Voice of the DBA

Category: Blog

  • One Down

    Yesterday was our first 2013 SQL in the City event in Pasadena, CA. I was excited and nervous, with 3 talk and a keynote that I needed to integrate and work with two others on. We practiced 3 or 4 times on Tuesday and Wednesday morning, trying to get our timing, and our lines down. It felt appropriate that we’d scripted out most of what each of us needed to say and produced this like a mini play or movie. I’m glad we practiced because the first few times were rough, but when it came time to deliver this Wednesday morning, it seemed to go over well.

    Tuesday was also setup day. We had plenty of Red Gater’s from the UK over to help. There were booths to be set up and laptops checked

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    There were plenty of bags and badges to be readied and organized

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    There was even one guy with a red shirt.

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    On Wednesday it rained in Pasadena. I was surprised and unsure of what was going on as I drove in the early morning to work out. At first I thought the rain might be an issue and then I realized I was being silly. I have planned on swimming, so what’ s a little rain going to do? Get me wet?

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    I had a nice swim, getting some laps in as the sun rose on the west coast.

    Then it was off to the venue, a touch more practice and as people trickled in, we opened with the keynote. The demos all worked, we took turns speaking without any pauses, and I think it was a good story. We got good feedback later in the day, which is always nice.

    I had my version control session up first, and it went well. Quite a few people were using version control for databases, which was good, and I had some good questions on how to get teams to start working together with VCS. No one even argued with my “shared development databases are bad” section.

    I also had an encryption talk later in the day, and then a backup common mistakes talk where my demos didn’t work well. I’d set up the VM, but for some reason my licensing expired on the local server. I think I must have snapshot’d it. Grrrr. Still, it was a good talk and I’m glad I included the backup description. Quite a few people had misconceptions on how a full backup actually runs and works.

    Everything ran smoothly, thanks to our amazing organizer, Annabel. You can see she was very relaxed throughout the day as the event went off without any issues.

     

  • 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

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    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

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    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

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    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.

  • 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.

     

  • The SQL in the City Tour is Almost Here

    Five days. That’s how long I’m in Denver after my last trip before I head back to the airport for the 2013 US SQL in the City tour! Once again the crew from Red Gate is traveling around the country, putting on our one day, free, educational SQL in the City events. We are traveling to three cities in the next two weeks, and I’m looking forward to helping teach you about a variety of SQL Server topics.

    Did I mention the events are free? Completely free to you. We want you to register, but if you’re in one of these cities, and can come, click one of the register links below and I’ll see you there.

    Wed, Fri, Mon, a week long trip for me before I can return to Denver, and hopefully, some time off. I’ll need it, with a variety of talks on Version Control, Backups, and Encryption. I’m also helping with the keynotes, which makes for a busy day, repeated three times, for me. However it’s a lot of fun, and I am looking forward to meeting lots of new SQL Server professionals as I’ve never been to two of these cities.

    You should register today if you can come, it’s free, did I mention that?, and you can tell your boss we’ll teach you how to better work with SQL Server. We’ve divided the content into a mix of administrative and development based topics, so there’s something for everyone.