Becoming a better me…

This will be a short post, mainly because I’m in the home stretch for SQLSaturday #25; lots of little stuff to get done between now and Saturday.  However, a few interesting things have been happening lately, and I thought I’d share some of them.

First, Microsoft announced its latest round of MVP’s.  No, I didn’t get one; things haven’t been THAT exciting.  However, I do know a lot of people who were first-time recipients, and that means that even though I don’t contribute nearly as much to the community as they do, I am brushing shoulders with them.   It’s kind of like of being the geek in high school who tutors the quarterback; I’m not cool, but I know people who are. 

Speaking of those people, I had a brief email exchange with one of them to get a feel for how you become an MVP, and he shared with me his list of accomplishments over the last year.  I know that the MVP process is completely subjective, but seeing what this friend of mine did over the last year helped me realize that a) I do a lot for the community in terms of organizing events and making sure that educational opportunities are available, but b) I don’t do enough technical writing and knowledge-sharing to establish myself as a SQL Server expert.  

Do I want to be a MVP?  Well, yes, that would be nice.  It’s always a good thing to be recognized by your peers for contributing to the community.  However, my ultimate goal is to be the best I can be at what I do, and that path just happens to coincide with some of the same stated goals of the MVP program.  If I want to up the ante, and be a rock star, I need to find ways to share knowledge, not just networking skills (and still manage to keep my marriage and family intact), regardless of whether or not those accomplishments are recognized by my peers.

That brings me to my second point; I’m now sharing on StackOverflow.com.  Brent Ozar’s been a long-time advocate for this site, and I finally saw the light.  I like it; the interactive interface is richer than USENET, and the reputation system allows you a way of validating that the advice you’re getting (and giving) is good.  Today is my second day of posting, and I’m already up to a reputation score of 216 (woo-hoo!)

Finally, Brent Ozar, Andy Warren, and Jeremiah Peschka have just announced the PASS Log Reader Awards.  I submitted a couple of entries from my blog for their review, and I’m hoping that I’ll pick up a few readers in the process.  I know a lot of database bloggers started this year, and while this is a competition, I’m hoping it’s more of a motivational experience for me.  I need to write more technical content, and I need inspiration from others to do so.