Sometimes spending some time with your spouse watching TV is right up there with comfort food, the challenge is often finding something that you’ll both find interesting and relaxing. We watched West Wing when it was originally aired, and somewhere along the line acquired the entire set of DVD’s which…

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Lots of events in Florida, easy to lose track! The Tallahassee Code Camp is October 23, 2010, details at http://www.tallycodecamp.org/ (nice looking site!). The Tampa Code Camp was just announced for November 13, 2020, and the web site should be live by tomorrow at www.tampacodecamp.com.

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Years ago I was part of a heated discussion about the ability/inclination of a team I was on to build a requested feature. The ‘other team’ insisted on 100% accuracy, something that just wasn’t possible – a point we considered both obvious and easy to demonstrate, and we wanted to…

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I talked about the basics of Influence in Part 1 and Part 2, today I’m trying something harder, showing you how to deliberately use your hard won influence to evoke change. Earning influence is perhaps not simple, but it’s an easy enough formula to understand. The risk is low.… Read more

We’re less than 30 days out from SQLSaturday #49 and we’re working hard on the logistics. Speaker gifts ordered, lanyards this year instead of stick on badges, Jack working on a deal with our after party location for great appetizers, and all the rest of the stuff that goes into… Read more

One of the things we’re trying to do at SQLRally (May 2011 in Orlando!) is support and grow the social events that happen after the close of the official program. How do we do that? I’ve got a couple ideas, hope you’ll send more:

• Provide an ‘after hours’ page on…

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I’ve hit that point where it feels like I need to work longer and harder to keep up, which is the signal for me that I need a break. I’ve got a couple meetings later today, and then I’m offline for the rest of the week to recharge, no big… Read more

Last Friday saw the end of the 2010 PASS election and it was very nice to find out I had been re-elected, with Douglas McDowell (also re-elected) and Allen Kinsel being the other two winners. We had more than 1000 ballots cast, about twice what we had last year. Aside… Read more

We’ll try to push this out through multiple channels, we’re trying to forecast dates to give those thinking about events (but not yet committed) visibility into which areas/dates are already committed. We won’t set up the event until you submit the formal event request, this is only to reserve the… Read more

Recently I had a student point me to CakeWrecks, a blog about good cakes gone bad.The post from today has cakes where the baker/maker took the instructions a bit literally, one example where they wanted a cake and flowers, and on the cake spelled out is….”and flowers”. Being very much… Read more

I started writing on influence last week and promised some comments on how to build influence and credibility. There are a lot of ways to do both, some maybe more effective than others, and some perhaps more cynical than others. Hopefully these will get you thinking and from there you…

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Most people blog because it’s fun, rewarding, good way to improve writing skills, be cool, and it looks good on a resume. Some people also hope to use their blog to influence others in a positive way. If you’re in the latter group, read on!

During our recent excitement about… Read more

Jack led the meeting tonight, spending a good amount of time on SQLSaturday, and Kendal Van Dyke did his marketing mojo about SQLRally. Good conversation about it, and a large number of the 20 or so attendees interested in SQLRally – more than were interested in going to the… Read more

I read Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell on a recommendation by Andy Leonard. Easy recommendation to take, I had previously read Tipping Point by the same author and found in interesting. Blink looks at something called ‘thin-slicing’, the ability to make a judgment based on… Read more

If you haven’t voted I hope you will. Ballots were sent out via email to those members eligible to vote. If you didn’t get a ballot, you can enter your email address at this link and if it’s listed as a valid voting member, it will send you a ballot.… Read more

I’ll have a longer post next week about my own risk strategy, but I wanted to write this first, both to start getting some ideas working and to see the questions that arise. Failure of any kind isn’t widely regarded as good, and I’m not encouraging anyone to not plan.… Read more

A bit of mid week humor. Recently I met up with Jack Corbett to review our room options for SQLSaturday #49 at Seminole State College. I was there early on a quiet Saturday morning, so I dropped my bag in the gazebo below and walked around some. When I returned,… Read more

As you may know we like to try new stuff here in Orlando, and this is another new thing. I’ve been wanting to do more to help build individual brands, and the struggle is to do something meaningful, interesting, affordable. Hard to do.

If you write a SQL blog that… Read more

It’s back with a slightly different format this time, 28 hours of seminars delivered over two days, and it’s all free! Watch one, or watch them all, it’s a great collection of talent and I think you’ll find it worth your time. In particular I’ll be attending to watch a… Read more

Today we’re announcing the call for speakers for pre-conference seminars at the first SQLRally being held in Orlando in May 2011. Please follow this link to the final guidance.

For those of you that read the earlier draft there are only a few changes that matter, all resulting from… Read more