I was sitting in Paul Randal-Tripp’s (blog | @PaulRandal) session at PASS last week (he saved me a seat in the front row bless his heart) and listened to him talk about logging and recovery. At some point Jonathan Kehayias (blog | @SQLSarg) asked a question and I remember hearing the question, thinking that I knew the answer, and listened to Paul’s response. And at that very moment I was struck with the most incredible thought:
I understand what they are saying.
Five years ago I was at my first PASS conference, sitting in on a pre-con being given by Kimberly Tripp (blog | @KimberlyLTripp). And I understood maybe a tenth of what she was saying at the time. I still have my handouts from her talk with all my notes that say “find out what the hell she just said right here”. I was not new to SQL Server, but I was very new to the inner depths of the product, and Kim was going into some deeper knowledge than I was used to hearing. I understood enough, but some of the conversations that day might as well have been in another language. Wait, I guess they actually were.
And with Kim in the back of the room last week, and sitting next to an power outlet (how did she get so lucky?), Jonathan asking in-depth questions, and Paul explaining everything in a way that would make Carl Sagan proud, I was stunned to realize just how far I have come. I can remember when I felt that everything was way over my head, or that I didn’t belong. The truth is that over time you acquire the skills and knowledge and before you know it you not only belong, but you can get right up on stage as I did in 2007 and again in 2008.
In the past two years I have been approached by many people who say something similar to: “I want to go to the Summit, but I do not think I am technical enough, the content will be over my head.” All I can say is that we all started out with little to no knowledge. Ask anyone. But if you want to grow your skills, then you need to connect, learn, and share with others. And there is no better place to do that than at PASS.
And before you know it you will be sitting in a session and be able to follow along in the conversation.
It’s that simple.
This is a great post, Tom. I am new to SQL and a lot of the blog posts I read, the webinars I attend and the questions asked on Twitter are over my head. But I realize that getting involved now will help me learn faster, and in five years I will know what is going on!
thanks, and it is true. the more you keep using it, the more you learn, and before you know it you are able to understand what is going on.
Wow, thanks for posting this and making me feel better about feeling totally out to sea in Kimberly’s Indexing for Performance pre-con. I am *so* glad that I made the decision to go to PASS even though I considered myself to not be “technical enough” too. The whole positive mood of PASS has given me big incentive to put renewed energy into pursuing my career, even if my present employment doesn’t fully utilize my skills.
awesome, glad to hear i was able to help you. one thing i have learned is that it is okay to turn to the person next to you and say “the Hell?”
i tell my children all the time how no one person can know everything. and it’s true. and no one should feel that way at PASS, we are all there to help one another.
The only way you can grow is to push yourself outside of your comfort zone. Going to PASS is like dunking your head in a bucket full of knowledge. You’re not going to drink it all up, but you’re gonna absorb at least a little of it. Or something.
“…or something”
Great post Tom. I used to feel like that all the time. Still do in some areas, but like you said, “… over time you acquire the skills and knowledge and before you know it you not only belong… ”
Great comment by Brent as well.
thanks Jack.
GREAT points raised in this post, Tom.
I have also heard of folks who think they aren’t “ready” for the summit. You are! If you can spell SQL, have played it with in some capacity for 6 months to a year you can and will get something from the Summit.
Many sessions are geared towards beginners, many are not. Even in the more advanced ones, you will absorb knowledge you don’t even know you are getting until months or years later when something clicks.
Just 3 short years ago, I was at my first Summit thinking I knew more than I did. The sessions I chose then were awesome, a lot of new information, a lot of scribbled notes to learn something later. The past 3 years I must have done a lot more growing because I found myself understanding a lot of what was said, I found myself knowing the answer Itzik, Paul or others would give for a lot of questions. Even in those sessions, I still learned new knowledge, just at a different level or less overwhelming amounts.
Go to the Summit! No matter where you are. If you are lost, ask someone for help. The SQL community is an awesome community and you will find a ton of people who actually enjoy sharing knowledge, tips and tricks with you. Even without the sessions, that is worth going alone.
Hang out in the ask the experts areas. Sit at a table on an area you want to know more about. Even if you don’t have a question, learn through the conversations.
I completely agree with Brent’s add on as well. The “Aha” moments will come in the weeks and months following the summit and they are fun 🙂
Don’t go because you don’t think you have enough to share! I am thinking of submitting an abstract for beginner DBAs next year and there was already a lot of basics covered this and in past years.
thanks Mike, much appreciated.