I live on a small ranch in Colorado. It’s a working ranch where we board horses, and my wife trains both horses and people. There’s a lot of work to be done at the ranch, and both me and the kids help out.

We have a variety of tools we use to deal with the various chores and infrastructure we have to manage. Depending on the task, we might choose a specific tool.

We also like to use the right sized tool for the job, especially when the job involves heavy lifting.

I often think about my career in technology, and how similar it can be to my life now. I’ve often worked with a variety of technologies, from networking routers, to Active Directory to Exchange in my career as a DBA. I’ve had to understand development languages and techniques to collaborate effectively with developers. Knowing a little bit about a lot of things has helped me often.

That’s one of the reasons I like the DevConnections conference. With so many different technologies being discussed a the same event, I can walk from a SQL Server session on execution plans to a development talk on Fiddler. You can learn about testing software and SharePoint queries along with Trace Flags without leaving the building.

Most of us work with a variety of technologies, and if we don’t, we often do work with a variety of IT pros. Learning a bit more about how others do their jobs, how their technologies might interact with yours, or even picking up a little jargon, can help you to be a better IT worker overall.

I’ll be in Las Vegas this September for DevConnections and I hope you’ll join me. It’s a good time at the Aria resort with plenty of ways to relax in the evening after a packed, educational schedule each day. And if you’re interested in Continuous Integration for Databases or High Performance Encryption, stop by one of my sessions.

I hope to see you Sept 15-19 in Las Vegas. Register today!

If you’d like to see a video promo, click below and enjoy.