK. The starting image isn’t very flattering, but here’s a fun little interview put together by Andrew Fryer of Microsoft:
The 2011 PASS SQLRally is just about one month away and it’s high time I highlighted some of the important things you’ll be hearing about in my precon seminar Leadership and Team Management Skills for the IT Professional. Just to set the context, many of us IT people got to our lofty career positions because of our keen use of technology. It takes a lot of smarts to get where we’ve gotten, but they are a very specific set of smarts that can’t always be used in every business setting. And, since so many of us have topped out in our potential salary as long as we stay in the trenches and the only do technology work, a lot of us are starting to eye those middle manager positions so that we can continue to see our career grow. The only problem is that all of those skills that enabled us to become top tier technologists don’t transfer into the management arena.
I’ll be teaching a wide variety of soft skills and specific management checklists to help you survive those early transitional days. And if you’re not a manager? You’ll still want to attend because the wide variety of communication skills we’ll cover will help you stay on top of many other real life situations, from leading the local Girl Scout troop to taking a role on the local PTA organization.
You can read the full and pedantic session description at the link I provided up above. But here’s a list of Five Funny Things You’ll Hear in the Precon:
“Here’s where we get out the whips and chains…”
“In this section, we’re going to learn how to manage our managers…”
“And then I was, like, OMG. And she was, like, LOL. And her cousin was, like, ROFL. But then I was, like, meh…”
“Darth Vader would be proud…”
“The beatings will continue until morale improves!”
And one bonus:
“That’s what she said…”
Did I put these in context, heck no! But it’s a fun session, with some practice labs and LOTS of content to help you make that transition from full time technologist to part- or even full-time leader!
MVP Rob Farley Channeling the Inner Viking at SQLBits, Oct 2010
SQLBITS
One of the top highlights of my year is when I get to visit the great cities of Europe and meet with the great IT professionals there. Last October, I was able to visit several cities in Europe, including my first ever stop in Stockholm and Malmo, Sweden. Last year’s SQLBits event was in the lovely city of York, England.
The Level of Attendees Has Come Up a Notch. See?
This spring, in fact the next two weeks, I’ll be on a whirlwind junket. In just a few hours, I fly out to London and then drive down to Brighton for a couple days of SQLBits. SQLBits has a great lineup of speakers and content this spring.
I’m looking forward to many of the sessions going on as well as the innovative CIO-oriented event that will include facetime with Fusion-IO executive and industry legend, Steve Wozniak.
This Crew Is Crazy!
Our lunch time sessions on Friday and Saturday are ALL ABOUT FUN! If you attended last year, you’ll know to get there as early as you can because it will be standing room only. Bring a good horror story to tell about your experiences in IT because we’ll have some fun prizes to hand out as well.
Of course, the biggest fun for me is time spent with other SQL Server people. Lots of great speakers and Microsoft SQLCAT team members will be on hand, too numerous to name them all, in fact. And of course, I always enjoy a visit with my colleagues at Quest, such as Iain Kick (at left).
We were so inspired by winning a Trivia Pub Quiz that we decided to do one at SQLBits!
DUBLIN
After SQLBits, I head out for a day long session in Dublin on Monday, April 11th with my old friend Niall Flanagan at the Microsoft European Development Centre, South County Business Park, County Dublin starting at 09:30 am. If you’re in old Eire, I hope to see you there! Registration details are HERE.
COLOGNE (KOLN)
At the conclusion of the Irish event, I head directly to the airport for a flight to Cologne, Germany. The next day, on April 12th starting at 09:30, we’ll do another day with the expert. The agenda is a bit different, but all the details including registration are available HERE.
MALMO
My final stop before heading home is on Wednesday, April 13 in Malmo, Sweden. The user group in that area is lead by the very talented Johan Ahlen, whose blog is located HERE. I especially enjoyed his posts about FileStream late last year. I’m looking forward to more good sessions and, again, to learning as much from the attendees as they do from me. Be sure to register for the event HERE.
I was just bragging about how Toad for SQL Server keeps getting better. In that post, I also pointed out a lot of great resources you can put to work immediately on improving your skills with this great tool. (Incidentally, there’s a freeware version without all of the features, but it’s still quite useful. And you can always use the beta product, if you want all of the features and many new features that are undergoing community testing.)
Ain't he handsome?
One of the reasons that Toad is so good is that it’s always been a community-driven product. Back when I used Oracle every day, TOAD was an acronym = Total Oracle Application Development. It didn’t take long for Toad to rise above the acronym transform into the eponymous term denoting “kick-butt database tool” just a few years before Toad began to go cross-platform. Now that Toad is solidly cross-platform with versions for DB2, MySQL, and Cloud to boot, it’s worth pointing out that Toad got to be what it is today entirely from community feedback. Back in the day, when I worked in Quest’s R&D team, the developers literally kept a checklist of cool suggestions from the community and worked against that to develop new features. My point isn’t to fully describe the inner workings of the Toad dev team, rather I wanted to highlight how incredibly important community feedback is to this tool and the developers behind it.
Those of us over a certain age (read – old as dirt) can remember the theme songs to certain TV shows better than we can the National Anthem. Try these lines out and see if you don’t immediately remember the tune that goes along with them:
Come and knock on our door | We’ve been waiting for you …
Makin’ your way in the world today | Takes everything you’ve got …
Just some good ol’ boys | Never meaning no harm …
Thank you for being a friend | Travel down the road and back again …
So when I got the news that my employer, Quest Software, wanted to send one of the team to an upcoming SQLCruise put on by Brent Ozar (blog | twitter) and Tim Ford (Blog/Twitter), another nostagic TV show song popped into my head -
Love, exciting and new | Come aboard. We’re expecting you …
I’m really excited about this trip and for a lot of reasons. First, I’m not going to lie – I’ve never been on a cruise. So this factor alone is pretty awesome. Second, Brent and Tim are two of my favorite human beings. I’m looking forward to the chance to see them. Third, SQLCruise is also about community and I’m looking forward to making some new friends. I’ll also be an hand to provide as much free training and demonstration on any of the goodies we’re giving away to the attendees.
Finally, I’m looking forward to learning. Brent and Tim know their stuff. So, getting a chance to actually attend training under such skilled teachers is a treat I didn’t expect!
Don’t forget that free DVDs of our virtual conferences featuring me, along with Buck Woody (blog | twitter) and Brent Ozar (blog | twitter) will be mailed anywhere in North America free of charge, now available at this link.
