Voice of the DBA

Tag: mvp

  • Off to the 2023 Microsoft MVP Summit

    I’m off today to Seattle, Redmond actually, and the Microsoft MVP Summit. This is an annual conference Microsoft has run for their MVPs, allowing them to interact and learn from the developers for various products.

    I am a Microsoft Data Platform MVP, which means that I’ll mostly be seeing sessions and talking with the developers for SQL Server, Azure SQL, Synapse, etc. All the Data Platform stuff.

    The entire event is under NDA, so I can’t discuss anything that happens or what I will learn. At least not this week. A lot of this will come out from under NDA in the next few months, and this event gets me the chance to work with some things before they become public.

    It’s also the chance to get to know the developers and product managers better. I’ve become good friends with some over the years, and I look forward to the chance to not only learn from them, but share a meal or drink at some point this week.

    A quick trip, out today, back Thursday. Just in time to meet the tractor guy Friday.

  • Honored to be a Microsoft MVP Again

    I was renewed this week as a Microsoft MVP. This is my 15th award in a row and each year this happens it is an honor to be recognized for helping others.

    2022-07-05 14_10_45-My Profile — Mozilla Firefox

    This is an award that Microsoft decides to give, based on the help and impact you have in their community. For me, this is in the data platform space, which includes SQL Server.

    Playing My Game

    I do many community things, primarily to help others. Some of these things are a part of my job, but I also make an effort outside of my job to teach, educate, and help others that want to become better at their jobs in improve my career.

    That’s been my game, and I continue to play it on a regular basis. I appreciate that Microsoft recognizes this as valuable enough to award me the MVP, but whether they do or not doesn’t change what I do.

    For anyone that is intrigued by the MVP, my advice to enjoy helping others. To write, speaker, organize, etc. to help your community in some way. If you enjoy doing that, and are willing to spend time regularly, then you might be an MVP.

    I (and many others) are happy to nominate you, but you should be helping others as a regular part of your life first. If you do, then feel free to reach out and ask me to nominate you.

  • More MVPs Than Awards

    Every year, July 1 is the Microsoft MVP Renewal date and quite a few people received good news that day. I was one of those renewed for another year, and I am honored that Microsoft chose me again. I also congratulate all the others that received the award for the first time as well as those that were renewed.

    Not everyone was renewed, and some very popular names were dropped from the list. I don’t mean to leave anyone out, but I did see a couple good friends were not renewed: Kevin Kline and Andy Kelly. Both are extremely talented SQL Server professionals and generous with their time and knowledge with the SQL community. They are truly MVPs to me, as they are to many others.

    The MVP program is run by Microsoft, under their rules, and with their discretion about who is awarded and who isn’t. I don’t feel they did anything wrong here as I don’t know what criteria they use or what information they had access to. I also know they have a limited budget and have to make decisions about who to award each year.

    The award is an indication that you are providing a lot of valuable contributions to the technical community about some Microsoft product. The amount that is a “lot” is some level decided by Microsoft. There are many people that provide very close to “a lot” of contributions to the community, but they don’t make the cut off. That’s just the way the program works.

    Think of the 100m dash in the Olympics. Only three people get to stand on the podium after the final heat. They are the people awarded a medal. Don’t think for a minute that the other five in that heat aren’t fast. They are some of the fastest humans on the planet. They just didn’t make the cutoff for the medal. They are still Olympians and worthy of fans’ praise for their efforts.

    The same thing goes for Kevin, Andy, and numerous others that didn’t get renewed. It also applies to even more numerous others that help me, you, and many people in their technical community every day.

    There are more individuals out there that act like MVPs than Microsoft can award each year. Remember that fact the next time you read a response to a question you posted. Remember that when you attend the next SQL Saturday or other conference and listen to a speaker that is donating their time to teach you something. Remember that when you read an article by someone at SQLServerCentral or elsewhere. There are lots of MVPs for the data platform out there. Only a few of them get to use the designation from Microsoft, but all are worth thanking.

    Steve Jones

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  • A Week of SQL Server 2019

    I’m in Redmond, or Bellevue, or somewhere nearby. Not completely sure where the Microsoft MVP Summit is this week (as I write this). I’ve got travel planned, so I’m sure I’ll figure it out.

    In any case, I can’t talk about anything I see this week for now, but I am excited. It’s a week of SQL Server 2019 and future work that’s coming to us at some point. I don’t always get excited about new versions, and SQL Server 2017 wasn’t one, but I’m changing my mind.

    I think SQL Server 2019 is going to be a new evolution of the platform, with the Big Data Clusters and K8s support. This is going to change how we deal with data over time.

    Don’t ask questions for now, but as soon as I can write about things, I will.