I bought Real Leaders Don't Do Powerpoint by Christoper Witt ($15 at Amazon) on a trip, Powerpoint catching my eye and then deciding it was something I needed to read. It's not anti-Powerpoint, it's more about passion and messaging, something I've come to appreciate in both business and politics. For… Read more

One of the labs I frequently do with students is to design a database for a training business, something which I know something about and can add some challenges as the lab progresses. Students tend to either under or over normalize, though of course that's all in your point of… Read more

I'm flying up Friday afternoon to participate in SQLSaturday #7 which is being led by John Baldwin and his team of volunteers. I visited the user group there about a year ago and while there we discussed the possibility of a SQLSaturday - it's nice to see a seed planted… Read more

Wes is a friend acquiring via networking and community involvement - another success story! He's based in Tampa and has been involved with the past two SQLSaturday's in Tampa. His blog - Databases, Structures, and the Damn Data Itself - is one I enjoy because he talks about life as… Read more

I've been using Snarfer for a while now, preferring an offline reader so that I use a few spare moments to catch up on reading without having to plug in the air card. It works well enough, but lately I've been wanting something better, really driven by one idea… Read more

Today in the United States we celebrate Memorial Day, the day we remember American casualties of any military action. Though many worry that we lose sight of the meaning of holiday as it also seems to mark both a three day weekend and the beginning of summer, I think… Read more

The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes ($14 at Amazon) was a book I picked up for travel, though at 928 pages it's not a travel sized book. This starts almost at the beginning with discussions of radioactivity and the state of physics at the start of the… Read more

I just finished up my third coaching call with Don Gabor (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4) and I think I'm gaining a little ground, but still finding that I have a lot to learn.

We started by talking about some of the… Read more

I currently write the editorial for the PASS Connector which is published every two weeks as part of my role on the Board of Directors. I'm cross posting those editorials here as well as to the main PASS blog.

As of our most recent update PASS has more than…

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I currently write the editorial for the PASS Connector which is published every two weeks as part of my role on the Board of Directors. I'm cross posting those editorials here as well as to the main PASS blog.

As you read this I’ll be attending my second in…

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We'll be meeting at Chipotle in Altamonte Springs on May 23, 2009 at 11:30 am to discuss plans for the next (third annual) SQLSaturday here in Orlando. Both our previous events have gone very well, with a strong showing of 275 attendees last year. That's 275 attendees that got to… Read more

For the past couple years I've been using a Targus (I think the model 300 right now) and they've been functional if uninspiring. As I'm sure many of you do, the laptop bag serves as more than just something to carry a laptop, being a combination tool bag and briefcase… Read more

I stopped by Compusa on the way home to pick up a package of blank DVD's and did the 10 minute tour while I was there, always interesting to see what is new or featured and how prices are doing. Two monitors caught my eye, both by I-Inc. One was… Read more

I went over last night to do a presentation to the group managed by Bonnie and Lynn. Had 11 in attendance, very good for a group that only recently started and in a smaller city. Had planned to get over there an hour early for some quality Starbucks time first,… Read more

Our most recent meeting was May 12, 2009, and we had 23 attendees. We started off the evening with news of upcoming events (SQLSat Birmingham, SQLSat Pensacola, Day of DNN) and setting a date for our kickoff meeting for our next SQLSaturday Orlando (May 23 at Chipotle in Altamonte if… Read more

I've been reading What Got You Here Won't Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith over the past couple months, and found it to be a useful book. My one sentence summary is that it teaches without the ability to be introspective and let go of your pride, you can't evolve… Read more

I'm still learning and experimenting on the networking side, thought I'd share a few things I've seen or tried lately. I've been lucky enough to have a few dinners to attend lately, and each has presented some challenges:

• One was outside seating which was nice, but people weren't mixing much…

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SQLServerCentral had a press release today about attending the Summit and the networking opportunities, something that I've been blogging about and so has Tom Larock. I mentioned it in my PASS Update today, but I wanted to say again here that I think the biggest reason to attend the Summit… Read more

It's been a slower pace since the last update. Grant and I are working on the publication process for content on sqlpass.org, and Tim Mitchell is still queued waiting to deploy some code that will let us provide a filtered feed of all the bloggers in the blog directory. Probably… Read more

Last year I wrote about signing up for Clear, a registered traveler program. I've flown enough to make it useful flying out of Orlando, but my most frequent destination has been Seattle and so far there is no Clear portal there - so only helps on one half of the… Read more