Voice of the DBA

Tag: Redgate

Get Away from the Heat and Learn some Database Version Control

I have enjoyed the trips I’ve made to New Orleans and Baton Rouge in the past. It’s a good getaway, stopping in the French Quarter for a few minutes before an easy drive up the road. However it’s warm, and I can’t ever get my wife or kids to come with me. For some reason, they don’t seem to enjoy the warm, August Baton Rouge weather. I, however, am looking forward to a jog around University Lake.

This might be the best time to run, but I’ll likely be going around when it’s sunnier, and a touch warmer.

However if you want to get out of the heat, perhaps you’d like to come learn about Database Version Control with Ike Ellis and me? Redgate Software has partnered with Crafting Bytes to deliver our workshop in Baton Rouge. We’ve put the workshops on sale, and only $100 for a full day of training.

What will we cover?

We’ll show you how to get your database in a Version Control System (VCS). We use Redgate’s tools, but the idea of using version control can be done in other ways. I’m running the labs, and you’ll see how you can keep track of all of your database DDL code, including Lookup data!

We are also covering some advanced features that the Redgate tools make easier. Things like branching, merging, and deployments. How many of you would love to know that development is done and we can deploy our changes like this:

I’ll show you how you can deploy your changes right from inside SSMS.

This is an in-depth workshop, covering way more than I could ever do at a SQL Saturday or conference. What’s more, we provide you with a VM and let you actually work through the skills we teach you. You will get real practice during the day to give you the confidence and practice for your own environment back at the office.

I hope to see you at either the workshop or SQL Saturday #423 in Baton Rouge.

July 24, 2015
Database Version Control Workshops

We’ve got more Workshops coming this fall from Redgate Software to help you get the most out of our tools and improve your database development processes. The list of our training schedule is out, and I’ll be at a few of these.

The schedule does changes as we can add more dates and partners, so keep checking it, or let us know if you’d like to have a class near you.

Baton Rouge, LA – Jul 31, 2015

I’ll be traveling to Baton Rouge, LA for our July 31 class with Ike Ellis on Database Source Control. Ike’s teaching, and I’m there to help and manage the labs that we’ve put together for the class.

This workshop is the day before SQL Saturday #423 in Baton Rouge, so if you’re attending that, consider coming a day early and getting some hands on knowledge of database and version control on Friday. It’s only $100 (a limited time sale), so register today.

New York City – August 20, 2015

We’ve also scheduled to give a Database Source Control workshop in New York City, in Manhattan on August 20, 2015. Once again, Ike and I will run the workshop, giving you a chance to learn how you can better manage the code in your databases with a VCS.

Come Learn

I hope to see some of you at one of these workshops, or one later in the year. We’ve really worked hard to pack a lot of information into a long day, helping you actually use the tools and technologies to control your database code. We’ll talk about how a VCS integrates with your code, what to include, how to handle branching and merging, and more.

We’ve put the price of these workshops on sale for the remainder of the year, so take advantage and register today.

July 13, 2015
Our Meeting and The Day Out

Last week, Redgate Software had a large company meeting and our annual Day Out, with myself and a few dozen of our US employees in the UK for meetings and the event. It was fun, and a good time. I haven’t been to a company meeting live in 6 or so years and I’ve never been to a day out, so I was excited to go.

I was asked to do the opening at the company meeting. Normally our CEO, Simon Galbraith, does an opening and introduces new starters. However with all the US people over, I got to get up first and try to inspire, motivate, and entertain a bit.

Our servery, the canteen where we eat breakfast and lunch was pretty packed on Thursday. I got up and had some fun, showing some images from the ranch of my hard work.

And telling all the youngsters that the worst job in the world was somewhere out there, but not at Redgate.

I think I motivated people a bit and got them excited about the company. That was part of the meeting, and I truly believe that. Of the 10 or so companies I’ve worked for, this is the best one for a lot of reasons, but mostly because people are respected and get to contribute. We have opportunity and responsibility, and it’s a good mix.

Afterwards we had a Nerf war in the two story atrium, which delayed a meeting for me, however it was worth it to watch the festivities.

Everyone was well armed from the Gun Shop.

The Day Out

The Day Out is really a teambuilding event. I got out of a taxi at the Cambridge Rugby Club to see all kinds of tents and apparatus set up.

We divided up into teams of 7-8 people and set about competing against each other. We had some mental events, like safe cracking.

Along with a puzzle competition where we had to use the equipment outside the striped tape to get the black box out of the middle, without stepping inside. That was challenging, and with another team trying, we couldn’t do it.

There were physical events as well. We had a sweeper (like on Wipeout) that we competed against and our team tied.

We also had a tug of war, with two of us tied together with a bungee cord. We had to race in opposite directions for about 20-30 ft. and grab a plastic brick from an inflated stand. I have to say that I lost 2/3 chances I had, but I was proud of the one I did win. My competition was a new salesperson, Colin Tanigawa, who just graduated from the University of Washington. He’s 23, and he played football there.

Needless to say, I’m more than twice his age, so I was glad to take one from him. I got to go a second time, as the other team had an extra person, and I raced against a developer. My team leader got a sequence shot of my on the second try, when we broke the bungee. Fortunately I’d won both, so that was that.

We had lunch, competed more, in ax throwing, dog agility, and more. All in all, a fun day capped by a BBQ. My wife joined me and we relaxed and chatted with people into the night.

I had a good time with my team, and my leader, Charlotte, shown below.

I’m hoping to go back again for another day out.

June 23, 2015
The Company Meeting

I’m leaving today for a trip to Cambridge, UK. I do this 2-3 times a year, but this one is a little different. I’m being joined by most of my American colleagues at Redgate, all of whom are being flown over to attend a company meeting and a company day out on Friday. It’s one of the rare chances, and quite possibly the only one that will happen again, to get everyone together in the company.

It’s an expense, arguably an unnecessary one, but it’s also a treat. Spouses and partners have been invited to come along and participate in some fun on Friday. It’s something that stands out in my mind, and it solidifies that Redgate is a great company.

It’s the kind of company I’d want to build, and it’s run as I’d want to run a company.

That might be the highest complement I can pay to an employer. They run a company as I would want to do so. They treat people fairly. They treat people with respect. They try to treat customers well, as well as participate in the community. The company is not perfect, but they acknowledge mistakes and try to do better. They work to make a profit, but profit isn’t the most important thing. Perhaps best of all, the management work alongside employees and set good examples. They don’t treat themselves as above or more important than the other employees.

I’ve worked at a lot of companies in my career, and almost none of them have been companies that I thought were well run with respect for employees balanced with the profit motive and participation in the community. Most were unbalanced in some way, often with respect to profit meaning much more than individuals.

I’m proud to work at Redgate and am looking forward to the trip with my wife, and a nice weekend in Dublin.

June 16, 2015