Reviewing my Goals I set in 2011
In January 2011 - I posted these goals I had set myself for 2011, so just how did I fair on those, see my progress report belowI will also be posting my 2012 goals in the next few days
SQL Conferences & Training Events (All done - Nice)
· SQLCruise (June 2011) Alaska - I'm booked on this one already!!
o Done , it was an amazing time attending the SQL Cruise and learnt a lot about SQL and other stuff, not to mention an amazing Alaska adventure
· SQL Master Week # 1 (June 2011) Master Immersion Event on Internals and Design
o Done, I attended the week long course and it was undoubtedly the best training course I have ever attended, I’m still learning from it
· SQLPass Summit (Really must go this year's event)
o Done, I not only attended the conference but was also Privileged enough to be a presenter with my “Why are we Waiting...” Session, which incidentally had the 9th highest attendance of 310 attendees @ the conference with over 160 sessions
· SQL BITs 8 / 9 Events - present & attend @ 1 or hopefully both of these
o Done, I attended both of the Events and was also again fortunate enough to be selected as a presenter with my Part I & II of my “Why are we Waiting…” sessions
SQLFAQ Events (All done - Was a lot of fun doing these events)
· SQL FAQ London (10-12 Events) organize these & also present @ some of them aiming to do a min of 8 events this year
o Done, only 8 events (just made my 8 event goal)
· More Presentations @ 6-8 other locations (non-London), including maybe even doing a 1 full day event (if I can)
o Done, I presented @ another 10 non-London UG Events, this included 2 mini UG tours
· XMAS 2011 event this year to organize good event and preparing for it well in advance.
o Done, We had an event where some of us got together for drinks, but it was not a big event
Exams (not as many as I had planned - although a lot of prep work done for the exams)
Study & Pass the following 4 Pre-Requisite Exams (Hmmm time for some serious study sessions)
· v 70-432 - Passed · v 70-450 - Planned for Feb · v 70-433 - Planned for Feb/March · v 70-451 - Planned for March
Work on compiling my "MCM Study Notes" (OneNote) for MCM Certification" and keep it going throughout
Still have a lot to add to this resource. I have a lot of material I want to add, so will be allowing some time (regularly) to do just that and fill out content for each section (minimum 2 pages) during 2012 http://cid-c2dc5b5a2f112857.office.live.com/view.aspx/SQL%20MCM%20Training/SQL%20MCM%20Training
· Exam 88 970: SQL Server 2008 Microsoft Certified Master: Knowledge Exam (Pass)
o Planned for March
· Exam 88 971: SQL Server 2008 Microsoft Certified Master: Lab Exam (Pass or try an attempt @ least)
o Planned (if I pass Exam on 1st go) for March/April
· READ: 3+ SQL Technical Books
o Done, actually read about 5 books (although some chapters skipped in those, have a lot more to read through)
· Ultimate GOAL is to obtain MCM SQL Server 2008 in 2011 or 1st half 2012
o Still on target for 1st half of 2012 - going to be heavy schedule but achievable
Writing (Not much achieved in this category, aside from getting the opportunity to contribute towards a MSFT SQL Server 2012 book)
· 2+ Published Articles
o Didn’t any published, but didn’t pursue this one, so will push this one into my 2012 goals
· Complete an app design for SQL Product {its top Secret as yet. It's still in my mental design phase}
o This was shelved as it would take a lot of time I was unable to dedicate and finish it to a suitable level – maybe will look @ this later in 2012
· Work on an 100-page SQL eBook (Exactly 100 pages) in-depth SQL Topic (again will furnish more details in due course)
o Took a different direction, as I’m writing a chapter for a SQL 2012 book instead – very excited to have that opportunity
Will provide more details once the book is nearing completion (expected to be in 2nd Qtr. 2012)
Community (Some of these achieved)
· Build further Relationships & promote the online resources: LinkedIn , SQLFAQ Website, SQLBlogcasts
o Maintained some activity on all these, but not nearly enough for my likening , LinkedIn was my main activity area
· Forum Activity (Weekly activity)
o Nope, I didn’t focus on this, did a few questions, and really would like to get regular @ this
· Twitter - Regular activity on various Tags build following (target 500-600 followers)
o With 691 followers on 1st Jan 2012 achieved the target and 6647 tweets to-date, have been regular in my activity in this FUN area {Yes I’m twitter junkie}
· Blogs (min 30 in the year) mostly technical - but not all
o Big fail here, with only 18 posts – some were technical and some non-technical posts as well – this year will have to make up for my short fall in 2011 big time
So on reflection, not too bad on most of the goals i had set being achieved.
Those I didn't or decided not to pursue will be worked into my 2012 goalsI feel have built a good foundation with my SQL community work during 2012 and plan to expand on those during 2012Along with my MCM SQL Server 2008 certification goal.