Tech conferences are worth every hour I have given them, but the sessions are not. So here is the program for a conference that does not exist.
They Finished the AI Training. Eleven Days Later, the Job Was Gone
An anonymous interview with a database professional who finished the AI training their employer assigned. Eleven days later, the job was gone.
Trust Is the Product: Selling Invisible Work in the Age of AI
Invisible work is most of what a good DBA does, and the better it goes, the less anyone sees it. AI can now produce a polished report in seconds, so polish no longer proves anything. This post shows how to keep a real record, log the near misses and earn the trust clients are paying for.
How Blogging Has Changed: From Online Diaries to Newsletters
How blogging has changed is the story of one garden. It grew from online diaries and hand-built pages into blog software, feeds, short updates and newsletters. Through all of it, the useful, honest and regular post stayed the same.
Giving Your First SQL Server Talk at a User Group
Prepare your first SQL Server talk with one real problem, two resettable demos, a timed thirty-minute outline, a rehearsal, and a backup plan.
How to Become a Good Conference Speaker: Lessons From 18 Conferences
How to become a good conference speaker, from a year of 18 international conferences in 14 countries. Know which room you are in, treat demos like production, protect your health, say no with a ranking list, and speak for the love of it, not for business.
Understanding Your Customer: Listen Before You Fix
Understanding your customer is the first step of consulting and DBA work. This post uses one plumber metaphor to show why a fix needs an explanation, why hearing is not listening, how a scoping call helps and why the plain tool beats the fancy one.