Final Recap – 2009 Goals

Well, I set 7 professional goals for 2009 and I did okay in meeting them, but I was not successful in all and, really, that is only because I did not put in the time to get them all done.  So let’s go through them and see how I did:

1. Learn SQL Server 2008, particularly policy-based management, resource governor, and service broker.
   • Well, I did learn some SQL Server 2008.  I run it on my laptop and have spent some time with it.
   • Policy-based Management – I have played with it, read about it, and attended a couple of presentations about it.  I’d call this one attained
   • Resource Governor – I did a little reading on it, but I did not study beyond that.  I have not played with it all.  I’d call this one missed.
   • Service Broker – I really need to learn this one, but I have not.  This a fail.
2. Write 1 article per quarter for SQLServerCentral
   Man, I started out great with this one, but fell off in the second half of the year.  I still have a series on Profiler to complete, but I got stuck on a problem with Replaying a trace so I flamed out.  I had 2 in the first half and none in the second half.  This is a major fail and I have no excuse except lack of motivation.
3. Record and submit 1 video per quarter for JumpstartTV (now SQLShare).
   I did one video in January and one in December (still to be approved at SQLShare).  So again, another fail because of lack of effort and planning.
4. One blog post per week
   I met this one by average as there were weeks I did not have a post, but more weeks when I had multiple posts.  With this post I’ll have 113 posts in 2009 which is a little more than 2 per week.  I would say a large majority were technical/professional posts with a couple personal and some announcement type posts.  This one is ACHIEVED!
5. Become more involved in leadership in my local user group (OPASS).
   • I am officially co-president and have been scheduling speakers and will be starting to work on sponsors in the coming weeks.  Definitely achieved!
     • Speak at 2 community events (user groups, SQLSaturday’s, etc…)
       I spoke at the Pensacola and Orlando SQLSaturday’s and the Tampa and Space Coast User Groups so this is definitely achieved.
     • Attend the PASS Summit
       I made it!  It was FANTASTIC!  I met at least 50 people, learned a ton, and made great contacts.  I can’t wait to go back in 2010.  Don’t forget it is only $995 until January 15th.  Believe me, it is worth it and I don’t plan on missing any in the future.

Overall a pretty good year as I was week in my contributions to SQLServerCentral and SQLShare, but I learned a lot about SQL Server 2008 even though I didn’t meet my specific goals, and I exceeded goals 4-6, and attained goal 7.

Even though I did not meet all my goals 2009 was a great year for my professional development.  I learned a lot, not just technically, but how to be a professional and how to contribute to the community, so I’ll call 2009 a success!