Goals – 3 month checkup

Good morning SQL people.  I am not at PASS this week (boo!), however I am going to Spain for vacation, so that’s some minor consolation.  And fear not, I’m working hard to schedule some posts during my absence.  You won’t even know I’m gone.

Anyway, it’s been about 3 months since I posted my goals for the year on this blog.  (Is that all?  It feels like a lot longer.)  So it’s time to take a look and see how I’m doing.

Certification

If you’ll recall, I was on the fence about this one to begin with, but I made it a goal so I’m sticking by it.  I haven’t made any tangible progress at this point.  I haven’t taken any exams or even scheduled one.  However, writing this blog, researching for it, and preparing my presentations has, I think, helped prepare me for the exams.  You know, once I actually get around to taking them.  In my opinion, my biggest problem here is that I tend to over-prepare for things.  I don’t make that leap until I know I can land solidly on the other side.  So, with that in mind, I’m giving myself an assignment: before my next three month checkup I will find a good practice exam and try it.  This should give me a good feel for how I’m doing.

Present at a SQL Saturday

This one I have made progress on.  No, I haven’t presented at a SQL Saturday yet, but I’ve done two different presentations at work and at our local user group.  I got really good feedback from the work presentation.  The initial reaction from the user group presentation was also very good.  I’m waiting to see the written evals, though, before I call it a success.  I did get some constructive feedback in that I’d need to flesh it out a little for a SQL Saturday-type forum.  So that’s what I’ll be doing.  My assignment for the next 3 months: flesh out my DDL auditing presentation and submit it for a SQL Saturday.

Increase this blog’s readership

I’m doing well, but I can do better.  I’ve made it a point to try to post at least twice a week.  Just about every Sunday morning is spent writing two posts for the week.  Then during the week, if something worth writing about comes up, I’ll throw in another post.  And this may sound geeky, but I look forward to Sunday mornings.  I like that quiet time to learn and write.  I’ve also tried to take a more active role on Twitter.  I believe this also contributes to my blog readership.  I also moved to a new url and hosting site, I have a new look, and I think it’s more a reflection of my personality now.   But anyway, let’s cut to the chase: how am I doing?  When I made the goal, I was averaging 14 hits per day.  This month I’m averaging 41.  Not too shabby.

Oh!  And on the subject of this blog and my SQL Saturday goal, if you haven’t already noticed, I’ve added an Events page (link at the top of the page, under the banner).  It has all my future and past scheduled presentations listed.  I’m completely geeked out about that page, I got to create my own page template and use php and everything.  Had no clue what I was doing, it was quite the adventure.

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