BAC To The Future!

Yesterday I talked about the Accidental Architect. Today I want to add some additional thoughts.

There is a reason why we end up gravitating towards careers as DBAs or architects: natural curiosity. We want to know how something works. We want to do our best to ensure that a system is built the right way (well, as right as possible based upon all available information).

This natural curiosity means that when someone asks if we know something we choose to say “Not yet” as opposed to “Not my job”.

So it may not be entirely by accident as to how we ended up where we are today. We are also likely to be the type of people who take on a role, do our best to excel in that role, and after three years or so we feel it is time to move on to the next challenge.

So, what *is* your next challenge? I know where my next challenges are: the remaining 80% of the data platform tools that I haven’t learned enough about yet. I’m reviving my mathematical background and diving into data analysis and statistics. I’m also heading into the Cloud, trying to learn more about all the PaaS, IaaS, and SaaS options that are available currently.

I’m also looking to connect, share, and learn with others that are heading in the same direction.

This April in Chicago we will have the first ever PASS Business Analytics conference where we intend to get together to do just that: connect, share, and learn.

Sound familiar? It should, it’s what PASS is all about.

Here’s my ask of you today.

Go and register for the conference. Use the promotional code BACROCKSTAR and get $200 off the current full registration price. In addition to the discounted price I am going to arrange for a “meet and greet” while in Chicago for everyone that uses the BACROCKSTAR code. Right now I am thinking of hosting everyone immediately following the welcome reception on Wednesday night at a soon to be determined location.

You can come and ask questions of me, Rob Collie (blog | @powerpivotpro), Karen López (blog | @datachick), and Lara Rubbelke (@SQLGal). Come and ask us where we see significant opportunities for data professionals in the coming years. Come and ask us about the customers we interact with currently and where we see the biggest pain points.

Come connect, share, and learn with the people that are already knee deep in the coming data revolution.

See you in Chicago!