2010 was my first year as a blogger, after finally pulling my finger out back in February. I learnt an early lesson in naming/tagging posts appropriately after my first search engine hits came in via the term “pull my finger”. Not exactly the kind of search term I was hoping to bring up my site - things have improved now so I’ve headed in the right direction with a focus on SQL Server and .NET related posts.
Top of the Pops
The top 3 posts in terms of views have been:
1. SQL Server 2008 - Table Valued Parameters vs XML vs CSV
2. High performance bulk loading to SQL Server using SqlBulkCopy
3. Sorting a DataTable - LINQ performance
In terms of feedback/comments, the top post was: Rise of the SQL Server DevBA - I particularly enjoyed writing this post as it’s something I feel particularly strong about and so it was fantastic to receive the feedback on it.
I Came, I Saw, I Learnt
2010 was also a year where I set myself a resolution to get out there and attend more conferences and community events, and what a great year it was in that respect.
March: QCon London
April: SQLBits 6
June: SQL Server Master Class
December: First SQL Server Southampton UserGroup
Add to that a handful of other SQL Server/.NET usergroup attendances in London, Reading and Southampton and it all adds up to a successful year for that particular goal. Through these various events, I’ve had the pleasure of putting a number of faces to names. It hasn’t always been easy to do that - trying to play “spot the tweep” while hovering next to a breakfast buffet table was at times challenging; a) because there was food at hand to focus on and b) because trying to recognise someone you follow on er based on some their profile pic can be difficult. Being recognised myself for the first time was a nice surprise - thanks to Dave Ballantyne (Twitter | Blog) for being my first “spotter” at the SQL Server Master Class! (Sorry, no prize)
Who’s The Daddy!
Aside from professional goals, 2010 was also an amazing year on a personal note as I became a dad for the first time to a beautiful baby girl. That is my excuse for a decline in blog posting rate in the latter part of this year!
Group hug
Community, community, community. That’s where it’s at. I’ve learnt a lot from the community and been lucky enough to be a part of some awesome events, something I very much look forward to more of in 2011. One of my goals will definitely be to put more faces to names. Thanks to all who have viewed, commented on or RT’d my blog posts and of course thanks to all those out there who have provided first class blog posts which I have enjoyed following (too many to name!). Happy New Year!