Voice of the DBA

Author: way0utwest

  • The 2013 SQL in the City Tour

    The 2013 SQL in the City tour kicks off today for me. I’m flying to LA this morning, early, in order to ensure the venue is ready and perform our last 3-4 keynote practice sessions in real time. We’ve been practicing remotely, but in order to ensure things run smoothly, we want some last minute practice at the podium, with all three of the speakers together. I think we have a fun, informative, and not-too-long keynote you’ll enjoy.

    Then it’s off to the pool. I’ve been swimming more this year with a sore knee, and I’ve got pools lined up for the all the stops on our tour: Pasadena, Atlanta, and Charlotte. I’ve even searched out a few places in Charleston, where I’ll be SQL Saturday #227 in between the Atlanta and Charlotte events. I’m not sure of my schedule, but if you want to put in some laps, send me a note on twitter and I’ll let you know when and where I’m going.

    These events are free, one day events sponsored by Red Gate Software. Our intention with the events is to support the community, help you learn more about SQL Server, and give you some tips, tricks, and hints for using our tools. You don’t need to use our tools to learn something at the events, but we do think you’ll see that our tools make your job much, much easier. We think we provide a lot of value, and it’s worth the price of the tools to make you more productive.

    This year we were much more organized than the previous years and we’ve broken up our days and sessions into DBA and developer tracks. Our goal is to teach both groups, and tailor sessions for each side of the SQL Server community to help you get better at your job. We started in London earlier this year, and with additional practice by Grant and myself at our smaller seminar events, we think we’ve got some great sessions for you to see.

    If you’re in one of the cities, register and come by. We’ve heard great feedback from people and most think the information and inspiration you get is worth a day away from the office.

    Steve Jones

    Video and Audio versions

    Today’s podcast features music by Everyday Jones. No relation, but I stumbled on to them and really like the music. Support this great duo at www.everydayjones.com.

    Follow Steve Jones on Twitter to find links and database related items and announcements.
    Steve Jones Windows Media Video ( 16.9MB) feed

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    MP3 Audio ( 4.1MB) feed

    Feeds are available at iTunes and Mevio

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  • T-SQL Tuesday #47 – SWAG

    tsqltuesday.jpgIt’s T-SQL Tuesday time, the second Tuesday of the month when we all coordinate our blog posts on a particular topic. This month Kendal Van Dyke has invited us to take a break from technical topics and have a bit more fun. This month’s topic is asking about the swag that you’ve gotten from an event. This seems appropriate given that there are so many events this time of year. In addition to the tremendous number of SQL Saturdays, we had DevConnections last week, SQL in the City this week, the PASS Summit next week, and SQL Intersection next week.

    This happens every month, and if you want to participate, look for the invitation on twitter with the #tsql2sday hashtag. If you want to host, contact Adam Machanic.

    The Best SWAG

    I’ve been fortunate to attend many events in my career. I’ve been to TechEd, the PDC, SQL Connections, SQL Intersection, the PASS Summit, various TechFests, lots of SQL Saturdays, and, of course, Red Gate’s SQL in the City events. I don’t often get swag these days, but earlier in my career I would grab various gifts and goodies from the events and vendors. I’d often bring back items for co-workers and my kids, some of which I actually still have.

    These days I don’t get much swag, though I do get speaker gifts from some places, which feel like swag to me. What are the best items? I’m not sure that I can pick just one, but I have a few things that stand out.

    Multi-tools

    20131004_102054

    During the WIT panel at SQL Saturday #222, SIOS sponsored a gift to take back to kids, boys or girls. It was a multi-tool and I grabbed two, one for each of my kids. I even checked my bag (which I never do) so I could bring the small knives to my son and daughter. They loved them, putting them in bags to use when they might need them. I saw my son actually break this out a week later to use the pliers.

    Wine

    20130917_12371420130917_123704

    The speaker gift from SQL Saturday #222 in Sacramento this year was a bottle of wine. I thought that was a great gift, and one that’s still sitting in our wine rack, but probably not for too much longer 🙂

    Beer Mugs

    20131004_102125

    A few years ago the crew from SQL Sentry gave away silicone beer mugs at the SQL Connections conference. I loved the insulated mug for cold beverages, and so did my kids. I found after a week that I never got to drink from them because my kids were filling them with smoothies, juices, and more. The mugs were always in the dishwasher. I mentioned this to Peter Shire and he graciously gave me 4 more at the next event. That hasn’t stopped my kids from using them at every opportunity, but with 5, I do get to use a few of them now and then.

    The Keychain

    I’ve gotten a few, and some of them are very nice, but the one that stands out for me was from the SQL Saturday #169 in Denver. The local user group made their own parachute cord keychains that I still have on a backpack. It’s similar to a survival bracelet, the kind of things that Boy Scouts carry, just in case. I love the keychain and while I hope I never have to use it, I have it if I need it.

    Lots of Gifts

    There are plenty of other things I’ve gotten that have survived. I have bags and shirts from many events. I have pens, USB drives, a couple keychains, and even a few bottle openers. I’m sure I’ve forgotten some of the other items, though to be fair, there were lots of forgettable items.

    It’s hard to give out good swag. At SQLServerCentral, we’ve struggled to think of what things people would like. I’ve given away lots of shirts and books since I’ve felt people will keep those around and hopefully have fond memories of the events. I know I do when I use some of the items that I’ve gotten.

  • Beginner, Expert, or Both?

    It seems that there’s no shortage of interviewers complaining about the lack of qualified candidates for open positions. It seems to me that the best thing you could do to get a better job is work through all the articles and lots of forum posts from SQLServerCentral, complete all the exercises in your favorite SQL Server book, and improve your skills so that you shine in an interview. If most candidates are really that bad, it can’t be that hard to make yourself stand out with a little work.

    However it seems few people do that. In fact, it seems that quite often we find people that have 5 years of experience with SQL Server really have 2-4 months of experience repeated 15-30 times. What’s more disconcerting is that they don’t realize how much knowledge they lack.

    This article might provide some of the reasons why people think they’re more experienced than they are. They’re expert beginners, and since they can accomplish the things they’re asked to do at their jobs, they think they’re complacent. They have success because they’re not asked to do more, perhaps because their employer only needs a small fraction of SQL Server knowledge to keep their systems running along.

    I think this is a hard trend to break. Employers don’t want to pay you to learn skills that aren’t important to them, and they certainly don’t want to pay you to learn things that will move you to a new job. However that doesn’t mean you should have the same attitude.

    I think you should continue to expand your skills, grow your knowledge, and try new techniques. The best people in all professions continually question their current skills and techniques, looking for better ways to accomplish tasks. It’s good to use what works and ensure stability in your systems, but always be prepared to evolve if you find something that works better.

    And keep looking for ways to do better.

    Steve Jones

    Video and Audio versions

    Today’s podcast features music by Everyday Jones. No relation, but I stumbled on to them and really like the music. Support this great duo at www.everydayjones.com.

    Follow Steve Jones on Twitter to find links and database related items and announcements.
    Steve Jones Windows Media Video ( 18.9MB) feed

    MP4 iPod Video ( 16.2MB) feed

    MP3 Audio ( 3.4MB) feed

    Feeds are available at iTunes and Mevio

    To submit an article, rant or editorial,
    log in to the Contribution Center

  • My Busy Weekend

    This weekend is the fall camporee for my middle son’s Boy Scout troop. He’s one of the senior scouts in the group, and he’s committed to help run some of the training sessions and competitions for younger boys. He asked if I’d go along on the trip and help out, something I’m usually happy to do. However this time I had to decline, informing him that I’d be out of town this weekend. He asked me where I’d be. My answer:

    He told me that’s quite a bit of travel, and he’s right. However that’s not all of it. My journey starts today as I head to LA for SQL in the City 2013 Pasadena.