Political Calculus – PASS Nominations

September 4, 2010 by 1 Comment

Pardon me, sir. Do I have a dog in this fight? After my term of service on the PASS board of directors ended in December of 2009, I fully intended to stay far, far out of the way.  It's an intention that I've largely been able to fulfill,excluding the odd conversation with an occasional board member or committee chair looking for a little impartial advice when weighing some consideration or other. If you keep up with going's on within PASS, then you'll know that there's been some hullabaloo lately.  Please reference paragraph 1 again at this point to understand that I don't really … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Challenges, Ethics, Governance, Opinion, PASS, Professional Development, SQLServerPedia Syndication, Strategies Tagged With: , ,

Plays Well With Others – Strong Leadership During Weak Budgets

September 4, 2010 by 1 Comment

   Many pundits are predicting that as the US emerges from its worst economic contraction since the Great Depression, business will bounce back with minimal new hires.  One of the primary ways that businesses grow their productivity without hiring more employees is to use information technology to automate processes that used to be done by real people.  But if the economy is still weak and the organization isn’t growing, that means life actually gets harder for those of us in IT because we’re being asked to deliver great returns to the company without allowing us to hire more people to get … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Opinion, Professional Development, SQLServerPedia Syndication Tagged With:

Plays Well With Others – Inaugural

August 28, 2010 by 1 Comment

Professional Development for the SQL Server Technologist This series of posts is dedicated to enhancing your soft skills.  For many technologists, the day-to-day grind of work tends to keep us focused on the SQL Server part of work and causes us to overlook the Professional.  While we, as technologists, spend the majority of our time honing hard, technology skills, but it’s important to remember that we are first and foremost employed to add value to the business processes of the organizations we work for.  In this series I will cover a wide variety of topics, including soft skills like … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Opinion, Professional Development, SQLServerPedia Syndication, Strategies Tagged With: ,

Video: Influence and Authority

August 5, 2010 by 1 Comment

In today's podcast, Kevin Kline talks about the difference between influence and authority, and why IT professionals need to work on their influence to succeed. You can view this video in higher quality or your favorite portable formats at: http://sqlserverpedia.com/blog/profes... Posted December 24, 2008. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Opinion, Professional Development, SQLServerPedia Syndication, Video Tagged With: ,

Now on SQLPASS, “Can Integrity Be Learned?”

June 30, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Ok, I admit it.  I've done about as good a job publicizing my monthly professional development column, Plays Well With Others, as NBC did when the transitioned Jay Leno back to the Tonight Show. 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 … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Ethics, PASS, Professional Development, SQLServerPedia Syndication Tagged With: , ,

SQL Saturday is Coming to Nashville! Won’t You?

May 17, 2010 by Leave a Comment

How 'Bout a Little Context? 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? I've tried to support SQL Saturday as much as I can since Andy Warren (blog | twitter) launched the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Conferences, Nashville SQL Server Users Group, PASS, Presentations, SQLServerPedia Syndication Tagged With: , , , , ,

Join Me in N’Orleans at Microsoft TechEd 2010!

May 7, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Microsoft Tech·Ed North America 2010 June 7-10, 2010 New Orleans Morial Convention Center 900 Convention Center Boulevard New Orleans, LA USA CONFERENCE AGENDA Wondering if you should go?  It's all about the education.  So check for the most current and detailed conference agenda at https://northamerica.msteched.com. TECH·ED ONLINE – www.microsoft.com/teched Can't make it in person?  There's still good things in store for you!  Tech·Ed Online offers on-demand technical sessions recorded at our Worldwide Tech·Ed events that explore all aspects of current and soon-to-release … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Conferences, On-Line Resources Tagged With: , ,

Join Me May 19th for 24 Hours of PASS

April 26, 2010 by Leave a Comment

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 … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Administration, Conferences, On-Line Resources, PASS, Presentations, Professional Development, SQLServerPedia Syndication, Transact-SQL Programming Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Collaboration Nation Call to Action! Calling All SQL Server Bloggers and Twitterers

March 12, 2010 by 41 Comments

The Suggestion The Modern Language Association hasn't made up all the new rules yet to govern how one blogger should reverence, er, reference another in their blog posts.  But they should!  Let's get that ball rolling for them. I'm not exactly sure who started this format, but it's my favorite.  When writing a blog post in which you mention another person's blog, let's do it like this: "blogger name (blog_hyperlink | twitter_hyperlink)" So, we might read a blog post by my friend Kimberly Tripp (blog | twitter) that might look something like this: "...the Scottish Terrier was so well … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Memes, On-Line Resources, Opinion, Professional Development, SQLServerPedia Syndication Tagged With: , , , , ,

Good News for Women in Technology – Barbie Has Joined the IT Scene

March 10, 2010 by 3 Comments

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 … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Conferences, Ethics, Opinion, PASS, Trends Tagged With: ,
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