Wow…the inagural 2011 T-SQL Tuesday was so big, it lasted a week! A few quick observations, then on to the blog posts:
According to my terribly scientific observations of T-SQL Tuesday, the third most common techie resolution for 2011 is MCM prep! The number two most common techie resolution is….Learning Powershell. As well it should be.
The number one most common resolution is a near universal desire to give back more to the SQL community. Roughly 90% who participated in this event resolved to blog more, speak more, help more on Twitter and other places, volunteer more…it’s astounding. I don’t suppose I should add much to this already 2,000+ word post, but I’d just like to say how deeply pleased I am that SO many of us are improving ourselves through what is, essentially, a communal charity of knowledge. Cheers to you, Mr. and Ms. SQL Blogger. I salute you all!
List of participants:
- John Samson
- Rob Farley
- Noel McKinney
- Pinal Dave
- Jason E Bacani
- Luke Hayler
- Mark Broadbent
- Aaron Bertrand
- Bradley Ball
- Nic Cain
- Cade Roux
- Steve Jones
- Nancy Hidy Wilson
- Jim McLeod
- Ken Johnson
- Gabriel Villa
- Andy Lohn
- Ricardo Leka
- Jason Strate
- Dev Nambi
- Erin Stellato
- Grant Fritchey
- Jen McCown
- Allen Kinsel
- Wes Brown
- Allen White
- Kendra Little
- Audrey Hammonds
- Julie Smith
- Dave’s SQL Blog
- Airborne Geek
- Pat Wright
- Bob Puserati
- Shannon Lowder
- Allan Hirt
- Michael J. Swart
- Jason Brimhall
- Paul G Hiles
- Matt Velic
- John Welch
- SQLSuperman
John Samson kicks things off with a call to action in T-SQL Tuesday 14: Techie Resolutions for You not Me. Among the many truly excellent suggestions is learning Powershell: “This incredibly easy to learn, versatile technology could be the key to you reclaiming back more of your time …” This is an wonderful take on the topic, and a great read. Thanks John!
When a problem is resolved – Rob Farley has “never really done resolutions like that”, so he talks about the word “Resolve” in the sense of settling a problem: “ I’m resolving to do it, which means that it may as well be complete already.”
Noel McKinney also isn’t into resolutions, but techie resolutions are something else. “…all I needed to do was come up with one or more techie resolutions that I’ll want to pursue even if I encounter (or initiate) some changes this year. This turned out to be quite easy.” Noel talks about three things he’d like to do in the techie sphere this year, and a hard choice he’ll have to make. (Also features one of the scariest blog pix I’ve ever seen…not of Noel, of the doll.)
In SQL SERVER – Performance Tuning Resolution, Pinal Dave discusses traditional new year’s resolutions: “ I find this is the funniest thing as we all take resolutions every year but not every year, we can manage to keep them.” Then talks about his own techie resolutions.
Jason E Bacani gives us by far the most enthusiastic titled post so far, T-SQL Tuesday #014!!! Resolutions!!! Yeah, baby!!! Good gravy, I’ve never seen so many exclamations! And no wonder…Jason has pulled himself out of a SQL 2000 pit and into the brave new world of R2, with nothing but grit, a new laptop, and some cool movie posters. Way to go, Jason! And I hope SQL Saturday Tampa went well!
Luke Hayler‘s word for 2011 ”is ‘more’ (it’s also my 2 year old son’s favourite word. Well, that and a very emphatic NO!)” Sounds great, Luke…eat more, spend more, sleep more? No? Oh, you’re going to do positive stuff…and sleep less. Way to model yourself after the MidnightDBAs! We’ll see you at the 2011 PASS Summit, man.
Mark Broadbent tells us, in T-SQL Tuesday #014 – Start as you mean to go on, that he’s already set his goals for the year! In this post, though, he tells us his strategy: “I am going full steam ahead right this minute so there is no time to even contemplate failure.”
Aaron Bertrand‘s post is the first one in this set that actually made me laugh out loud, because of his goal “To have faith in Connect again”…but it’s a really good talk/rant he gives here, alongside his other resolutions.
Bradley Ball has the honor of being the second T-SQL Tuesday blog to make me laugh, with A House and a Dog! T-SQL Tuesday 14: Techie New Year’s Resolution. Extra brownie points for being the first to commit to all 13 T-SQL Tuesdays this year! And I loved this: “I have a deep rooted desire to know SQL like I know comic books.” (Whoa, wait a sec, did I read this right? You’re working for the Office of the President? Of the U.S.? Cool!) And in the end, we learn how a house and a dog are techie goals.
Like many of us, Nic Cain ”doesn’t do resolutions”. But he happily gives us his goals for the year, which include getting naturalized. ”Once all these things are over and done with I think I’ll just go ahead and take the MCM exam. You know, just to pass the time…”
Cade Roux gives us a brief entry, but I like it regardless: “But if I just put in 30 minutes each day…”
T-SQL Tuesday #14–Resolutions « Voice of the DBA Looks like we caught SQLServerCentral.com’s Steve Jones off guard: “This was the first year in quite some time where I haven’t set goals or resolutions for the new year. … However, it’s T-SQL Tuesday, so I need to think of something…“ And so he did!
This is Nancy Hidy Wilson’s first T-SQL Tuesday! Bonus points for paying close attention to the invitation: she tells us her resolutions, and why she chose them. One of the things she says is one of the big unsung reasons for doing anything worthwhile: “Who knows where that will lead!” I love the enthusiasm…
Jim McLeod brainstorms several SQL Servery things he’d like to do this year, and ends on a thoughtful note: “Don’t be so fixated on SQL Server that you dilute or lose connections with your loved ones.” Well said, Jim. (Also, maybe check out my Forgotten T-SQL session for a little bit on recursive CTEs!)
Ken Johnson feels the love for the MidnightDBAs, and he doesn’t miss this opportunity to express it. More importantly, he titled his blog post well: Lies, Damned Lies, and Resolutions. Most people, Ken tells us, “have secret resolutions they won’t disclose for fear of failing publicly. I fall in the latter category.” So he tells us several things that he does NOT resolve, e.g. “I have also not resolved to participate in a T-SQL Tuesday: I am writing and submitting my first post right now.” Well written, Ken.
Gabriel Villa already has a jump start on the rest of us: “I came into 2011 wanting to speak, attend a SQLSaturday and get more certifications, so far, two out of three are right around the corner.” Well, good on ye then!
T-SQL Tuesday #014 – The 3 P’s: Andy Lohn has three primary resolutions. One, PASSMN. Two, Powershell, of course! “The other day, I started playing around with it and began to realize the power of it when I re-wrote our entire database deploy process in about an hour.” Three, present. “I’m going to present some topic to some people.” Goodtimes, goodtimes…
Ricardo Leka wrote T-SQL Tuesday – Janeiro…in Portugese. Sweet! Due to the miracle of Babelfish, I know that he, like the rest of us, thinks of New Year’s Day as just another day; that he intends to study for the MCM; and that he’s coming to the PASS Summit 2011! Sweet! Obrigado, Ricardo!
Jason Strate’s list of resolutions seems really ambitious to me: he wants to study, take the MCM, network, blog, present, webcast….and get married, AND work less. Jason, if you figure out how to do all of this, please give us a call.
Dev Nambi resolves to learn and use SQL Azure, and explains why. Great visuals, too!
Erin Stellato doesn’t “do” 50%, so her resolution “for 2011 is to find balance…and yes, this is a technical resolution.” I agree, and this has been on my mind lately, too. To put in my $0.02: Work-life balance, like physical balance, is a series of continuous adjustments. Here’s to both of us staying close to center in 2011, Erin.
Grant Fritchey likes plans, not resolutions, and his plans are ambitious: Setting up a “serious home office” (read: test lab), “drilling down on a particular tool set”, and writing – blogs, articles, and two books. I suspect Grant’s pantry is full of nothing but Red Bull, Ovaltine and Wheaties.
Jen McCown (hey, that’s me!) took a different take on resolutions, going with the definition “Analyzing a complex notion into simpler ones”. I like it! I should, I wrote it…
Allen Kinsel likes goals, not resolutions. “It probably has something to do with the fact that I track goals but, typically only think about resolutions at a point in time.” We hear two of his goals for the year.
My friend Wes Brown presents us with his my list of technical things to “get good at” this year”…the list includes some pretty interesting choices, from partitioning and replication to, uh, entity framework and Lisp. Really, Wes? This is gonna be an interesting year for your blog, methinks!
Allen White is the first person on this list who has resolved to spend less time with Powershell, but it’s understandable. After all, his “focus has been almost exclusively PowerShell for the last few years, at least in terms of my writing and speaking”. Alan’s list is a little all over the map, between house repairs and business, blogging and certifications. Sounds like a good life, yo.
Kendra's Optimizeropus
Kendra Little completely delighted me with her blog post, and I must say, she’s the first blogger that wasn’t on my Google reader, who now is, due entirely to her entry. Also, many bonus points for the phrase “That’s an achievably vague goal”, which is exactly my cup of tea.
Audrey Hammonds gets my award for longest tangent so far, and double points that it’s about food. “They should have just named it Project Beignet…” Audrey gives us a couple of specific books she’s going to read, in addition to her other 2011 career aspirations. “So, in conclusion, my 2011 aspirations are: Read, Study, Read, Learn, Test, Blog, Speak, Rock.”
Julie Smith gets major geek street cred for presenting her resolutions in cloud format, and for making me laugh with resolution #1. I also identify with #7, “Articulate my official position on the topic of “Women In Technology”.” It can be difficult to nail down exactly what one wants to say about WIT…
Dave Howard is another T-SQL Tuesday newcomer – welcome to the party! - and he resolves to do something truly shocking, for a DBA. “My other resolution was to get more sleep.” That’s definitely the resolution of a new father. Congratulations, Dave! He also outlines his strategy for resolution #3: work smarter.
Kerry L. Tyler (better known as @AirborneGeek to his Twitter friends) resolves to pick a direction: DBA, or BI? “ I’m still turned on by a lot of these technologies and the power that they can put into the hands of business users…” More power to you, brother.
Pat Wright is a brave soul. Not only did he list his annual goals on his blog at the beginning of 2010, but he actually revisits those goals in this post. Of course, he has a lot to be proud of: he met his goals regarding PASS, SQL Saturday, presenting, and organization. So maybe Pat’s not so much brave, as showing off 
Good luck in 2011 with the new list of goals, Pat.
Bob Pusateri has his plate full for the new year: he’s got a full list of professional resolutions (yes, including Powershell!), and he’s getting married this year!
Shannon Lowder‘s post was a revelation of sorts to me. It was the n-zillionth one I’ve read for this event that resolved to blog more, help more, speak more…in short, to give more to his fellow techies. Even when he talks about PASS, it’s community centric: “I am going to the summit! I see that as my opportunity to hang out with those who have inspired me to give back everything I am to the community.” We’ve got a good movement rolling here, and Shannon’s joining the crew.
Allan Hirt has set himself six very solid resolutions, starting with Denali: “I’m already planning my new Denali book which I am planning to have out within about 6 or so months of its release.” We’re looking forward to it!
You want to know what I like about Michael J. Swart‘s T-SQL Tuesday entry? Besides the pretty pictures, I mean. He doesn’t just resolve to blog more, or to blog N times a week, no no…the man wants readership! I’m the self-appointed MidnightDBA PR girl, and I like focus on blogging for people.
Jason Brimhall suggests we commit him (and provides a helpful image), and then presents four well thought-out resolutions. ”These goals will help with other goals. These goals will help me to learn quite a bit – even though they may seem a bit generic. I put a fair amount of thought into these and know I can achieve them, but also know that I have stepped them up a tad from last year.”
Paul G Hiles resolves “to continue to grow in my technical skills and to expand into areas of SQL Server and PowerShell that I have not used before.”
Matt Velic really puts it on the line: “There is such weight to making a resolution that millions have given up the tradition in the light of failure.” What Matt delivers is a near mission statement for the year, something that many of us have already resolved, if not so formally. He has provided a badge to represent this resolution. Cool! Thanks, Matt!
John Welch says “One of the trends that I’ve noticed around solving problems is the shift from resolving the problem to simply fixing the glitch,” and discusses resolving problems. Nicely done sir.
Stacia Misner talks about what she’d like to learn – and what fun she’d like to have – in 2011. “ It would be much easier to remain in ignorant bliss, but I was born to learn. Constantly.”
Stuart Ainsworth resolves “to work smarter, not harder, so I can play more.” I like that one!
Lady Runa says what I’ve been thinking: “It seems that a lot of us are making similar resolutions for 2011, so if you think you’ve seen this list before, you probably have. I’m not copying other people’s lists, it’s just that many of us in the SQL Server Community are seeking to accomplish similar things this year (birds of a feather and all that).”
Of Thomas Rushton four resolutions, my favorite was to “Try to understand more about how some of the quite spectacular answers on AskSSC actually work.”
Gill Rowley covered his bases by including both the official T-SQL logo, and my “Yay!” logo…nice. Even better, he makes a resolution very close to my T-SQL coding heart: ” I resolve to comment my code better.” #APPLAUSE!
Cameron Mergel unhappily reviews his unfinished 2010 resolutions, and discusses how he’s going to do better: “ This year the plan is to be as vague as possible to achieve higher scores (not really).”
John Racer doesn’t so much set his resolutions as much as take a quick, broad look at life. He’s accomplished much over the years, and he’s gotten “Getting Things Done” to help in the years to come.
Tjay Belt modifies his 2010 resolutions for the coming year. “10 items that I have found that are important to me, that I have continued to promote as my resolutions through a few years, with modifications as time marched on.”
Samson Loo outlines sevent excellent resolutions, including #3, ETL Stizzuf: “There is just something about Business Intelligence that tickles my fancy. It’s hard to describe but I love reports, especially those I don’t have to hand write. 2011 will be the year I become a BI bad ass so-to-speak.” This blog was a particularly enjoyable read. For that, Samson, your SQL Saturday 47 in Phoenix (scheduled for Feb 11) gets a free mention, right here and now.
Paul Randal‘s resolution is “to continue to have fun!” He gives some really cool links, including a video of a PONG game made out of a few hundred sheep in LED jackets. NO, I’m not making it up…
Oscar Zamora is all business, and his goals are “Allowing me to sleep properly and investing time on number crunching.” Gee, wonder why sleep is such a recurring theme among my fellow DBAs…
“It’s that time of year when people promise to themselves to lose weight, stop smoking, and stop writing cursors,” says Kelly Martinez (@greeleygeek). Kelly wants to learn T-SQL and the CLR, and he has a good idea: get together with “like-minded professional and/or a group to motivate and receive motivation throughout the year.”
Kendal Van Dyke needs to get organized. That’s not a critique of his blog, it’s his resolution for 2011. He outlines his plan of attack, which wisely includes sleep.
Tamera Clark gave several great resolutions, but I think this one is the most brilliant resolution: “Professional development shall be worked into my work week. Every week.” Also, she pimped our webshow for us, so she gets five stars, two thumbs up, and a bag of chips!
Sean McCown (my hubby) begins his blog in his usual straightforward style: “Jen’s making me write something since we’re hosting this month.” Awesome. Sean gives his resolutions, and also a list of his Powershell videos. (I’d told him how many people were writing their resolutions to learn Powershell.)
Niko Neugebauer lists four resolutions. Among them: “I want to organize a SQL Server event here in Portugal and to bring a couple of wise and well known guys/girls, and give them much more besides just an opportunity to present, but to take care of them by showing them around.” Want to speak in Portugal? Talk to Niko!
If you’re still here, I’m EXTREMELY impressed, and the people at the end of the list thank you for your tenacity. Or, they would, if we were all in a room together.
I like Rafael Salas‘s attitude: “ At the end of the year, I expect to look not only at the number of goals I have accomplished, but also how fun the ride was.”
SQLSuperman set himself one personal, and one professional goal in 2010, and achieved both. For 2011, he wants to run a half marathon, and “Get all the preliminary work done for my MCM. … Also, since the best learning is done when teaching, I am going to submit an abstract to as many SQL events as I can, as well as offer to present at my local SQLPASS chapter.” Good thinking! Now, what is your name?
Happy days, happy T-SQL Tuesday, and thanks for hanging on this long!
-Jen McCown
http://www.MidnightDBA.com/Jen
