by Chris Yates

Four PASS Questions–My Take #PASSElections

As part of the campaign material for this years election for Board of Directors; the candidates were asked to answer four questions. While I did put together a short two-minute video for PASS that will be published soon on the election site regarding these questions; I felt it prudent to also do a bit more justice to the questions.

What is PASS to you?

In simple terms PASS to me is the people that embody PASS in general. We are fortunate and blessed to have some great events worldwide at our disposal. To name a few events offhand:

All of the above are great avenues to learn, and we are fortunate to have them. If it wasn’t for some of these above I can honestly say I probably wouldn’t be here before you today on a slate to run for the PASS Board of Directors. However, with all that said, in my heart what makes PASS is the people (our community).

  • PASS is the one-off conversations that you see members having at the PASS Summit.
  • PASS is seeing a member helping another member with an issue or a problem.
  • PASS is the countless volunteers that devote their time to help others to connect, share, and learn.
  • PASS is speakers who devote their time and knowledge to helping others learn.
  • PASS is providing data professionals the ability to get ahead of the curve by keeping them out front of today’s technology.
  • PASS is when someone in the community is struggling and someone stops and offers them encouragement offline.
  • PASS is having healthy debates.
  • PASS is not just an event.
  • PASS is in everyday life; it doesn’t have to be regulated to confined events. It has no boundaries or walls.

We, as a community, have grown and made great strides over the years. There is still, and always will be, room for improvements. We cannot become stagnant nor can we be afraid of change when it merits it. I’m a byproduct of PASS and what PASS can do for you.

What one change would you like to see in PASS for the 2 years you serve, if any?

I think with any organization you have to keep improving on key aspects. For me, personally, I would like to see the following occur:

  • Continue to build on transparency with the community. Being more of a “grass-roots” data professional I would love and welcome to see additional collaboration efforts with community members.
  • Continue to build on PASS being a global entity. We cannot just view PASS as a US entity, but rather a global entity that is impacting data professionals from all over the world. I’m amazed thus far at the progress made in this area; still, with so much progress we still have so much more work to do.
  • Look at leadership paths for community members and also for existing Board of Directors. We should all continue to grow in this area regardless of where we are at in our careers.

What are your goals as a Board member

This is a great question and one that is not taken lightly. My stance on this question is simply to go in each and every day; put on the PASS uniform jersey, and make an impact in some form or fashion. Whether this is making some tough decisions or reaching out to bridge some gaps. I would love to continue the excellence in what I believe PASS to be; listen if I didn’t believe in PASS and what it stood for I wouldn’t be devoting the time these past six years. I’ve seen it at work first hand; I believe in it, and I also believe that with anything we can make it better for future PASS members.

In my original post found here regarding running for the board of directors I stated I would not make promises and that holds true. All I can say is that I will give it all I got every day. Will I make mistakes, yes. What I can guarantee is that the drive and passion are real along with a work ethic that wants to see success for PASS for many years to come.

How can the community stay current with the ever-evolving world of data?

I think the foundation has had a good starting point with the BI and BA tracts coming into play. We have to continue to hone in with the changing times from all angles of the life cycle. We need to continue to partner and collaborate with one another from Dev, DBA, BI, BA, Data Scientists, Data Professionals in general and provide mechanisms that help drive thought leaders within their respective industries.

We need to continue to provide the tools within the infrastructure side of PASS that enable cross-collaboration across local events – what worked for you vs. what didn’t work.

I’m excited about what the future holds and where data and solutions will lead us.

Summary

Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to read this post. Leadership is something that I don’t take lightly. One of the sayings I’ve kept close to me is from John Wooden, “The most powerful leadership tool you have is your own personal example.” I think it’s imperative that we, as leaders, in the community view leadership as not creating followers, instead we should be creating more leaders.

I will have the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of the community and fellow board members. We should be able to demonstrate what is possible and continue to build future leaders within our community.

Again, it’s an honor to share the time with all of the candidates whom I respect. Whether you vote for me or not I do encourage you to go vote when balloting goes live on September 20th. It’s our community; let’s shape it together.

 

 

by Chris Yates

Running for the PASS Board of Directors #PASSelections

Someday_20564This year I decided to take “someday” to heart and do something that has been on my mind for awhile – submit my application to run for the PASS Board. Going through the process so far has been a humbling experience; one that I’ve learned a lot from. I’m excited to say that my application was accepted and with that this is my formal announcement and the beginning of my campaign for election.

You may ask who is Chris Yates and why is he running? By the end of this post, my goal is to answer that question for you. I am a by product of what PASS can do for you as a data professional. There are so many stories that people have shared who have had similar experiences such as mine. My first time I heard of PASS was in 2011; it is then I was afforded the opportunity to attend my first PASS Summit – information overload ensued! Unknown to me at the time it was the foundation being laid for the journey to arrive at this day.

The Question – Who Is Chris Yates?

Well, that’s easy enough. I’m a 17-year vet of SQL server who views his job as, well not a job. I work for a stellar company in Republic Bank located in Louisville, KY. It is there where my first break with PASS was given to me. I help John Morehouse run the local Louisville SQL and Power BI user group along with helping co-organize the local SQL Saturday event here with Malathi Mahadevan, John Morehouse, and many volunteers. I enjoy helping others succeed and leadership is a strong passion of mine to which I’ve dedicated time to leading a Center of Excellence initiative around leadership for our IT folk at the shop.

You can read plenty more over on my bio page on PASS’s web site located here.

You can view candidates rankings here

The Why?

So this is the meat of this post – the why? Chris, why now. Listen, earlier I mentioned that I’m a by product of what PASS can do for someone and their career. I’ve been blessed and fortunate in my career and more so over the past six years since PASS and I got to know each other. I want others to experience that same success and want to continue to help lead PASS to many more successful years.

PASS is the people, it is the networking at events from big to small, it is staying ahead of the curve that will provide and give our members the edge in their data professional careers. If you’ve been around me long enough then you’ve heard me say over and over again that if we just reach one it’s worth it; I truly believe that. For me it was a guy by the name of Chris Shaw who decided to take a chance on me and become my very first mentor after that 2011 PASS Summit – that is PASS. It is the one off conversations you have at events, email, phone calls in helping each other to learn – that is PASS.

There are plenty of Chris Yates’ out there who are still looking for something and don’t know about PASS. It’s time to step up to the plate and pay it forward like so many before me.

So What Do You Bring to the Table?

I’m not perfect; never will claim to be. If you come here looking for that then it is time to move on. Heck, I’m not even going to make promises that I won’t be able to keep. What I can tell you is this; each candidate running for this board is more than qualified. I’d even go as far as to say I would support all of them if I could. I can tell you that I have a passion for seeing this community succeed, and seeing PASS succeed. I will attack it like I do everything else and give it 110%; at the end of the day, there will be nothing left on the table and nothing left in the tank. Along with the passion and effort; I will tap into my previous board experiences along with being cognizant of my grass roots mentality. I truly believe that we can make an impact anywhere at anytime. Doesn’t have to be at an event; nor does it have to be on a call. Each one of us can impact someone’s life both as a data professional and on a personal level. This will be one epic ride and I ask that you take that journey with me.

Summary

There will be no “what if’s” nor will there be no looking for that someday. That someday came knocking on the door and I’m ready to answer that call and step through it hoping to make a difference for all you and our community. Whatever the outcome may be when this is all said and done; know one thing. The people make up PASS and without you (us) we couldn’t do what we set out to do on a daily basis – help each other to connect, share, and learn. If elected; I’ll give you all I got.

Now whether you vote for me or one of the other candidates I implore you to go vote; what you are doing is helping shape the future of the PASS organization.

To all the other candidates running; it’s truly an honor to share this stage with you. Thank you for laying it out on the line and accepting the call.

My name is Chris Yates and I’m running for the PASS BoD – for more information please go and visit here

by Chris Yates

SQL Saturday Louisville Re-Cap

IMG_20170804_064418And like the wind another SQL Saturday Louisville has come and gone. This past weekend seemed to be a huge success, but it didn’t come with some take-away’s and that is okay. I think every time we put on an event like this we are always looking for ways to make things better the next year. So, enough yapping. What are some of the highlights?

VENDORS

I’m privileged to work along side one of the other co-organizers in John Morehouse (b|t) when it comes to vendors. We were very thankful this year to have the following sponsors on board with us:

It was awesome to see each and every one of these vendors at the event. Most of them have been prior years and the attendees seem to enjoy speaking to them about their products. We truly appreciate the support they have shown us over the years and look forward to many more events ahead with them.

IMG_20170804_163609

SPEAKERS

Once again we had a very talented pool of speakers that came in town. I won’t take the time list all of them out here, but do go over to the SQL Saturday Louisville website if you are interested. As a speaker, it always amazes me that they come from all over to these events to give their time and hone their craft. If you ever attend one of these events I encourage you to do a few things:

  • Say thank you – believe me, it goes a long way.
  • Give serious session feedback; we look for ways we can make our presentations better.

A huge thank you to all the speakers that came out to our event; we had some great times together and look forward to seeing each of you somewhere down the line. I think everyone did a phenomenal job in their sessions and I’ve heard nothing but positive feedback from attendees; even after the event.

PRE CONS

This year we had Grant Fritchey (b|t) and Josh Luedeman (t) in the house. Both had packed sessions, I know Grant’s sold out and Josh wasn’t very far off from the numbers I was looking at. A full day of training from a couple of the best in our SQL community made for some great times. Observing and listening to attendees during the breaks again, nothing but positive things. Huge thank you to both of them for taking the time to spend a day with us before the event to share their knowledge with the attendees.

SQL SATURDAY CREW

I can’t say enough about the volunteers that help out with this event. It is no easy task to put one of these things on and the countless hours leading up to the event are many. The “behind the scenes” action is huge. A few things that stand out to me are the character, selfless acts, time given, and pride everyone takes in trying to make this the best event we’ve ever had each year. Doesn’t mean times are always easy; have a cohesive unit with single sight focus to knock out tasks and obstacles as they arise are pretty awesome. In any sense; can’t be more proud to serve along side these individuals.

This year we lost one of our very own SQL crew members. Dave Ingram passed this year. He was one of the earlier on volunteers that gave time to help make the event what it is today. In the three years as co-organizer, I knew him for 2 of those. It was evident his passion was helping the local community base here in Louisville. I was honored to be able to say a few words at the end of the day. It was touching to have the opportunity to meet his daughter, whom we did not know would be there, we were able to take a moment and recognize her and her dad with a round of applause. It’s because of men and woman like this who have forged the way for others like me to pay it forward. Thank you, Dave!

Dave

RIP Dave Ingram. SQL Saturday Louisville volunteer(7 years), SQL Cruise and PASS Summit Alumni. We miss you.

 

NEW SPEAKERS

IMG_20170805_153122It was awesome to see first time SQL Saturday speaker Kat Edrington (t) presenting a session for our attendees this year. This is what it is about for us. We need to continue to cultivate and bring in new leaders of tomorrow. Hats off to Kat on an excellent job well done!!

 

ATTENDEES

Thankful for the many conversations with the attendees that were had. From the questions regarding products they know that I am associated with to conversations on local tech news, to asking where things are at the venue. We at SQL Saturday Louisville strive to make it the best experience we possibly can; doesn’t mean we always get it right – but we will go down swinging trying. Thankful for the all the conversations that I was able to have with the everyone and look forward to much more.

At the end of the day, we had about half of the attendees who raised their hands stating it was their first SQL Saturday.

MARKS FEED STORE

Okay, so if you are from around here then you know about Mark’s Feed Store. The barbecue they have is simply amazing and they were are caterers for this event. Once again they were spot on and provided some great food for all of us at the venue. If you are ever in town go check them out.

TRUE PROFESSIONALS

As I said before there will always be something that comes up at an event. This time around we had a sound system issue in one of the rooms. Rie Irish (b|t) handled things without any issue and we took a field trip to a new room. These types of issues are things that bug the heck out of us hosting, but at times they are out of our hands. Appreciate the flexibility by Rie along with the attendees for being patient; putting a speaker behind in their session is not what we want to do here people.

As I am walking down the hall checking on things I hear a huge humming noise. As I enter the room I see Lori Edwards (b|t) in her session and Andy Mallon (b|t) providing assistance to the problem. After the humming subsided the bulb in the projector decided it was time for it to go. Once again we found ourselves taking a field trip across the hall. Once again, hats off to the ability to adjust and the attendees were very accepting.

Why do I bring these up you ask? Few reasons, but mainly that no matter how much you plan and get things orchestrated issues will arise. It’s important to address as quickly and politely as possible and move on. BTW if you aren’t following the people above in this section please do so…stellar data professionals.

THE WHY?

So at the event, I was asked why do you do this? Why do you help? Why do you speak? I keep saying the same thing but it holds true. In 2011 when I attended my first PASS Summit it changed my life and career.You don’t have to wait until you can go to Seattle Washington though; you can attend these local events all over the globe to learn, network, and test the waters. I know there are other Chris Yates’ out there who, like me, was wanting to get plugged in but didn’t know how. Wanting to make a difference locally, but yes also globally I will always try to be me and help others along the way. Appreciate, encourage and value everyone ~ we got this.

THAT’S A WRAP

Another Saturday has come and gone. I hope everyone from the speakers to the attendees had a great time. Next year will be our 10th year which is a special milestone. Look forward to what the journey holds and hope to see many of you there.

by Chris Yates

SQL Summer Vacation–SentryOne

sqlvacation2017We are having an extra Louisville SQL Server and Power BI User Group meeting this month due to the SQL Summer Vacation coming into town. SentryOne’s Kevin Kline (B|T) will be rolling into town for a fun filled 2-hour event on Wednesday the 25th. This is a fun event that Kevin and family travel around for every year, and for our SQL community is a great time to sit in multiple sessions learning from a Microsoft SQL Server MVP.

Seats are filling up fast and should have a packed house over at Homecare Homebase whose gracefully opened their doors to host this event. John Morehouse (B|T) and I will both be in attendance and as PAC Ambassadors for SentryOne we would love to talk to you and answer any questions that you may have of us.

Look forward to seeing you all there; going to be a great and fun time. Head on over to the user group site here and check it out available seating.

by Chris Yates

PAC Community Ambassador – SQL Sentry

pac-logoLast week Aaron Bertrand (b|t) published a post regarding five new PAC Community Ambassadors for SentryOne. I am privileged and honored to be a part of this journey with some stellar data professionals:

  • Andy Mallon (b|t)
  • John Morehouse (b|t)
  • Derik Hammer (b|t)
  • Mike Walsh (b|t)

This venture is a new community program that SentryOne is starting this summer which allows us more avenues to get out into the community, stay connected, and continue to be involved in the programs that SentryOne has to offer.

Knowing each of the other four individuals I can without a doubt say that the mindset is focused on helping others. How do I know this you may ask? Because each of these data professionals has helped me over the years, and I know their drive and motivations to help others succeed.

Thanks SentryOne for the honor to continue to serve others and look forward to meeting, even more, faces as we travel around, collaborate, and impact the community!

by Chris Yates

T-SQL Tuesday #92, Lessons Learned The Hard Way

TSQL2SDAY-150x150Wow, hard for me to believe it has been a little bit since the last T-SQL Tuesday block party. This month Raul Gonzalez (b|t) has chosen the topic of what lessons one has learned the hard way. Before we get into the story, however, let’s take a look at who, what, when, and why of T-SQL Tuesday.

What Is T-SQL Tuesday?

T-SQL Tuesday was started by Adam Machanic (b|t) and is a monthly blog party. It occurs on the second Tuesday of each month; where a designated host picks a topic and fellow community bloggers publish a piece. It has been a very useful tool in my opinion and I’m looking forward to doing many more of these. It has been one avenue for others to share their experiences while learning something new along the way.

If you are interested in hosting a T-SQL Tuesday on your blog then reach out to Adam.

Lessons Learned The Hard Way

A lot has transpired over a sixteen-year career thus far. Many lessons have been learned along the way some were more difficult than others. I think it is important to note that not all lessons learned by a data professional have to be of a technical nature as well. Let me see if I can split some up technical vs. non-technical that I’ve learned over the years.

Technical
  • Unit testing – who knew that this would be so important right? As a developer starting out and then becoming a DBA I have an appreciation for making sure things test out as they should; rigorous testing. Earlier in my career, I thought that’s what we have QA for, right?
  • Backups – yeah I’ve been burned before early on regarding backups and not having them in place as they should have been. You want a dose of reality real fast? That’s a good way to start.
  • Blinders On – become so focused that you only take into account a certain area of the picture when in essence what is being changed can affect a multitude of things.
  • Knowing vs. Doing – putting comments in code such as “this is probably not the best way to things” is not the attitude to have when fixing the problem – been there done that.
Non-Technical
  • Listening/Heeding Advice – this is key and something I did not learn until later on in my career. It’s not a skill set that I came out of the gate with, having a mentality that you are always right is not the best approach to take.
  • SME (Subject Matter Expert) – I enjoy helping people; it’s part of who I am. This is both a good and bad trait to have at times. If you are not careful you can find yourself overextending into areas where you think you know something but you don’t. Over the past several years I’ve learned that it’s okay to help people even if it is pointing them in the right direction to someone else. But be as sure as I’m typing this, I’ll always be willing to help and will never apologize for that.
  • Conflict Management – over the years I’ve seen many data professionals and worked with various people. All of these experiences have equipped me over time to become a better professional in dealing with conflict which is never easy. A lot of lessons learned along the way on this one.
Failure

I want to bring this topic up in a section all by itself. Having a sports background for most of my life, and then morphing into an avid runner I’ve had “failure is not an option” instilled within me since a very early age. This saying is okay, but in the same token, one cannot be afraid of failure. Some of the best lessons I’ve learned both professionally and non-professionally have come of a result of something I’ve tried and failed out. The key is not staying knocked down, but look at it in a light of if you aren’t trying then you aren’t failing and pushing the envelope.

In Summary

This is a great topic this month. Don’t be ashamed or afraid of your journey and past failures or lessons learned. These are the things that mold and shape us into being the people are to become in the future. May we continue to push the envelope both in technology and beyond; impacting and coaching others along the way. Always remember you started somewhere; remember how that felt? Pay it forward.

by Chris Yates

Built My Presentation, Now What?

IMG_20161025_092017_01Over the course of several years, I have given many technical and non-technical presentations. It is fun for me to put a new slide deck together, but it also requires a lot of hard work and can be time-consuming. I’ve had a few mistakes, to say the least, over the years where that one typo slips through or something doesn’t go according to plan ~ guess what? It happens.

I compare articulating a presentation to similar fashion in testing something. Yeah, you go over it again and again just like you would test a backup process or verify indexes are actually working. For me the same concept applies; I can’t remember who in the SQL Community always mentions having a checklist handy. I know I’ve read that somewhere before but cobwebs are thick right now so, please, forgive me if I don’t remember. Through the years, I’ve managed to build my own checklist regarding presentations. It is the nuts and bolts of what works for me; it doesn’t necessarily mean it, in turn, will work for you.

Given light of some past conversations I’ve had, I figured I’d share it with you all and maybe someone out there will benefit from it.

Presentation Checklist (a.k.a. Project Double Check Yourself)

What is the purpose – fully understand the purpose of the presentation. By that I mean, what outcome are you seeking?

  • To inform
  • To convince
  • To generate insight and discussion
  • To drive action

Know your audience

  • Do you know who my audience is? Have I provided adequate context to make it easier for them to understand?
  • Are there any personal motivations that you need be aware of?
  • Is the audience familiar with the topic? Have you included adequate detail and background information?
  • Is the presentation tailored to fit the audiences communication style?

Know the message

  • If applicable, do you know the problem or issue you are trying to address?
  • Do you have three to five key teaching points you want to deliver? If so, have you tied those teaching points logically and clearly to the original problem?
  • Have you clearly linked your teaching points to key data or trends along with explaining how the analysis supports, confirms, or denies beliefs about the problem and/or possible solutions?
  • Have you limited the data to what matters most?
  • Have you clearly established relevance? (why would your audience care? Have you clearly highlighted how this aligns with the target audience?)
  • Have you clearly established urgency (why would the audience act now; why is it critical?)

Structure

  • Is the presentation clearly marked with markers and sign posts? Is it easy to follow?
  • Is there an agenda that clearly identifies the different elements and how it fits together? Key point up front?
  • Are there additional details about internal or external sources that were consulted for the included information? Give credit where credit is due

Narrative

  • Does the presentation include insights that will be most influential to the audience? Is the scripting memorable and powerful?
  • Does the presentation identify key assumptions?
  • Does the presentation articulate immediate actions that you believe the audience should take?

Graphics

  • Do you know the purpose of each graphic? Is it tied to a teaching point in the message?
  • Do the graphics present information in a logical, visually appealing manner? Are there other ways of interpreting the graphic other than your intention?
  • Is the page balanced?

Formatting

  • Does the presentation have a standardized look and feel (same headings, colors, fonts)?
  • Are page elements consistent (background, title, body text)?
  • Are colors used judiciously (to emphasize, highlight, and organize)

Conclusion

Checklists; they are everywhere. They don’t necessarily have to be for technical related activities; heck we use checklists for grocery items. They are a part of our daily lives; so when you get that presentation built and you are ready to give it at your shop, on the job, a conference or a client take a few minutes and review a checklist. Make sure you have your house in order and that everything makes sense.

Remember, you get out what you put into something. Continue to work hard and hone in on your speaking and presentation talents that lie within. Like I said, these are some of the things that have helped me over the years; doesn’t mean they are for everyone. The flip side to that, you may have some of your own to share. I encourage you to do so.