A Technical Community Call to Arms
I have been blessed to be a part of the SQL Community for a few years now. I know in my bio description it says that I have been working with SQL Server since 1996 and that is true but it was only a few years ago that I stopped being a "voyeur" and started getting involved. I started reading more and more blogs from some of the great minds in the SQL Server community and added some comments here and there and I'm not entirely sure how I started talking with Brent Ozar but he started me down the path that I am currently on and professionally (and personally) I've never been happier.
- I started up my own blog (Benchmark IT Consulting)
- I got on Twitter (@BenchmarkIT) and started following some great hashtags #SQLHelp #SQLPASS
- I started a local PASS Chapter in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (EDMPASS)
- I was one of the first syndicated bloggers over at SQLServerPedia
- I started speaking/presenting at PASS Chapters and Microsoft TechDays
- I attended my first PASS Summit in 2009
You're probably looking at that list and wondering how much I got paid to do all of that. The answer is nothing. A technical community is something that you are a part of because you are passionate about what you do and want to share, learn, and collaborate with other people who are just as passionate as you are. I've heard from many people that the SQL Server technical community is something special and somewhat of an anomoly as to how close and dedicated the community members are and I'm hoping to prove that statement wrong.
I think there has to be others who are just as passionate about their Tier 1 applications from companies like Temenos, Kronos, Infor, PROS, Siemens, Dassault Systemes, OpenText and PTC. There are also thousands of people out there that are supporting these applications on a day to day basis and I'm hoping that this blog post reaches them and encourages them to get involved and start sharing their experiences and knowledge about running these applications on the Microsoft SQL Server platform. If you don't have a desire to blog, let us do it for you. Give us the "steak" and we'll add the "sizzle", meaning give us a couple lines explaining something you've learned or discovered and we'll turn it into a blog post for you. If you found something that helped make your job easier guaranteed there are others out there that could learn from your experience. Ask us a question and if we can't answer it we will make sure that we find someone who can.
Don't be a voyeur, don't sit on the sidelines, get involved and collaborate with people just like you. Share your knowledge, experiences, tips and tricks and also benefit from the others who are kind enough to do the same. A technical community is an amazing thing to be a part of and I encourage everyone to jump in and get involved.
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Colin Stasiuk (MCP, MCTS SQL 2005/2008, MCITP DBDEV, and MCITP DBA) is an accomplished Microsoft SQL Server DBA who has been working with SQL Server since 1996. He is the founder of Benchmark IT Consulting and his specialties include SQL Server Administration, Performance Tuning, Security, Best Practice / Standards, Upgrades, and Consolidation. Colin is a proud PASS member, President of EDMPASS (The Edmonton Chapter of PASS), and has recently co-authored a book on SQL Server 2008 Policy Based Management.