Tag: Professional Development

2014 Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) for SQL Server

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So… This happened:

Dear Mark Vaillancourt,
Congratulations! We are pleased to present you with the 2014 Microsoft® MVP Award! This award is given to exceptional technical community leaders who actively share their high quality, real world expertise with others. We appreciate your outstanding contributions in SQL Server technical communities during the past year.

I am so proud to receive this award from Microsoft. I can’t adequately explain how gratifying it is to know that my contributions to the SQL Community are seen as being so valuable as to be recognized by Microsoft.

I need to thank Microsoft as well as the many many fine people in the SQL Community who set an excellent example for how to make an impact. There are too many people to name without risking missing someone.

Holy cow…

New Role: Business Intelligence Enterprise Consultant

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I am delighted to announce that I have taken on a new role at Digineer, the consulting firm I work for and adore.

As the Business Intelligence Enterprise Consultant, I take on responsibilities that align well with my strengths and overall desires. At a high level, my duties are laid out below:

1. I still get to do work for clients, which I really enjoy.

2. I am responsible for helping to drive the overall development of the members of the Information Management (SQL Server) Team. This means that I get to help my teammates continue to grow their skills/careers as it relates to SQL Server and related tools. This is something I LOVE doing anyway, so it fits really well.

3. I am to help Digineer with service offerings and intellectual property related to BI and SQL Server tools in general. This also includes helping to establish best practices and methodologies for use on client projects.

4. I am to help serve as a respected expert/leader in the company as well as the community at large when it comes to BI and SQL Server and related technologies. This is a goal I have long held and continue to strive for. I have to say that, over the past few years, I have made great strides in this area. This also includes volunteering in the community as a speaker, blogger, etc.

I am really excited about this new role. I have been doing many of these things of my own accord for a few years. It is very gratifying to now have them be part of my job description. You hear people talk about organizations growing their own experts instead of hiring out all the time. I am an example of that practice. I started at Digineer 7 years having never used SQL Server before. Digineer enabled me, set me up for success, and got the heck out of the way to let me do it. I count myself very fortunate to work for a company that gets that.

There are so many people in the SQL Community who have served as examples for me over the years. Some of them don’t even know they have inspired me. I do need to list a few people in the SQL Community who have played a huge role in helping me get where I am today.

Lara Rubbelke (Blog|Twitter): Lara was the person who originally hired me at Digineer. She was the Enterprise Consultant at that time while also serving as the overall manager for the Information Management Team. It was Lara that first encouraged me to start Blogging and also got me involved with PASS (Professional Association for SQL Server).

Jason Strate (Blog|Twitter): Jason served as a mentor for me from the moment I started at Digineer. On my first project ever with SQL Server, Jason was my Top-Cover (overall advisor and teacher). Jason eventually became the Enterprise Consultant as well. It was Jason that really pushed me toward presenting and and helped a lot on the blogging front as well.

I wish to say a hearty Thanks to Lara, Jason, Digineer, and to all the members of the #SQLFamily to have helped me in one way or another.

Upcoming Presentations Spring 2014

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It has been a while since I posted a list of upcoming presentations. In fact, some have come and gone without a blog post.

Recent Past:

SQL Saturday #241 Cleveland, OH – February 8, 2014

MDX Trek: First Contact

DANGER: The Art and Science of Presenting

West Michigan SQL Server User Group – February 27, 2014

MDX Trek: First Contact

* I ended up having to cancel this one at the last minute. I am really bummed about that and will discuss lessons learned in a separate post. 😦

Pragmatic Works Free Webinar Series – March 11, 2014

MDX Trek: First Contact

On the Horizon:

 

SQL Saturday #287 Madison, WI – March 29, 2014

DANGER: The Art and Science of Presenting

PASS BI/DW Virtual Chapter – April 2, 2014

MDX Trek: First Contact

Montreal BI User Group – April 16, 2014

MDX Trek: First Contact

SQL Saturday #291 Chicago, IL – April 26, 2014

MDX Trek: First Contact

DANGER: The Art and Science of Presenting

Minnesota SQL Server User Group (PASSMN) – May 20, 2014

Power Query: The Data Chemist’s Laboratory

This is what I have on my schedule so far. I have to say that I am really happy about how often I have been able to speak at events and user groups over the past few years. It is an important part of my career development and I just love doing it.

“Winning” The Power BI Demo Contest

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First things first. According to the official rules, I did not win. My video did not even make it to the Top 15 Semi-Finalists. Not even close. The number of votes I got was laughable compared to others. But it was never about the votes for me. I never really had any illusions of winning the contest. However, this contest had #winning all over the place for me anyway. I shall explain.

#winning : I got to play with some really exciting tools. From Power Query to Power Pivot to Power View to the Power BI Team Site I played with for my demo, I had a total blast.

#winning : Holy crap is Power Query awesome! Even the base options in the tool’s ribbon makes common things really easy. I only dabbled a tiny bit with M (Officially: The Power Query Formula Language), but that was really cool as well. I will certainly be delving more deeply into Power Query and M.

#winning : I went from never having done a video to recording and editing a video I can be proud of. I used Camtasia Studio (got a 30-day free trail) and LOVED that software. I watched about 30 minutes worth of training videos and then went to town. That was a great experience I would love to repeat. One day I shall get my own license and make some videos… ideas are already churning.

NOTE: Techsmith, the maker of Camtasia Studio, has not compensated me in any way for saying these things. I have used their SnagIt software for years and love it. And I loved using Camtasia Studio as well. This is my own honest assessment.

#winning : I feel the need to mention Power Query again.

#winning : I learned my DAX needs some attention. After posting my video, i got a Tweet from the mighty Dan English (Blog|Twitter): “I think all three of your DAX calcs i would have done differently:)” This turned into a little back and forth discussion about how I could have done them differently. And it was not just about the awesome DIVIDE() function that I only remembered after submitting my entry. As such, I have recommitted myself to really digging deeper on this exciting expression language. I want to thank Dan for sparking that again.

NOTE: I beg you not to be afraid of posting your work for fear of embarrassment. The feedback we get from others helps us grow and improve. When I post my work/code, I have learned NEVER to say “This is the BEST way” when I do so. I leave it open to others to provide different suggestions. I sometimes flat out ask for exactly that. This is on purpose and part of what keeps me learning.

#winning : The mighty Paul Turley (Blog|Twitter) included my demo in his list of his favorites. See his Power BI Contest post. That was a great compliment from someone I have long respected.

#winning : More Power Query.

#winning : My entry got 218 views. That is a paltry sum when compared to others, to be sure. But from my perspective, that is 218 people who may not have seen my work otherwise. That is 218 people who may choose to come to a session of mine at a SQL Saturday, PASS Summit, or other event at which I speak. That is 218 people who may not have known I exist before that have now been introduced to me via something I am really proud of.

With the Winter Olympics in Sochi having just gotten under way, I remembered a swimmer in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. Eric Moussambani represented Equatorial Guinea in the 100 Meter Freestyle. His two competitors both had false starts and were disqualified. Eric swam alone and put in a time that, while more than double the fastest times for that event, set a national record for Equatorial Guinea. That race, at the Olympic Games, was the first time he had been in an Olympic size swimming pool. When he finished, the crowd cheered like mad. He was interviewed afterward and asked how he felt. He replied, “I’m happy.” Eric’s definition of #winning was different from that of the others. I would encourage you to watch this video about this race and Eric’s #winning attitude. I am not comparing myself to Eric. Rather, I am calling attention to the idea that the only way to really lose is to stop learning and stop having worthwhile experiences.

I really want to encourage you to jump at opportunities like the Power BI Demo Contest. There are great experiences waiting for you. There are great learning opportunities waiting for you. And don’t be afraid to create your own definitions of #winning.

Upcoming Presentations: SQL Saturday #241 Cleveland

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It is with great joy that I announce that I will be presenting at SQL Saturday in Cleveland on February 8th. I have driven through Cleveland before, but never stopped for long. So, this will be my first real visit. Although, if it helps, I used to love to play as the Cleveland Browns in Tecmo Bowl back in my Nintendo days. I will be giving two sessions.

MDX Trek: First Contact

Cube space; the final frontier. In this Star Trek themed introduction to MDX, we will discuss the fundamentals of cube structure and vocabulary, including tuples, members, sets, hierarchies, and more. We will introduce and demonstrate the basic syntax of MDX with queries that include navigating hierarchies and even some time-based expressions. This session will give you the tools you need to write simple, yet meaningful, MDX queries in your own environment.

Session Level: Intermediate

I love this MDX session. I have given it many times over the past few years. The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. It turns out that my view of the Cube space is a bit revolutionary. I have heard that writing MDX was like trying to solve a Rubik’s Cube in your head. When I first started dealing with MDX, I understood what that meant. But I soon found that it need not be that hard. In this session, before diving into code, I explain my model of looking at the Cube space that is much easier to deal with and understand. The Star Trek theme also keeps this really fun.

DANGER: The Art and Science of Presenting

Is there a great difference in the brain chemistry of someone fleeing a hungry mountain lion and someone presenting to a group of colleagues in a corporate board room? The answer is: NO. Over the past decade, a lot has been learned about the chemistry of the brain and why humans react the way we do to events in our environment. The concept of EQ (Emotional Intelligence) is a compelling and growing concept that applies this knowledge in a set of learnable, improvable skills for leading human beings. While EQ is often applied to corporate leadership, the parallels to presenting are fantastic. This session will explain the basics of EQ and demonstrate how you can apply it to make your presentations better in the following areas:

* Crafting better slide decks
* Preparing yourself for presenting
* Delivering your content
* Dealing with the unexpected

Understanding and practicing the concepts of EQ can make your presentations a better experience for everyone in the room–including you.

Session Level: Beginner

In this session, which I gave at the PASS Summit in Charlotte, I introduce the concepts and skills of Emotional Intelligence as they relate to presenting. This, too, has been incredibly well received and the feedback has been spectacular. Presenting is definitely a strength of mine and this session shows some of the mechanics behind my philosophy. This session can not only help you with presentations and their delivery, but also lays a great foundation for leadership and working with other humans.

I am also excited to announce that Digineer, the consulting firm I work for and adore, is a Gold Sponsor for this SQL Saturday. As such, I will also be giving a shorter presentation during lunch. This presentation, “Keeping The Business In Business Intelligence” lays out our philosophy around BI. While this session will touch a bit on Digineer and who we are, it will also be grounded in solid content for achieving success in Business Intelligence initiatives.

SQL Saturday has been a hugely successful program. I have participated in as many SQL Saturdays as I could over the past several years. You can read about many of my experiences in previous posts on this blog. I have to say that SQL Saturdays have been a hugely important part of my growth in working with SQL Server and related tools. The idea of members of the SQL Community (dubbed SQLFamily with good reason) sharing their expertise with others at free events is just exciting and inspiring. I am proud to be a part of these events. I also consider it part of my own personal mission to help encourage new speakers. If you have questions about speaking (or blogging), please come chat with me. I love helping people get started. The more people we have sharing their knowledge and passion, the stronger a community we are.

PASS Summit 2013 Recap of Madness and Mayhem

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Greetings! Another PASS Summit has come and gone. This was my third Summit and I have to say that I am truly hooked on this spectacular event. I had the privilege to be a bit more involved this year than in years past. I love when I can give some of my time and energy to help out an organization that has been hugely important for me in my career with SQL Server.

I spent much of Tuesday in meetings related to the PASS organization. There was the Regional Mentors meeting, the Chapter Leader meeting, and a chance to sit down with the Canadian Chapter Leaders. As a PASS Regional Mentor for Canada, that was great since I don’t often get the chance to see them in person.Summit 2013 Badge

Since it was already confirmed on Twitter, I would like to say that I will be working with SQL MVP and Winnipeg  SQL Server User Group chapter leader, Mike DeFehr (Blog|Twitter), on planning a SQL Saturday in his fine city. I am hoping I will get to go as well. I have never been involved in running a SQL Saturday and I thought helping Mike would be a great way to fulfill my role as a Regional Mentor and also give me the experience to better help others with their event planning in the future.

PASS invited me to be on the Blogger Core and have a seat at the Bloggers table for the keynotes this year. While it can be challenging to keep up with meaningful things to post while live blogging, I really enjoy it. I always get a lot out of it. You can read those posts at PASS Summit Keynote Live Blog – Day 1 and  PASS Summit Keynote Live Blog – Day 2 respectively.

When PASS invited me to serve on the Blogger Core, they also indicated I would have access to an Interview room. I had never interviewed anyone before, but it seemed like a great opportunity to capitalize on connections I had made at PASS BA Conference, Tech Ed North America, and past PASS events. I decided, with the fast pace of change occurring in Business Intelligence both at Microsoft and in the industry as a whole, that I should try to sit down with prominent Microsoft personnel to talk about their work and the future of Microsoft BI. Being a lowly blogger from Minneapolis, I didn’t expect to get very far, but I had to try. I was astonished at the access I was given. Listed in chronological order of when the interviews took place, I sat down with:

  • Matt Masson (Blog|Twitter), Senior Program Manager for SQL Server Integration Services
  • Kamal Hathi, Director of Program Management for Microsoft Business Intelligence
  • Kasper de Jonge (Blog|Twitter), Program Manager for SQL Server Analysis Services

I know! Right? For real.

Transcribing the audio from these interviews is taking a little time. Each interview will get its own blog post. I hope to have the first one released next week. I have to express my great appreciation to Matt, Kamal, and Kasper for giving of their valuable time to chat with me. I also need to say thanks to Microsoft’s Cindy Gross (Blog|Twitter) for helping with my connection to Kamal Hathi.

I also had the honor of wearing a SPEAKER ribbon on my Summit badge this year. It was my first time speaking at PASS Summit; a career milestone to be sure. I am happy to report my presentation, DANGER: The Art and Science of Presenting, went extremely well. And, despite presenting right after Dr. David DeWitt’s brilliant keynote and being on the other end of the Convention Center, there were very few empty chairs in my room. The feedback I have received so far is all very positive. Thanks to all who chose my session when there were so many great options to choose from.

While I ended up having to miss the public Q&A Session with the PASS Board of Directors, I do have some notes from the private Blogger Q&A with the executive committee. I will prep that for another post.

If you ever get the chance to go to PASS Summit, grab onto it with both hands. There’s nothing like connecting, sharing, and learning with a few thousand of your closest friends to get you jazzed about what you do.

GO

Upcoming Presentations and More

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Wow. I have the tremendous joy to have 4 presentations coming up in the next few weeks. I love when that happens.

October 12 – SQL Saturday #238 Minnesota

I will be giving two sessions at the SQL Saturday here in sunny Minnesota.

1. MDX Trek: First Contact

2. DANGER: The Art and Science of Presenting

PASS SUMMIT!!!! For Real!

I get to give my first Summit presentation ever. I’m really excited for this.

3. DANGER: The Art and Science of Presenting

In addition to presenting, I will be on the Blogger Core, live blogging keynotes and sharing my observations all week long on Twitter. I also have the great privilege of getting interviewed on PASS TV! My interview will be from 4:30pm to about 4:45pm (Eastern) on Wednesday, October 16th. I am sure I will also be spending plenty of time in the PASS Community Zone. Please stop on by and say hi. Meeting new people is one of my favorite things to do at PASS events. I volunteered to host a Birds of a Feather Lunch table as well. That should be tons of fun. It’s going to be quite a week. 🙂

October 19 – SQL Saturday # 237 Charlotte BI Edition

I will be staying an extra day in Charlotte to present at the SLQ Saturday.

4. MDX Trek: First Contact

All in all, it will be quite a busy time.

A Milestone: Presenting at PASS Summit

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I have been presenting for several years. I can’t properly explain how much I love it. Since before I even attended my first PASS Summit, it has been a career goal that I would one day present at the premier SQL Server focused training event on the planet. When I got the email a while back that my DANGER: The Art and Science of Presenting session had been chosen as an Alternate for the 2013 Summit, I was pretty happy. It was my best result yet.

It is with tremendous joy that I now report that I am no longer an Alternate. Due to a cancellation, PASS had an opening in the Professional Development track and asked me to fill it. Not only do I get to fulfill a career goal of presenting at the Summit, but I get to do so with an exciting new session. I honestly feel this session will not only help new presenters get started on the right foot, but will also help re-invigorate more experienced folk.

You can read the abstract for it here: DANGER: The Art and Science of Presenting

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SQL Saturday #239 East Iowa Recap

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I just returned home from a fantastic SQL Saturday in Iowa City. Ed Leighton-Dick (Blog|Twitter) and his team did an excellent job. Many thanks to them and to all of the folks that worked so hard to make this event what it was. FamAtFieldOfDreams

I had the joy of presenting twice. In first time-slot of the day, I co-presented Hailing Frequencies: Analysis Services Terms and Concepts with my friend, Doug Lane (Blog|Twitter). In the final time-slot, I gave my MDX Trek: First Contact presentation. Both went well and I want to thank those who attended these sessions when there were other great topics to choose from. I LOVE presenting and the chance to do it twice at a single event was outstanding.

In addition to presenting, I went to great sessions as well. Ed Leighton-Dick gave an excellent introduction to Service Broker, a topic near and dear to him. It was very clear and concise and provided troubleshooting tips and lessons learned. I also went to a great session by Time Mitchell (Blog|Twitter) on SSIS Incremental Load Design Patterns. In addition to quality content, there was meaningful discussion. I went to Doug Lane’s session, From Minutes to Milliseconds: High-Performance SSRS Tuning. Doug gave great tips on memory/IO as well overall architecture choices. I learned valuable new things in every one of these sessions.

In addition to seeing #sqlfamily down in Iowa, I brought my wife and kids along this time. We stopped at the Field of Dreams baseball field in Dyersville, Iowa on the drive down from Minneapolis. That was really cool. My wife, a far bigger baseball fan than I am, absolutely loved it. Actually, she is watching that movie with my ten-year-old as I type this. 🙂 It was great to turn a SQL Saturday into a mini-vacation for my family as well. If you have a chance to do that some time, I highly recommend it.

SQL Saturday is such an important part of PASS and the overall #sqlfamily. It makes me so happy to see how SQL Saturday has grown so mightily over the years and spread across the world. That wouldn’t happen without people like Ed Leighton-Dick and his team who put in so much work to make these events happen. The people that give so much of themselves to put on these events deserve our Thanks and appreciation. 🙂

SQLFriends Lunch #6 – Minneapolis UPDATED

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SQLFriends is a chance for members of #sqlfamily to gather together, have some lunch, and talk about various topics with a “host” that has been making a difference in the SQL Community. Past SQLFriends hosts include the following fine people:Photo

Brent Ozar (blog | Twitter)

Ted Krueger (blog | Twitter)

Jason Strate (blog | Twitter)

Jes Borland (blog | Twitter)

Dan English (blog | Twitter)

UPDATE: The June 28th lunch could not occur due to my contracting a pestilence I didn’t want to share.

On June 28th August 2nd, at Hell’s Kitchen in downtown Minneapolis, there will be another installment in the fantastic SQLFriends lunch series. And, the host this time around will be little old me. I am really honored and delighted to take part in this. Come have some excellent food, great conversation, and totally shameless puns with other members of our #sqlfamily. Bring your questions about Business Intelligence, Consulting, Blogging, Presenting, being a PASS Regional Mentor, and my experiences at PASS Summit, the PASS Business Analytics Conference,  SQL Saturday events and TechEd North America.

You can register for the event by clicking this delicious link: BACON