Earlier today I read a blog post that compares consultants with corporate staff members. The author unashamedly compares consultants to major league baseball players, while grouping corporate staffers into the minor leagues. While he does make a few valid points, the theme of the post – as well as many of the assumptions he makes – are out of left…
During my visit to Denver last September for SQL Saturday 52, I spent a while talking with Marc Beacom, who mentioned that the 3 PASS chapters in and around Denver hold their monthly meetings on consecutive nights. When I brought up my love for snowskiing, he suggested that we combine a ski trip with a speaking trip. Thus began the…
Next week, I’ll be making a swing through central Colorado on a working vacation of sorts. I met up with Marc Beacom when I went up to Denver to speak at their SQL Saturday in September, and he mentioned that they have three user groups (Boulder, Colorado Springs, and Denver) that meet on three consecutive nights each month. My love…
I just received notification from the Microsoft MVP Award Program that I’ve received the MVP award for SQL Server for 2011. This is my second year to be awarded, and I’m very honored to be a part of this group. As always, I offer a big thank you to the SQL Server community for allowing me to share my humble…
Like clockwork, another year has come and (almost) gone. It’s been a wild year on many fronts: major happenings included the devastating Haiti earthquakes, the signing into law of a landmark healthcare reform bill, a major debacle over the use of body scanners and intimate pat-downs at TSA airport security stations, the personal crash and burn of golf star Tiger…
Join me next Tuesday, December 14th at 11:00am CST as I present a webcast on behalf of the PASS AppDev Virtual Chapter. I’ll be presenting “Dynamic SSIS with Expressions and Configurations”, where I show you how to remove static elements (such as connection strings, file names, and other transient values) from your packages and placing them in easier-to-administer configurations or…
The sessions are over, and the post-cons are done; the vendor parties are but a memory, and the #sqlkaraoke music has died. Another PASS summit is in the books, one billed to be the “best PASS summit ever”, and I’d have to concur. The Best PASS Ever Perhaps it started with the entertaining (albeit ill-advised) Tina Turner impersonator during the…
My friend Jen McCown of MidnightDBA fame issued a challenge last week called “Un-SQL Friday”. The inaugural topic is on branding. Although I’ve written a little about personal branding over the years, I don’t pretend to be an expert, but I have learned a thing or two that works for me. As I mentioned in a comment on Brent Ozar’s…
Today is the last official day of the SQL PASS 2010 summit, which also means the last day for live blogging during the keynote. This has been a lot of fun, and I’m looking forward to doing it again next year. Today’s ceremonies will include a keynote by Dr. David Dewitt. Before that, PASS board member Rick Heigis gives the…
This year, PASS is taking an extra step to help identify first time summit attendees. Most attendees are given ribbons for various recognitions, including Speaker, MVP, Chapter Leader, and other accolades. This year, attendees who are attending the PASS summit for the first time are recognized with a yellow “First Timer” ribbon on their badge to allow those of us…