SQL Rally 2012 Vote For Me!

Hello Dear Reader!  Last year I tossed my hat in the ring on the world of Presenting.  This was a tremendous experience for me.  Presenting is a whole other skill set, one that I had not exercised very often.  The more I presented the more I learned.  I received wonderful questions and feedback that helped me grow from SQL Rally 2011, presenting Page & Row Compression How, When, and Why to the PASS Summit 2011 where I presented Page & Row Compression: Deep Dive.  All of this and there is still more to go into. 

"So Balls," you say, "What are we voting for again?"

Great Question Dear Reader!  While I've presented loads on Page & Row Compression, in 2012 we are adding Spatial Compression to the mix and Vertipaq Compression that gives us Columnstore Indexes.  Not to mention we still have Backup Compression as well.  Put all that together and I've got enough information to fill a whole day, and that is just what I'd like to do!

I've submitted a Full Day Pre-Con on Compression to SQL Rally 2012.  I am honored to say that I'm up for vote along with some other really great sessions.  And you Dear Reader get to vote and decide on who the final two are that make it.

THERE'S ALWAYS ROOM FOR COMPRESSION

The title of my Pre-Con is "There's Always Room for Compression" and here is a copy of my abstract.

Come on There’s Always Room for Compression!  In SQL 2012 Compression hits with a Bang.  We should all be taking backups, and Compressing our backups as well.  But what advanced feature can cost Compression performance and how can you re-claim it?  SQL 2008 we got Backup and Page & Row Compression, SQL 2008 R2 gave us Unicode Compression to add to the mix, and SQL 2012 give’s us Page & Row Compression for Spatial Data.  On top of that we get VertiPaq Compression for Columnstore Indexes.   If you are running an OLTP shop, working heavily with BI, or a mix of the two Compression in SQL Server 2012 is something you should learn about.  There are 3 bottleneck’s in any Database, find out how Page & Row Compression can help you offload I/Op’s for CPU.  BI heavy shop? Understand What Columnstore Indexes are, how they work, and how you can use them. 

If you are interested in Compression, looking at using this at work, or trying to figure out best practices for Compressing Data vote for me!  We will Deep Dive Page & Row Compression and look at the internal components, how it works, how you monitor it, and that will lead to a greater understanding in how to apply it.  The internals of Columnstore indexes using Vertipaq Compression, we will be spelunking on those internals as well!  Come on spelunking on internals, that just sounds fun!  *I first heard that phrase from Paul Randal(@PaulRandal | Blog), it is his but I'm borrowing it J!

Not only will we be Deep Diving a couple different area's but I want this to be an interactive day.  I will be putting together a Sample Database that we will use so we can work together and by the end of the day you will have hands on experience with Determining what Tables are good candidates from Compression, Compressing them, taking baselines Before and After in order to see what benefits that we have achieved.

Compression can help you if you an OLTP shop or if you are a DBA who works primarily with BI.  There is something for everyone.

GO VOTE!

Even if you do not vote for me there are a lot of really great Pre-Con's that you can vote for, (Like my friend & Co-Worker Bradley Schacht(@BradleySchacht | Blog) "The 3 P's of Presentation (PerformancePoint, PowerPivot, Power View)".  All you need is an active login for PASS and you can vote.  Please Go cast yours today Click Here!

Thanks,

Brad 

Pragmatic Works Has Balls...SQLBalls

http://www.flickr.com/photos/54296260@N05/6036813377/

That is right Dear Reader, I am making the jump, Starting Monday February 6th I will be a Sr. Consultant with Pragmatic Works.  Over the last year I've gotten to know quite a few of the people that work with Pragmatic Works.  As a company and as individuals they are staples of the SQL Server Community.  If you've been to a SQL Saturday, SQL Rally, 24 Hours of PASS, SQL PASS Summit, or countless other SQL related gatherings you have undoubtedly come across someone from Pragmatic Works.

"So Balls," you say, "Sr. Consultant does this mean you're no longer a DBA?  Are you now jumping ship to become a Business Intelligence guy?"

No worries Dear Reader, even though DBA isn't in my official title I'll be up to my elbows in all kinds of DBA goodness!  A big part of what I'll be doing is working with other DBA's and clients with DBA issues.  Now let's jump right in.

START WITH WHY

Brian Knight(@BrianKnight|Blog) has written about Why he started Pragmatic Works, read Community Manifesto at Pragmatic Works, but the real question is Why would I join Pragmatic. 

I mentioned Simon Sinek (@Simonsinek |Website) yesterday.  I was introduced to him by my now fellow Co-worker Tom Brenneman (@TomBrenneman).  If you haven't watched Simon's How Great Leaders Inspire Action TED Talk, take a  break click on the link here.  I'll be here when you get back.  It's good stuff.  Heck it's amazing.  If you're like me when you watched it your mind was exploding with ideas and possibilities afterwards.  Take a deep breath, now back to your regularly scheduled blogging.

"So Balls," you say "What's your Why?"

You are on your game today Dear Reader.  I believe at our core we as people all have something that we want to fundamentally believe in. Along the way of life I picked up a simple oath, "To Believe in the Life of Love, To Walk in the Way of Honor, To Serve In the Light of Truth.  This is the Life, the Way, and the Light".  Simple words, but I found I believe in them.  I believe in Love, Truth, and Honor.  When we were kids there were things that we wanted to do, not because of a paycheck, not to get ahead, but the things WE believed in.  We believed in those things so fiercely that they shaped what we wanted to become. 

I found that I really liked working with Computers, and so that became my major in college (eventually), and that was the field I went into (eventually).  It's a little hard to draw a parallel there.  At the best of times I like my computer, at most I'm happy with it, I certainly don't love it.

 What I found was I enjoyed learning, and I was in the right field for it.  Heck I didn't just enjoy it, I found I loved it!  Later I got to mentor and work with others.  When I saw them grow and learn it filled me with a sense of pride, but never so much that I didn't hold dear to the idea that I always have more to learn.  Eventually I got to the point where I would learn on a topic and I would get to educate others on it.  That led me to begin presenting on topics internally for the places where I worked and to the people I worked with.  Then last year I started presenting to the community, I started blogging, I started volunteering, and most importantly I stated participating. 

Doing so I started finding things that I really loved.  I love speaking, I know I'm weird but I like getting up in front of a room and talking about something technical.  I love teaching.  Jumping in to situations where I don't know a lot about an environment and I'm learning on the fly to overcome a critical system outage, almost as fun as white water rafting.  There is a certain Truth to unabashedly teaching, to not withholding information.  When I've worked for a place I've taken great efforts to make sure that when I leave they know what I know, documentation, information, scripts, you name it I want them to have it.  If I have to keep something from you in order to seem important, then what I'm doing is wrong.  In our business Ideas are important, but recognizing that People have to think them, and that People are more important is critical.  And finally if you act with Love and Truth towards others, there is no way that you cannot be perceived as Honorable.

So Why am I going to work for Pragmatic Works?  Because I see a company that believes in empowering people through education and technology.  I see a Company that uses the Pragmatic Works Foundation to train the unemployed and helps Veterans transition to technology jobs after they leave the service.  And not only do they help train people, but they hold recruiting fairs, they work actively to place people.  To top it all off they started doing this during the HEIGHT of the Recession, when our economy was at its worst.  When profits were at an all time low for others, Pragmatic was giving away two free seats in each of its training sessions to an unemployed technology professional.  I see a company that not only believes in the SQL Community but actively encourages it's employees, and offers incentives, for them to participate. 

In short my Why is because I believe in Love, Truth, and Honor.  And I believe in what Pragmatic Works is doing as a company, and I'm very excited to participate.

WHO BETTER TO LEARN FROM

I attended the Pre-con that Pragmatic Works did for SQL Rally.  I have sat in their presentations, and I have learned from them.  They are SQL MVP's they are Instructors for the SSAS Maestro Course that is as close to a Business Intelligence MCM that Microsoft Currently has.  If you were going to learn about SSIS you would be hard pressed to find people more qualified than Brian Knight, Mike Davis (@MikeDavisSQL|Blog), and Devin Knight (@Knight_Devin|Blog).  From a DBA perspective there are top notch SQL guys like MVP Jorge Segarra(@SQLChicken|Blog), Gareth Swanepoel(@GarethSwan|Blog), and Chad Churchwell(@ChadChurchwell|Blog).  If SSAS is your bag then I would point you no further than Mr. Adam Jorgensen(@adam_jorgensen|Blog).

I cannot say enough good things about this team, and there are many more amazing MVP's and MVP caliber people that I haven't listed.  At Pragmatic I will learn How to be the absolutely best technology specialist I can be throughout a wide range of Microsoft technologies.

Throughout all that learning I'll be Consulting, Teaching, Presenting, and Blogging.  I'm very excited to get started, and I hope you will come along as I explore this next phase of my career.  Until next time Dear Reader.

Thanks Again,

Brad

Thank You & Goodbye Publix

It's been a little quite here at SQLBalls.com Dear Reader, but business is about to pick up.  There are a lot of changes in store for this year.  The very first of which is that Friday February 3^rd 2012 will be my last day working for Publix.  Working for Publix has been a tremendous opportunity for me, and I have grown professionally in ways I never dreamed of.  When I left Virginia for Florida Publix was the company I wanted to join.  I knew of them, but not a lot about them.  The more I learned about them, the more I would come to love them as a company.

“So Balls”, you say, “Where are you going?”

That Dear Reader is an excellent question.  And one that we will address tomorrow.  For today I wanted to take a moment to say Thank You to Publix. 

PUBLIX

Publix is a Fortune 500 Company in size and in Capacity, it has been in the Fortune 100 Top Places to Work for 15 years in a row.  The concept is simple one.

Back in the early 1900’s a Man named George Jenkins was the youngest manager in Piggly Wiggly History at the time.  He was quite successful.  So successful that the President of Piggly Wiggly had told George that if he had any idea’s he could drive up to Atlanta and share them.  George was a man full of ideas and he set out on a trip to discuss how they could revolutionize the grocery store business.  In those times it took 2 days to travel by car from Fl to Atlanta GA.

When George arrived he sat waiting outside of the President’s office.  He saw men in suits enter and over heard some of the conversation.  At that point the President’s Secretary walked over to George and said that, They were too busy to meet with him that day, and he should just drive back down to Tampa and come back some other time.

The conversation that George had overheard was about the Golf scores they had shot the previous day, and the course they were planning on going to that day.  Needless to say the 2 day drive back down to Florida proved fruitful for George, but not for Piggly Wiggly.  George decided that he wanted a place where every Customer and every Employee would be valued above all else.  That the cost of doing business would not come at the cost of serving the customer or employees.  George quit Piggly Wiggly and went on to found Publix.

True to his word the very first year that Publix was opened the company ran into the red.  The reason it lost money that year?  From the very first day George issued stock in the company to every employee, and paid a dividend per share.  Goerge felt that if you own something you would put more work into it, and from the bag boy up to the owner he wanted everyone to feel pride in their business.  That continues to this day.  Publix is the largest Employee owned company in the United States.  As a matter of fact the only way to get Publix stock is to work for Publix.

When you start with Why great things happen, go watch Simon Sineck if you don’t believe me.  Why, George believed that by Serving people and his Employees that everyone would benefit one another.  How, he would make that the standard and offer Premier Customer service.  What, George just happened to open a grocery store, that went on to become a multi-billion dollar company, dedicated to this day to become the “Premier Grocery Store” in the world. 

Publix was founded during the Depression, at a time when new business shouldn’t succeed.  When many established businesses went under.  George used to get a ride to work with his butcher because instead of buying a car, he spent his money on a delivery truck for his store.  He was at every opening of every Publix when he was alive.  And there are pictures of him bagging groceries and walking customers out to their cars to load them.  The week he died, he had stopped in old store #1 like he did most weeks.  To say hi and see how things were running.  If you live in South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, or Florida you will be able to find a Publix.  I would highly recommend that you stop by and see what George built for yourself.

THE PEOPLE

I don’t care how many times I’ve said it, or how many times you hear it The People make a difference in where you work.  At Publix I have worked with some of the smartest and most dedicated people I have ever met.  It is a very common thing at Publix to run into someone who has been with the company over 30 years.   There are many who still remember the founder of Publix, Mr. George, affectionately and share stories of him.

One of Publix motto’s is “The People Make the Difference”.  And it could not be more true.  Whether it be the individual at a store level that goes the extra mile, the people from Corporate and Manufacturing that load up their own trucks to get supplies to Stores and Customers affected by hurricanes, or the many late nights that the IT staff put in to see that the Store Systems that make the Customer experience so seamless continues to keep working.  It is the people.  The People that work at Publix tirelessly devote their time to charitable efforts without looking for glory or recognition.  Their work with the United Way and in sponsoring children and families during Christmas are two that leap to mind immediately.  But you don’t have to look much further to find men and women that are active members of their Churches, Volunteers for Boy & Girl Scouts, Board Members of State Colleges, and servants of many other fine organizations.

But that is a big body of people.  I worked on the DBA team, specifically on the SQL DBA Team.  The men I worked with are some of the finest DBA’s I’ve ever worked with.  I learn constantly with them, and they have no shortage with which to teach.  When you manage over +3000 SQL Server Instances (Almost 4000) you have to be at the top of your game, or things go wrong. 

I could write a profile on each member of the team and offer glowing reviews and recommendations based on their knowledge of Internals, Optimization, Troubleshooting and Performance Tuning, High Availability and Disaster Recovery.  They are people that I have learned from, gained amazing insights into managing SQL Server, received amazing Scripts from, they even helped me move!, and I had many  wonderful personal conversations with.  Needless to say I look forward to keeping in touch with them, because they are amazing individuals that I hope will be life long friends.

Thank You

So I want to take a brief moment to say Thank You.  Thank You to all the people I’ve worked with.  To the DBA’s that I spent late night’s and weekends with Thank You.  To the Analyst, Programmers, Data Analysts, and Managers Thank You.  To the co-workers that encouraged me to speak at events, sat in them, and offered me constructive criticism Thank You.  I am better for having worked with you and I wish you all nothing but the best.

HERE’S YOUR CHANCE

So now Dear Reader I would like to say to you, Publix will be hiring in the near future.  As you can tell from my glowing review, I think this is a wonderful place.  An opportunity has arisen that I just cannot pass up, and that spells Opportunity, What Opportunity are you looking for, for you. 

Here is the link to the job posting on the Publix Website, click Here.  Good luck to you if you decide to  apply.  And Thank You Again Publix.

Thanks,

Brad