The Value of Professional Associations

Keynote Topic

www.craftydba.com

By John Miner

What is a professional assn?

• A group of people that meet to discuss and promote knowledge in their industry.

• Historically, these were the guilds of middle ages such as the Masons or Shoemakers.

• Ritual traditions of the guilds survive in orders like the Free Masons.

• Some modern day guilds are the Electrical and Plumbers union.

Ranking of skill

• Guilds ranked members in terms of their skill.– Apprentice– Journeyman– Master

• Microsoft’s certification program– MCTS = associate– MCITP = expert– MCM = master

Member benefits

• Attend presentations on parts of the SQL Server family that you do not use.

• Meet professionals in the IT field– Same area of study– Different area of study

• Be apart of new product releases.• Be aware of 3rd party tool offerings.• Get knowledgeable about local

companies.

Learning by teaching

• Members are encouraged to immerse themselves in topic they are interested in.

• Read books on-line, white papers and/or books.

• Create some working demos on how to apply the technology.

• Report back to the group via a presentation.

Are there drawbacks?

• It does take time to attend and/or present.

• Unless you are actively going to school, it is a great way to learn.

• Overall, I think you get more out of it than you put in.

Local SQL PASS chapter

• Southern New England SQL Server Users Group (SNESSUG) meets every first Wednesday of the month at New England Technical Institute (NEIT).

• Join the linked in group or visit the website to get announcements.

SQL SATURDAY #156

Before we begin …

Thanks to those who made this event happen.

Our Committee

• Local Chapter President– John Miner

• Event Chairperson– Brandon Leach

• Event Coordinators– Scott Abrants– Yulia Fuller– Steve Simon

Our Sponsors (cont)

• 2012 Fiscal Year– New England Tech– Data Education

• Gold Level– Confio Software– Quest Software

Our Sponsors

• Bronze Level– SQL Pass

• Swag– Red Gate Software– Pragmatic Works– Sapient Technologies

Our Book Publishers

• O’Reilly Publishing• Microsoft Press• McGraw-Hill• Simple Talk Publishing• Wrox

Have a great day!

• Referencesguilds:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guild

masons: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freemasonry

certification: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/certification/cert-overview.aspx