A bit of background:  Those aren't grand daughters of the Clampetts in the picture at right.  Those are my three daughters and three stepdaughters, all of whom I want to inherit the world - as little or as much as they want to take hold of.  (I already talked a bit about this in a post on my personal, family blog.  ...

Are you using your benefits to further your SQL Server skills? The other day, the company I work for (Scalability Experts) had a benefits meeting where open enrollment for insurance and other similar things were discussed.  Since we are a small company, we outsource HR/Payroll/Benefits and I discovered a new benefit that I was unaware of ...

Transparency - A Great Leadership Quality I've always appreciated how Andy Warren (blog| twitter) operates in the most transparent manner, especially as it relates to his role as a director for the Professional Association for SQL Server. For example, Andy's latest blog post about prepping for the SQLRally, to kick off in less than 30 days, is ...

Introduction As he does so well, Andy Warren (Blog | @sqlAndy) has issued a challenge to the community: What Should PASS Be? I'm sure lots of people have responded already, but I've been struck by two: Grant Fritchey's (Blog | @GFritchey) What Should PASS Be? and Robert Matthew Cook's (Blog | @sqlmashup) [blog] What Should PASS Be? ...

Sometimes I'm timely in getting the news out on useful resources.  And, other times, I'm a bit slower on the draw.  As I told my friends back at New Year's Day, ''As an official member of the Procrastinators Club, welcome to 2008!''  On the other hand, it's always good to remind folks of great resources that are still ...

I've done a poor job lately in keeping my SQLBlog posts synchronized with my professional blog.  As a result, you probably haven't seen a column I've been doing on professional development for the database professional called Plays Well With Others.  My apologies... I originally started this series of posts in support of the PASS ...

Pardon me, sir. Do I have a dog in this fight? Do I have a dog in this Fight? If I did, it'd be the Warner Brothers Barnyard Dog. After my term of service on the PASS board of directors ended in December of 2009, I fully intended to stay far, far out of the way.  It's an intention that I've largely been able to fulfill,excluding the ...

I am honored to present Managing Teams to the PASS Professional Development VC Tuesday 13 Jul 2010 at 1:00 PM EDT! Are you a member of a team of database professionals? Are you part of a developer team? Do you manage or lead a team? This presentation is for you. Andy Leonard shares experiences, war stories, and lessons learned from years of ...

Ok, I admit it.  I've done about as good a job publicizing my monthly professional development column, Plays Well With Others, as NBC did when the transitioned Jay Leno back to the Tonight Show. So I'm going to try to better, henceforth and forever more!  Two entries ago, I talked about the The 8 Characteristics of Exceptional ...

How 'Bout a Little Context? Let me be direct with you.  I love SQL Saturday.  If it were a woman, I'd marry it.  (Avoiding all extraneous thoughts of what my real wife would say, etc etc). Check out this fun Flickr Feed from the recent SQL Saturday in Chicago or these picks by Jorge Segara (blog | twitter) to see the ...