How can we increase safety in the tech community? Some folks asked me thoughtful questions, and I'm answering them here. I have not credited these individuals since I don't want them to get a thrashing online. It's a mix of questions from different people so if you see your question here: Thank You. What I'd … Continue reading Increasing Safety in the Tech Community
For the past two years, I held a volunteer role with Microsoft as a Regional Director. I've spent more time explaining what it is over the past two years than anything else, but it is a 'trusted advisor' to Microsoft to talk about developer audiences. So, I am no longer an Regional Director, having going … Continue reading Bye bye, Microsoft Regional Director; Hello, new adventures!
I was inspired by Mark Christie's post here, Mental Health in Consultancy. I would like to thank Mark for his honest and inspirational sharing of his story. I'd also like to thank Kenneth Fisher for writing Missing those we've lost. With this in mind, I wanted to chat about these harder topics. Here's my thoughts: Let … Continue reading Mental Health in Consultancy: You do You
Diversity, for me, also includes types of people. Some people can win through noise and sheer stamina for arguing a point, but that can really switch off introverts. It's important to try and look through other people's lenses. Just because they don't respond like you, doesn't mean that they are wrong. It just means that … Continue reading Introverted and fancy some quiet no-pressure chatting over a bite to eat? Join me for breakfast or lunch at #MSIgnite
I want to try and attract, recruit and retain people from diverse and different backgrounds, into technology careers and technical community. I believe that Diversity and Inclusion is a positive asset. However, it can be cast in terms of the negative 'Code of Conduct'. I see a CoC as leading on from a Decency Charter. … Continue reading Decency Charter for Technical Communities
Advice from a tech Mom on getting teens to learn to code Like many teens, my son is interested in gaming and YouTube. As a tech mom, I was keen to encourage him to learn to code. He didn’t really understand why I am so passionate about tech, data and working hard at it. In the … Continue reading Advice from a tech Mom on getting teens to learn to code
In December, I had my first experience with Indiegogo, and I backed a campaign to purchase a Gemini PDA. To date, the campaign has generated $2,294,143 which is 284% of target. So there's plenty of money sloshing around. As of now, it is May 2018 and despite promises, and a product tracker that seems to … Continue reading Why I wish I’d never backed the Gemini PDA campaign
Mentioning data science at your company may give you an air of expertise, but actually implementing enterprise-wide transformation with data science, artificial intelligence or deep learning is a business-wide transformation activity. It impacts your data and analytics infrastructure, engineering and business interactions, and even your organizational culture. In this post, we will look at a few … Continue reading How do you know if your org is ready for Data Science? Starting your journey with Azure Databricks
Here are the slides for my session in Dubai, on HR and Digital Transformation. I talked a little about Excel, Power BI, SQL Server and Oracle, as well as some of the new ways in which Artificial Intelligence could help HR. I decided I would try and show courtesy to my hosts by wearing a … Continue reading HR and Digital Transformation session in Dubai
I didn't put myself forward for re-election to the PASS Board, and I officially step down on 31st December. I've always struggled with the question - why get involved in the tech community? If tech community is something that you think about, I can't say it enough - it will change your life for the better. … Continue reading Life after serving on the PASS Board
For those of you looking for the Diversity Charter effort, you need to go here: https://diversitycharterblog.wordpress.com/ It is a team effort, not just me! I’d love to see a Diversity Charter that user groups and communities could use, to show that they are welcoming and open to all members of the technical communities. I think that … Continue reading Diversity Charter
In this edition, we will look at getting the database up on the Virtual Machine as a first step. Then, we will restore it using SSMS. I'm expecting that you will have done the pre-requisites that I laid out yesterday. You will also need to have connected to your database on the Azure Virtual Machine. … Continue reading SQL Server on Linux for the Business Intelligence Professional: Getting your Database on the VM