Voice of the DBA

Tag: speaking

  • Connecting, Saving, Discarding, Branching, and Merging in the Big Apple

    We’ve got another DLM workshop on Database Source Control taking place in New York City on August 27. It’s in Manhattan, at the Microsoft office all day, with lots of hands on labs to help you learn a number of skills:

    • connecting your database to a VCS with SQL Source Control.
    • discarding changes and recovering an older version of your code from a VCS.
    • branching your database code
    • merging changes from branches together.
    • using migration scripts for custom code changes and preserving these in your VCS.
    • and more

    Register today, and spend a day with Ike Ellis and myself  learning about database version control. The class is only $100 for a limited time, so make plans to join us.

    You’ll need to bring a laptop, but we’ll provide a VM ready for you to practice the skills on, and we’ll provide the food and refreshments for the day.

    Using a Version Control System is essential for application developers, and it should be for database developers as well. Learn how you can start to ensure your database code is protected and versioned, just like all your other code.

  • 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.

    LSU University Lake at BREC Milford Wampold Park

    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!

    2015-07-23 18_45_53-DLM-Workshop-2015-02-19-1708-export-i-fg1k1eq0 - VMware Workstation

    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:

    2015-07-23 17_14_22-Schema Compare_Deploy - Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio

    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.

  • Congrats Summit 2015 Speakers

    I'm Speaking Graphic_SmallThe PASS Summit 2015 Speaker list has been released and I wanted to congratulate everyone that was accepted. It’s a great honor and I’m proud to be on the list once again.

    I also apologize to everyone that submitted and wasn’t accepted. I hadn’t planned on submitted, but part of my job is speaking to the community. I was asked to submit sessions, which I did. Of the three I submitted, one was accepted.

    I saw a post from Mark Broadbent (@retracement) today that talks about his submission experience this year. He’s spoken at the Summit before the Rally, and numerous SQL Saturdays. He’s got experience and success as a speaker. It’s hard to call a single session selection a failure, and I hope Mark doesn’t feel that way.

    It’s Not You

    One of the things I’d like to say is that if you submitted a session and weren’t picked, it’s not necessarily you. This is certainly true for the Summit, but the same thing can apply at SQL Saturdays or other events.

    I’m sure you doubt I know what I’m talking about, and that might be true, but I certainly understand how you feel. I’ve received two rejections this year from events that didn’t like my submissions. It’s tough, and it can be a blow to your self-confidence, but it’s not necessarily you.

    Don’t get me wrong. It could be. Please solicit feedback from the organizers and friends about your submissions. There might be things that you are doing poorly, and if so, you should learn to do a better job at writing abstracts, and a better job of speaking. I regularly ask people what they thought of my talks, and I’m happy to go watch and give feedback to others as well.

    I’m sure some of you have heard of, or seen spoofs, of medical school grading where professors start a test letting students know that there will be x As, y Bs, z Cs, i Ds, and j Fs. In other words, a forced ranking where you must compete in order to succeed. That’s the PASS Summit submissions, but in a more complex scenario.

    You might submit a great abstract, on an outstanding topic. Maybe you’re a SQL Server memory guru and you want to put in a 400 level internals talk on memory pressure. Great. But if Adam Machanic submits on a similar topic, I bet you don’t get picked.

    In the various areas, sessions are ranked, and no matter how good a job you do, it’s possible you’ll get beat out by someone else. That’s not to say it’s hopeless. I believe that some slots are reserved for first time speakers (to the Summit, not in general), but it does mean that your abstract needs to be good AND not have great competition in your topic area.

    Submitting to the Summit and getting picked is a bit of a lottery. It helps to speak at multiple other events (user groups, SQL Saturdays, etc), and get some reputation, but it’s also important to pick topics that will be both interesting and don’t have lots of competition. It also becomes important to write a great abstract, and if you need help, read Adam Machanic’s post on this topic.

    Above all, don’t get discouraged. Get help in putting your submission together. Ask friends, ask colleagues, ask your family and read what others have done. Pick a topic area you’re comfortable with and try to find a niche that minimizes competition. Above all, make sure you get feedback from PASS and try to use that to tailor the next submission.

    You can do it. We see more and more new speakers every year, and you have a better chance if you think about how to best present yourself to the world.

  • The First SQL Saturday in South Dakota

    There have been so many SQL Saturday events in many places, and in most of the US states, but there are a few that have never had an event. One more state gets its first event this July, with SQL Saturday #427 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

    I’m proud to be speaking at the event, and I just finished booking my travel. I’ve never been to South Dakota, so I’m looking forward to wandering around a bit on Friday before we kick off the first SD SQL Saturday on July 18, 2015.

    I’m going to be talking about Continuous Integration in the afternoon, but there are some other great sessions. Learn about baselines, Service Broker, Auditing, SSAS, Stress testing, Reporting, and more.

    If you’re anywhere nearby, make some plans now to get to Sioux Falls in July for some SQL Server education.