Search results matching tags 'Books' and 'charity'

SQL Server MVP Deep Dives Volume 2 : Operation Smile

AaronBertrand — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 15:19:00 GMT

Two years ago, I was involved in a worthwhile project that produced a book called SQL Server MVP Deep Dives - a collection of chapters written by 50 or so fellow MVPs, assembled in a single volume and sold to the masses. The unique component of this project was that no author or editor took a single penny - most of the proceeds went to charity (Manning Publications understandably withheld operational expenses). The charity we chose was War Child International (web | wikipedia), and as of January we had raised over $21,000. (Read more about our little project.)

This year I am pleased to announce that we have collaborated on a second volume of SQL Server MVP Deep Dives. The charity we agreed on this time around is Operation Smile (web | wikipedia), who "provides cleft lip and palate repair surgeries to children worldwide, assists countries in reaching self-sufficiency with these surgeries, and works to reduce the occurrence of cleft lips and palates." We are certainly hoping to match and even exceed the funds we have been able to raise for War Child over the past two years.

We had different limitations this time around: maximum one chapter per author, and maximum 12 pages per chapter. My chapter is an abbreviated version of my presentation and blog series on T-SQL Bad Habits to Kick. But many things remain the same: more than enough MVPs are on board, Manning is stepping up again to assist with publication, and the authors and editors are once again going to defer all proceeds to the selected charity. I hope you are as excited as I am and are looking forward to this second version.

Please watch this space for updates on availability. We expect that physical copies will be available for order in time for PASS in Seattle (the second week of October).

SQL Server MVP Deep Dives Redux

AaronBertrand — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 20:58:00 GMT

Manning has now released several chapters of the SQL Server MVP Deep Dives book on its web site. I blogged about this on the 16th, but they pulled the page for some edits, so it kind of took some momentum away. I just wanted to let everyone know that the physical book is now ready for pre-order, and you can access many chapters (23, at current count) in digital form now. We are all hopeful that the physical book will be available by PASS; since more than half of the authors will be in one building together, it would be a great opportunity to get an unprecedented number of authors to sign your copy!

SQL Server MVP Deep Dives : eBook and pre-order ready soon!

AaronBertrand — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 01:26:00 GMT

A project roughly a year in the making, the SQL Server MVP Deep Dives title will very soon be available as an eBook and as a pre-order for the physical book. A collection of over 50 chapters from a slew of SQL Server MVPs, on topics ranging from XQuery to Replication to PowerShell to Table-Valued Parameters to Dependencies... and the list goes on. In addition to reviewing several chapters in the book, I also had two chapters myself ("My Favorite DMVs and Why" and "SQL Server Audit, Change Data Capture and Change Tracking"). You will be able to download a copy of the book starting as early as tomorrow (possibly Friday) at the Manning web site; I will update with a link here when it is made available.

You can pre-order the physical book now from the other retailers (Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders, buy.com, or your favorite retailer under ISBN 1935182048 / 9781935182047), but these don't give you access to the digital copy. And they also obviously don't offer an option to *only* get the digital book, which surely is an attractive option for some... both because it is cheaper and because the physical book is not expected to ship until November or December.

What's interesting about this book does not end with the wide variety of contributors, writing styles, points of view, and content areas. Even more interesting is that none of the authors receive any compensation for their contributions: some of the proceeds are going to the charity War Child International (web | wikipedia). This charity is described as "a network of independent organisations, working across the world to help children affected by war. War Child was founded upon a fundamental goal: to advance the cause of peace through investing hope in the lives of children caught up in the horrors of war."

The Deep Dives project was imagined and spearheaded by Paul Nielsen (of SQL Server Bible fame), and several MVPs helped organize and streamline the grueling process of both approving abstracts and then reviewing chapters: Kalen Delaney, Greg Low, Adam Machanic, Paul Randal, and Kimberly Tripp.

Happy reading!