Still a lot of work to do, but this is the initial draft of the schedule. There were a lot of tough choices, but we’ve managed to pack some great content into a couple of days.
If you’re interested in joining us, now’s the time to sign up! More details to follow, but please check out the schedule below.
As I’ve blogged previously (The S in #SRE), I’m in the process of transitioning my team from database and system administration to a team focused on service reliability. As I’m continuing to evangelize DevOps and Service Reliability Engineering within my business unit, I’ve realized that I need to have a good strong definition of what exactly a service is. I figure if I’m going to work through this, might as well do it in my blog so I can find it later.
A Service:
More to come.
As I’ve mentioned on twitter (what, you don’t follow me?), I’ve been involved with a new conference that’s focusing on the Microsoft Data Platform – Azure DataFest. It’s still very much in the works, but there’ have been a few events around the country so far, and we’re bringing one to Atlanta in August (as well as working on a national standardized presence). If you want to help build a community of data professionals that are passionate about the next generation of analytics and data science, please feel free a topic. Text for the CFP is below, but the actual call for speakers is here: https://sessionize.com/atlanta-2018-azure-datafest-microsoft.
More details to come (after I get through Atlanta SQLSaturday).
This is a call for speakers for the inaugural Atlanta Azure DataFest: Microsoft Azure Advance Analytics and Big Data Conference, a 2-day event to be held on August 16-17, 2018, 9:00AM to 5:00PM at the Microsoft Technology Center, 8000 Avalon Boulevard Suite 900, Alpharetta, GA 30009.
We are looking for 10-12 speakers to present on the following Azure Advanced Analytics and Big Data topics:
Planned Schedule (Thursday, August 16)
We plan on delivering a keynote, and three sessions to the at-large audience, then breaking into tracks after lunch.
8:00AM – 9:00AM – check-in/breakfast/networking
9:00AM – 9:50AM – Key Note, Room # All/Combined
10:00AM -10:50AM – Session 1 Room # All/Combined
11:00AM -11:50AM – Session 2 Room # All/Combined
12:00PM – 12:50PM – Partner/Sponsor Lunch and Learn – Room # All/Combined
1:15PM – 2:15PM Breakout sessions
2:30PM – 3:30PM Breakout sessions
3:45PM – 4:45PM Breakout sessions
Sessions should be 1 hour in duration, level 300 or higher. You can use best practices, case studies, demos, chalk talks, etc.
Planned Schedule (Friday, August 17)
The second day is intended to build on the first day with workshops, allowing attendees to have hands-on experiences with the applications.
8:00AM – 9:00AM – check-in/breakfast/networking
9:00AM – 11:50AM Workshops
12:00PM – 12:50PM – Lunch – Networking
1:00PM – 3:50PM Workshops
Workshop sessions should be 3 hours in length, and relate to material covered in the sessions on day one. If you would like to submit a workshop session, please ALSO submit a single-hour session for the first day.
The session submission deadline is Friday, July 13, 2018. We will announce the speaker list and alternates on Monday, July 16, 2018.
If you have questions, please contact stuart.ainsworth@azuredatafest.com
Last weekend, I missed a data center migration.
It was a scheduling conflict; for Christmas last year, my wife had bought me tickets to High Water music festival (which was great, btw), and when they set the dates for the data center migration, I was worried. The tickets were expensive, and we had booked hotels, etc; I couldn’t change plans to work with the schedule, and there were too many teams involved in the migration for them to pick a different date. We’d done this migration once before (6 months ago), and I was confident in my team’s ability, but still… I was worried. You see, missing an after-hours deployment or a maintenance window of this size wasn’t usually considered to be an option before (by me). I’ve always been a firm believer in the management rule of: Don’t Ask Others to Do Something You Won’t Do.
So, every migration, every deployment, every maintenance window… I was there. Weekends, mornings, evenings… I was there. When our first major data center migration blew up a year ago, I was there for 26 hours. I THOUGHT I was sending the message that “I’m here for you… I’m leading the way… I’m being a team player.”
That’s not the message I was sending.
What happened while I was away is that others stepped up and filled the void left in my absence. They didn’t do things exactly like I would have done, and they had to take on some additional responsibilities during the migration, so their timing wasn’t as efficient as if I had been there. But the work got done, and we survived without me. I could have looked at that and said “aha; I’m not really necessary; there’s some waste savings there!”. Instead, I realized that what I thought was a four-person job was really a three person job, and that meant that the fourth person could do what was more important than work; life.
You see, the message that I was sending by being at every activity outside of work was that I Expect Y’All to Give Up Your Free Time for Your Job, Just Like I Do. I didn’t mean it that way, but my employees picked up on it. I was there; they were there. Every time. And that’s no way to work.
What I realized this weekend is that Leading By Example also means Resting By Example. If the job really is a three person job, then four people don’t need to show up to do it (or else work will expand to make it a four person job; a variant of Parkinson’s law). And while I should still be willing to do the job, I need to be willing to do it when it’s my turn. I’m now scheduling rotations (I’m in one of those rotations as an engineer), and letting my team understand that it’s not just OK to not be at every maintenance window activity; it’s expected. A job is what you do to pay the bills and enjoy life. If I believe that for myself, then I need to set that example for my team as well.
My supplies for my workshop!
On Saturday, May 19, 2018 at SQL Saturday Atlanta, I won’t just be an organizer; I’m a presenter! My session, “All (Data) Things Considered: The Lean Coffee Workshop” is something I’m very excited to “present”. I use that term loosely, because the whole point of a lean coffee workshop is that it’s a structured, but agenda-less discussion. I participated in one of these at the DevOps Enterprise Summit in 2017, and it was a fun, and inspiring way to engage with other people who were facing very similar problems as I was.
The way it works is that there will be a brief introduction at the beginning of the session, but people are expected to form several small groups. A seed topic will be presented, but each small group will have a moderator (and thanks to my volunteers) who will make sure that their group stays on track. Every group will:
That’s it. Easiest presentation I’ve ever done, but the goals are really deep. I want to encourage people to engage with each other; that’s one of the original goals of SQLSaturday, and I think traditional classroom settings don’t do enough of that (conversations are usually instructor -> audience, or audience -> instructor). This puts people around a table in a small, safe environment, and that leads to long term possibilities for relationships.
Second, I’m more interested in conversations about improving work, rather than just how to do work. I think coffee talks foster that because you’re not looking at a tool or a piece of code; you’re talking to a person, and hearing what they think. That sharing of perspective can spark new ideas, and new ways of looking at the forest, rather than individual trees.
Looking forward to seeing you there!
I know it’s clickbait, but I really did want to reinforce the simplicity of this post. I think building a DevOps culture can sometimes be daunting for most folks from traditional IT backgrounds because, well, people aren’t systems. You see, both developers and system engineers are comfortable with technology; it’s usually predictable, and it’s relatively easy to manipulate.
People (and processes) are messy. The social aspect of a sociotechnical environment is full of friction: different backgrounds, different perspectives, differences of opinion. It all creates a challenge for solving business problems quickly because it takes energy to build and maintain a relationship. However, once those relationships are established, the benefits multiply. When you are challenged by a peer you trust to defend an idea, it makes the idea better. The old adage of “iron sharpens iron” is true; smart people make smart people smarter.
But how do you build trust? The first step is easy.
Be thankful.
That’s it; acknowledge when people take a risk, and thank them for stepping of their comfort zone. Be thankful when they offer an opinion that’s different than yours, even if you don’t take the advice. Specifically acknowledge their contributions that make your job easier, and let them know why. It takes some time (and occasionally some effort), but it establishes a pattern of trust. This is particularly important when you’re in a leadership position, and they are not; the best ideas come from people who feel like they can contribute on a regular basis, especially to people in power.
Take the extra time to say “Thank You”, and establish a foundation of trust.
We’re making headway on the Atlanta SQL Saturday for 2018; very pleased to announce the following pre-cons are live, and selling tickets. Get them while they’re hot! http://sqlsatatl.eventbrite.com/
Also, you probably want to register to come to the main event on May 18; registration is still open, but it WILL sell out: http://www.sqlsaturday.com/733/EventHome.aspx.
I’m sure nobody but me has noticed, but you may have seen an uptick of blogs on my site lately. Most are short (like this one will be); many of them have little of interest to anybody but me.
It’s all part of a goal of mine to get out of a writing funk. I’m trying to blog at least 52 time this year, even if it’s only a few lines. I figure writing SOMETHING is better than sitting in a stupor, and letting my brain rot. Creativity is mostly inspiration, but there’s also some discipline required. So bear with me (if you want) as I struggle to find something interesting to write about. Hey, at least it’s better than the alternative.
I’m super excited to have been named a Friend of Red Gate again in 2018; I often wonder why they keep letting me back in because they do so many super awesome things with so many super awesome people. However, I’m grateful as always.
They are an amazing company, and have always been very supportive of the SQL Server community. Thanks so much for bringing me along on the ride, y’all.
Let me get this out of the way first; I haven’t quit my day job. I’m VERY blessed to work at a great company that lets me work from home, balance work & life responsibilities, and has great pay and benefits.
However, I’ve had side gigs for the last 15 years or so; at first it was to make extra money, and then after my divorce and child support payments kicked in, the side hustle became crucial to my financial survival. Once I satisfied those obligations, the side gig is not really necessary, but man, it’s nice to have to spring for the extra vacation here or there. As such, I finally decided to make it real, and have now established myself as an LLC in the state of Georgia.
I feel so grown up.
The real irony of this is that shortly after I filed the paperwork, I was notified by my longest running bread-and-butter side gig that they had been bought out, and my services would be phased out by November. I went ahead and filed for the LLC anyway, but it just strikes me as funny that now that I’ve finally got a “real” business, I don’t have any clients.
I’ll just keep on keepin’ on, but there is a small sense of satisfaction knowing that there’s now a CODEGUMBO, LLC. Anybody need a SQL slinger for hire? Project Manager?