T-SQL Tuesday #61 – Giving Back

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TSQL2sdayIt just seems to me that these block parties of T-SQL Tuesday come quicker each month. I’m always thrilled when I have the opportunity to host or participate.

This month Wayne Sheffield (B|T) is our host. Wayne is good people, first time I got to meet Wayne was at SQL Saturday in Louisville, KY. He was presenting a session on SQL Myths and busting them to pieces; it was truly a great session. Wayne’s picked a fantastic topic in getting the opportunity to reflect back on 2014 and looking ahead to 2015.

The topic in which he chose is simple; yet those two words can be quite profound Giving Back. More precisely what would you give back to the SQL Community in 2015.

Looking Back

2014 was filled with many opportunities, both from a professional standpoint and career standpoint. Appreciation and gratitude ran rampant with the many friendships formed and cultivated over this past year along with some great vendor ties. Now how do we keep that steam engine rolling down the tracks from a personal standpoint?

Looking Ahead

I could go on about the many speaking events, books and articles coming to fruition, sessions poured over – but that is not what I’ve come to a conclusion on. Anything and everything I’ve ever done I have given it my all. SQL is no different. To me, what I do is fun – it  isn’t a job; it is part of my DNA.

I will continue to strive to better myself and challenge myself; to be daring and pick up where this steam engine leaves 2014 and heads into 2015. How do I do that?

Investing Time In Others

Will my schedule slow down? Not in the least if anything it will pick up, but one thing that the SQL Community has taught me is that investing time in others is top on my list. You see I’m living proof of what investing time in others is all about. People have been doing this my whole life, my mentors in the SQL Community, and they know who they are, took a chance on me.

SQL has been good to me; why can’t I share that with someone else who is in need. I tell you what; if you are serious and you want to get plugged in and learn then send me a message. I will be happy to help, assist, push you to reach your maximum potential. With that said nothing will be handed to you; learning is a constant. It is the fire within that drives us to reach our fullest potential.

So Wayne, investing time in others. Whether that means speaking at local, regional, national events, blogging, mentoring, answering questions ~ you will find me somewhere trying to invest time in others. With words of encouragement and with words of motivation.

T-SQL Tuesday

Adam Machanic (B|T) had a vision 6 years ago in creating what is now known as T-SQL Tuesday. If you are serious about it and want to try out your gig in hosting then drop him a line. You won’t regret it; I’ve been blessed to host a few occasions over the years and it has been a blast.

Thanks Adam for your vision and thank you Wayne for hosting. Hurry back to Louisville where you can teach us some more good stuff.

PASS Summit 2014 ~ My GameTime Experience

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“How did you like your convention?”

“How was your trip?”

“What did you learn?”

“Where did you go for a week?”

“Who did you meet?”

“Talk with the vendors?”

“What is PASS Summit?”

Those are the types of questions I received after arriving back from attending PASS Summit 2014. More have come in from various places and not just locally so I figured I would share my experience as so many have inquired.

The Journey

Tuesday

20141104_152208After being registered and anticipating the time when it would be to fly out to Seattle finally came. Two colleagues and myself left early in the morning with a layover in Atlanta; we soon found ourselves touching down in Seattle for what always is a great time. I get a kick out of my saying the 5.5 hour plane ride was long after talking to people from all over the world. Makes it seem not so long 🙂

After touchdown we made our way over to the hotels we were staying at. I always stay in the Grand Hyatt; not sure why, but just have since I’ve been attending. Always nice people and have never had a problem.

Walking over to register at the convention center I knew it was game on. I just stood back and looked at the steps in the picture on the left. I remember saying to myself, “time to learn”. Little did I know what I was in store for with the upcoming week…more on that as you read.

Upon grabbing some dinner with my colleagues at the Daily Grille we were gearing up for the welcome reception. It was there I got to see some of my ole friends I hadn’t seen in a year or even longer. Great conversations ensued and Tom Larock (B | T) got us off to the right start. You could feel the vibe in the room and how everyone was excited to be there and about the week that we were about to embark on.

 

20141104_183124

After talking with many of my friends it was time to head over to SQL Sentry’s VIP party at the Pike Brewing Company. What an awesome experience to talk with a lot of my friends and many new friends. For those of you who are not aware of SQL Sentry I implore you to check them out. Peter Shire (T) and Aaron Bertrand (B | T) are a few of the people I follow who are associated with this great company. They also provide a product called SQL Sentry Plan Explorer that I highly recommend.

All in all it was a great night full of conversation and mingling. Had a great time and am thankful to have been a part of it. Well done SQL Sentry…..well done indeed.

 

Wednesday

20141107_171206After starting off on the right foot Tuesday, little did I know how awesome Wednesday would be. This day I joined in on the #SQLRun. This really wasn’t early to me as back home it would have been 9:00 a.m. so I was ready. As we waited to take off I got to speak with one of the guys who’ve I’ve looked up to a lot in my career, Steve Jones (B | T). While we’ve met before at previous events it is always good just to talk to him of things outside of SQL; truly a stand up guy who genuinely cares about people.

The run was superb; running down by the water and up by the Space Needle. On the way back I just so happened to be running next to Rob Farley (B | T) when I started to cramp up; something I have been battling with my legs. As we continued to run, Rob talked me through it and got me to the finish line; if it wasn’t for his keeping me focused and the cadence down I doubt I would have.

Sessions

After breakfast I decided to hit a few sessions I wanted to hear.

First up was Ryan Adams (B | T) who gave a session on Always On a quick start guide. This session ended up being one of my favorites and was the very first one I went to. Ryan, you rock dude.

Second was Kendra Little (B | T) on world’s worst performance tuning techniques; funny how much I could relate to her session. Kendra’s sessions are always awesome regardless of topic

Third was Sean McCown (B | T) on performance tuning your backups; first time I sat in on this session of his but picked up a few tricks.

Last up was Robert Davis (B | T) on boosting performance with indexing. The SQL Soldier put on a great session and a lot of reinforcement was done in listening to the techniques shown.

Later that night I was excited to attend an event I was invited to, the LinchPin party, where I was stoked to talk with people like Mike Walsh (B | T) and Jason Brimhall (B | T). John Sterrett (B | T), ,whom I value greatly as a friend and community member, got the night started off nicely for me. Having a great conversation with John is exactly what I needed discussing things form PBM (Policy Based Management) to CMS (Central Management Server). Getting to speak with several of my friends at the party was fantastic.

Thursday

20141106_150025I attended a couple sessions on Thursday but the one I want to mention here for this day was Adam Machanic’s (B | T) Query Tuning Mastery: Manhandling Parallelism, 2014 edition. Good gosh what a great mind this guy has. It just so happened that while attending PASS Summit the following week I was hosting T-SQL Tuesday; for more on that you can click here.

After some great sessions and hitting the Community Zone again I was off to one of the events I was looking forward to – The Friends of RedGate dinner over at Farestart. I’ve enjoyed being a FORG this year; I believe in their products and utilize them daily. The story behind the restaurant itself was pretty amazing and I got to hang with some amazing people. TJay Belt (B | T), Julie Koesmarno (B | T), and Mickey Stuewe (B | T) “missed you Jeffrey Verheul (B | T) to name a few. Meeting the RedGate team that I’ve come accustomed to chatting with frequently was a big highlight for me. If you don’t know about their tools you can contact me and I will be happy to let you know my views on them.

Friday

Friday seemed like a whirlwind. It was nice to have many discussions with attendees who just wanted to come up and talk. I found myself in some pretty good conversations throughout the day; in walking back to the community zone and saying bye to my RedGate friends I ran into Argenis Fernandez (B | T). I supported his cause for “Argenis without Borders” (Doctors Without Borders) and he hooked me up with a ribbon for my credentials. I’ve heard Argenis speak on occasions; if you haven’t stop what you are doing and find a video or webinar. This dude is passionate about his work and highly recommended.

The People

So, had a very eventful week. One might say it was non-stop which I enjoyed. However with that said one thing sticks out in my mind above and beyond everything else ~ the People. Guys, I don’t know how else to explain it until you lived it. The camaraderie that exists is second to none. Seeing people in the Community Zone discussing things about issues, or simply just hanging out with friends is surreal. Walking around with the vendors having fruitful conversations on what may or may not work in your shop and why. Hitting the SQL Clinic to discuss problems and get solutions from some of the best minds in the world. All this rolled up into one setting can be overwhelming for some; for me it was so much more than that. Building friendships while learning some new things; what could be better?

I had some stellar conversations with some of my favorite people and it would take a long time to get through them all some of my highlights were getting to talk with:

  • Allen Kinsel (B | T) speaking to him  for a little bit was a great highlight for me. One of the most down to earth people I’ve been privileged to meet.
  • Steve Jones (B | T) this guy is one of my Fab Five; easy going guy who knows his stuff. One of the all around good guys in our community.
  • Chris Shaw (B | T) it is because of this guy that I am involved in the community; you already know the impact you made on me bro. Always love hanging out with him; another one of my Fab Five
  • Jes Borland (B | T) I can’t say enough about Jes; one of the most talented SQL minds in our industry, running motivator, and inspiration to many.
  • Ted Krueger (B | T) mad props to this guy. First time I got to speak with Ted (meeting him at some of the parties); I have the utmost respect for him and if you don’t follow him, well then you are missing out.
  • Andy Leanord (B | T) I was blessed enough to spend some good quality time with Andy over breakfast one morning. This was one of my highlights and while I won’t go into detail about our hour long conversation; no words can express my gratitude for this man.
  • Mike Walsh (B | T) you ever meet someone and been like; man I should have reached out to you a long time ago. This is another guy who invested some time in me while at PASS Summit 2014 and I can’t thank him enough. Like Ted if you don’t follow this guy then you are missing out.
  • Tom Roush (B | T) many talks with this man and he is becoming a good friend. While our conversations remain separate from this post; I want to say thank you my friend.
  • Grant Fritchey (B | T) love talking to Grant every chance I get. Has extremely helped me in my career with many things; I truly admire his tireless work ethic.
  • Tim Chapman (B | T) dude is the real deal; I’d go to battle with him any day of the week and twice on Sunday.
      The list could go on and on of discussions had, people met, bridges formed. While I picked up some stellar information I left with one major thing more so than when I attended in the past.

Investing time in others – seems simple enough doesn’t it?

All my life starting with my basketball days in high school and college, to my career as a data professional people have been investing time with me. To the coach who would arrive at 3:30 a.m. for wind sprints in high school, to my mom holding up a broom in front of me while shooting hundreds of jump shots, to the senior in college who took me aside and taught me how to be a true point guard, to the Chris Shaw’s, Steve Jones’s, John Sansom’s (B | T) in our industry; all these people have one thing in common. They all invested time in me.

For me that is what makes this SQL Community so special and what makes PASS Summit such an exciting place for me. Sure you can tap into the learning, that is why most attend. It is when you tap into that extra percent and have meaningful conversations with people does it really hit home.

Do I still have a lot to learn? You bet your SQL database I do. I’m not perfect by any means; only thing I can offer are my past experiences, what I’ve learned and will learn, and encourage others to keep fighting the good fight. I believe in our SQL Community and will continue to work hard and be an advocate for it; I will be here for as long as it will have me.

As my friend Chris Shaw told me many years ago; “pull up a chair and stay a while”. I think I just might.

A BIG HUGE thank you for all the people who made PASS Summit happen. I made it a point to go to the volunteers when I could and just tell them thank you. Countless hours went into this and wanted to make sure nothing was overlooked. While speaking on occasions, I know what goes into it; a huge thank you to all the speakers for taking the time to invest in others; it is not taken for granted.

Until the next PASS Summit……cheers!

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What Are You Thankful For

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ThankfulBob Pusateri (B | T) wrote a blog post yesterday for anyone who was interested on sharing what they were thankful for to write a blog post and link back to his. With Thanksgiving on the way the picture is painted perfectly; I can hear now as family members gather around the table and one by one you hear words of gratitude and what everyone is thankful for.

Taking Bob’s post and bringing it, for myself, into the SQL realm I would be amiss if I didn’t express my gratitude for the many SQL family members who have invested time in me and my career. After attending PASS Summit 2014  this year it hit me like a ton of bricks ~ The People.

After many conversations and a lot of observations the many people who are helping other people in our community is mind boggling. Time and time again I meet people who are not aware of this camaraderie. It is exemplified everywhere you can find this type of commitment and effort in various places:

  • websites
  • forums
  • twitter
  • events
  • webinars

The list could go on and on; while we are thankful for our immediate families we need to remember the many community volunteers, leaders, community involvement ~ the people. For you see, the people make up this great community in which we call “The SQL Community. Even if you are the most celebrated community leader; someone somewhere invested time in you. Even if you didn’t know it at the time; they did.

I encourage you to take a moment and thank someone who has helped you along your way.

Many thanks Bob for putting something like this on and for the job you do day in and day out. I’m glad our paths crossed at Summit this year.

T-SQL Tuesday #60 Roundup – Step Right Up

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TSQL2sdayWe had a great turnout for this months T-SQL Tuesday Block Party. Coming into this month and knowing that I was hosting, I felt a strong sense of picking a topic that would help others. A topic where sound professionals such as the ones below shared some of their thoughts on the how and the why to learning.

One thing is evident to me in reading these posts. You can be the most senior professional in our industry down to someone who is just attending their first T-SQL Tuesday, but one thing holds true ~ the people.

All right, with that said check out what the party attendees had to say, a special thanks out to each of them, and I would be amiss if I didn’t mention Adam Machanic (B|T) who with this party marked the 60th (5 years). Appreciate the vision you had 5 years ago Adam.

Party attendees:

Aaron Bertrand (B|T) – provides a great synopsis of why experience has helped in learning and tapping into Q and A sites. I liked this approach; was pretty awesome to see him write this and also pretty awesome he took the time to share this for others to read while flying from one conference to another. Much appreciated sir.

Rob Farley (B|T) – provides a twist on how he learns from others by cultivating and developing relationships. One key piece from his post is “listening” what others have to say. I got a lot out of this post.

Kenneth Fisher (B|T) – provides a security gem you will want to read along with some practical examples of tracking down user perms and AD groups.

Russ Thomas (B|T) – provides a nice trick to add to anyone’s arsenal. A simple task that many may not know or have forgotten.

Rob Sewell (B|T) – provides a nice take on the “Problem Step Record”; along with providing some reasons why it may be beneficial to start using it. Another good read.

Tom Roush (B|T) – provides a great blog post on what #sqlhelp can do for you along with what the community is all about. Captured every essence of community.

Jason Brimhall (B|T) – provides some discussion around what he picked up from PASS Summit14 and the use of the debugger; brilliant actually.

Malathi Mahadevan (B|T) – provides insight about learning promotion of work, networking, community involvement. This was a nice take from someone who has been in the trenches of attending PASS Summit for 13 years.

Nancy Daniels (B|T) – first, I think it is awesome that this is Nancy’s first #T-SQL2sday. Second, Nancy has provided steps on how she fixed a patch gone awry on one of her clustered environments. Nice way to step through the issue

Warwick Rudd (B|T) – provides some sound advice and real word examples on how multiple solutions can achieve an outcome. I actually like the comment made regarding PowerShell

Boris Hristov (B|T) – provides a thought provoking post. This one struck home with me as I have done exactly what he mentioned. Achieving the ability to arrive at a solution and deliver it in its most simplistic form so others can understand…..stellar and well said.

Mickey Steuwe (B|T) – provides a real world example of recovering from a transaction log filling up a disk; you won’t believe where the solution came from!

Cathrine Wilhelmsen (B|T) – provides a couple of good examples from some established data professionals around security and notifications. One of the sessions mentioned was one of Argenis Fernandez (B|T) and securing your SQL server. I’ve sat in on that one; stellar post to glean some information from.

Keep rocking guys!!

T-SQL Tuesday #60 Something New Learned

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SQL Tuesday

So, here it is. I put the challenge out to discuss something new learned last week. I was fortunate enough to attend the PASS Summit last week in Seattle. While this post will not be my summarization of that trip (that will be another post) I did have several take-a-ways. I sat in some stellar sessions with some renowned speakers.

However, one re-occurring theme kept coming to my mind – the people. Listen, I’ve been through a lot over my 15 years with SQL, and my 3 years actively involved in the community and this past week affirmed something for me. LISTEN to the people.

I place strong value in the sessions I attended; along with that I have to note that face time; one on one time with real people in my industry is about the best form of learning I could ever hope to obtain.

With that learning comes in issues related to both SQL and non SQL attributes. I had so many positive conversations on leadership alone that sparked a new kind of fire within me; one that was not as bright as what my technical fire had been.

Guys, listen. I could write 10 blog posts on how buffer size could help with backups, the need to have always on implemented, or how to tune indexes all day long. The people, better yet the community is where I believe the learning lies within. Out of 5k people last week I ended up meeting a guy that works two blocks from me and we got to discuss the community and what it means to us.

Have you challenged yourself lately? I mean have you really challenged yourself lately in learning something. I don’t care if you are just starting out or the most seasoned vet around; the ability to learn happens everyday and I’m learning that is what separates the exceptional data professional from the data professional.

You see, the exceptional data professional hangs around the community zone at Pass Summit to help others in the community with issue they may have. The exceptional data professional sits down next to you when you are the new kid on the block and encourages you to make the most of your career then tells you some of his/her pitfalls they had that you can avoid, and the exceptional data professional takes you under his/her wing when you ask them for help or assistance.

You don’t have to travel all the way to Seattle to learn; no you have learning opportunities all around you. From SQL Saturday’s to Virtual Chapters on the web but it starts with you. That’s right, you have to be willing to take that first step; get involved and start learning.

I can tell you from experience and the roller coaster ride I’ve been on for the past three years that you will not regret it. Strive for excellence and provide that leadership through service that the community seeks. Yeah, I may be a tad passionate about what I do; you’ll find that kind of trait with others in the community.

So, I’ve challenged myself……..will you?

T-SQL Tuesday #60 – Something New Learned

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SQL TuesdayLights go on, it’s another game day, grabbed my bat and headed for the plate only this time we are going to do this SQL style and the game is T-SQL Tuesday. That’s right, head coach Adam Machanic has decided to put me in the game and graciously allowed me to host this month.

Honestly, it couldn’t have come at a better time; I’m at PASS Summit 2014 and it ties nicely into the party I’d like to host. Over the course of the last several weeks and months I’ve noticed a lot of SQL Saturday sessions ongoing (what was it a few weeks ago there was over 5 in one day all over the country?) Coupled with all the learning going on and 5k of my closest friends at one place a question popped in my mind during my travels.

Why do we come to events, webinars, sessions, networking? The basic fundamental therein is to learn; community. With that said here is this month’s theme. You have to discuss one thing, few things, or many things on something new you’ve learned recently. Could be from a webinar, event, conference, colleague – the idea is for seasoned vets to new beginners to name at least one thing; in doing so it might just help one of your fellow SQL friends within the community.

So grab a bat join this SQL team and let’s hit grand slam after grand slam. I want to have the biggest turnout T-SQL Tuesday has ever had so spread the word – GAME TIME

What is T-SQL Tuesday?

T-SQL Tuesday is a monthly block party for bloggers started by the renowned Adam Machanic (B|T). If you’d like to be a host one month reach out to Adam. It’ a good way to get involved within the community.

Rules

There are a few rules and regulations that you should follow while attending this party so that nobody feels left out or mistreated.

  1. Your post must go live between 00:00:00 GMT on Tuesday the 11th of November and 00:00:00 GMT on Wednesday the 12th.
  2. Your post has to link back to the hosting blog post, and the link must be anchored from the T-SQL Tuesday LOGO (found above) which must also appear at the top of the post.
  3. Trackbacks should work. However, it is safer to drop me a comment, tweet about your post and include my Twitter handle (@Yatessql) and the #tsql2sday hashtag.

Im At Summit Now What?

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Pass Summit 2011 - Photo Provided by Pat Wright

Pass Summit 2011 – Photo Provided by Pat Wright

We are a week out from PASS Summit 2014 and there will be many there attending for the first time. You are in the same boat I was in back in 2011. To be quite honest, I’ve never seen or attended anything quite like it before.

No, it’s not some mythical place that you hear about. It is a real conference with real people who are in the daily trenches just like you are. The key that I learned back in 2011 is to step out of your comfort zone, meet some new people, network, speak with the vendors, and get your learn on.

Will you be overwhelmed, perhaps, but keep in mind that you are not the only one. This event is by far, in my humble opinion, one of the best learning opportunities in our industry and field. There will be plenty of sessions to go through and attend along with some other activities once the sessions end ~ get involved.

 

Here are some things to note that may help you along your way:

  1. Pass Summit Schedule Builder
  2. PASS Evening Events
  3. SQL Karaoke @ Busch Gardens – Thursday night ( (check out some of the past ones here)
  4. Twitter feeds to watch for (#TSQL2sday, #sqlpass, #sqlrun, #sqllongrun)
  5. Twitter handles to watch (@sqlpass)
  6. Download the EventBrite app; if you are scheduled for things such as the sql run your event will remind you through this app
  7. Download the GuideBook app; this app will remind you of the schedules you build out
  8. Vendor booths – yes go meet them. Some of the tools you utilize everyday will be there; stop by the RedGate booth and see some of my friends
  9. Community Zone – take advantage of some of the best in our industry
  10. Eating – this might look weird putting that on here but take advantage of eating at a table with others you don’t know. Introduce yourself I promise it won’t hurt.
  11. Miss a session – yep you will because there are so many to attend. PASS has you covered and you can purchase the full tracks

I have some commitments while I am there this year, but make sure you stop me and say hi and introduce yourself. Without a doubt I look at my career and there is one thing that stands out that helped change my career outlook – attending PASS Summit.

Safe travels to everyone attending and hope to see you there.

T-SQL Tuesday #59 – My Hero!

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SQL TuesdayIt always amazes me how fast these T-SQL Tuesday block parties come about; it seems like we just finished one and here we are yet again. This month the party is hosted by Tracy McKibben (Blog | Twitter) and the monthly topic that was chosen is “Heroes”.

This topic can be taken in many different directions; this post will be geared toward the SQL environment and what I’ve learned from a professional career standpoint. I’ve been blessed to have had some influential people in my career. One of the first things that crept into my mind was the “My Fab Five” post I did earlier this year. If you haven’t read it I urge you to check that one out as well; after you read this one of course!

I see so many heroes in the SQL Community; ones that aren’t heralded but come in day in and day out and get the job done. The tireless volunteer who keeps going year in and year out and doesn’t complain one time. PASS Summit 2014 is coming up; have you ever thought about how much effort that goes into putting something like that on? So many behind the scenes people who work countless hours – those are the type of heroes that I’d like to pay tribute to.

I would be amiss if I didn’t mention 4 influential people in my own career to date. I think back from both a business, professional, and technical perspective two individuals who deserve a lot of credit in bringing me along are not technical evangelists nor are they knee deep in the SQL Community; but they taught me, in more ways than most, the ropes and expectations of business. Both of these people took a chance on me early in my career and have had a big hand in molding my psych in both the business and technical realm. I have much respect for both of these individuals for the tenacity they bring daily and focus they have instilled in me – Brad Cunningham and Chris Howard. You will not see these guys in the headlines at the PASS Summit, but it is guys like this who allow guys like me and afford guys like me the ability to enhance and further my knowledge on a daily basis.

Piggy backing onto these two guys I’ve had some of the best in the Community take me under their wing so to speak. This doesn’t mean I haven’t approached others in the community nor does it mean that others aren’t helpful, but like the 2 people I mentioned above these 2 people did the same thing. They took a chance on me and allowed me to spread my wings and flourish within the SQL Community. I look up to these two individuals greatly and thanks is not enough for all they’ve done for me ~ Thank You John Sansom (Blog | Twitter) and Chris Shaw (Blog | Twitter) for rolling the dice and taking a chance on me when you didn’t have to.

Heroes –  the SQL Community is full of them. If you are in it for the fame and fortune then you are in it for the wrong reasons. Heroes are found all around us; you don’t have to look far to find them. To the many unsung heroes I thank you for your hard work and dedication for it is all of our efforts on a daily basis that make the SQL Community what it is.

If you are interested in hosting a T-SQL Tuesday party you can contact it’s creator the mighty Adam Machanic (Blog | Twitter) who is a hero in his own right.

heroes

The Question – Why?

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whyThe question I get asked a lot by other data professionals at conferences, events, speaking engagements, family, friends, etc. is Why do you do what you do? Why do you put yourself through some of the things that data professionals have to endure at times with the non stop phone calls, system crashes, data breaches? What keeps you coming back for more?

Everyone is different, some may say they like the financial gains that come along with it, some may say they want that notoriety and accolades, and then some may say it is a stepping stone for climbing the ladder to future gains.

For me, being a DBA is a humbling experience. The potential for growth is great and the desire to gain continual knowledge in the skill set is prevalent. With being a data professional comes great responsibility, and it is a career that is not for the faint of heart. You will have late nights, long hours, and frustration on issues but all that molds, makes, and shapes you on your career path.

Grant Fritchey (Blog | Twitter) has one of the best articles, for myself, when he talks about Leadership Through Service. There are a handful of articles that really resonate with me over time and this is one of them. Whether you are in a shop, consultant, etc. you are providing a service and with that comes that word again ~ responsibility.

Opportunities

How can I get involved? This was one of the biggest areas I wish I would have learned earlier on in my career and now speak loudly about. Have you ever seen a new data professional just starting out? If you have then you know what I am talking about – the fire in their eyes and the drive and passion in their voice. That is something that I hope I never lose. I worked 11 years in the industry before really getting involved with community efforts and PASS. So the question remains how can you get involved?

Forums – some of the best opportunities lie within forums themselves. You can find information that you aren’t up to speed on and start studying to find what the answers are thus improving your knowledge gaps. Some of the ones I like to frequent are but not limited to:

  1. SQL Brit Forum
  2. SQL Server Central
  3. Stack Exchange
  4. Red Gate Forum (specializing in database professional products)

Blogging – if you aren’t blogging then you ought to try it. I have found for myself that it is a good learning tool and can be a repository of items learned along the way. As with anything writing takes practice, but be your own person. Once you have started you will wonder why you didn’t start down this venture sooner.

Email – Subscriptions – there are some golden nuggets to be had on email subscriptions from others in the industry. Some ones that would be of importance, but again are not limited to:

  1. PASS News Letter
  2. Paul Randal and the SQL Skills Team
  3. Brent Ozars LTD
  4. MSSQLTips
  5. SQL Server Central

Industry leaders – look at the industry you are in. Within any one industry you will see leaders in the community and our SQL community is no different. I won’t go into to much detail but check out the blog roll section over on the right and side of this site and you will see some renowned leaders. Follow them, see what they have to say, and learn some of there techniques. Somewhere along the way you might just pick up some good habits and practices.

Events – this is something that has greatly helped me over the years. There is a wide arrange of events both free and paid that one can attend. Some of those you don’t even realize are available:

  1. SWUG webinars
  2. SQL Saturday Events (check out my section here for most up to date events or by logging on directly to SQL Saturday’s home page)
  3. PASS Summit
  4. SQL Bits
  5. Dev Connections
  6. Brent Ozars’ weekly webinar

Social Media – what a way to connect with many people at one time. If you haven’t yet check out some of these avenues below:

  1. LinkedIn
  2. Twitter (check out the #SQLServer, #SQLHelp, #SQLCoOp tags)
  3. GoogleGroups
  4. Facebook

The list could go on; these are just a few to mention. In today’s society it is even more prevalent to take advantage of items that are free training yet still exceptional. Why not take advantage?

Speaking – I’ve heard people make the comments that they would never speak or they don’t like getting up in front of people. This is true everyone is different, but what I’ve found in speaking is that it causes you to know and learn your stuff. You can’t get up in front of 100 – 500 people and fake your way around. It has been a tool and a motivator again for learning and gaining knowledge. If you haven’t tried it then maybe try it out on some friends at work then move up to a local user group.

Career

Your career is just that – your career. Own it and make it what you want. I’ve been told all my life I couldn’t do things; from being a 6’0 ft point guard in college to diving into a SQL Technology. Those naysayer’s have proved one thing to me – I like competition and once you’ve challenged me it is game on. I’ve been proving people wrong this long so I’ll keep continuing down that path ~ point here is you take your career by the reigns and make it yours. Don’t let others dissuade you or deter you from your goals.

Mentors

There is nothing wrong with having a mentor. I’ve had some of the best and they have lead and guided me through my SQL journey. Wait a second, just the paragraph above you said be “your own person”. Yes I did, and you should. With that though comes the ability to differentiate and think on your own two feet, that doesn’t negate the fact that having a seasoned mentor who has been in the trenches would not be beneficial. Will you always agree with a mentor – no; but the insight into some of the mistakes made along with knowledge that can be provided is priceless.

To those that have mentored me, and you know who you are, I thank you for it is because of you I am that much further along in my career.

The Why

So back to the infamous question “Why”. I do what I do because I enjoy coming in everyday and being a DBA/Data Professional. I get to work with some of the finest people in the profession and learn from some of the best. I’m not in this game for the notoriety; I enjoy seeing and helping others succeed. Each day presents knew obstacles or hurdles to overcome; while some days are longer than others (as any data professional will tell you) there is a passion there that I have for the SQL Community as a whole and I hope that passion never burns out.

Some people have jobs they go to that they hate and it is just a job and sure you’ll find some data professionals like that. I’m blessed to say that I enjoy what I do on a daily basis and that I enjoy coming into work. There will always be that hunger to learn new things within SQL and the SQL Community and that will continue to be my driving force.

One thing I’ve noticed about the SQL Community is, while a passionate group, and one that sometimes disagrees that is okay because that means we are a healthy community. When I’ve seen someone hurting or needing a hand with a question it is a mere minutes before responses start flowing in. That’s the kind of group we are; dedicated data professionals who for the most part enjoy helping others.

I had a coach who I thought a lot of growing up….one time he told me as I was huffing and puffing at 3:00 a.m. from conditioning drills – “Somewhere, someone is practicing getting better than you. What will it take for you to be motivated?” That has kind of stuck with me. I know right now as I sit here and type this that there will be others that know more about certain topics, but just like basketball did it drives me to get better. Don’t settle.

Conclusion

So, now it is my turn to ask you – instead of why my question to you will be “Why not?”

Are you knew to the SQL game? Good then get involved

Are you a season vet who has been jaded so many times? If so then I ask you to remember back to when you first started out and the fire you had within you to conquer the SQL world. Yeah, you know what I’m talking about – find that fire once again and get involved.

For those that are involved my hats go off to you as coming from experience I know what it takes. I’m proud to be apart of this SQL Community and I plan on being here for a long time or as long as they would have me.

 

 

 

 

C-R-U-D The Basics

3 Replies

C-R-U-D The Basics

What is CRUD? Well, there are a lot of things I can think of when I use the term CRUD; however within the wonderful world of technology CRUD is an acronym that surprisingly enough, when I polled, didn’t really give a straight answer. That really surprised me; so with that said I will walk you through the basics of the concept.

C-reate

The letter “c” stands for create; more specifically inserting some form of data by various methods or means into a repository or holding take. I want to take this down to its simplest form which the below example will depict:

 

Insert

 

Inserting data into the PastHist table is as simple as the T-SQL query; but don’t just limit the thought of creation by this simplest form. You could have data being created through front end apps, SSIS packages, or many other methods.

 

R-ead

Depends on who you ask or talk to. The letter “r” can stand for read or retrieve. A simple retrieve statement can be a Select as below:

 

Select

 

SelectResults

 

What is this he didn’t use a NOLOCK – don’t worry I can save that for another blog post but as you can see in its simplest form retrieving the data out of the table you just inserted into is not that cumbersome.

 

U-pdate

The letter “u” can mean update or modify if you will. Let’s see how easy it is to do a simple update statement below:

Let’s update the name for our record to be John where the id = 1

 

Update

 

UpdateResults

 

As you can see the data has been updated and John is now our data set in the name field column.

 

D-elete

The letter “d” stands for delete or destroy. Below is a simple script to delete the data out of the table:

 

Delete

 

There are some methods I could have used to remove the data; such as Truncate Table but this is not the time or place for me to distinguish between the two. I chose the delete method on the search criteria of id = 1

Results after the deletion:

 

DeleteResults

 

Conclusion

This is breaking down C-R-U-D into its simplest form. Please do not limit your thinking to these very basic simple queries. Expound on it and your thought process on what all C-R-U-D entails. As with anything you find on the internet DO NOT take queries and just execute them blindly on any environment. Doing so makes you assume the risk.

What else are others saying?

I tell you what; check out what my other colleagues have to say on something they learned recently around C-R-U-D:

 

CollaborateImageOn a SQL Collaboration Quest

Four SQL professionals gathered from the four corners of the world to share their SQL knowledge with each other and with their readers: Mickey Stuewe from California, USA, Chris Yates from Kentucky, USA, Julie Koesmarno from Canberra, Australia, and Jeffrey Verheul from Rotterdam, The Netherlands. They invite you to join them on their quest as they ask each other questions and seek out the answers in this collaborative blog series. Along the way, they will also include other SQL professionals to join in the collaboration.