Tag Archives: Professional Development

SQL Server Social No. 2 – Movember Edition

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SherlockHolmesInnLast Thursday saw the first of many regular SQL Server Social events.Held at the Sherlock Holmes Inn on Collins Street, it was a great event with around 25-30 people in attendance. A lot more than I imagined considering a last minute change to the date.

Stephen Few, renown educator and trainer in BI Visualisations and author, had been giving a BI Visualisation workshop earlier in the week. I was in attendance at the workshop and managed to persuade Stephen to attend our social event. He was only in Melbourne until Friday November 18th, hence the last minute change to the date.

 

It was a Movember themed event, but unfortunately not that many people took part. I was one of two Mo Bro’s of the evening. Angus Bell had quite the impressive Mo and walked away with a heap of Movember merchandise (which he later gave away at another Movember party), as well as bottle of wine. It was a great effort by Angus, check out his Mo below and donate to his cause here:

Angus Bell

 

Next month’s event is in the works and will be held, once again, at The Sherlock Holmes Inn. Dates and times will be communicated soon. Stay tuned for more on SQL Server Social!

Journey to the SQL PASS Summit 2011 – Part 1

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In just over two month’s time I will be flying into Seattle, WA for this year’s PASS Summit. It will be my first Summit experience and I’m hyped.

Ever since I first heard about the PASS Summit I’ve wanted to be a part of it. The opportunity to geek-out network with not just database professionals, but with SQL Server Database professionals. The opportunity to learn about not just new technologies, but about new things with the current technologies. The opportunity to make some new friends and to put faces to names; to meet those that I have only talked to online (Twitter | Google+ | Blogs | etc). This year, I get to make the most of all of these opportunities. I’m very excited. Did I mention that I was excited?

Yes, I’m a first timer. While I have read a lot about the PASS Summit and have heard numerous stories about SQL Karaoke, this is still going to be an overwhelming experience. I want to ensure that I get the most out of the Summit; so I need to make sure that I have a plan of what I’m doing, where I’m going, & who I want to meet. I can’t do this if I’m bogged down in trying to figure out the basics. Thankfully the good folks at SQL PASS put together a First-Timers Orientation program to help people like me. Tom LaRock (Blog | Twitter) wrote a good blog post about the program.

Essentially, the orientation will include being paired up with a Big Brother/Sister (along with several other first-timers) well ahead of the summit itself. This will give us the chance to talk to the big brother/sister and find out the do’s/don’t, where information can be found, and generally learning from their previous experiences. It will also give us a chance to meet a few people ahead of the summit itself; ensuring that you don’t wander around the conference like a lost fart in the wind.

I think the orientation program is a wonderful idea and have already signed up. If you’re a first-timer too and you would like to participate then send an email through to newcomer@sqlpass.org and ask to be included in the program. Perhaps I’ll be part of your group. Apologies if that worries you…

2nd Quarter Review

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Half a year down already? This year is flying by a such a rapid rate and it seems hard to keep up at times. However, things are progressing and I’ve managed to stay on top of a few of my goals for this year.

To recap what those goals were:

  1. Blog more
  2. Learn more
  3. Attend more SQL Server Events
  4. Interact more with the SQL Server Community
  5. Sleep Less

So how did I do?

Blog more

I failed miserably at this one (Only 5 posts in for the 2nd quarter), but am ok with this as I had a lot of other, higher priority, items to keep me busy. I have been beavering away at Goal #2 “Learn more”, as well as doing a lot of Goal #5 by being there for my family – they are the most important part of my life after all.

Learn more

A great big 10/10 here! Just as a new version of SQL Server is about to be released, I finally got round to doing my MCITP – Business Intelligence 2008, and I learnt a lot more than I thought I would in the process. I failed the 70-448 first time round, which I was none too pleased about I can assure you. But I persisted and at the 2nd attempt I had it in the bag (if only just). I aced 70-452 at the first attempt and actually laughed out loud when I saw the result (916/1000). Couldn’t quite believe it. The whole exercise has been hugely beneficial. I have been able to apply what I’ve learnt to the projects at hand and have even corrected a few misconceptions that a colleague had (but I won’t be naming names…). Happy days!

I’ve also been involved in a number of projects that are focused on SQL Server Analysis Services. This is a massive win for me as this is one area of the Microsoft Business Intelligence stack that I was yet to really get to grips with. It has been a steep learning curve, but it seems that that is what I thrive on. It has also been loads of fun and the opportunity to work with and learn from different colleagues has been amazing.

Other things that have been picked up and refined along the way this year are data modelling, solution architecture & design, creation of development standards and generally improving my SQL Server related skills (T-SQL, SSRS, SSIS, SSAS) thanks to all you SQL Server bloggers out there.

Attend more SQL Server Events

It turns out that most of the SQL Server events are just not at the right time for me right now. My family duties take precedence and until the bedtime routine (5:30pm – 7:15pm) becomes easier, evening events are just not possible. However, Jim McLeod and I have managed to create and host a very successful SQL Server Social event in May. While it has been quiet since then, we are planning on follow up events in the very near future.

The PASS Summit 2011 is the big one for me this year. I am giddy with excitement at having the opportunity to attend. I’ll be spending more of my time preparing for it and making sure that I am able to make the most out of any and all opportunities that present themselves. My flights are booked, my registration is booked. It’s time to make a packing list!

Interact more with the SQL Server Community

Words with Friends anyone? I have been playing WWF with Rob Farley (blog | twitter ) ever since he mentioned the game in a comment on this blog post. More recently I have been playing the game with a few others in the SQL Server community, and even though there is not a lot of banter, there is a sense of familiarity. Which I am hoping will help when I get to the PASS Summit later this year. If you are keen for a game look me up –>“lukehayler”.

Yes, I know this is not the same as being active on forums, blogs, twitter, Facebook, and now Google+. But with the tiny amount of time that I do have to myself, this is all I can manage right now. I know that this will change over the next few months, and am taking steps to do so.

Sleep less

10/10. Easy when you have a 5 month old & an almost 3yr old in the house :)

PASS Summit 2011 Session Preferences

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PASS Summit 2011 Session Preference Survey is now up. The one thing I am glad to see is that there are plenty of session abstracts for the BI tracks:

Track Session Abstracts
BI Architecture, Development & Admin 141
BI Client Reporting and Delivery 60
Application Database Development 140
Enterprise Database Administration & Deployment 218
Professional Development 48
SQL Azure 18

 

If you are going, or thinking of going, it’ll be worth your while selecting your preferences. To do so use the PASS Session Preference Tool – you’ll need to sign-up/login to be able to do so though.

You’re still here?

I’ve joined BizData!

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Ok, so this announcement may be a little late, but better late than never right?

After travelling half way round the globe, buying a car, finding a place to live and generally setting up our lives again down under (with a 2 year old), I soldiered through two weeks of interviews to land a great role. And to be honest, I really enjoyed the experience. And I can’t say that that has been the case many times (if at all) before. Perhaps it’s an Aussie thing…

So if the title of this post wasn’t enough of a give-away… I have teamed up with BizData. A young, dynamic company that is leading the way in Business Intelligence Consulting here in Melbourne, Australia. I cannot tell you how excited I am about this opportunity and the potential that this role has for me. I have managed to find a company that embodies the values, skills, drive, personality and vision that I have long felt would be a ‘perfect fit’ for me. And I couldn’t have done it without the power of networking. And twitter.

Seriously.

Several months ago, once I knew that we would be on our way out to Melbourne, I began following (on Twitter) fellow BI professionals that lived/worked in Melbourne. Some of them followed me back (always nice) and we conversed on a few occasions. Once we had arrived in Melbourne I wrote a blog post, from which I received several comments, a couple of emails and one very important Direct Message on twitter. This DM (direct message) lead to a couple of phone calls about a possible contract role as well as two referrals. One of which was to BizData. I followed up the referral to BizData and the rest, as they say, is history</cliché>…

I’m thoroughly looking forward to developing new skills, working in different industries, helping clients achieve great things, spending more time on community involvement (at both a personal and professional level), meeting new people and making new and lasting friendships.

Here’s to new beginnings!