Tag: Community

This Idera ACE Has Been Busy

  By ,

This year has been a whirlwind so far, thanks to the Idera ACE program. For those that don’t know what that is … What is an Idera ACE? (According to Idera) “ACEs (Advisors & Community Educators) are active community members who have shown a passion for helping the community and sharing their knowledge. We help the ACEs pursue that passion by sponsoring travel to select events and offering guidance for soft skill training.” Requirements to become an Idera ACE: Enthusiastic members & leaders of the SQL community Accomplished contributors to the SQL community Good speaker, writer and presenter Demonstrated a passion… Continue Reading

Summit Submission Feedback Response

  By

I’m It Survival Tips for the Lone DBA – Level 100 (Not Accepted: Higher rated session selected) Track: Professional Development As others have done I also will share my feedback from my submission to speak at PASS Summit in hopes it will lend some more insight into the process. Abstract: Are you the only database person at your company? Are you both the DBA and the Developer? Being the only data professional in an environment can seem overwhelming, daunting, and darn near impossible sometimes. However, it can also be extremely rewarding and empowering. This session will cover how you can keep your… Continue Reading

SQL Family: The Wonder Years

  By

Last week, Bill Wolf aka @SQLWareWolf and I somehow got onto the topic of High School pictures. So in jest, I decided to post mine and hash tagged it with #SQLHSPics on Twitter. I challenged others to do the same, only really expecting @SQLWareWolf to respond in kind.  I was floored with over 100 picture responses from #SQLFamily. Many of them went searching through attics, yearbooks, called relatives, and other great lengths to be part of it. As always the response was heartwarming and hysterical to say the least. The reason why I am taking the time to blog about it is… Continue Reading

It’s time to speak again!

  By ,

My second time speaking at a SQL Saturday is upon us. This weekend I will be giving my Survival Techniques for a Lone DBA session at SQLSat470 Washington, DC.  Living in Virginia, I am surprised that I’m a first timer to this event. I live only 3 hours away but December is usually crazy with my daughter’s dance schedules and I haven’t been able to attend until now. My session is bright and early as the first session at 8:20 am and going up against some other great sessions. Thankfully they will have an actual barista on hand to make me a… Continue Reading

November #SQLChat – How to Build your Name Recognition and SQL Network

  By , ,

For those who don’t know Idera Software sponsors a SQLChat on Twitter once a month. This month I got the privilege to host and had come up with a topic and questions for discussion. Below are the questions and answers I provided as well as some from others that chimed in. I think these are worth noting and give some valuable information especially to newbies of the SQL Community. Q1: How have you benefited from networking with SQL professionals? My Answer: As a lone DBA networking has gained me “co-workers”. I now have people to bounce ideas off of. I… Continue Reading

Attending Summit as a New Leader

  By

It’s that time again where everyone writes their post PASS Summit Blog and tells of the great time they had with SQL Family and all the exciting new things they learned.  While those are both very true for me as well, I want to talk about how it felt to go to Summit as a new leader in the community. This year I became a Chapter Leader and spent Tuesday at Summit in the PASS Chapter Leader and SQL Saturday meetings. It was an honor for me to walk into those meetings and collaborate with such a phenomenal group of… Continue Reading

Everything is coming up ACE’s

  By

I am thrilled to announce that I have been chosen as one of the 2016 Idera ACE’s. It is truly an honor to be part of this great program and give back to the SQL community. What is an Idera ACE? According to Idera. “ACEs (Advisors & Community Educators) are active community members who have shown a passion for helping the community and sharing their knowledge. We help the ACEs pursue that passion by sponsoring travel to select events and offering guidance for soft skill training. Requirements to become an Idera ACE: Enthusiastic members & leaders of the SQL community Accomplished… Continue Reading

Master of None

  By

Being a Lone DBA gives you so much exposure to so many facets of SQL Server. Since I am just one I get to work on Replication, Administration, Security, Business Intelligence, Disaster Recovery, Reporting Services, Integration Services, Analysis Services, Database design, Development, Performance… you name it I get to dabble in it. However, being able to work on every facet also means I will never be a Master at any of it and that’s okay by me. For a Type A personality, like me, this is a hard thing to come to terms with. I‘ve learned with time to be… Continue Reading

So How Did It Go?

  By

My first time speaking at a SQL Saturday is now behind me.  I cannot wait to do it again. The support from the SQL Family leading up to and after the event was nothing I expected, it was beyond AMAZING. From high fives in the halls to virtual hugs. I had my own cheering section. I was a little nervous and talked probably too fast at times, I am sure, but I hear everyone does on their first time out, right? (Evidently, I say that a lot) The good part was that the audience looked to be truly engaged and… Continue Reading

Admit You Can’t Do Everything

  By

As most of you know, I have been a Lone DBA for 15+ years and during that time I have learned a thing or two about how to survive on my own in relatively large environments.  One of those things is knowing when to admit you cannot do it all.  Working alone on 56 servers you can imagine how the workload can seem insurmountable.  There are times when in one week I will do 70+ tasks, not including project work and daily monitoring.  To manage and get this type of workload accomplish you have to learn to work smarter not… Continue Reading