First of all, I didn’t think much about goals for 2010, and subsequently never set any, so I’m going to list the accomplishments that I’ve had in 2010:
Articles: 5 articles written; 3 published; 2 submitted and are being published in Jan 2011.
Events: Attended SQL Saturday #30 (Richmond, VA) on 4/10/2010
3 Question of the Days were submitted and published.
Presentations: I’ve presented to 2 user groups.
I’ve submitted to present to:
SQL Saturday #69, Philadelphia, PA on 3/5/2011
SQL Saturday #71, Boston, MA on 4/2/2011
SQL Rally, Orlando, FL on 5/11-13/2011
Blogging:
I’ve started following various bloggers. Especially those blogging on T-SQL Tuesday.
I’ve made inquiries into starting my own blog. Truthfully, this is something that I’m not comfortable with, but I recognize it would be good for my “brand”.
Other community activities: I’ve become a regular poster on SQLServerCentral.com, and am attending my local UG regularly.
Reading, Technical:
SQL Server MVP Deep Dives (completed)
SQL Server 2008 Internals (started)
SQL Server 2008 Query Performance Tuning Distilled (Queue)
Reading, Non-Technical:
The Bourne Deception (Queue)
Personal: Started exercising.
Okay, with all of that, here are my goals for 2011:
Articles: In spite of the number of articles that I wrote in 2010, it’s hard for me to come up with things to write about. (In 2010, 3 fall under the requested / SQL Spackle line, and a fourth is how I resolved an issue at work. Only one was, IMO, “truly original”.) So, my goal in 2011 is to write 4 articles. Sub-goal: with 2 of these being about something in SQL Server that I haven’t previously used.
Presentations: one presentation per quarter (and not an average either… so even if I get all of those presentations I’ve submitted to, I still have two more quarters to deal with!)
Question-of-the-Day: Submit one per quarter. Get them right, so that there isn’t controversy over them like the previous ones have had.
Events:
Attend SQL Rally (I’ve already paid for this; it’s just a matter of whether I’ll be presenting at it also).
I’d like to attend PASS Summit, but at this point all the expenses come out of my pocket, so it’s doubtful.
Community: Continue to post on SSC. Continue to attend UG meetings. Seek out opportunities to volunteer with my local UG.
Blogging: Continue to follow the sql bloggers. Continue to evaluate whether blogging is “for me”.
Personal:
Ramp up the exercise. Lose 50 pounds.
Provide a better mix of non-SQL activities. (Including reading that non-technical book in my queue before starting any other technical ones – I bought it over a year ago!)
Complete needed work on the house.
