T-SQL Tuesday is always a bright spot for me, whether I write up a post myself or not. If you read my blog but have never participated... consider it!! Its a fairly low-friction way to get in with a good group!
Today SQL Server bloggers from all over are reflecting on those that have inspired, guided and influenced them. So I'll name a few names and share some stuff. Over time, I'll be able to share even more names, maybe a story or a few. These folks are heroes to me... but many of them I also consider friends. Which makes me a very blessed individual.
I got a late start working with software - after grad school and a bit of wandering. The name CR Boardman won't be familiar in SQL Server circles, but his personality looms large in memories of my early years working with software. He loves investigation, and has a fierce determination for rooting out technical problems. His problem-solving approach knows no boundaries: he'd trace a problem workflow on the database side, then track down the client-side code responsible for making the RPC code calls on the database. He refused to be siloed - although the organizational responsibility for a given code module or feature may lie within a different group, that never meant trouble-shooting and investigation had to stop at an arbitrary border. I remember some late nights in conference rooms, working through some challenging problems. More than any particular problem-solving approach or tool, I remember his enthusiasm and excitement. The last time we worked together was nearly 10 years ago now - I hope my work now embodies those characteristics I admired in CR.
Andy Yun (@SQLBek) has been mentioned in a number of blog posts today, and I'll mention him too! Andy's put together a few presentations in the last couple of years that many people have really benefited from. He's not satisfied to simply enhance his own speaking resume, though. Andy does a great job of encouraging folks to get involved and share their experiences, expertise and knowledge. In my case, he's employed some friendly needling to make sure I don't crawl back into a cave to avoid blogging and speaking 😊. Yep, sometimes I've absolutely needed that. Now I hope to not only remain on the path of sharing my adventures through Twitter, my blog, and some presentations... I hope to encourage others to do the same. Maybe even do some considerate needling... if I have the guts😊.
Niko Neugebauer (@NikoNeugebauer) has a lot of applied energy. A real lot! Niko is often a catalyst - causing others around him to also start engaging with technical problems and solutions in new ways. When you spend time with Niko, a striking devotion comes to the fore: a devotion to constant forward motion. If there's time left today, there's time left to try something new, or learn something new for tomorrow. Going to discuss blog or presentation ideas? Niko will probably ask you what new contributions will be in the presentation - how are you going to keep things moving forward? This might give some insight into how he has generated 115 blog posts to date on SQL Server columnstore indexes. I hope my appreciation for innovation is as apparent as it is in Niko. His energy and enthusiasm convinced me to participate in Tuga IT for the last two years. And I plan to keep participating in the future!
Ewald Cress (@sqlOnIce) is hosting the T-SQL Tuesday posts this time around - check out his blog for a round-up of all of the posts for the November 14th 2017 adventure... and a lot of other creative SQLOS deep-dives.
www.sqlonice.com
Ewald has helped to guide my approach to my blog and to speaking opportunities - though he may not know the extent. He and I both tackle questions that tend to be off the beaten path, though from different perspectives. He's made some pretty deep topics into creative blog posts and presentations (which I'll hopefully get to see sometime). His approach to providing details on the parts we might otherwise take for granted impresses me - and hopefully I'll be able to fill out some of my blog posts in a similar manner.
That's all I'll write for tonight... as I mentioned before there are additional names... and stories... which will almost certainly come spilling out of my over a shared meal - or maybe even on the pages of this blog.
Ciao for now!
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