Congratulations to John Magnabosco for being awarded as a Microsoft MVP. I met John last year at the Indy Tech Fest, and I’m looking forward to going back next year. We’ve corresponded regularly, and John was one of the people I picked to do some guest editorials here at SQLServerCentral, so look for his thoughts here soon.
I got my MVP goodies the other day in the mail. My bag is upstairs, not yet used, but I have to go out tomorrow and I'll see how it does. I wore my HALO shirt, so it's in the laundry, but look for that in a podcast soon.
My USB plasma ball was a hit, and I realize I should have gotten a few of these for the kids. They're cool, and when it gets dark, they provide a nice soft glow.
Not MVP logo items, as I’m not sure if I really want to wear those. I was somewhat uncomfortable last year at the PASS Summit when I got an MVP ribbon for my badge.
Each year as part of the MVP award that Microsoft gives to people, they also include US$150 of merchandise from their company store. It’s a secure store, and Microsoft will cover shipping, but you can’t go crazy. In fact, you can’t spend more than your $150, so it becomes a challenge to get close.
The store has lots of Microsoft logo stuff, everything from shirts to jackets to notepads. Last year I bought my son a Zune, got him a case and headphones and a couple HALO shirts. Nothing was overly exciting for me, and this year I’d delayed spending any more. Everyone here has an iPod or Zune, we have plenty of “stuff”, so I wasn’t sure what to get.
I was browsing the MVP newsgroups this morning, seeing what complicated and interesting problems they come up with when someone had mentioned they’d spent their money. So that triggered me to go look and see what was out there. I figured there was something I could get, even if it was something silly. I ended up with:
I ended up spending $143, so I have $7 left. Not sure there’s much I can get for $7, or if it’s worth me looking around, but I’ll ask my son if there’s some game he’d like to get.
He was awarded MVP status today, no joke, for his work in the community.
According to his blog, it’s not a joke. And it shouldn’t be. Between the excellent book he wrote on execution plans, his work for PASS, and regular contributions on SQLServerCentral helping people in the forums, Grant is a great choice for MVP.
Fundamentally as I get older, I think more and more men are pigs. There is definitely something wrong with them, as mentioned by Mr. Denny, and in the US at least, there's a Culture of Assholes, from Alan, which I blogged about on my personal site briefly. I'm not sure I can express things as well as those two gentleman above, but I'll try.
First, my apologies for the language, but it expresses things nicely, though not quite as eloquently as I'd like to express it.
What I'd really want to know is who the eff does any man think they are by coming on to a woman, in public, at a professional environment?
Really, dude, you're not that interesting. The women attending the event, the women hosting it, and even those working there aren't looking to you as a future mate or spouse. If they are, they'll let you know, but recognize that you chances are on the low side of the 5 9s. 99.999% of the women you meet don't want to sleep with you.
I'm no saint, and I'm certainly not politically correct. I recognize inherent biases, bigotry, and prejudice in myself. I think I do a pretty good job of controlling it and dealing with it, but I regularly do and say things that are inappropriate or are approaching the line where I offend or insult someone.
And I'm sure I have hurt people at times. I can only apologize and strive to do better.
I've heard numerous jokes about "booth babes" at conferences, woman hired to help attract people to booths because they're attractive, not because they're engineers that can teach you about the product, but because they are "eye candy" for men. Men seem to make up most of the audience at technical events I attend, big and small, and while it makes sense to attract them, I think in a business environment this is an issue. We see or hear something enough, have a few drinks, and somehow think we're more attractive than we are.
I'll bring up an event that I'd glossed over, but I think should be addressed. At the 2008 PASS Summit, on Thursday night, there was a large party in the main auditorium. A band was playing, lots of drinks, games, etc., but near the stage there was a motorcycle set up. You could get on it and get a picture taken, with a scantily clad young lady.
Now I'm OK with men getting up there if they want. Moral standards vary and that's fine. If you can justify that with your significant other, or God, or yourself, then have fun. I have no issue with people that want to live their lives on the looser side. It's their choice, and as long as they accept and deal with the consequences, I'm OK with that.
But I thought it was in poor taste, and more, I thought it was something that would make women uncomfortable. After all, I didn't see a Chippendale-type guy up there taking pictures with girls. If they were there, my apologies, but I still think this display, which was put on by PASS and/or Microsoft, was inappropriate.
Sexual harassment seems like a joke when you see the videos at orientation for your company. Or you have to read a handbook. Or you see it mocked on some TV show.
It's not.
It's a fact of life for many women. It happens all the time, and honestly, they have no recourse. You are cutting your professional throat in many ways if you make a stink. Most men keep their distance and even casual friends pull away.
I think that men are getting more educated about this over time, but it's still a problem. It seems that too many men, married men, men that have been in business a long time, still have trouble getting their minds off sex. And they have even more issues when they drink.
Men, you aren't that interesting no matter how much you drink.
And for those of you that are offended as much as I am. If you witness something, you don't need to "protect the lady", but you should make it clear that you don't condone it.
What do MVPs get to do and see at the MVP Summit? Well most of it is under NDA, so we can't disclose much. You can search out #mvp09 on Twitter to see some of the stuff that can get leaked, but here's one thing that's OK.
On Tuesday night, there was an MVP party at the Experience Music Project. A karaoke band performed, with various MVPs up there singing. You can see some footage in this blog post.
This week I've been at the Microsoft MVP Summit in Washington State. This is my second summit, and I was really looking forward to it. In fact, after my first one last year, I was excited to get more debate and information about SQL Server as a product and how Microsoft is building the product.
Unfortunately almost everything we've seen is under NDA, so I can't really put out specifics, and I'll have to get clearance for this post just to let you know what's happening. We can't even take pictures in most places. Here's the outside of the Microsoft Conference Center. I like the flags from all over the world displayed here.
This year I was a bit disappointed by the events and presentations at the Summit. I spoke to a few people that have been here more times and they aren't surprised. With SQL Server being somewhat in between releases (SQL 2008 was just released, SQL 11 is just getting started), everyone is a little unfocused on what to do. Or at least it feels that way to me.
The presentations are a little vague at times and the MVPs don't seem to enagage the Microsoft employees as much as last year. Overall things seemed a little vague, with program and product managers kinds of throwing things out in their sessions, which were more Powerpoint/presentation sessions rather than discussions.
Day 2 ended up with many more discussions between MVPs and MS people, so it was more interesting, and more information came out of it. Unfortunately, most of this is under NDA, so no specifics yet.
I do like the auditoriums where a number of briefings are held. There's a tiered auditorium that's well designed for the modern world. Tiers of desks WITH power every few feet. Nice for laptops, especially when you're in there all day.
I did meet a number of new MVPs, which was exciting. Pinal Dave, of SQLAuthority.com sought me out with a few other MVPs from the other side of the world, and we had the chance to chat a bit. It was nice seeing plenty of other MVPs, like Joe Webb, Hugo Kornelus, Louis Davidson, and many more. I met Jason Massie, who I've exchanged tweets with and spent time with Andy Warren, my partner in JumpstartTV. Brad McGeHee, director of DBA education with Red Gate is here, and Jacob Sebastian received an award from the MVPs for his contributions this year.
It's great seeing friends and colleagues, many of whom I correspond with regularly. This is a great networking opportunities for SQL Server professionals that have the chance to discuss and debate issues in a very low noise environment. As much as it's great to interact with the community at large, I find that some discussions aren't as focused for some reason.
There's an MVP dinner one night, a separate one for each product group. Last year the entire Maggiano's was rented out. Eric Johnson and I got confused last year and ate salads with the Visual Studio MVPs until we realized it and moved to the SQL room. We were back at Maggianos again, and it was a good time chatting with both MS and MVP folks.
MVPs Andy Warren and Robert Cain are above, enjoying a little conversation before dinner. I also snagged Pinal Dave, of SQL Authority, as well as Jacob Sebastian, one of our SQLServerCentral regular authors. Arnie and Satya snuck in there as well.
I was exhausted at dinner, having gotten up at 5:45 to run before a long day at the Microsoft Conference Center, so I left on the first bus I could, but it was great to catch up with a few people, including my brother-from-another-mother, Dan Jones, one of the main PMs for SQL Server.
I've been coming to Seattle for many years, since 2001, and in all that time I'd never been to the Experience Music Project before the 2008 MVP Summit. Andy Warren and I tried to go a few times over the years, but it was closed and we didn't bother. I had such a good time there last year, I actually took my son there, and the Science Fiction museum, when he came with me in November 2008 for the PASS Summit.
As with any Microsoft event, they did a fantastic job of providing food and drinks. A variety, and plenty of them, which always go over well with geeks. The same as last year, there was a karaoke band and people were invited up on stage to sing. It's a mix of people with some talent and those with enough adult beverages inside them not to care.
Above we have Michael Coles performing with his background singers, Allen White, Pinal Dave, Rich Heiges, and yours truly. I'll get some video of this, and others, up soon.
I'm a "green" guy. Not militant, but I think it's worth paying attention to how you impact the environment. A few interesting things on the Microsoft Campus.
First they have a huge bus system to move people around this campus. It's a large area and people are always needing to move between buildings. You can call for a ride, and someone will show up to move you around. I saw building numbers in the 100s, and after the expansion that's underway completes, will have more than 10 million square feet of space.
They have all sizes of busses, but it's nice to see a number of Toyota Prius' being used. Since most trips probably have 1-2 people, this is a great gas savings.
They also have done an interesting job of setting up not only recycling containers, but also composting containers. I hadn't seen anything like this in other companies I've visited, but I think it's cool. The three bins below are "Trash" (white label), "recycle" (blue), and "Compost" (black).
It can can be a little confusing as to what goes into which bin, but I did notice that my coffee cup had a note to let me know it was compostable.
It's hard to read but it says "Compostable" on the top line, and then below that "Cup = Compost" and "Lid = Trash"
I think the MVP is a great networking opportunity, and while it's a closed club, it also gives MVPs a chance to bring community feedback and ideas to those at Microsoft who build SQL Server. Since they sometimes work in a vacuum, this is a good time to talk to the folks that decide what things get built.
While many MVPs are paying attention to the community, answering questions, speaking, etc,, it definitely helps if any of you out there experiencing issues would make it a point to contact an MVP or two and explain your issue. We do try to get your feedback to Microsoft, so be sure that you let us know what things are pain points, of features of desire in the next versions of SQL Server.
I met Pinal Dave, whose blog I've followed for a year or so and just started to correspond with. A very nice note in his blog from the MVP Summit. And this picture:
I was re-awarded MVP status from Microsoft for 2009. Since I didn’t hear anything to the contrary in the last few days, I thought I was getting it, but you never know.
But I had the email this morning, right before I got a congrats from Allen White :). He’s my roommate for the MVP Summit in March, and he’s in Germany for the holidays visiting his daughter, so he had a head start on me.
A nice way to start 2009.
I hate to say it, but I can't say anything. At least not yet until I confirm some things are not under NDA.
However it was a great week, I met some very smart people, and had a good time. Lots of things in the works for both SQL Server 10 (2008) and 11, and it was a week to get excited and energized about the product. I'll write more as I can.
Yesterday was an interesting day up at Microsoft. The SQL Server track is split into two sessions, with 2 assigned rooms, and luckily for me, all of the sessions I wanted to attend were in one room, so I never had to move. I liked that, though I was regretting not having the laptop. The give and take is good, with about 40-50 people in each room that ask questions throughout the session, which slows things down, but it does help us as MVPS, direct how the talks go.
I can't talk a lot about what's going on, especially as I need to get some permission about what is NDA and what is releasable. There is a lot of work going on up here and while I don't always agree with the direction, I do see something I like.
Passion and effort.
It's what I like to see from my sports teams, win or lose, and there's a lot of both up here. Even though things are muted in the offices, it does seem like people are interested in building great things up here.
Facilities
The facilities are pretty nice. We're in the Microsoft conference center on campus and the main room I've been in is a tiered audience area with rows that have mini-desktops, plugs for laptops, and great wireless. The chairs are comfortable, and it's easy to see and hear, something that doesn't happen in most conference rooms I've been in.
I finally got set up to access the MVP newsgroup server today while I was working on some other projects. There are tons of projects in a newsgroup/Usenet type format, mostly for every technology for which there is an MVP. I subscribed to the SQL Server one as well as a few of the general non-product specific ones.
A few people had recommended I get set up and told me not to be intimidated. After all, these are some of the smartest people working with SQL Server. Itzak Ben-Gan, Kalen, and more all post in there. I noticed a few of the other new MVPs introducing themselves and getting lots of congratulations, so I did the same. MVP #4 for me, the fourth person to do so this year. I checked again tonight and got a bunch from MVPs around the world, kind of neat for a Sunday. I also posted a question and got a couple answers, related to SQL Server.
As I flipped through the messages that were out there, I noticed a few things. First the messages are fairly complex, with no easy questions or simple fixes given. Mostly these are hard, complex issues, often bugs, that the people that are really good at working with SQL Server can't figure out. The other thing is that there's a low noise level. People are friendly, polite, even joking with each other, but they're really looking to help others. I was especially interested in the MVP author group. Some interesting questions in there.
I'm not sure how much I'll contribute back to the groups, but I do look forward to a few debates and meeting fellow MVPs in April.
