Paul Randall of SQLSkills fame has posted the contest of a lifetime. It’s a free seat in their Master Immersion Event on SQL Internals and Performance. This post is my entry into the contest.
I have worked for the same company for almost 13 years. During those 13 years the company has sent me to training exactly two times. Pretty impressive, huh? Now think about this. When I started I was a desktop guy on a Novell network. Since then I have been a server engineer, NT4 domain administrator, Active Directory Administrator, Microsoft Operations Manager, Forefront Identity Manager, automation and scripting, and now a DBA. That is just the short list, but what I want to point out is that all those skills were learned by me on my own and without training. Guess what though? The company has had no problem utilizing (exploiting) my skill set without compensation. If your wondering what that’s like, imagine trololo in your head for 13 years.
I have a passion for SQL server and you can read about that here in my How I Became a DBA post. I have an even bigger passion for the SQL community, and that’s why I want this free seat in Paul and Kimberly’s class. I know what it’s like to have a passion for technology and no access to the training, so you better believe I will share everything I learn with the community. I will be presenting two sessions at SQLSaturday 57 in Houston this weekend alone, but I bet they would have been much more in depth after some SQLSkills training. The reason I started blogging and speaking was because of the infectious Brent Ozar of SQLSkills. I owe him a debt of gratitude and if I win (and Brent makes it), his drinks are on me. If he doesn’t then I’ll buy Paul’s in hopes he will pay it forward, or share it with his sheep. These guys have been an inspiration to everyone in the SQL Community, and it would be an honor to attend this class.
HAHAHA, infectious – thank you, sir! I’m so happy when I hear I’ve encouraged other people to do this stuff. It’s so addictive. (Or infectious, I suppose.)
Don’t discount your company’s help in your growth. Sound’s like they have recognized your contributions and provided you with challenges for your growth and not forced you into one position to stagnate. Remember, a good sharp knife needs a stone to grind against now and again.