SQLServerPedia

If you’re a SQL Server professional who hasn’t been to the website of the Professional Association for SQL Server, you’re doing yourself a disservice.  Membership is free and, in addition to all of the technical resources that it provides, it connects you to a world of networking opportunities with other like-minded professionals.  I strongly encourage you to register and then go the second step of creating a PASSport profile.

Once you’re registered, you can get access to many resources such as live and recorded webcasts, SIG events, and much more.  Not to toot my own horn too much, but you’ll also get access to my monthly column on professional development called Plays Well With Others.  My latest article, Successful Directors versus Successful Technologists, is about the sort of skills retooling (or simple growth in your skills) that is needed to move from a highly tactical job to a highly strategic job.  You do have to register to see the article, but again, it’s free.  (For more information on this worthwhile topic, take a look at Andy Warren’s post at SQL Server Central and at Tom LaRock’s post.)

I won’t spoil the surprise by telling you what the article itself says.  However, I will make one addition point and it’s an important point to make.  I didn’t have the skills that I describe in the article when I started with PASS.

That’s one of the great things about taking a seat on the board of PASS.  You get to learn a lot of skills that might not otherwise come your way as an IT pro for many years.  Why wait to learn the skills needed to be a great CIO or CTO until you’re applying for those lofty jobs?  Why not learn the skills years and put them into practice years before your peers as a member of the board of directors?  And although learning to build a clean and tight budget doesn’t sound exciting or building a strategy for an important new program might sound pie-in-the-skill, these are the sorts of skills you’ll need to reach for the C-level positions in a big IT organization.

Let me know what you think!

-Kevin

kekline @ twitter

P.S. Check out my new personal website – http://kevinekline.com/

At the PASS Summit in Seattle, I talked to Charley Hanania, the Swiss PASS Chapter leader, about why he volunteers for PASS, how PASS Summit attendees take information back to their local chapter members and why DBAs should sign up for membership.  Charley’s worked hard to bring PASS to Switzerland because he sees the benefits, and we talk about the community perks.

Apologies in advance for the horrendous video/audio sync problems. We were using a new panoramic videocamera that we couldn’t quite get right. The audio’s fantastic, but there’s parts of the video that don’t quite match up with what’s coming out of our mouths. It’s like a bad foreign film dub, but without the karate.

If you have an MP3 player or a portable video player and you want to download our videos automatically, you can subscribe to our podcast feeds here:

• MP4 (Apple) Video Feed
• WMV (Microsoft) Video Feed
• MP3 Audio-Only Feed
• Zune One-Click Subscribe for Video
• Zune One-Click Subscribe for MP3

You can also download this video to watch it later:

• MP4 (Apple) Video Download
• WMV (Microsoft) Video Download
• MP3 Audio-Only Download

At the PASS Summit in Seattle, I talked to SQLServerPedia Editors Michael Lato and Tim Ford about telecommuting, time management and how busy DBAs like them find the time to volunteer in the SQL Server community.

Tim mentioned in the video that he didn’t use GTD, but I would like to note that he achieved inbox zero recently, so he’s catchin’ on.

Apologies in advance for the horrendous video/audio sync problems.  We were using a new panoramic videocamera that we couldn’t quite get right.  The audio’s fantastic, but there’s parts of the video that don’t quite match up with what’s coming out of our mouths.  It’s like a bad foreign film dub, but without the karate.

If you have an MP3 player or a portable video player and you want to download our videos automatically, you can subscribe to our podcast feeds here:

• MP4 (Apple) Video Feed
• WMV (Microsoft) Video Feed
• MP3 Audio-Only Feed
• Zune One-Click Subscribe for Video
• Zune One-Click Subscribe for MP3

You can also download this video to watch it later:

• MP4 (Apple) Video Download
• WMV (Microsoft) Video Download
• MP3 Audio-Only Download

Congratulations to the PASS Board winners for 2009/2010:

• Andy Warren
• Douglas McDowell – SQLServerPedia Editor of the Business Intelligence section
• Lynda Rab

Our thanks go out to everyone in the community who ran and who voted.  The elections were exciting this year for the amount of passion involved: everybody really wanted to do the best thing for the community at large.

For evidence of that, check out the PASS candidate video.  These folks really put their heart in it.

Two of the SQLServerPedia Editors, Tom LaRock and Douglas McDowell, have been nominated for elections on the PASS Board of Directors.

Congratulations, guys!

Readers – if you’re attending the PASS Summit in Seattle, stop by the voting kiosks to cast your vote for the Board of Directors. This crew of professionals is responsible for coordinating volunteer efforts, directing the community, and making a difference in how we do our jobs as SQL Server DBAs. It really does impact you.

If you’re not attending the summit, keep your eyes posted in your email inbox for a voting survey too.

This year at the PASS Summit in Seattle, Quest Software is sponsoring an expert panel event on automating SQL Server processes. Sounds boring, right? Think again – here’s when you need to check out process automation:

• You can’t hire help (either no budget or no available people) and you can’t keep up
• Your number of servers keeps growing
• You don’t know if every server got backed up in the last hour
• You don’t have an index maintenance plan for rebuilds & defrags

I’m always amazed that Microsoft SQL Server has been around for so long, but there’s very few standardized automation scripts. So many of us have our own duct-taped SQL Server backup T-SQL scripts, have disdain for the built-in maintenance plan approach, and would never think to Google for an automation script instead of rolling our own.

The experts with their fancy opinions:

• Allen White, SQL Server MVP and Trainer for Scalability Experts (moderator)
• Kevin Kline, SQL Server MVP and Technical Strategy Manager, Quest Software
• Buck Woody, Program Manager, SQL Server, Microsoft
• Dan Jones, Product Manager, SQL Server, Microsoft
• Thomas LaRock, Database Engineering Lead, ING Investment Management
• Charley Hanania, Production Product Owner, SQL Server, UBS
• Brent Ozar, SQL Server Domain Expert, Quest Software

Why am I on the list? Because I, for one, welcome our new robot DBA overlords.

When: Thursday, November 20, 2008
7:00 – 8:30 a.m. (breakfast served until 7:30)

Where: Seattle Convention Center
Room 613 (6th floor)

If you want the free eats, you gotta RSVP online for the event.