Blog Archives
T-27 Days Until My Summit Adventure Begins
The DATEDIFF script tells me it is now 27 days until I leave for the SQL PASS Summit 2012. Today I have built my tentative schedule (as shown below) and this was probably the most difficult task I will ever have to do this year. Trying to balance the sessions I need that will aid my current position in addition to what I would like to know and let’s not forget the people with whom I want to see speak. Thankfully, I purchased the DVDs to cover all of those lost sessions.
I will go over the schedule again in a few weeks as I understand it is evolving. However, I am curious, with shifting time slots if my calendar will adjust to the session or simply make me believe that I am attending a session that is no longer in that time slot. Another thing I would like to point out is that I loaded all of these sessions into my outlook calendar and then I realized ‘hey that calendar is on eastern standard time!’ So I edited these sessions in my phone to reflect a pacific time zone so that hopefully when I arrive in Seattle everything will be correct. I am making a mental note to review my schedule on Sunday when I arrive.
Stay tuned for this excellent adventure!
SQL PASS Summit is Less Than Seven Weeks Away!
This morning I came across a stark reality: SQL PASS Summit 2012 is less than seven weeks away! I cannot fully describe the emotions of my first trip to Summit; some anxiety, mostly excitement, fear of the unknown, anticipation of meeting so many online friends and a thirst for new knowledge. I am so ready for the networking, the learning, the socializing with #SQLKaraoke, the after parties, but mostly just hanging out with my #SQLFamily.
On a personal note, I have been to Seattle once in my life, in high school. Five friends, my math teacher and I went on a field trip before my junior year where we participated in the Mu Alpha Theta National Mathematics competition after winning the State competition for Algebra II. Mathletes Rock! What a beautiful city! It will be great to see Mt. Ranier, the sky needle, the monorail, Puget Sound, and the fish market. I am sure a lot has changed in the last 25 years, I know the King Dome is no longer there, but we took a tour as the Mariners where out-of-town on a road trip and sat in the dugout and the locker room. Good times!
I when I return home I will have some new Seattle memories that I will cherish for many years to come. Enjoy!
I’m Going to the SQL PASS Summit!
For quite some time, I have hated November. Don’t get me wrong, I love Thanksgiving, let’s not get crazy there. But, to watch everyone get excited about going to the annual SQL PASS Summit was almost like being the only guy at the prom without a date. I never had that problem, but I can imagine it vividly thanks to having to sit out previous Summits because my employers did not see the benefit in flying me across the country.
It was quite painful to sit on the sidelines and see everyone enjoying #SQLKaraoke, seeing everyone meeting up with people that they had met on twitter in the #SQLFamily, and seeing bonds created and new friends made all in the name of SQL Server. I had a front row seat each time from my couch. A better analogy would be that of a professional football player at home watching other teams in the playoffs enjoying the sweet smell of success while he suffered the agony of the feet (or is that defeat). Thousand of SQL Server professionals were enjoying the learning, the training, and the networking while I had to simply watch from home. NO MORE! NOT THIS YEAR BABY! I GOT A DATE FOR THE PROM! I AM GOING TO THE SUMMIT! Look out Seattle, let the Big Gator Growl!
I am going to send many glorious tweets and facebook updates showing all of the new things I am learning, all of the new people I am meeting, and the friends I got to meet in real life. Also, let’s not forget the crazy songs I will sing at #SQLKaraoke, so when people talk to me throughout the year they will remember the good times we had that November when the planets aligned and I got to finally attend the SQL PASS Summit. Good times, good friends, and maybe I will get to see the unicorn. Is it time to go yet? Can I go now?
PASS Summit, Why Not?
Having my resume in several places, I receive solicitations from recruiters, LinkedIn, monster.com, etc. One common thread to all of these communiques? Not one of them says that they will send me to the PASS Summit. Why not?
If they are serious about their SQL Server position and finding a professional, as evidenced by their stringent requirements then why wouldn’t they want to help ensure that the DBA has the proper training necessary to complete the requested tasks?
You’ve seen the SQL Server DBA stringent requirements before:
- Must have a Bachelor’s degree and ten years experience in the information technology field, prefer Ph.D. or Brent Ozar.
- Must have five years experience with SQL Server 2012 and ten years with SQL Server 2007.
- Must have expert-level knowledge of SSIS, SSRS, SSMS, clustering, business intelligence, power-pivot, backup/recovery, mirroring, log-shipping, performance tuning, CLR, T-SQL, and a host of others that we will ask you about in the interview but neglected to list in the initial advertisement.
- It would be beneficial if you also had an expert-level knowledge of Oracle as we have one linked server, but not essential.
Seriously, why don’t the listings say that in order to show you how serious we are about your development, we are including a yearly commitment to sending you the PASS Summit? This is a fundamental change I would like to see happen in my lifetime. If they can weed you out based on their requirements, then why can’t we weed them out from the beginning? Something to ponder. Enjoy!
SQL Swampland 