Speaking at SQL Saturday Denver (#673)

July 28, 2017 ~ sqlswimmer ~ Leave a comment

Wow, I can hardly contain my excitement. I was selected to speak at SQL Saturday Denver on September 16, 2017. I’ll be presenting my Intro to Integration Services session. I’m excited for so many reasons, but firstly, this will be my first trip back “home” in seven years. We planned this trip back in February so that we could see Muse at Red Rocks. I lived in Denver for 15 years and never once saw a show at Red Rocks, so I was super excited when I found out they were playing there. Secondly, I get to talk about Integration Services, which is my favorite piece of SQL Server. It’s an introductory session aimed at folks who want to learn more about that it is and how it can be used.

So, if you’re in the Denver area on Saturday, September 16, 2017, stop by and say “Hi”, I’d love to see you and chat for a little while.

#SQLSatDenver here we come!

denver-colorado-downtown

Working on my Microsoft Professional Program for Data Science

June 21, 2017 ~ sqlswimmer ~ Leave a comment

Microsoft announced a new program last year to help you understand the skills that a Data Scientist needs in their daily life. It consists of nine courses and a final project, you can get all the details about it on the Microsoft Academy site. I started working on this at the end of 2016 when things were slow at work and at home. I completed seven of the courses before things started to pick up at work and home. I’ve been mid-way through the eighth course for almost four months now, having to go back to the beginning of the course a few times due to being pulled away.

The program has been very informative so far, providing courses on statistics and probability, Machine Learning, Power BI, R (and Python) and general data science concepts. I’m hoping things will slow down a bit so I can complete the program by the end of Summer.

If you are at all curious about what a Data Scientist does, I highly recommend this program. The great thing about this program is that you can take all the courses for free, that’s right, I said free, gratis, no dough required, etc. However, if you do opt for the free route, you don’t earn that beautiful certificate that you can share with others, you just get the satisfaction of completing the course and broadening your horizons. Either way, it’s a good way to get started in the field of Data Science.

SQL Saturday Richmond (#610)

March 22, 2017March 22, 2017 ~ sqlswimmer ~ Leave a comment

On Saturday, March 18, 2017, I spoke at my very first SQL Saturday. I have been an attendee, involved in organizing and volunteered at many over the years, but this was the very first time I was a speaker. My session, What is Power BI?

I have presented this session twice before, once to my local user group and once at the Triad Developers Conference, so I was fairly comfortable with my content. Richmond had 245 attendees registered with 5 different session tracks. I had about 25 people in my session. Of those 25, I only saw one nod off, but it was the first session of the day (8:30am), so I’m going to chalk that one up to not enough caffeine prior to the session. There were some great questions and I had several people approach after the session with more detailed questions and to tell me how much they enjoyed my session. Some were so excited they would be able to take action when they got back to work on Monday based on my session. It really doesn’t get any better than that.

With my session in the rear view, I was excited to attend other sessions. I was able to make it into two other sessions, both of which were fabulous. The organizing team for SQL Saturday Richmond did a fabulous job. The event appeared to run like clockwork, I think maybe they’ve done this before Winking smile

One thing I really liked about this event is that they did not have a typical speaker dinner and gift, they did a speaker event. It was at G-Force Karts which was so exciting for me because I’d never driven a go kart before. I’ve always fancied myself a race car driver in another life (much to Martin’s dismay) so this was my opportunity to see if it was true. All I can say is, “Yes, it’s true.” I had so much fun. I wish more SQL Saturday organizers would consider doing something like this. A nice dinner is always appreciated and a gift is a thoughtful gesture, but the memories I made with my #SQLFamily at G-Force Karts are something I will NEVER forget.

I just want to thank the organizers of SQL Saturday Richmond, all the volunteers, sponsors and spouses who made this event happen. It was truly amazing and something I will remember my entire life. Well done.

SQLSatRichmondGoKart

Photo courtesy of Doug Purnell (Blog |Twitter)

Next Stop, SQL Saturday Richmond

March 11, 2017March 10, 2017 ~ sqlswimmer ~ Leave a comment

I can’t believe it’s almost time for SQL Saturday #610. I’ll be there presenting What is Power BI? If you are in the Richmond area Saturday, March 18, 2017, please stop by and say “Hello”, I’d love to see you. There are tons of other sessions as well, so sit a spell and get your SQL Learnin’ On!

Triad Developers Conference – My Debut

March 10, 2017March 10, 2017 ~ sqlswimmer ~ Leave a comment

I did it! I did my first “real world” presentation this morning at the Triad Developers Conference in Winston-Salem. What I mean by “real world” is not a PASS audience. These were total strangers off the street that I didn’t know, well, there were some familiar faces and even a friend or two, but for the most part total and complete strangers that had varying backgrounds, not all technical in nature.

The feedback I received was very positive and even helpful, so I can make this presentation even better when I present it in Richmond, VA next weekend at SQL Saturday #610.

Huge thank you goes out to the organizers, volunteers and sponsors who made this event happen. And a special thank you goes out to Doug Purnell (Blog | Twitter) for recommending me in the first place.

Speaking at Triad Developer’s Conference

February 9, 2017February 9, 2017 ~ sqlswimmer ~ Leave a comment

I am honored to have been recommended by a colleague and selected as a speaker for the Triad Developer’s Conference in Winston-Salem on March 10, 2017.

The Triad Developer’s Conference is a low cost one day learning event put on by a myriad of local user groups in the Piedmont Triad area of North Carolina. I attended the inaugural conference two years ago and it was fantastic. So excited to be a speaker this year.

If you are in the Winston-Salem area on Friday, March 10, 2017, stop and say “Hi”. I’d love to see you.

Struggling With Due Diligence

June 23, 2016 ~ sqlswimmer ~ 3 Comments

It’s been a while since my last post, there are various reasons for my absence: work, illness, having our house rewired, etc., but one of the biggest reasons is my struggle with how a few folks in the SQL community treat the PASS organization and those that volunteer their time to PASS.

As many of you know, I do a lot of volunteer work for PASS. I do this because it’s an organization that I truly believe in. It was created by the community for the community. It’s a place where data professionals can exchange knowledge freely, no strings attached. To my knowledge there is no other community in the IT world quite like it, we even have our own hashtag on twitter, #sqlfamily. But lately I’ve been struggling with how a few community members have reacted to policies/procedures/contracts. Essentially starting a fire, pouring gas on it and walking away.

I’ve been involved with the Program Committee (they are the folks that select the content for the annual Summit) since 2010. I took over my local PASS chapter when the existing chapter leader stepped down. I help out with local/regional SQL Saturdays when my schedule allows. I moderate 24 Hours of PASS when my schedule allows. I volunteer while on site during the Summit as an Ambassador. I’ve served on the NomCom (2012). You get the idea, I am a true believer and not just in lip service, so when someone “attacks” an organization that I truly believe in, I get more than a little irritated.

One thing I have learned throughout the years of being a DBA is that you need to be able to prove a problem is NOT yours by exploring all the other possible areas that could possibly be causing the problem. You have to look at it from all angles, not just the DBA angle.

We’ve all been there. Customer calls to say application is slow and a trouble ticket is automatically created and assigned to the DBA team because the application uses a database. This is somewhat akin to saying the issue with a car’s performance is the gas – all cars use gas so it must be the gas. It’s tiresome and frustrating, but we go through motions to prove the issue is not ours. In the financial world, it’s called due diligence.

This kind of due diligence has proven to be useful in other areas of my life, both personal and professional. I would ask that those in the community please do their own due diligence BEFORE posting a blog, sending a tweet or starting the good old fashioned room mill. Lately several community members seem to have forgotten the kind of influence they carry with the rest of the community and not done their due diligence before posting a blog, sending a tweet or starting the rumor mill.

You will notice that I did not name any names. That would really defeat the purpose of this post. I don’t want to start a fire with this post then allow gasoline to be poured on it with all the comments (not that there would be tons, because I don’t carry a lot of influence in our community – not a slight, just stating a fact) and then walk away.

I want you ALL to think about what you post, tweet or say BEFORE you do it.

Did you know?

February 15, 2016February 15, 2016 ~ sqlswimmer ~ Leave a comment

Did you know that the call for speakers for PASS Summit 2016 opened on February 3, 2016?

Did you know that the call for speakers for PASS Summit 2016 ends on March 2, 2016?

Did you know that there’s a Speaker Resource Page?

Did you know that you can have your abstract reviewed confidentially BEFORE you submit it for the Summit?

Did you know that your abstract is being reviewed by members of the SQL community?

Did you know that this is the second year the Program team has offered this service?

Did you know that only 32 people took advantage of this service last year?

Did you know that even experienced speakers use this service?

Did you know that you only have until February 26, 2016, to submit an abstract for confidential coaching?

Did you know that you have nothing to lose?

So what are you waiting for? You’ve been thinking about submitting for a while now but were unsure if your abstract was good enough. Well, now you have no excuse, use the confidential coaching service and find out.

What is Power BI?

January 25, 2016 ~ sqlswimmer ~ 2 Comments

One of the “benefits” of being a chapter leader is that sometimes it means doing a presentation yourself when you can’t get a speaker. I fell into this exact scenario for February’s meeting of Triad SQL. I was trying to figure out what to present when the planets aligned. After reading the #EntryLevel post in this month’s PASS Connector News and my boss asking me about Power BI. He wanted to know more about it and if it was something we could use.

I decided to put a presentation together to answer those questions. This post is basically the flattening out of my PowerPoint presentation.

The What/Who/Why/Flavors of Power BI

What is Power BI?

When I Googled (yes, I used that as a verb!) “What is Power BI”, this is what I got, “Power BI is an amazing business analytics service that enables anyone to visualize and analyze data.” This sounds cool, but isn’t all that helpful. After further research, I found this definition, courtesy of powerbi.microsoft.com

Power BI is a cloud-based business analytics service that enables anyone to visualize and analyze data with greater speed, efficiency, and understanding. It connects users to a broad range of data through easy-to-use dashboards, interactive reports, and compelling visualizations that bring data to life.

Why use Power BI?

There are lots of reasons to use Power BI, other than, it’s so cool. For instance, Power BI makes it easy to see, in one glance, all the information needed to make decisions. It also allows you to monitor the most important information about your business. Power BI makes collaboration easy and when I say easy I mean EZ! You can also create customized Dashboards tailored to those C-Suite folks or make a completely different dashboard based on the same data for those that actually do the work.

Who can use Power BI?

Anyone who has a work or school email address can use Power BI. Sorry, no personal email addresses. Also no government (.gov) or military addresses (.mil).

Flavors of Power BI

There are two flavors of Power BI, Free and Pro. You can do everything with Pro that you can do with Free plus a few other things. Here’s a little comparison of the two, there are more differences, but these are the big ones.

Free

Pro

Data refresh frequency: Daily

Data capacity Limit: 1GB/user

Streaming rate: 10K rows/hour

Data sources are limited to content packs for services and importing files

Data refresh frequency: Hourly

Data Capacity Limit: 10GB/user

Streaming rate: 10M rows/hour

Data Sources include free ones plus direct query dataset and on-premises data

Collaboration with content packs

As of January 21, 2016, the Pro flavor goes for $9.99 USD per month per user.

Also, there is the previous version/flavor of Power BI referred to as Power BI for Office 365, which will be deprecated on March 31, 2016, so I am not including this version/flavor in this post.

The How of Power BI

The building blocks of Power BI are Dashboards, Reports & Datasets.

Dashboards

Dashboards are made of Tiles that contain a single visualization created from the data of one or more underlying Datasets. When I first read this all I heard was “blah blah blah Datasets”. What this means is simply this, it’s a collection of reports that are all displayed together for a specific reason. It could be that you want all your sales guys to see different views of how they are doing compared to budget/forecast or it could be that you want to give your C-Suite people a quick overview of how the company is doing as a whole. You can tailor these dashboards to whatever suits your purpose. Now the only reference to the limit on the number of dashboards I could find was on the Office 365 site and it was listed as 100 per user or group. I’m thinking of the old adage “just because you can doesn’t mean you should” would apply here though.

Reports

A report is one or more pages of visualizations. Reports can be created from scratch within Power BI or Power BI Desktop. They are very easy to create, you simply click on the type of visualization you want to display then select the data to be used. One caveat that I will mention here is be sure your data is formatted so that is can be more easily consumed by Power BI. See this link for tips and tricks on how to build a “proper dataset” for Power BI. Just as with Dashboards, you have a limit as to the maximum number of reports, which is the same as Dashboards, 100 per user or group.

Datasets

A Dataset is something that you import or connect to. It contains the actual data you want to translate into visualizations. Right now you are limited as to the types of files you can import in to Power BI to Excel, Comma Separated Values (.csv) and Power BI Desktop files (.pbix). As far as connecting to data sources you can choose from many of the content packs that are available via the Power BI site like Google Analytics, Bing, Mail Chimp, Sales Force and GitHub, just to name a few or you can connect to a database. As with anything that sounds too good to be true, you are limited to the databases you can connect to. Right the now current list is limited as well, to Azure SQL Database, Azure SQL Data Warehouse and SQL Server Analysis Services (tabular model only). There is a 250MB limit to the size of the dataset that you can import in to Power BI and a limit of 100 Datasets.

References

https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/documentation/powerbi-service-get-started /

https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/documentation/powerbi-videos /

https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/documentation/powerbi-webinars /

https://technet.microsoft.com/library/mt282164.aspx

That’s it. I hope this post provided a little bit of insight into Power BI and whether it’s something that can be useful to you and/or your company. Check out the following links if you want a deeper dive into Power BI.

We Want You!

January 8, 2016January 8, 2016 ~ sqlswimmer ~ Leave a comment

It seems like PASS Summit 2015 was just yesterday and here we are again, getting ready for Summit 2016 already. This will be my seventh year of being a member of the Program Committee and my second year as a Program Manager. If you have ever thought about volunteering for PASS this is a wonderful opportunity. We need lots of volunteers to assist with everything from reading abstracts to special projects so that we can make Summit 2016 a great experience for the entire community. Summit 2016 is still over nine months away but the work starts now.

The call for volunteers just went out this afternoon and we want you. Use the link below to fill out the volunteer application.