Friday Funtime: Contest, Powershell, Preview!

Hi guys!  Here are your new and exciting updates for today, plus a PowerShell tip:

  • Contest: We haven’t announced the prize yet, but dont let that stop you from getting a big celebrity to Tweet about @MidnightDBA!  Biggest celebrity wins (the president, Bill Gates, and anyone from the cast of Star Trek Next Generation are instant wins!) Deadline is next Wednesday.
  • New house update: More of the same paperwork tango with the mortgage company. Who knew they’d want so much proof of income for a lousy six figure loan?
  • SQL Saturday #35 is filled to the brim with sponsors, and we’re insanely grateful. REALLY looking forward to a great conference.
  • On the web: David Levy has been kind enough to compile a list of Powershell links here. He’ll be adding a link to our Powershell videos tonight.
  • Powershell Tip: Did you know you can open Powershell from SSMS? Just right click any object in the Object Explorer window and select Start PowerShell. A PS window will open, and the file path will be set to the level of that object! For example, if you right clicked the database AdventureWorks in your default instance, your Powershell prompt would be set at PS SQLSERVER:\SQL\Default\ServerName\Databases\AdventureWorks>   That’s mighty convenient!
  • DBAs@Midnight webcast – We got lots of new talking point ideas from you guys last night on Twitter.  Keep them coming, in comments, email, or Twitter! I also just posted our first webshow preview on YouTube, showing scenes from this coming Monday’s show:

  

 
Happy, happy days!

#Awesomesauce

MidnightDBA.comI CAN haz WordPress!  Thanks, Sean!

New!

Welcome to my new shiny blog, which will become newer and shinier as I get to play with it. In the meantime, we have all my old blogs, dating back to 482B.C., though they are without comments. It’s best to start fresh; some of you made awesome comments, but they were mostly drowned in a sea of idiotic spammers. It should be much easier to keep the board clear here.

Awesomesauce!

“Awesomesauce” is one of my very favorite words, and I use it daily on Twitter. It was only natural that my blog should adopt it as the title; after all, the things I write about here are the things I consider to be #awesomesauce. Consider it the yin to Sean’s DBARant  yang – which has also moved to MidnightDBA.com!

Daily Blogs!

We’re 1-2 weeks away from a variety of wonderful things – see my latest blog on current events – and we still have the Get a Celeb to Tweet MidnightDBA Contest going on. So to keep us all up to date, I’ll be blogging daily till the grand peak that is SQL Saturday 35, on May 22.

Thanks for coming with me, everybody.  Be sure to let me know you stopped by, plus any advice on my new blog digs!

Happy, happy days…

-Jen McCown, http://www.MidnightDBA.com/Jen/

News and Upcoming, or, No Wonder I Get Headaches

I have so much going on right now, I can't even think of a way to be clever about it.  Let's just get you up to date on all the important MidnightDBA, SQL Saturday, and PASS news… 

Our Exciting Life 

Sean and I are in the final frantic countdown-to-closing tango on our new house in Irving (TX). Like a late night followed by a hurried rush to work and school, everythwe need ing is scattered, everyone is doing their best (but feeling the strain), and I can't find my friggin brown loafer.  Send us cookies, maids, and personal valets.

We're also very VERY excited about some upgrades we're making to our webshow, DBAs @ Midnight. By the way, wouldn't a vanity plate reading "12AMDBA" just be insanely wonderful? I'm just sayin.  So on to the upgrades: we've started filming the show a week in advance, to be able to bring you commercials for the next DBAs@! Check out the most recent show, When To Leave Your Job.  At the end (part 5) we have our very first teaser for the next show. Kudos to Sean for getting that together; he's a juke box hero.

And and AND, in a couple of weeks we're going to start webcasting the show LIVE on Friday nights!  TAH-DAH!! Those of you, like us, who don't actually do things on Friday nights can sit up with us and Tweet, email, and call to your heart's content, and be part of the show. 

Random note: Somebody emailed us the other day, and was very apologetic about it. Listen guys, we like you. We like you a lot. That's why we do all this!  So go ahead, email, ask questions, let us know when something breaks/sucks/is awesome, and don't be apologetic. Embrace the internetz, embrace email. I'm Jen@MidnightDBA.com, and Sean is Sean@MidnightDBA.com  Have at it!!!

SQLU

Jorge Segarra's (Twitter) SQL University is in full swing. If you've been ditching class, go back and read through the blogs so far: Documentation Week, Professional Development Week, and Security and Auditing Week are already in the bag! (Upcoming this summer, my Women in Technology week!)

24HOP

24 Hours of PASS is free, online, and 24 hours long!  That's supercool. It starts at 7am my time on May 19… Sean's presenting, presumably at midnight, but I have to do the math. Let's see, 154GMT is what here??  Oh, go register for 24HOP RIGHT NOW, mmmkay? 

NTSSUG

The NEXT DAY, Brad McGehee (blog, Twitter) is presenting at NTSSUG Dallas at 7pm CST.  Be there or be square. Seriously, all the cool kids in Dallas will be there!

SQL Saturday 35 Dallas

TWO DAYS after that, NTSSUG hosts our first ever SQL Saturday!  We're really really really really really really really REALLY exited.  Some of us may need a potty break here in a minute. 

Registration is FULL, the waiting list is FULL…at this point, your best bet is finding someone who's registered and paying them off to get their seat. Or, you know, waiting till next year.  If you are registered, PLEASE check your registration and lunch paid status here to make sure everything's in order. Email SQLSaturday@ntssug.com if you have any questions/issues.  We'll be making a visitor guide available online soon (and in print at the event).

Oh, and Jen's slide deck and code from SQL Saturday 41 Atlanta are up here, and the video recordings are on the front page of http://www.MidnightDBA.com, if you want to spoil your appetite.

PASS Summit Call for Speakers (finally!)

The PASS call for speakers is open!  

  1. Check out Jeremiah Peschka's blog Submitting a Winning Abstract at PASS, with links to the presentation and recording.
  2. Craft your abstracts accordingly. Be sure to include some #win, #awesomesauce, and #bacon.
  3. Get your abstracts in before June 5!!

And yes, Sean and I are submitting. And yes, I fully expect to be turned down. And no, that won't upset me. Much.

Contest

I'm feeling really stressed out right now, so I'm going to throw out a super lame, kinda fun, completely self-serving contest for you guys. I have yet to pick a prize, but here's the contest:

Which one of you can get the biggest star to tweet or blog about MidnightDBA? And by star, I mean actors-musicians-politicians, etc. We all love Paul Randal and Buck Woody, but they tweet about us all the time 🙂 

Try to get your star to say something like, @MidnightDBA makes free IT training and a webshow that sometimes involves pee! (You can leave out the pee part if you want.)

If you think it's lame, don't do it. If you think it's fun, do it! And let us know…send a screenshot of the tweet, or link to the URL.  Deadline is Wednesday May 19th!

Hugs & kisses & happy days,
-Jen
http://www.MidnightDBA.com