I wrote my first DOS-based applications using Alpha IV and Clipper. Windows application using Access 1.1 and have loved dealing with data ever since.

I’ve worked with SQL Server since version 6.0, OLAP/Analysis Services since version 7.0, DTS/SSIS since version 7.0 and Reporting Services since SQL Server 2000.

2. What’s your favorite part of your current gig?

There’s always something new to learn and I’m working for a company filled with amazingly knowledgable people.

Our customers present us with challenging projects, so there is ample opportunity to apply my knowledge.

Our practices span Connected Systems, User Experience, Mobility, Portals & Collaboration, CRM as well as SQL/BI; so the ability to present and retrieve data from the largest enterprise systems and deliver information to end-users on a variety of devices is very exciting to me.

3. Complete this sentence: “If I could do anything else, I would…”

…be a super-hero. The tights just don’t look good on me.

4. Complete this sentence: “When I’m not working I enjoy…”

Art, photography, charitable efforts

5. Complete this sentence: “I think the coolest thing in technology today is…”

The continued progress of Moore’s Law. Technology keeps getting less expensive, more capable and more connected. I’m continually amazed at how people put this to use and the incredible solutions that can be realized.

6. Complete this sentence: “I look forward to the day when I can use technology to…”

… gotta think on this one …

7. Share something different about yourself. (Remember, it’s a family blog!)

I own a hat with a propellor on top of it.

I applied for a job as an ICT System Engineer in 1999 and was sat closest to the SQL Server when the phone rang. A 10 day course on SQL Server 7 a couple of months later and I was the DBA, although that has never been my job title in the 12 years since I have been working with SQL Server.

2. What’s your favorite part of your current gig?

Outside of the day job I am a Friend of RedGate and I love testing their tools and seeing previews of the awesome that they are preparing to serve up next for the busy data professional. I enjoy answering questions on the SQL Server Central forum and running the local PASS Chapter and being a Regional Mentor for the UK too.

3. Complete this sentence: “If I could do anything else, I would…”

probably work outdoors.

4. Complete this sentence: “When I’m not working I enjoy…”

photography, walking, playing video games and sleeping.

5. Complete this sentence: “I think the coolest thing in technology today is…”

voice and gesture controls. They are pretty cool and then there is the rate of development of new technology. There is always something new coming along, us humans are so incredibly inventive.

6. Complete this sentence: “I look forward to the day when I can use technology to…”

travel faster. I think its a terrible shame that Concorde got taken out of service and that no replacement with similar performance has been forthcoming.

7. Share something different about yourself. (Remember, it’s a family blog!)

I can juggle and complete a Rubik’s cube, although not at the same time.

I transitioned from the Burroughs mainframe to PC platform with the following 2 products, Clipper and FoxPro. I was introduced to SQL Server 6.5 at a Fox Software event in Milwaukee. I was hooked on the product as a developer. I do not do much development anymore as others on our team specialize in that but I spend the majority of my time in the DBA role.

2. What’s your favorite part of your current gig?

Working with our team and our clients. I enjoy being a part of a team. I enjoy helping and mentoring others.

3. Complete this sentence: “If I could do anything else, I would…”

At my age it is not possible, but I would have pursued my baseball career harder.

4. Complete this sentence: “When I’m not working I enjoy…”

I enjoy golf, travelling with my wife and I am a wine enthusiast.

5. Complete this sentence: “I think the coolest thing in technology today is…”

I think the iPad is one of the most remarkable things in technology today. I realize there are now a lot of tablets and smartphones on the market but this was the leader and in my opinion is still the benchmark of the industry. Although I really like the NOOK as well.

6. Complete this sentence: “I look forward to the day when I can use technology to…”

Wow, I am at a loss for words on this one. For those that know me that is a rare thing!

7. Share something different about yourself. (Remember, it’s a family blog!)

I am technical geek, an IT guy and yet I am a Partner in an Accounting & Business Advisory Firm.

I started managing an Access database for my father’s welding company in 2000 (I’m a pretty good welder – if I may say so). I learned SQL through ASP development soon after, and began doing independent database design and development throughout college. I’ve been working ‘officially’ as a SQL Server DBA for the last 8 years.

2. What’s your favorite part of your current gig?

My current role with a healthcare company gives me exposure to about every type of OLTP/OLAP application, from charting and hospital menu systems to logistics and newborn IECU systems. It’s a challenging, fast paced environment where complacency isn’t an option.

3. Complete this sentence: “If I could do anything else, I would…”

I would probably be involved in the arts in some way – most likely as a talent recruiter for the music industry.

4. Complete this sentence: “When I’m not working I enjoy…”

Reading about new technologies (more recently BIG data and data warehouse appliances), golf, music, travel, ROHN tower building.

5. Complete this sentence: “I think the coolest thing in technology today is…”

The ability to leverage new technologies in almost any business function.

6. Complete this sentence: “I look forward to the day when I can use technology to…”

Make life more simple for the end user, while continuing to have complete understanding of its complexities. It’s still hit and miss nowadays – Apple has it figured out

Started working in a company writing VB6 and .Net against SQL server. Over the years I slowly found myself leaning more and more towards the SQL and further away from the application. When I finally got a large project in data warehousing which was new to me at that time. I dove in and have never looked back.

2. What’s your favorite part of your current gig?

That I get to touch so many pieces of SQL server. Whether its transactional, SSIS, RS, performance tuning or pure administration. Someday’s I get to do it all.

3. Complete this sentence: “If I could do anything else, I would…”

I think trading stock would be a lot of fun, if only I could get it to go upwards. My futile attempts have always ended poorly.

4. Complete this sentence: “When I’m not working I enjoy…”

Family, my two boys are still at such a fun age. A lot of crossfit which if you haven’t tried it, I highly recommend it. Working out with lots of fun people make it so much better. And living close by the water I really love boating but again owning a boat would make this even better.

5. Complete this sentence: “I think the coolest thing in technology today is…”

Its keeps me employed. Obvious but true #amiright

6. Complete this sentence: “I look forward to the day when I can use technology to…”

Store information in a tabular format…

Would have to be getting places faster. I’m not sure I’m ready for Scotty to beam me up just yet. But I would definitely like faster travel.

7. Share something different about yourself. (Remember, it’s a family blog!)

I lived on a boat from the time I was 9 to 18. Most people find that very odd, but looking back it was really neat. An experience that brought my family closer together and it can teach anyone how to better organize your possessions.

I guess you could call me the ultimate accidental DBA – because it has been accidental several times. Back in the 1990′s when I was working my way though college, I ended up at a local trucking company. They had this character based database system called PICK. Not many people remember what it is. Since I knew a little about computers, I got stuck running backups on their PICK system. So I taught myself PICK and learned how to care for the data and write code in BASIC. It had it’s own query language that was remarkably like SQL. So I was doing DBA work without even knowing it.

In 1999, I was recruited by a local consulting company that had staffed talent at one of the largest UniVerse (an emulation of the Pick database) sites in Ohio – a regional expedited logistics company. My talent in Pick plus transportation was a natural fit. I helped write some key modules of that system which featured realtime communications between dispatch and trucks using the Qualcomm satellite system. The mantra was mission critical operations with 24/7 uptime. Keep in mind that this was over 10 years ago. We ran the UniVerse database on AIX which was and still is bulletproof.

Fast forward a few years and my knowledge of Pick and UniVerse got me the job at my current company.

They were looking to do a migration from UNIX to an ERP financial system on SQL Server. After about 6 months there, my manager came to me and asked me if I wanted to learn SQL Server. I said “Heck, yeah, where do I sign-up?”. So they sent me to some training (remember PASS events in Chicago?) and I did a lot of self learning. I inherited some legacy SQL 7 servers and was tasked with migrating off of them. So I ended up building out their SQL Server infrastrucure as they migrated away from UNIX. It’s not perfect, but I’m pretty proud of it. We are now on the 4th generation SQL Server infrastructure. So I have been a DBA for quite a while, under different systems and wearing different hats over the years. What’s funny is that that old system that I helped build lives on to this day.

Now I am really interested in the NoSQL movement. You see, I am in a unique perspective to understand what is going on with NoSQL: My career started out using non-relational database technology and I came to the relational world later on.

2. What’s your favorite part of your current gig?

I like being the go-to guy. The developers and other analysts who poke around in SQL Server are always asking me how to solve a problem or my opinion on X or Y. Our culture is to take something apart, figure out how it works, and make it run faster and better.

3. Complete this sentence: “If I could do anything else, I would…”

Be a college professor. Unfortunately you need a PhD for that which I do not have.

4. Complete this sentence: “When I’m not working I enjoy…”

Boating, gardening, photography, networking and of course, going to and speaking at SQL Saturdays.

5. Complete this sentence: “I think the coolest thing in technology today is…”

NoSQL databases. I believe things are slowly going full circle back to non relational technology like it was in the early 1970s. But it’s important to remember that they will never fully replace the RDBMS.

6. Complete this sentence: “I look forward to the day when I can use technology to…”

Install SQL Server on a Quantum Computer. Just kidding. No, seriously – Quantum computing technology when it matures will change this world more profoundly than the Industrial Revolution. I am firmly convinced of that.

7. Share something different about yourself. (Remember, it’s a family blog!)

I like listening to Lady Gaga. I admire her because she’s a perfectionist, which I am myself.

I started working with SQL Server back in 1999 with SQL Server 6.5 and 7.0. Since then, I’ve been working with Siebel (based on SQL Server), MS Dynamics CRM (SQL Server again) and SharePoint. Over the past 3-4 years I’ve been building Data Warehouses on SQL Server 2008 R2.

2. What’s your favorite part of your current gig?

I’m currently working on a multi-terabyte Data Warehouse with hundreds of thousands of new rows of data a day.

Data is loaded every 15 minutes, and used by 200-250 users.

3. Complete this sentence: “If I could do anything else, I would…”

If I could do anything else, I would love to be a pilot. Something that helps make people happy, every day.

4. Complete this sentence: “When I’m not working I enjoy…”

When I’m not working I enjoy spending time with my family (personal family, and then the SQL Family!).

5. Complete this sentence: “I think the coolest thing in technology today is…”

I think the coolest thing in technology today is the iPad. It’s helped me have a device that contains all the material I’m using to complete my SQL MCM certification. It has most of the books, and all of the training videos.

6. Complete this sentence: “I look forward to the day when I can use technology to…”

I look forward to the day when I can use technology to learn new skills quicker and easier.

7. Share something different about yourself. (Remember, it’s a family blog!)

I’m quite a shy person, but always try to push that away. To this end, I’m hoping to do a couple of presentations at Community user groups this year.

By accident, quite frankly! Seriously though, I was a hardware/network admin at a manufacturing plant where they had a time and attendance application that was running rather poorly. After having read the manufacturer’s specifications for the product, I quickly determined that my predecessors had grossly under-built the machine. It was SQL2000 and had only 1Gb of RAM. The data disks were filling up as well (undersized), forcing a manual shrink about twice a week. Since they had recently parted ways with the lady that tended this machine (her only job), and it ‘appeared’ to be a hardware problem, it fell squarely in my lap. Before I agreed to have my way with the machine, or to make any promises as to future performance joy with it, I managed to secure a paltry budget for upgrading RAM and disks, as well as a ‘what happens if I get stuck’ promise of help from the application’s vendor.

After Googling how to move data files and how SQL used RAM, I was in the green. Performance was better than on day One and I was a hero. In fact, they liked my efforts so much, they foisted a (similar) SPC gauging system on me to improve. Similar in its deficits to the system mentioned above, this one used Access 97 as a database. After more researching, procuring an actual server for the task, and learning how to get data out of Access and into SQL, I was, again, golden.

One may notice from my tone (“foisted”, “fell squarely”, etc.) that I seemed none too happy about working with SQL. I was not. Keep in mind that I was hardware and network, not database. I came from the UNIX world, so servers and connections were my bag. Infrastructure, man, that’s where it’s at. Data and applications were not necessarily my cup ‘o tea. I often remarked about how vast UNIX was, that one could study his entire career and not know it all. But as time went on, the allure of SQL kept drawing me in and it was not very long before I realized that SQL has this same ‘bigness’ about it. And it’s a good thing, too, because since UNIX has faded away (mostly), SQL is, I believe, just now reaching a good stride. I feel that I am on the leading edge of a huge wave, and that wave is going to take me places that I never even dreamt of.

2. What’s your favorite part of your current gig?

I am not in my happy place…yet, but I can tell you, there is never a shortage of work. Working here makes me think of a mission to Africa. Everywhere you look, there is something that can be done to make life better. It is not always appreciated, or even noticed, but at the end of the day, you know you did it, you know you made a difference.

3. Complete this sentence: “If I could do anything else, I would…”

Play and write music, without a doubt. If I could make a living I would do it in an instant. I am in awe of those that have had the courage to devote their lives to it. I remember the day my cousin said to me, ” this is what I am going to do for the rest of my life.” He has seen some hard times because of it, but if there is a map of your life with a big red X on it where you are supposed to be standing, then man he nailed the bull’s eye. That takes guts.

4. Complete this sentence: “When I’m not working I enjoy…”

Time with my wife, horses and other animals, and with my parents. Yes, I am fortunate enough to still have both of them, and they are still married…to each other. This is why I probably have not gone any farther in my career than I have; my area is rather underprivileged. I could have moved to a big city with more opportunity, but my family is here. This is where I belong. I enjoy the country, family, animals, farm life, and I eschew traffic.

5. Complete this sentence: “I think the coolest thing in technology today is…”

This time we live in…right now…is the best time for technology, because it moves so fast. That is the coolest thing to me. I am not ‘old’, but just in my lifetime I have witnessed 45′s and LP’s, reel to reel tape, 8-track tape, cassette tape, CD’s, DVD’s and now Blu-Ray. Punch cards, punch tape, mag tape, mag drums, 51/4″ floppies, 3 1/2″ floppies, Zip tapes, USB drives, SAN and NAS. Oh, and SSD’s. What’s next? I don’t know, but I am sure it will be cool as heck.

6. Complete this sentence: “I look forward to the day when I can use technology to…”

…control my technology. I know, this sounds weak, but think about it. If you are any kind of gadget guru, you must be thinking that there is a better way to control all of your technology than by using multiple devices and multiple platforms. I long for the day that all the major manufactures see the merit in standardizing and making things cross-platform. You all know what I am talking about here. Take for example the Apple/Microsoft rift, or the Android/iOS chasm. If I owned a Zune and wanted to use iTunes, it should not be a problem. That may be a bad example (before anyone hammers me on interoperability of iTunes), but you get my point. We…us…we create this technology. We should learn to make it work -for- us…in all senses of the concept. We have (collectively) done great things, but we can do better.

7. Share something different about yourself. (Remember, it’s a family blog!)

Most people are not sure how to take my personality. I am jovial, sometimes too much so, but deadly serious when the conditions call for it. I am usually calm under pressure and handle emergencies quite well, probably resultant from my many days as an IT-EMT of sorts. I am resourceful, tenacious, ingenious, a regular MacGyver at times. I can be brutally honest, and this is where I lose people. Most are not able to handle too much honesty. I did not completely inherit my Father’s complete lack of tact, but my word filter is sometimes switched ‘off’.

My take on it is like this: if I am doing something wrong or I look stupid, I would want somebody to tell me. I am just returning the favor I remember North Carolina Senator Jesse Helms. You might not like what he said or what he believed in, but you always knew where you stood with him. That’s how I was raised, that’s who I am.

The New Year is a time for new beginnings for many people, and we agree. SQLPeople would love to help get your new year off to a positive start, and so we’ve got a special gift for you today: video from SQLInspire NYC 2011!

That’s right: you may have missed the event, but you can still share in the experience. Head over to the video gallery right now and get a dose of inspiration for the new year. Maybe you can learn about better life balance from Steve Jones. Or perhaps you’ve been thinking about taking the lead in your own business venture: Michael Corey had great lessons to share about the move from DBA to CEO.

Whatever you do, don’t wait any longer to feel the positive effects these inspirational speakers will have on your new year.

And of course, these videos are possible only through the generosity of our sponsors Embarcadero, Redgate, Confio, Microsoft, and the New Jersey SQL Server User Group. A special thanks goes to And Now Media for being such great videographers in guiding us in bringing these videos to the SQL community.

At a previous job I was web developer working using SQL Server as a backend. Over time I moved from just writing queries to database design, and creating ETL processes to move data from the data warehouse (Oracle) over to SQL Server, to taking on admin duties as well. I’ve been heavily involved with SQL Server ever since.

2. What’s your favorite part of your current gig?

I get to do a lot of performance tuning.

3. Complete this sentence: “If I could do anything else, I would…”

This is a tough one. Something that involved meeting new people is the best I can come up. But that’s also part of what I love about this community.

4. Complete this sentence: “When I’m not working I enjoy…”

Photography, Chess, side projects, skiing, music, etc.

5. Complete this sentence: “I think the coolest thing in technology today is…”

Probably the ever changing landscape of the web and hows it’s brought the global community closer.

6. Complete this sentence: “I look forward to the day when I can use technology to…”

Load my washing machine.

7. Share something different about yourself. (Remember, it’s a family blog!)

I have a bit of a paradox thing going on. On the one hand, I love meeting new people. The sheer wealth of experiences they have to share is amazing. On the other, I tend to be rather shy at first (socially awkward) and I sometimes feel I over compensate, and that just makes it more awkward. But it’s something I work on everyday and quite frankly the effort has paid in spades with all the awesome people I’ve been lucky enough to meet in this community.