Un-SQL Friday: Your Tech Giants … Or “They Might Be Giants”

Un-SQL Friday: Your Tech Giants … Or “They Might Be Giants”

In the spirit of T-SQL Tuesdays, Jen McCown’s (Twitter) blog over at SQL Awesomesauce announced the following:

I hereby declare this Friday Un-SQL Friday. While T-SQL Tuesday is “…the SQL Server blogosphere’s first recurring, revolving blog party….on the chosen [SQL-related] topic,” UN-SQL Friday is a completely intermittent blog party about something SQL-adjacent. 

As a result, this Friday of January 22, 2011, the subject for Un-SQL Friday is “Your Tech Giants”.  The original post can be found here http://www.midnightdba.com/Jen/2011/01/un-sql-friday-your-tech-giants/.

So with my title of my post, I can honestly say I do not follow many of what others are calling their tech giants… No Microsoft people, not Bill Gates, not Steve Jobs.  I won’t even add folks like George Lucas or Gene Roddenberry, the creators of Star Wars and Star Trek respectively, who could be argued as giants influencing technology.  I think the folks I look up to in technology seem to be more grounded, more relatable.  They’re even more accessible than these aforementioned notables.  Instead, let me talk about two SQL Server Professionals I met in 2010 that I would say exhibit ‘giant-like’ qualities; qualities I would aspire to mirror and emulate as I get myself further and further involved in the SQL Server community.

First off, we have Jose Chinchilla aka SQLJoe (Blog | Twitter).  I first met him by attending his presentation at SQL Saturday #49 in Orlando in October 2010 where he presented “Learning SSIS Under One Hour”.  Unfortunately, it took him more than an hour.  I didn’t meet him directly per se, but I did make sure to reach out to him via Twitter and added a few comments and (hopefully) constructive criticisms.  Later, Jose would present the same presentation for SQLLunch, where he actually finished in an hour.  However, I too had some feedback to share, and Jose took it all in stride.  From there, I made it a point to reach out and meet him at last weekend’s SQL Saturday #62 in Tampa.  Little did I know the responsibilities he had in co-hosting the event with Pam Shaw (Blog | Twitter).  In addition to the SQL Saturday event itself, there was a PreCon event which I myself attended (see my recap blog entry here), and while there, I noticed the mass amount of work Jose was doing to keep things rolling for the event.  That effort continued into Saturday, non-stop.  In all, attendees who commented via blogs and via twitter have all raved about Jose and the crew, and I too share that sentiment.  In short, along with the BI skills set Jose has demonstrated and shared, Jose gives of himself to the community, as evident with last weekend’s event, and continues in his blogs and Twitter contributions.  Those are qualities I admire, and qualities I aspire to have as well.  Jose is to me a tech giant.

Venti size, please?... 

Last but no way at all least, we have Patrick LeBlanc (Blog | Twitter), or actually, should I say, “Patrick and his ego”?  I really didn’t meet Patrick in person until SQL Saturday #49.  Since about the Spring of 2010, I have been attending regularly his and Adam Jorgensen’s (Blog | Twitter) creation, SQLLunch.  The adage “No fluff, just stuff” is dead on.  Patrick’s hosting of the free online training and sharing of information to the SQL community is just priceless, and while listening to Patrick, you just can’t help but be entertained by his charm and charisma.  In short, you want to listen to what he has to say.  Sure, you got to take the jokes and commentary and style Patrick has, but when it comes time to the technical and details, Patrick is clear and concise, and he surely knows his stuff.  At SQL Saturday #49 itself, Patrick presented “Speaking, Should I” and “CDC + SSIS = SCD”.  I made sure to reach out and meet him in the morning, and then made sure to attend both his mini-presentation during lunch, and his afternoon presentation on Change Data Capture (CDC) and Slowly Changing Dimensions (SCD).  Patrick, without a doubt, is a dynamic and energetic SQL Server professional and speaker.  Awarded as one of many, Microsoft® Most Valuable Professionals (MVP) for SQL Server, Patrick has definitely earned his award.  He was missed recently at SQL Saturday #62, but I am sure to cross paths with him online and at other events.  Like Jose, Patrick to me is a tech giant.

Tag line says it all!

Sorry if these praises seem campy and such.  And yes, no bromances here.  But in the spirit of praising those tech giants we admire, kudos and more to both Jose and Patrick!  I am sure my list will grow as I meet and interact with more and more folks, but for now, these are my choices!

My two and half cents…

(Note: January 24, Updated track back info (I think))