Voice of the DBA

Tag: syndicated

  • Making a Little Effort at Networking – Part 2

    I wrote recently about my efforts to network a bit more at events. Part 1 was to spend more time with people that engage me. This entry continues with the second thing I’ve done.

    2. Look for Someone with a Connection

    Since I speak, it’s easy to pick out people that have been in my sessions. I make it a point to look around the room as I speak and make eye contact with everyone, or at least look at everyone. Do that often enough across 60 or 90 minutes and quite a few people stick in your mind.

    Then when I see people walking around later, I’ll say hi, and ask them if they enjoyed the session, did anything stand out, maybe ask about their job, etc. I look for a connection.

    If you’re not a speaker, you can do the same thing. When you go to an event, look for people in the audience. You can pick the speaker, but it’s often easier to connect with audience members. Scan and pick out a few people. When you see them later, even immediately after, strike up a conversation. Ask them if they enjoyed it, ask them what they thought of some point, or if they understood something.

    Try to engage for 3 or 4 minutes. You might never see them again, but you also might find a new friend that you keep in contact with.

  • The Raw Bloopers

    A raw dump of stuff from Memorial Day 2010 until July 4, 2010

    Since Community Server has trouble with this, here’s the link on YouTube: The Voice of the DBA – July 2010 Bloopers

  • Taking Time Off

    I’m trying to better manage my workload. When I owned this site, I struggled to find time off, and typically worked all the time, even on vacations!

    The last couple years I’ve slowly started to pull away a bit and find a better balance. Allowing some guest editors to run the site for a day, trusting others to get some work done, has helped me to keep things in a better perspective.

    So today marks the start of another short break for me. My wife and I are trying to get away alone once a year, and are heading to Vegas for a few days next week after the July 4 Holiday. It’s new for us, and with kids (9 and 11), we’ve been nervous about leaving them, but it worked out earlier this year, so we’re trying it again.

    I do try to find balance in my life, and it’s something I write about. You need to understand the job is the job, and while it can be rewarding and fulfilling, don’t live to work. Work to live.

  • MVP Congratulations

    It usually slips my mind that there are award dates for the Microsoft MVP program outside my own. I’m on Jan 1, though I don’t always know until Jan 2 or 3, depending on the snow 🙂

    Today a bunch of people were awarded and re-awarded. I’m sure I’ll miss some people, but here are some congrats that I know about (Twitter links):

    I’m sure I’ve missed a few, and apologies for those I didn’t catch on Twitter.

    This is a fantastic group and I’m honored to be in such good company in the SQL Community.