Challenge accepted

Paul Randal [blog] and Kimberly Tripp [blog] from SQLSkills are teaching a 5-days Internals and Performance class in Dallas, February 21-25. They have challenged their followers to argue their way to Dallas, so here it goes.

More by coincindence than anything else, I attended Kimberly Tripp's preconferance at TechEd Europe back in 2006, and that day turned out to be one of the most significant days of my career. The knowledge and inspiration that was sparkling from the stage just blew me away, and I've not looked back since. I've unfortunately not had the opportunity to attend neither Paul nor Kimberly's classes or sessions since the 2006 TechEd Europe, untill now that is...

There are multiple reasons for why I really, really want to attend the Internals and Performance class, and my reasons to attend are mostly founded in how I hope to make use of the knowledge when I get back. The reasons range from personal goals via community goals to explicit work goals, which all means a great deal to me.

For me personally; It's always better to learn from the best, and I can't think of anyone else I'd rather see live than Kimberly Tripp and Paul Randal (except for Pink Floyd, but that's just another cup of tea). In addition to great teachers, the class will also consist of a group of highly motivated students who I'm sure will aim to contribute to the class in a most constructive manner. The long lasting motivation and inspiration classes like this create is invaluable, and the great fun I'll have while being there, is like birthdays and christmas at once!

For the community: Norway is located in a far corner of the world, and the offline SQL Server community here is, at least across companies, nearly non-existent. The Norwegian SQL Server user group is hibernating, and I would like to wake it. One of my goals would be to strenghten my knowledge base and get the confidence to start a SQL Server meetup in Oslo. In this context, attending classes with the best of the best will hopefully, in addition to help me attain new knowledge, also give me confidence in what I already know.

At work: I see all training and knowledge elevation as tools for making better decisions in my work day helping customers focus on their enterprise rather than the supporting infrastructure. In this aspect, learning is a continous activity. But as time is the most valuable asset I have, small classes focused on highly relevant topics are a lot more effective than learning "the google way" or reading a book.

And out of curiosity: One of my preferred sources of knowledge these days is the "SQL Server 2008 Internals" book by Kalen Delaney featuring among others both Kimberly Tripp and Paul Randal. Having the opportunity to learn from the author of chapter 11 (and the technology it describes) would be just thrilling :-)

There is a first time for everything...

Long overdue, but nonetheless...

Here it is, my first blog and my first post :-)

More relevant content to come.