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Kevin3NF

SQL Saturday Dallas, 2018

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Quacky rides bikes!

 

SQL Saturday Dallas #734 is a wrap!

I’m still tired, 2 weeks later!

This is my 7th or 8th SQL Saturday as an attendee.  3rd as a pre-con presenter.  5th delivering a Saturday session, 1st as a sponsor and 1st as a co-organizer.

And it was a blast.

Months of prep work went into getting things ready…venue change, sponsor chasing, speakers, goodies for speakers and attendees, pre-con stuff, after-part, speaker dinner…you name it, I at least read an email about it.  This was my first time around so I was following the lead of veterans on the NTSSUG board.  We had over 1000 people register…I don’t recall the final tally of actual attendees but the place was packed all day!

My pre-con (DBA Fundamentals) went really well, with a record number of attendees. By design this class is usually small and intimate.   The BI session next door had 65 or so!  I’ve done this pre-con 3 times now, and this was the first time I actually had a technical issue (fonts went wacky) and a brain cramp in the middle.  But, I recovered and people (hopefully) learned something they can take back with them to the office.

I also did my Disaster recovery session on Saturday, which I think went really well, and got a bonus of meeting someone I knew through a previous client and only by phone.  I always think you’ve done your session well when people line up to chat with you afterwards:

Either something was really funny, or my backpack has way too much stuff in it…

 

Our Dallas DBAs sponsor table went really well…except everyone seemed to think I was raffling off my personal racing bike.  Lots of folks came by for the raffle and the free t-shirts (100 only…gone in 90 minutes).  Some even stopped to ask what we do, giving me the chance to promote our Apprentice program.  Thanks to everyone that came by!  And also to Richardson Bike Mart for providing the $150 gift card for our raffle.

Not the raffle item….just clickbait apparently:

The entire staff of Dallas DBAs, in official uniform

 

A very special shout out to my good friend and graphics/web guy, Jeff Miller of Igniss Images for shooting this event as a free service to the SQL Server Community.  See the pics!

Thanks to all the attendees for coming, and to the Sponsors that make it possible!

Kevin3NF

 

T-SQL Tuesday: Giving Back

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T-SQL Tuesday is a monthly blog party for the SQL Server community. It is the brainchild of Adam Machanic (b|t) and this month’s edition is hosted by Riley Major (b|t) who has challenged us to “Pick some way you can help our community“…but not just give a few sentences on how you want to help, but to actually put feet, brain cells and dates to it.

Community service is something I’ve been involved in for decades in many different ways.  Within the SQL Server specific community, I got serious about it a couple of years ago when I changed the nature of this blog from “weird stuff I saw at work today” to “here is some info you can use to make your life better today.”  I also started speaking at SQL Saturdays last June in Houston.

Last year, I decided to take this a step further and set up an unofficial “Apprentice” program to help young people get into tech careers that don’t (for whatever reason) have the same opportunities most of us do.   My barrier to entry was low…others not so much.

The 1st Apprentice is ready to become a part-time Junior DBA and I couldn’t be more proud of him for his hard work.  He entered the program as a bit of a test case.  His barrier to entry – zero desire to go to a 4-year school and chase a possibly useless (for him) degree.

I will soon be looking for the next Apprentice.  Will s/he be like the first?  Maybe from a low income area?   Possibly aging out of the Foster Care system?  On the Autism spectrum?  Who knows.

For now, I will be working with one at a time.  I would like to get to the point where I have 2 or 3 that can learn together by working out solutions as a team.   This will help them not only learn Database Administration, but teamwork, trust, communication skills, etc.  Some of them may decide they hate databases but think Security is really cool.  Or Python.  Or Networking.  And that is great!  If they can find a career that they enjoy and provides a stable lifestyle financially, then I’m thrilled to be a step along a glorious path for them.

HOW YOU CAN HELP!

As these young people get to the point that I run out of things to teach them, they need real-world practice. Eventually I will have an “Apprentice” rate/offering on my Services and Pricing page for them to do the grunt work on your servers.  Part-time, with oversight from me or another Sr. Level DBA.  There are caveats and conditions on this I have not sorted out yet, but its coming sometime in the next 6-12 months.  Please keep an eye out for my posts here, on Twitter and on the Dallas DBAs LinkedIn Page.

I want your thoughts on this…privately or in the comments as you see fit.

Thanks for reading,

Kevin3NF

 

SQL Saturday Dallas 2018

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Hey all!

I am doing my DBA Fundamentals all day pre-conference at SQL Saturday Dallas on Friday, May 18.  Register HERE. $120 until May 1, then $140.  If you are not sure if this is the class for you, please go watch this promo video I threw together, then email me if you still have questions.  If you are a mid or senior level DBA, this is not a good use of your money and time…check out the others that are happening that day.

And then on Saturday, May 19 (Free!) I will be giving my Disaster recovery is everyone’s job! presentation, currently scheduled for 11am, subject to change at the whim of the organizers (spoiler alert…I’m one of the organizers, lol)

This is going to be a great event…the theme is “SQL de Mayo”, because Texas!  Go register now to reserve your spot, because it will fill up and being on the wait list is kind of a drag.  And buy lunch too!  No free lunch…

Hey…we still need more sponsors at Bronze, Silver and Gold levels to make this event even more awesome and I’m the guy to contact about that, so…contact me!

Thanks for reading!

Kevin3NF

^^^ follow me, you stalker 🙂

 

T-SQL Tuesday #99 : Dealer’s Choice

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Welcome to my contribution to the 99th installment of T-SQL Tuesday, where Aaron Bertrand (b|t) gives us a choice to spread our wings and talk about our personal passions OR…play it safe and talk about our favorite T-SQL bad habit.  This whole T-SQL thing is all Adam’s fault, btw 🙂

If you follow me on Twitter, you probably know me more as SQL Cyclist than Kevin3NF.  I grabbed that name because it was cool, and well…I’ve been riding bikes since I was 3 years old.  I’m waaaay older than that now, and still riding.  My racing days are pretty much over, but the passion is still there!

I started out just riding in the neighborhood as most kids do, jumping ramps, skidding, wheelies, etc.  All the normal kid stuff.  Did a little BMX in the 80’s.  I moved into road bikes, track racing and eventually added mountain biking into the mix, which has become my favorite.

In the last 15 years I’ve gotten more and more involved:

  • Started road racing in 2004 (5)
  • Raced on the local velodrome for 5 years
  • Started coaching juniors racers as a certified USA Cycling coach
  • Became a local level USAC official
  • Started the North Texas chapter of an International Club
  • Started racing endurance mountain bike races (6+ hours)
  • Raced Cyclocross for a couple of years
  • Set a course record with a friend on the back of his tandem

I’ve had to dial it back lately for work, family and physical reasons…but the passion is still there.  Come to my house in July…and if you can’t tell me who is leading each category in “The Tour” you will be relegated to snack fetching duty as punishment 😉

And now, on to a small portion of the tons of favorite pictures:

Warming up a kid I coached…he’s a marine now

Hollering last second instructions to one of the very few young ladies I coached…she’s in college now…

I left Lee’s watermark in just to aggravate him 😉

Best looking track bike I ever rode…

2 State Champions and the team Rookie of the year

Do what I say LANDON!!!!

Dude in the middle should and could have gone pro mountain bike…

The most air I ever got without crashing…

Met this cool old guy that actually had some skillz…the dog’s name is Casey.
He’s a good doggo

My view for 54 miles from the tandem…

Rallying the troops at the start of the DFW area MS150 fundraiser ride.

 

That’s a small part of who I am when not being a DBA.  The MUCH bigger part is being a husband, father and grandfather…hands down.

Thanks for reading!

Kevin3NF