The Cruisers | SQL Cruise

Our SQL Cruise Alaska 2012 Cruisers

Want to know who you’ll be spending your week with? Here are our Cruisers for the Alaska 2012 SQL Cruise…

Bill Sanscrainte

Data Warehouse Specialist / Architect / Developer Consultant

I’m currently on my third gig with Jones Lang Lasalle, a property management, leasing, and brokerage firm. I’ve been in IT for 30 years(!) and consulting for 18. Been with SQL Server since 6.5, and also have experience with some of the tools from the dark side (Oracle, UDB, MySQL)

Darcy Williams

Oregon Health and Science University, DBA

I’m a DBA for Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, Oregon. I’ve worked there for one year and previously I was a developer and part time DBA. For fun I like to paddle outrigger canoes and attend races up and down the west coast. I’m always excited to learn anything new with SQL Server and look forward to cruising with other SQL Server folks.

Eric Harrison

Coyote Logistics, Chief Technical Officer

I’ve been messing with computers since I was 9, which was a very long 35 years ago. My first computer was a Radio Shack Color Computer, with a whopping 4k of memory. You haven’t lived until you’ve had to save your assembly language program on cassette tape.

While my job isn’t supposed to involve day to day SQL work, I am terribly drawn to it regardless (along with about a thousand other things – which is my biggest problem – FOCUS!). I’ve been using SQL since 6.5, and worked with a system called “Pick” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pick_operating_system) back in the dark ages. I was a MCDBA in the late 90’s.

I’ve done everything from owning a Microsoft Certified Partner company specializing in Dynamics CRM, being Director of Corporate Technology at a Fortune 500 company, freelance consulting, developed software for “shrink wrap” sales, and now, I’m riding this bucking bronco known as Coyote!

I’m also a private pilot, but not current… very not current as a matter of fact! I used to own an airplane that was older than me…

I straddle both sides of the development / infrastructure of the fence, and move between them frequently. Currently I’m the CTO of Coyote Logistics, one of the fastest growing privately held companies in the country (#6 on the INC 500 in 2011), and the #1 mid-size place to work in Chicago (between 500 and 1000 employees). We’re adding 45 people a month and on track to double in size this year.

Erickson Winter

New Belgium Brewing Company, “Database Guy”

Started with computers at age 9 (assembly on the C64), then diverted in college to Electrical Engineering (B.S. and M.S. – thesis: Pattern Recognition Using a Pulse-Coupled Neural Network) at the University of Wyoming where I met my wife, Julie. Now living in Ft. Collins, CO with Julie and my 2 adopted daughters, Akasha (7) and Inara (2). Right after getting my degrees in Electrical Engineering, I went right back to computers as a general computer/network consultant focusing mainly on Novell, then worked for a small plastics information company where I was introduced to SQL (and PERL), which are my mainstay even today! For fun, I travel and snowboard mostly, but also have a fun movie-room that has grown up over about 20 years -so movie nights every month or 2.

Jes Borland

Brent Ozar, PLF

I’m Jes Schultz Borland – also known as @grrl_geek on Twitter, and the one who likes to run a lot. I have been working with SQL Server for a few years. I started by writing SSRS reports, became the DBA by default, worked as a DBA at Kimberly Clark (a Fortune 500 company), and just accepted a position with Brent Ozar PLF. I love SQL Server, and the community around it. I’m a blogger at LessThanDot.com, I’m a founder and board member of the MADPASS user group, a founder of the Tech On Tap training series, and a speaker.

My other loves are running, cooking, and being outdoors. A cruise to Alaska is on my bucket list, and I’m super excited that I’m getting the chance this year.

Malathi Mahadevan

Background: MCITP (DBA-2008),Senior SQL Server DBA with leading healthcare company – working on SQL Server for 12 years now, strong background in database design and programming as well.Very active in community- long time PASS conference attendee(#10 this year), Founder/President of local chapter for 7 years, done 4 sql Saturdays, and into the fifth.

Fun: Love to read particularly classics,poetry and British/Indian history, enjoy traveling – have seen 37 states (Alaska will be 38), do yoga to stay fit and relieve stress, greatly enjoy tea and different kinds of tea (no not coffee, sorry 🙂

What i want to get out of the cruise: Meet fellow sql family members and friends, get advice on career growth (been in a production DBA job for 12 years now and feel rather stuck), ,enjoy the awesome line up of techie sessions and most importantly have fun 🙂

Where i am from: Louisville,KY – 12 years now, NYC – 5 years, Bangalore India – before…(ok goes all the way back to Garden of Eden but that will suffice for now 🙂

Wayne Sheffield

GE Healthcare, Database Administrator

I started playing with computers in 1978, while in college (it wasn’t me that took the mainframe down, but I was there when it happened!). I’ve played with TRS-80, Commodore, Apple //c and IIGS computers. I’ve even played the original Pong, when it was brand new. (All those slide decks you see of ancient computer stuff… I’ve had most of them!) Joined the Navy for a while, and worked in the nuclear power program. (Do you remember the Navy ad “Join the Navy, see the world”? Well, they sent me to where I was already living…) When I left the Navy, I started working in IT, and have been in it for over 20 years now. I started working with SQL 6.5 way back in the last millennium… 1998. I was a developer, and using those new-fangled database things (actually, the company was shifting off of a mainframe to a pc based system). As I learned more and more, I ended up moving into SQL Server (read the whole story at http://blog.waynesheffield.com/wayne/archive/2012/03/t-sql-tuesday-028-jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none/). I’ve worked mainly as a SQL Developer and/or DBA, occasionally dabbling in SSRS and SSIS.

I currently work for one of GE Healthcare’s divisions in Richmond, VA. I’ve previously worked for some other small companies (US Army through consulting deals, a cable TV company, major pharmaceutical software seller). I tweet (@DBAWayne), write (see my articles on SQL Server Central – and look for an upcoming SQL Server 2012 book from Apress that I’m co-authoring), blog now and then, and really get a kick out of seeing someone learn something (preferably about SQL Server!). And I’ve been going around the SQL Saturday circuit and local user groups doing a few presentations.

Yanni Robel

Senior Manager, Database Administration at Allrecipes.com

Like most of the folks I care about, follow, or generally associate with, I am many things to many people. To my daughters, I am a mother and a provider. To my husband, I am a lover, a friend, and a peer. To my team at work, I am a manager and subject matter expert on where the data lives and how to expedite its retrieval. To the world around me, I am sometimes an example, sometimes an inspiration, but in my eyes, I am a just part of it. Oh, I’m also a mountaineer, geek, an architect/engineer, a darn good cook, movie fanatic, part-time couch potato as well as an occasional writer. Oh, and most recently, I am a marathoner, and I am not just talking about marriage.

As you may be able to tell, I am enjoying what I do and absolutely love the SQL community. Honestly, I actually do learn something new every day and I hope that I can contribute something back to help others the way others have helped me.

Christopher Bell

CEO & High Muckity Muck of WaterOx Consulting. / Sr. SQL Server DBA – Technical lead with CSC’s DOL CBP project

I worked my way ‘backwards” into a SQL DBA career. I started in retail management, then data entry at AMD. After helping to develop a paperless inventory system I was hired by a company to represent Crystal Info and started working with large high profile clients setting up enterprise report and BI solutions. After far too much travel I joined up with a small company designing insurance ERP solutions from the ground up focusing on reporting and assisting the DBA. From there I joined the largest publisher of unabridged audio books and quickly became the Sr. DBA. After manually reverse engineering an entire conversion/migration project I moved to Amtrak for a 6 month stint as the only application SQL DBA. In November last year I went independent (now incorporated!) and joined CSC’s Dept. of Labor CBP project heading up a team of 10 (15 soon) Sr. Level DBA’s.

By coming backwards through the life cycle of data and databases I find I offer a very unique view of projects and systems. I realized a long time ago that data is going to be critical and have been working to be able to provide the most stable foundation for systems running on SQL Server.

Max Gomeniuok

Operating Support Analyst, FedEx SmartPost

My SQL background is currently restricted to SQL programming, having only recently started learning SQL Server. However, due to the shifts in our company’s business/IT strategy I am actively working to expand that knowledge to broader horizons. I believe SQL Cruise will do that for me. I am looking forward to the cruise and training as well as networking opportunities. My experience mostly lies in Financial Analysis/VBA programming/Process streamlining. I’ll be attending SQL Cruise with my wife, who is not a computer geek but is an internal auditor 😉 For fun I play soccer, work on cars and train my dogs.

Bruce Pratt

Senior DBA for Turner Industries

I’ve been a database guy for a looooonnnnng time. I was using beta copies of dBase when Jeb Long was issuing them from JPL.
Learned to hack early floppy disk copy protection. Made me popular with the fellows, not so much the ladies.

Found my way to SQL Server via Sybase, actually, due to some gnarly contractual issues. Been doing it ever since, mostly. I’ve also had to do my share of integration, test and debug along the way because I was the guy that could generally get an answer. So some of my skills are, well, unorthodox would be a kind description.

I am a real Southerner, reared (but would not say it that way back home) in Beaufort SC. So I have found myself looking to return to my roots, geographically at least, and from San Francisco CA, I managed to get as far back east as Baton Rouge.