At last year's North American PASS Summit, I was still developing the content for my presentation at the last minute, nearly pulling an all-nighter. The code being demonstrated was barely sufficient for the talk and not nearly robust enough for release, especially to people just introduced to the technology. After delivering my presentation, I was so exhausted and sleep deprived that I decided to enjoy the conference and deferred posting my code until returning home. Unfortunately, life never slowed down and I had trouble finishing and uploading the scripts. My progress was also hindered by feature/scope creep as well as my tendency toward perfectionism.

Since getting into technical speaking, one of my aspirations has been to provide comprehensive and valuable presentation materials (slides, handouts, files, and code). I want my audience members to be able to immediately put their new knowledge to use. In a classic case of perverse unintended consequences, I was achieving the opposite. Instead of being known for providing great presentation materials, I've probably earned notoriety for empty promises to post the materials.

With the start of the new year, I resolved to focus on the project. I withdrew from many activities with the following rationale:

• It seemed like I should be using any free time to finish working on my presentation materials
• I didn't want to face the people that I was letting down
• The pressure that I was placing on myself was leading to burnout

Here are some of the activities that I've consciously limited, or opportunities that I've postponed:

• I started missing most of the local user group meetings
• I dropped off of Twitter… the last time that I recall opening a Twitter client was on 2010-01-14
• I've been invited to write several articles
• I was asked to present to PASS Virtual Chapter meetings
• I stopped penning blog posts as well as keeping current on other people's blogs

The really sad thing is that keeping my nose to the grindstone didn't help me to produce the deliverables—it just left me isolated and demoralized!

I realized that my problems were due to lack of effective process. I will definitely write more on this topic, but I adopted new tools and methodologies that include:

• I design my presentations using the Presentation Zen philosophy now
• I committed not to submit abstracts for presentations that are vaporware
• I decided to avoid creating new presentations around specific tools/scripts that I'd developed for myself
• I imposed a constraint on myself: if code isn't ready to be posted, it shouldn't be demonstrated in a session
• I added my presentation materials to source control
• I designed a version number scheme, facilitating "an incremental servicing model" of my own
• I created scripts (using MSBuild and PowerShell) to automatically compile my presentation materials for being posted
• I started using Amazon's S3 service for hosting my presentation materials (since WordPress.com doesn't allow Zip files)

Perhaps most importantly, I finally implemented Getting Things Done. I will provide more details in future blog posts.

Deliverables for my presentations were posted for the first time on October 27th. Yesterday's presentation represented a huge milestone for me: it was the first time that materials were uploaded when I got up to speak. I have some modifications already, but that's the point of the incremental servicing model. Waiting until everything was ready led to nothing ever getting released.

It's time to rejoin the SQL Server community and I can think of no better place to do it than the PASS Summit. If I have failed to respond to you in the past, I apologize. I'm working through the backlog of blog comments and email messages. However, feel free to contact me again. Going forward, I am going to make sure to be responsive.

By the way, Michael Swart has implicitly forgiven me, so I feel better already!

Leaving Usability Sciences Corporation (USC) was not easy to do. Having worked there for nearly eight years, I have significant ties to the organization. I consider several of my teammates amongst my dearest friends. I am also extremely grateful for the opportunities given to me while at USC. It was there that I first encountered SQL Server, which is a pretty important part of my life now. I also matured, first as a software developer, then as a sysadmin and database administrator. Being a small company, there were always more roles than employees, so I was allowed to take on as many responsibilities as I could handle (and then some). I was very much an "accidental DBA" or "involuntary DBA." I was able to learn and grow, becoming a knowledgeable and skilled SQL Server DBA. Eventually, though, the systemic lack of resources (personnel and funding) took its toll and I got burned out. My SQL Server expertise also started to plateau and I realized the need to move on. Thankfully, my departure was on good terms and I’m still in frequent contact with my good friends at USC. They even let me rehearse my technical presentations there from time-to-time.

After I made my job search public, I sent an announcement to the NTSSUG mailing list to solicit ideas and opportunities. I received a fantastic response, including interest from three separate Terremark employees: Jason Massie (blog, Twitter), Kevin Hill (blog, Twitter), and Bill Lester (the manager of the Database Implementation and Escalations team). I knew Jason from the user group and considered him a role model (I still do), so I invited him to lunch for a good ol’ informational interview, which he graciously accepted. Then I got to meet Kevin and Bill at a Terremark open house (showcasing their new Enterprise Cloud product). Several interviews followed and Terremark made an offer, which I gladly accepted. My first day was Monday, October 13th, 2008.

Landing this job has been a tremendous blessing. I was glad to be on a team whose expertise and experience was far beyond my own (two of my teammates came directly from the local Microsoft campus where they were on the SQL Server support team!). For the first time in many years, I could learn database skills from co-workers and wouldn’t have to be out-in-front, teaching myself.

Jason originally worked in a different unit, but by serendipity he became my immediate manager a month later. I’ve learned a great deal about SQL Server from Jason, but he has also helped immensely with my entry into technological public speaking. This type of mentoring, which I don’t consider to be included in his job responsibilities, has been invaluable.

Like any job, there are pros and cons. However, with the exception of the beat down from Project Asculum (which still needs coverage on this blog), I have greatly enjoyed this job and the benefits have far exceeded the drawbacks. I look forward to many more years with Terremark.