I have been writing full or part-time for nearly 30 years, and I have written and edited hundreds of articles. Because of my background, I often get questions for advice on how to write articles, especially from DBAs who have never written an article before. These DBAs want to learn how to write articles because they want to share information with the community, increase their reputation within the community, or to improve their communication skills. In the past, I have answered these questions with short e-mails, or in short conversations. Rather than continuing to provide advice in a piecemeal fashion, I have decided to write this blog post.
Author Archives: Brad
SQLBits Will be Held in Brighton England in April
SQLBits, the largest SQL Server conference is Europe, will be held this April 7-9, 2011 in Brighton, England at the Brighton Grand Hotel. Unlike many conferences, SQLBits offers three different levels of SQL Server training. Day 1 consists of full day, paid, deep-dive sessions from industry experts. Day 2 includes about 25 sessions of more conventional, paid sessions. Day 3 includes about 25 free, conventional sessions. So if you have a training budget, then plan on attending all three days. If you have a smaller budget, or no budget at all, then consider attending day 2 or day 3. Early bird pricing is available through March 11, 2011.
If you would like to submit a presentation abstract to SQLBits for consideration, the call for speakers is still open, but will close very soon.
DevTeach/SQLTeach Montreal 2011 Registration is Now Open
The recently resurrected DevTeach/SQLTeach event will be held May 31 through June 2, 2011 in Montreal, Canada at the Montreal InterContinental Hotel. The event, the largest of its kind in Canada, will offer 68 sessions in .NET, SQL Server, and much more. Early registration is currently open, and if you register before February 28, 2011, you will get a hefty discount.
Most Popular SQL Server Events
I recently held a poll on my blog, asking people if they had attended any SQL Server events in the past year. As you can see from the results on the right, just over 90% of the poll takers attended one or more SQL Server events in 2010, which I think is a great number.
The most attended events, included:
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SQL Saturdays
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24 Hours of PASS
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User Group Meetings
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2010 SQL PASS Summit
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PASS Virtual Chapter Events
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SQL Lunch
All the other events listed in the poll were much smaller. Some of these had fewer attendees because they were smaller, regional events, which is to be expected.
What was a little surprising was how few of the poll takers attended Microsoft TechEd (a huge event), and DevConnections/SQL Server Connections (also a large event). Of course, both of these events cover a of topics besides SQL Server, but both offer many SQL Server sessions.
At 2011 is now upon us, hopefully you have begun to consider what events you will attend this year. If not, begin researching potential events, as there are many to choose from. And even if you can’t attend an event in-person, there are still many virtual events you can attend. If you have any suggestions for events to attend that are not included in this poll, please add them below in the comments section.
A Change of Pace
As some of you may have already heard, I spent much of December moving from Hawaii to Missouri. Generally, when I tell people this, they ask if I am crazy. One important reason for the move is work-related, as it will be much more convenient, and less expensive, for me to travel from the center of United States than from Hawaii. A second reason is that my wife and daughter were missing our relatives in Missouri, and wanted to move back. Personally, I would have preferred to stay in Hawaii, but I got outvoted.
How Do You Work When You are Not at Work?
From my Database Weekly editorial.
Most of us DBAs don’t work in a standard 40-hour a week job. We often have to work late, work weekends, and be on call just in case a problem arises. If you’ve been a DBA for a really long time, you still remember the days before the Internet, VPN connections, and cell phones. Back then, many DBAs carried a pager when on call, or took phone calls over a land line. In many cases, the only way to resolve the problem was to physically go into the office and check out the problem in person, no matter what time of the day it was.
Brad M McGehee 