Community – Page 2 – Becoming a Master

The need for User Groups

Michael Wall September 25, 2022 2 Comments

I remember Paul Turley saying a few years ago at a Speaker Dinner, "We're literally aging out". I am almost done with my European Tour, and it is obvious that a number of things are the same across the pond: The need for cloud migration. Like it or not the cloud is here to stay in all of its weird and wonderful permutations. Whether you choose Azure or AWS or other competitors, the migration...

The Power of Networking

Michael Wall September 18, 2022 0 Comments

Here I am, finally fulfilling a dream started back when I was 14 to see Europe. In my Freshman German class, I paid a small amount of money to have some penpals around the world. I remember I had a German girl, a French girl, and an Australian girl that lived in Adelaide. She and I kept in touch through college and I still have a cassette tape she sent me. I've described this trip as being a...

Taking Count

Michael Wall July 08, 2021 0 Comments

I'm not sure, but maybe the pandemic has finally caught up with me, but when I go to bed at night, I'm tired! At the beginning of the pandemic, I was fortunate enough to have been hired on by Pragmatic Works, and then my department was sold to 3Cloud! All of the excitement of working for two great companies plus normal life activities really insulated me from dealing with the pandemic. Sure,...

Coming together

Michael Wall January 11, 2021 0 Comments

PASS, the organization we all know and love (and sometimes not love so much) has come to an end. I am not going to say anymore that has not already been said other than that I treasure all of my friends and experiences I have gained through PASS and look forward to the next chapter. Ironically enough, the day before the announcement was made, my co-president for Oregon Data Community, Jessica...

Being a Speaker – PASS Summit 2020

admin November 30, 2020 0 Comments

As I mentioned in an earlier post (I know, way earlier), I was honored to speak again at PASS Summit, the first virtual one. First of all, the PASS team worked their collective tails off to make sure everything went smoothly. I KNOW there were technical difficulties. I felt them myself. I KNOW my demos were a little hard (more than a little) to see on the darned window that wouldn't expand. For...

Sponsorship and giving back

Michael Wall August 06, 2020 0 Comments

I'm lucky to be in a good area with a lot of data professionals merely a drive away. I've made some good friends and really improved my knowledge just by having them available. Sadly, a number have also moved away like Alicia Moniz and Brandon Leach, but they still left their mark upon me (in a good way). But, Kellyn Pot'vin-Gorman just moved into the area, literally a bike ride away (a long...

Speaking at PASS Summit 2020

Michael Wall August 03, 2020 0 Comments

First of all, thank you for picking me to speak at PASS Summit again. I am honored and grateful and very appreciative of the chance to pass on knowledge to all my many peers out there in the world. And this time, it really will be out there in the world with the event going virtual!! I will be speaking on Polybase, which is a really fascinating tool for SQL Server that could use a little more...

Happy DBA Day!

Michael Wall July 03, 2020 0 Comments

Today is International DBA Appreciation Day! Go hug your local DBA (if they'll let you!) There have been many articles about the death of the DBA, the evolution of the DBA, how to feed a DBA, etc. Rob Sewell has posted on the many meanings of the DBA acronym, and let us not forget that it also means "Doing Business As" to the greater population! So what kind of a business are we doing? In my...

PASS – Show us the numbers (you need)!!!

Michael Wall July 01, 2020 0 Comments

Let's face it, we're all data geeks. We love numbers, we love visualizations, we love dashboards (or at least know how to make them!). The PASS board said that they need a "certain amount of registrations to break even and a certain amount to make sure they keep the coffers full for next year". (paraphrased). In fact, an email even came out last week promising some numbers. Great! What are those...

Keeping the PASS dream alive

Michael Wall June 24, 2020 2 Comments

I went to a couple of sessions yesterday hosted by the PASS executive leadership and the board. Sadly there weren't that many leaders in the morning session, but the afternoon was more lively. A big thanks to the PASS leadership for putting on the time to do this. Remember, they are all volunteers as well and do have "day jobs". It was refreshing to have such a down to earth conversation with...