Some changes for SLC SQL Saturday #246

Striving to put on an event this large and epic some day.

We have put on several SQL Saturday’s in Utah (3 to be exact) but I felt something needed to be different with the one we are planning now.  Last year I pushed for more nosql/mysql sessions in the SQL Saturday because I saw a need in our community for more knowledge on those subjects.  This year it’s time to step it up even more.  

I started working with Hadoop heavily in January and learned of the Utah Hadoop users group in February (www.uhug.org).  I wanted to find way’s I could help the group and build the community so I started discussing with the leaders about putting on a data conference.  I wanted a combined conference that worked with all technologies and disciplines and really was just about data.  I have always said Corporations and executives don’t care what technology you use as long as your solution meets the expectations of the business.  We as engineers/developers/DBA’s/DW developers need to learn it’s not about a specific technology it’s just about finding the right tool for the job.

To this end the Big Mountain Data Conference is born.  We will have a traditional SQL Saturday taking place with 3 separate tracks of all sorts of SQL goodness.  We will have a “mixer” track showing you how SQL and other technologies can work together to make data solutions and then we will have 3 more tracks that talk all about open source data solutions (Hive,Hadoop,Mysql,Nosql and much more!).  We want to bring the data experts together in one place and showcase all the many things you can do with data and how to move forward in a world that has ever increasing data demands.  We are hoping that the attendees will stretch themselves to learn something new and visit other tools that can be used to expand their skill set.

We have assembled a great team of organizers and volunteers to help put this event together and we will be looking for presenters eager to pass on their skills to others.  We hope that you will all join us on Sept 7^th 2013 for this epic data event.

The SQL Saturday #246 you can access at www.utahsqlsaturday.com. Utah Geek Events will be hosting the Schedule/registration for the Big Mountain Data Side of things you can go to www.utahgeekevents.com which has open registration and a place to submit sessions.

I hope everyone will join us in learning about data and what you can do with it.

My Road Map….Someone folded it (T-SQL Tuesday #42)

This month’s T-SQL Tuesday is brought to us from Wendy Pastrick (Blog |Twitter). She wanted us to talk about the road map in our career or what we have done to get to the point we are now in our career.  

This is an interesting idea for me for 2 reasons.  1.  While you are reading this I’m driving to Las Vegas for a conference for my company.  So you could say I’m driving on my road map now!  The other reason I’ll explain below.

Personally it’s very interesting for me to look back on my Road Map since it’s changed greatly since when I started.  I can still remember being a Customer Service Lead and talking to my manager when she asked me where I wanted to be in 5 years.  I said I was hoping to get a CAN/CNE certification and be a Network Administrator.  6 months later we inherited a Database app from another company and my life changed forever.  I became the accidental DBA we all talk about and from that point forward started a path towards the data world.

Fast forward about 10 years and here I am facing another new path.  For the last several months my focus and time has been on the Hadoop Ecosystem.  1.5 years ago I started with a new company and ran into a similar problem I’ve faced many times.  Reads/Writes contending on the same SQL DB because we had no reporting environment to send the queries against, I set out to create such a reporting environment and both succeeded and failed in a lot of ways.  We’ve decided now to take the good from that environment and migrate it into a Lamp/open source system that can horizontally scale at an excellent cost to the company.  We are about a month out from some really serious testing of the system and I’m about as excited as I have ever been about any technology I’ve used.

What my “Road Map” has taught me through all these years is best summed up by one of my all-time favorite sayings.

“It’s not about the Destination, It’s about the Journey”

I’ve learned that even though I have had many destinations on my road map, the place that I’ve learned the most and grown the most as a Data Professional were the times when I went on a journey to find something.  My suggestion to anyone working on the Road Map is pick out some destinations but make sure you take that road less travelled from time to time.  I think you will find you will look back on those times more than any destination you reach.

Good luck in your Journey!

6 Billion People want to talk to you!

Socializing at the PASS Summit

It’s been a long time since I’ve posted anything to the blog.  I could try and write a big long post on projects, busy times and issues that have kept me away.  All these things would be excuses for simply not getting it done.  In the end why bother focusing on it I’ll just move forward and keep blogging.

I did a quick Google search and found that in 2011 it was estimated we had 6.9 billion people on this planet.  I would say that’s a lot.  But if I went to some of the Data scientists out there and #bigdata experts and told them I had 6 billion pieces of data to work with they would probably laugh at me and tell me I don’t have a big data problem.

I’m willing to bet most of those #bigdata/DBA/Developer/Geeks in the world would not laugh when I asked when was the last time they talked to a stranger in the elevator at the office?  We data professionals out there have made it our career/lives talking to data.  We have made many extraordinary ways to visualize the data around us but I find we are we losing the ability to talk to people and tell them all the cool things we can do with data.

“You know, sometimes all you need is twenty seconds of insane courage. Just literally twenty seconds of just embarrassing bravery. And I promise you, something great will come of it.”

Benjamin Mee (Matt Damon) “We bought a zoo” 

The line above is one of my favorites and reminds me so much of social interaction.  Many of us are afraid to talk to the person in the elevator or the person in the coffee shop or even other professionals at a conference.  It takes a brief moment of courage to change your life forever.  I had that moment at the PASS Summit in 2004 (Read the story here) and ever since then I’ve been striving to keep it going and to socialize with others whenever I can.

What can you do to get out and socialize?

1.  Talk to people!  Don’t be the one reading your phone in the elevator, don’t be the one sitting at a user group meeting reading the emails for the day or bringing a book since you just came for the presentation.  The person that can answer that burning question on why you have deadlocks in the DB could be right next to you.

2.  Start using twitter/facebook/linkedin don’t be afraid to ask people questions on these mediums you will be shocked by how receptive people are.  Sometimes it’s easier to start that conversation when you are not in front of people.

3.  PRESENT! It takes 20 seconds of courage to submit your name for a user group presentation.  The leaders and others can help mentor you to get you ready.  If you don’t have someone to mentor you feel free to email me I love to help people get started in presenting.  Remember you present everyday at work to other developers/managers/product owners when you explain something, this is just a bigger audience.

4.  Attend user groups/SQL Saturdays/Conferences/tech gatherings.  Don’t eat alone and don’t stand alone thinking you have nothing cool to talk about or don’t know what to talk about.  If you are at an event with lots of other attendees you most likely have tons in common!

Just remember you are a data professional that talks to billions of rows of data every day, what’s the harm in talking to 1 person out of 6 billion?  It only takes 20 seconds of courage to change your life forever.

Happy Socializing

T-SQL Tuesday #36 SQL Community how you can get involved

Today’s T-SQL Tuesday topic is on the SQL Community.   Let’s start with the housekeeping side of things.  This is a T-SQL Tuesday post.  This time hosted by Chris Yates (B|T). The Topic is SQL Community.

So how has the community helped me?   Well really everything I’ve done has been thanks to the community.  Thanks to Wayne Snyder and Rick Heiges for really inspiring me to get into volunteering all those years ago in Orlando in 2004.  That kick started my participation not only in my local community but nationally in the PASS Organization.     It helped me to meet up with great friends Allen Kinsel and Thomas Larock as well they kept me wanting to continue to volunteer and help the community.

I have spent the last 8 years volunteering for the SQL community and doing my best to give back to the community.  I figured the best way I could help with the post is to give you some ways you can start by getting involved in the community and helping out.

1.  Find your Local SQL Server SLC User Group and ask if you can help organize a meeting. PASS Chapter List

2.  Present locally, Find a topic you are passionate about and offer to present at the local chapter.  Pass chapter List

3.  Volunteer for PASS, You can find the volunteers page here to contact PASS.

4.  Volunteer at a SQL Saturday, You can find the list here and contact the organizers.

5. Mentor a fellow Data professional.  Even if this is just at your own office or a friend from another company getting together and helping others can get you started in the community.

6.  Start your own SQL Chapter.  If you are really adventurous and up for a challenge get started by starting a chapter.    You can find more information at the Chapter link above.

These are all great ways you can get started in the community, so get out there and help out!  Regardless of what you choose to do whether to help others or not you should get involved in some way you will be very thankful you did.

Don’t Panic!….The Summit is over

That’s right unfortunately the PASS summit has once again come to a close. We never like to talk about it but it never fails that all good things must come to an end? Now what?

I figured I would compile a quick list of things you should do now that the summit is over.

1. Order the sessions! Can’t tell you how great it is to have the sessions that you missed. If you haven’t ordered them do so!
2. Take the business cards you got at the summit and send each one in an email. Hopefully you wrote down what you discussed then you can continue that discussion in email.
3. Keep on twitter and following the people you met at the summit
4. Find the local user group in your area and get engaged! User groups are a great way to keep the summit fever going
5. Find the next SQL Saturday happening near you and volunteer to help out or speak.
6. Apply what you learned, take the notes you’ve written down during the sessions and apply them to your work environment. Some things will take more time than others but start making a list and getting to work.
7. Mentor someone else, take what you’ve learned and spread the word to others.
8. Edit the pictures you have taken. <;– some need this more than others.

If you keep this list in mind the Summit won't stop in Seattle for you!

Happy Travels to all my SqlFamily!

PASS Summit 2012 Photography tips

Group shot from 2009 summit photowalk

We are just a few short days from the PASS Summit and I know many have already started travelling to the summit.   I wanted to get one last post in so that everyone has all the photo information that you might need in one place for the summit.

Here is a link to the posts related to photowalking on the blog.

Here is the link to the official photowalking event at the summit this year.

I wanted to go over a few more general items for anyone out there planning on taking some pics at the summit.

All photos that get posted to flickr with a tag of sqlpass and summit2012 will show up in the official “stream” of photos.   This means that it might show up on the big screen in the morning keynotes or on the screens around the convention center.  I strongly suggest you use these tags if you are taking photos during the summit.   As with previous years I will be sending all my pics to flickr using an Eye-fi card.   This means whenever I’m in distance of a wifi location it will start transmitting my photos.   I’ll only be sending my small jpeg’s and not the large raw files to keep from bogging down any networks.   This is true for my after hour’s activities as well since I typically bring along a mifi device so if you see late night karaoke pictures it’s most likely what’s going on live at that time.

If you want to talk photowalking while at the summit or if you’re looking for the photowalk information when we are on the walk do a search on twitter for #sqlpassphotowalk  that should give you all the chatter and information about the photowalk.  I’ll do my best to tweet out location and information to those hashtags.

If you have a question related to photography at the summit (settings, where to go, and lighting suggestions) then you can use hathtag  #sqlPhotohelp   I’ll be watching this closely in case anyone has some general questions.   I’m more than happy to sit down with people and help them out with settings or some suggestions on getting great photos at the summit.

Keynote presentation from Previous PASS Summit

Here are some key tips I like to follow while at the summit.

1.  Lighting is horrible in convention centers, so find something good to white balance off in each shot, or bring a WB card for reference.

2.  Flashing the speakers is a no no, I mean with a camera flash of course!    Try to keep the flash off if you want to get a picture of the speakers while they are speaking.   Try using higher iso if there is less light in the room.

3.  If you are using a point and shoot learn how to shut off your flash at different times to save battery.  A point and shoot flash typically can go 15-30 feet at the very farthest. Being in the back of a session room you will most likely just light up the audience in front of you instead of actually illuminating your subject.

4.  Get to know your camera settings!  You will find yourself needing to take quick pictures at times (like when someone decides to jump into a fountain), knowing what your settings and how to use them make it that much easier to get the right shot.

5. Take lots of pictures and practice.  Never be afraid to take the shot just because you think you can’t get the picture you want.   Making mistakes is the way we learn and with the size of memory cards you should never worry about taking a few extra pictures.

Hopefully this information serves you well as you attend the summit.   As with anything at the summit if you have questions or not sure ask someone!   I’m always happy to help and am very hard to miss.  I’m the size of lurch and you’ll always see a camera at my side.  Feel free to seek me out anytime.

Happy Shooting!  See you next week!

Photowalk at the PASS Summit 2012

Voting is in on the photowalk location for the PASS Summit.  Pikes place got the most votes so that is where we will be going this year.  I’ve created an EventBrite event so everyone can get the information easily enough.

Photowalk Event 

Unfortunately I have to cut my walk short but everyone else should keep taking pics and enjoying the wonders that is pike place.  I will be attending a SQL Saturday meeting on Tuesday so will only be able to make the photowalk for a little while.

So please come out and join us for a great photowalk.  It’s a wonderful time to learn some new photo tricks and to socialize with more of the #sqlfamily!