Back before I started doing technical presentations or writing blog posts, I was in awe at those who did. Watching someone present on a deeply technical topic or reading an article about a complex concept always made me wonder what chain of experiences would give the writer or author that type of encyclopedic knowledge about a topic. It seemed to…
When I think about Baltimore, I think about Edgar Allan Poe. Baltimore was Poe’s one-time home, and in fact there is a museum located in a home in which he once lived. I’ve been a Poe fan since high school, and am looking forward to seeing some of the Poe-related sights when I’m in town next month. Why am I…
This past weekend I made the relatively short (about 3 hours) trip to the Oklahoma City area to attend and speak at the third annual SQL Saturday event there. I’ve been invited to speak at each of their three events, and I’ve been impressed with each one of them so far. The folks in the OKC and surrounding groups have…
During my visit to Denver last September for SQL Saturday 52, I spent a while talking with Marc Beacom, who mentioned that the 3 PASS chapters in and around Denver hold their monthly meetings on consecutive nights. When I brought up my love for snowskiing, he suggested that we combine a ski trip with a speaking trip. Thus began the…
Next week, I’ll be making a swing through central Colorado on a working vacation of sorts. I met up with Marc Beacom when I went up to Denver to speak at their SQL Saturday in September, and he mentioned that they have three user groups (Boulder, Colorado Springs, and Denver) that meet on three consecutive nights each month. My love…
Join me next Tuesday, December 14th at 11:00am CST as I present a webcast on behalf of the PASS AppDev Virtual Chapter. I’ll be presenting “Dynamic SSIS with Expressions and Configurations”, where I show you how to remove static elements (such as connection strings, file names, and other transient values) from your packages and placing them in easier-to-administer configurations or…