By Riley Major, 2017-11-08
Back in March the PASSMN SQL Server user group published two surveys– one about the user group in general and one specific to SQLSaturday. We sent the survey invites out in emails to our user group members and to attendees of our SQLSaturday in 2016. We’ve received over 100 responses and as promised we’d like to share some insights. Continue reading
Riley Major – 2017-08-09
Buckets of bacon, piles of marshmallows, and fire (yes, real fire this year) await those in the queue snaking out the door into the hallway. Kids tired from days of water play wait to finally get mom or dad back. They dig into a giant bowl of Starbursts and bury their head in screens. “Can I have another one mom?” “I don’t care.” Continue reading
(To all experienced technology speakers, especially those in the PASS community, and especially those in the Twin Cities, MN regional area…)
You have the power to help transform someone’s career. Continue reading
PASSMN’s SQLSaturday #682 on October 7th, 2017 has been published!
There are a relatively short 5 weeks for speaker submissions, which will close on July 23rd. So don’t delay! We plan on announcing selected speakers August 4th. As a reminder, the event is on October 7th.
We are looking for some unique contributions from the speaker community. In addition to 60-minute standard sessions, we’re hoping to offer one or more panel discussions, lightning talks for new speakers, and guided conversation over lunch. We also hope to host pre-cons on Friday, October 6th. Continue reading
By Riley Major, 2017-05-09.
For this month’s T-SQL Tuesday, James Anderson asks us to write about Shipping Database Changes.
These days all the rage is continuous deployment. Once development is “complete”, you push a button, (insert automated process here), and boom, the code is in production. I applaud shops which can reach this stage. It requires extreme devotion to automated testing and scripted processes. I haven’t worked with that sort of a system. However, many of the same principles apply to deploying the old fashioned way. Continue reading
By Riley Major, 2017-05-05
MinneWebCon is an asset to our tech community and I had the pleasure of attending for a third time this past Monday. Continue reading
TechPulse took over the second floor of the Saint Paul RiverCenter last Wednesday, April 19th, 2017. The theme was “A Mature Look at the Cloud” but more apt would have been “Security. No, Really. Security”.
"There is one person in every organization who will click on anything." #TechPulse
— Riley Major (@RileyMajor) April 19, 2017
For this month’s T-SQL Tuesday, Koen Verbeeck asks us to write about how changes in technology affect our careers, especially with respect to cloud-based services eliminating the need for in-house DBAs. Continue reading
The Pyle Center on the UW Madison Campus at the end of SQL Saturday #604.
Salty and squeaky make a good curd. Informative sessions and engaging conversations make a good conference. SQL Saturday #604 in Madison, Wisconsin this past weekend had plenty of both. I’m happy to have contributed with my session, “XML vs JSON – Battle Royale”. Continue reading
by Riley Major on 2017-03-28
Jenessa White leads a conversation on junior developers at Minnebar 12, 2017-03-25.
Technology has a problem, and we need to do something about it. To be fair, it’s a problem with society, but it’s worse in tech.
Despite our lip service, we do not celebrate and encourage diversity with our actions. Worse, we actively drive women and people of color out of our communities. Continue reading