|
|
-
Posted Wednesday, October 05, 2011 2:04 PM |
Are you coming to the PASS Summit? Then join us to help Jeff Moden celebrate his Award of Exceptional
DBA of the Year.
Join us and SQLServerCentral for the Exceptional DBA Awards
party on 11 October. We’ve booked a casino and bar, and will be giving away lots
of great prizes throughout the night. It’s always a fun evening, and a fantastic
chance to catch up with old friends – and meet new ones – before the conference
kicks off.
When: Tuesday 11 October, 8-10pm (after the Welcome
Reception)
Where: Room 2AB, Washington State Convention Center
Tickets: $20 in advance ($30 on the door)
Have a look at the current
list of people coming – and come and join us! Get
your ticket now.
|
-
Posted Tuesday, September 27, 2011 3:31 PM |
He may call himself an "Accidental DBA", but the many SQL
Server professionals who have benefited from Jeff Moden’s knowledge and
experience would agree that he’s more of an expert than he gives himself credit
for.
Jeff – Lead Application DBA at DiscoverReady, and a popular
technical author – gave an interview
on SQLServerCentral in which he explains that his philosophy on tackling
DBA problems is: "Communication with the customer, whether the customer is
external or internal. My philosophy: 'Make it work, make it fast,
make it pretty… and it ain’t done 'til it’s pretty.' "
His philosophy has paid off, winning him the award of Exceptional DBA of the Year 2011.
Nominated by several of his DiscoverReady colleagues, chosen as one of the finalists
by four expert judges, and voted for by hundreds of peers in the SQL Server
community, Jeff describes winning the award as "a lifetime
achievement come early."
Head over to SQLServerCentral to read
the full interview. Find out what challenges Jeff faces as a DBA, how he
deals with the same problems all DBAs are familiar with, and what inspires him
to share his knowledge with the SQL Server community. You might even pick up
some tips for your own Exceptional DBA entry next year!
Why not join us to help Jeff celebrate his win? If you’re
coming to SQL PASS, come along to the Exceptional DBA Awards party on 11th
October. Tickets are $20 in advance – there will be a casino and lots of prize
giveaways. Buy
your ticket now. See you there!
|
-
Posted Thursday, September 15, 2011 11:31 AM |
The judges have judged…the SQL Server community votes have
been counted…and we’re delighted to announce that the winner of the Exceptional
DBA Award 2011 is:
Jeff Moden
Lead application DBA and data architect
DiscoverReady LLC
Huge thanks to everyone who voted – and congratulations
to Jeff!
Speaking about his award, Jeff said, "I never set out to
win this award…I just didn’t think there was a chance and no, that’s not false
humility. Yet, thanks to the thoughtfulness of an unknown number of
people, here I am…going to SQL PASS as the winner of a worldwide contest to
choose an exceptional DBA. This is a lifetime achievement come early for
me."
To find out more about Jeff’s experiences and
achievements as a DBA, read
the interview he gave at SQLServerCentral.
If you’re coming along to SQL Pass this year, why not
join us for the Exceptional
DBA Awards Party? As well as helping Jeff celebrate his achievement, there
will be a chance to win lots of great prizes at our casino. Tickets are $20 per
person – book
yours now.
Congratulations again to Jeff – and we look forward to
seeing lots of you at the Awards party!
|
-
Posted Tuesday, July 19, 2011 9:25 AM |
Thank you again to everyone who entered this year’s
Exceptional DBA Awards. We had a record number of responses this year, and we really appreciate the time everyone took to enter.
We're delighted to announce this year's five finalists are:
- Thomas Hill of SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment
- Jeff Moden of DiscoverReady
- Scott Shaw of Mercy Health
- Colin Stasiuk, independent consultant
- Chris Taylor, independent consultant
You can find out more about each finalist and vote
for your winner on the Exceptional DBA website.
The judges were really impressed with the
quality of the entries, and had a tough time narrowing it down to just five
finalists. As Brad McGehee says, “Judging
this year's Exceptional DBA of the Year Award has been the most difficult since
it first began. The number of quality entries was very high, and selecting the
top five was very hard indeed. Best of luck to the top five during the community
voting process.”
Vote now and help choose this year’s winner!
Don’t forget you can still download your free
eBook from Brad McGehee, and try
out the SQL DBA Bundle, which contains five high-performance SQL Server
tools to save you time and budget.
|
-
Posted Friday, July 01, 2011 9:52 AM |
We had a fantastic response to this year's Exceptional DBA
Awards. A big thank you to everyone who took the time and effort to make a
nomination - it's great to see so many DBAs being appreciated for the hard work
that they do.
We're now busy collating the answers to send off to the Exceptional
DBA judges. They'll pick their five finalists, which we'll be announcing in
a few weeks’ time. So watch
this space for further details.
In the meantime, don't forget you can still download
your free resources from the Exceptional DBA Award website. You can use
them for your own career and personal development; pass them on to a great DBA
you know, or to start planning your entry for next year!
|
-
Posted Wednesday, June 29, 2011 8:35 AM |
Only 1 day left to enter the Exceptional DBA Awards! Get started
on your entry today, and you could be heading to Seattle for the PASS Summit in
October.
All you need to do is visit the
Exceptional DBA website and answer a few questions about:
- Your career and achievements as a SQL Server
DBA
- Any mistakes you've made along the way (and
how you tackled them)
- Activities you're involved in within the SQL
Server community – for example writing, blogging, contributing to forums,
speaking at events, or organising user groups
- Why you think you should be the Exceptional
DBA of 2011
As well as the respect and recognition of your peers – and a great
boost to your CV – you could win full conference registration to this year's
PASS Summit in Seattle (including accommodation and $300 towards travel expenses)
– where the award will be presented, as well as a copy of Red Gate's SQL DBA
Bundle, and a chance to be featured here, on Simple-Talk.com.
So why not give it a shot? Start your entry now at www.exceptionaldba.com (nominations
close on 30 June).
|
-
Posted Thursday, June 23, 2011 5:29 PM |
There's still time to celebrate your achievements as a DBA – or
those of a DBA you know – by submitting a nomination for the Exceptional DBA
Awards 2011. To help you get started, here are some top tips from the judges on
what they're looking for from this year's winner [hint: it's very likely you're already exceptional!]:
- "An Exceptional DBA must be able to
communicate effectively and clearly with both technical people and the client."
Steve Jones.
- "Exceptional DBAs are like police officers:
we're here to serve and protect. Both serving and protecting are vital parts of
the job, and we can't just focus on one." Brent
Ozar
- "DBA work can be routine. Exceptional DBAs are
enthusiastic about their work and are rarely bored, as there is always
something new to learn and master." Brad
McGehee.
- "Remember that cost is an important factor for
your company. The ability to save your company money with a different technical
solution will make you an Exceptional DBA, and can make you exceptionally well
liked." Rodney Landrum.
So whether you've brought a team together for a project, taken
steps to protect the security of your servers, or learnt a new topic to
understand an element of your job better, it's likely you’re already taking the
steps that make you the Exceptional DBA the judges are looking for.
To get more insider info from the judges, download
your free poster of their top tips, and then get started on
your entry: www.exceptionaldba.com.
|
-
Posted Friday, June 17, 2011 9:35 AM |
Winning the Exceptional DBA Award won’t just get you full
conference registration for the PASS Summit – it could also change your life
and career. With a little help from our past winners, here are the top 5 ways
the Exceptional DBA Award could take your career to the next level:
1. Recognition from your peers
As 2009 winner Josef Richberg says, “Being
recognized by your peers is the highest honor one can receive.” Whether you
enter yourself, or are nominated by a friend or colleague, the fact that the
winner is selected by the SQL Server community is a great chance for your peers
to recognize your achievements as a DBA.
2. Boost your CV
Winning the Exceptional DBA Award not only
shows that you excel as a DBA, but that SQL Server experts think so too – a
huge vote of confidence for any prospective employer. 2008 winner Dan McClain agrees,
“It brings another level of 'wow' to my resume”.
3. Networking opportunities within the
community
Whether you want to increase your
experience as a writer, speaker or blogger, winning the Exceptional DBA Award
can open up new opportunities within the SQL Server community. Plus you’ll make
new friends along the way, as Josef has discovered: “It is an unbelievable community
that has become an extended family.”
4. Award ceremony at the world's largest
technical SQL Server conference
The Exceptional DBA Award is presented at
the PASS Summit, giving you great networking opportunities and a chance to be
seen by people throughout the SQL Server community.
5. Increased personal confidence
Finally, the Exceptional DBA Award should
give a huge boost to your personal confidence. Last year’s winner, Tracy Hamlin
has certainly found this: “The recognition has given me new confidence and the
drive to accomplish even loftier goals.”
Read
the full interview with our past winners to find out how why they’re
encouraging you to enter this year’s Exceptional DBA Awards.
Already inspired? Then why not get started on your entry
straightaway: www.exceptionaldba.com
|
-
Posted Friday, June 10, 2011 12:57 PM |
Do you know an exceptional DBA? Think they deserve
recognition at the world’s largest technical SQL Server conference? Nominate them for the Exceptional DBA Award 2011, and they could be accepting
the prize at this year’s PASS Summit.
Hard-working DBAs are crucial to the smooth-running of the
companies they work for, so we want you to help us celebrate their
achievements. Nominating someone for the Exceptional DBA Award simply involves
answering a few questions about the nominee’s achievements and experience as a
DBA, activities they’re involved in within the SQL Server community, and any
mistakes they might have made along the way (we’ve all made them!), and how
they handled them.
They could win full conference registration to the PASS
Summit (where the Award will be presented), and a copy of Red
Gate’s SQL DBA Bundle. And you’ll have the feel-good satisfaction of
knowing that you’ve helped a colleague or friend get the recognition they
deserve (they’ll probably owe you a drink or two, too…).
So do your good deed for the day: have a look at our website
for all the info, and get started on your nomination: www.exceptionaldba.com
|
-
Posted Friday, June 03, 2011 11:26 AM |
Saturday is just around the corner, and we’re all starting
to wrap up for the weekend. If you’re the DBA that ‘Friday feeling’ might be as
much about checking and preparing your SQL Servers for the next two days, as
about looking forward to spending time with friends and family. Whether you’re
double-checking your disaster recovery strategy, or know that it’s your turn to
be on-call this weekend, it’s likely you’re preparing for the worst, just in
case.
The fact that you’re making these checks, and caring about
both your servers and your users, means that you might be an exceptional DBA.
You’re already putting in that extra effort to make other people’s lives
easier. So why not take some time for your professional development and enter
the Exceptional
DBA Awards?
If you’re looking for some inspiration for your entry, download
our Judges’ Top Tips poster for advice on what the judges are looking for
from this year’s entrants.
Not only will you be boosting your professional development,
but you could win full conference registration for the 2011 PASS Summit
in Seattle (where the awards ceremony will take place), four nights' hotel
accommodation, and a copy of Red Gate’s SQL
DBA Bundle.
So take some time out for yourself this weekend and get
started on your entry: www.exceptionaldba.com
|
-
Posted Tuesday, May 31, 2011 11:12 AM |
From today, we’re accepting nominations for the 2011
Exceptional DBA Awards. DBAs make a vital contribution to the running of the
companies they work for, and the Exceptional DBA Awards aim to acknowledge this
and make this contribution more widely known. Check out our new website for all
the info: www.exceptionaldba.com
Being an exceptional DBA doesn’t mean you have to sleep at
the office, or know everything there is to know about SQL Server; who ever
could? It means that you make an effort to make your servers secure and reliable,
and to make your users’ lives easier. Maybe you’ve helped a junior colleague
learn something new about server backups? Or cancelled your coffee break to get
a database back online? Or contributed to a forum post on performance
monitoring? All of these actions show that you might be an exceptional DBA.
So have a think about the tasks you do every day that
already make you exceptional – and then get started on your entry! You just
need to answer a few questions on our website about your experience as a DBA,
some of your biggest achievements, and any other activities you participate in
within the SQL Server community.
Anyone who is currently working as a SQL Server database
administrator can enter, or be nominated by someone else. We’ve got four
fantastic judges for the Awards, who you’ll be familiar with already: Brent
Ozar, Brad McGehee, Rodney Landrum and Steve Jones. They’ll pick five
finalists, and then we’ll ask the SQL Server community to vote for their
winner.
Not only could you win the respect and recognition of peers
and colleagues, but the prizes also include full conference registration for
the 2011 PASS
Summit in Seattle (where the awards ceremony will take place), four nights'
hotel accommodation, and $300 towards travel expenses. The winner will get a copy
of Red Gate’s SQL
DBA Bundle – and they’ll also be featured here, on Simple-Talk.
So what are you waiting for? Chances are you’ve already made
a small effort for someone today that means you might be an exceptional DBA.
Visit the website now, and start writing your entry – or nominate your
favourite DBA to enter: www.exceptionaldba.com
|
|
|