The Data Warrior

Changing the world, one data model at a time. How can I help you?

Archive for the month “March, 2012”

29 Mar 2012
1 Comment

Oracle User Groups: Are you a member?

I love user groups.

Getting introduced and involved in them has made a huge difference in my career. If it was not for all the people I have met in the last 22+ years, my career, and life, would have been very different.

I have met hundreds (maybe thousands) of amazing people both from within Oracle Corp and outside. Many of them became, and remain, my friends. Which is why we all love to get together several times a year at various user group and industry events to catch up, exchange wars stories, and learn new things.

Right now, I am starting to prepare for one of my favorites – ODTUG KScope. I will be there presenting in June and  running my popular Morning Chi Gung class for the 2nd year in a row.

If you have not registered, get to it! Rooms are going fast and you want to be sure to stay at the conference resort (yes – resort, not hotel!).

And on the ODTUG front, they have just announced you can now join for just $99 a year. That is the best value you can find for the world’s best Oracle user group for Developers.

So are you in? Are you at member of at least one user group?

What? You don’t know which one to join?

Then check out this new cool site Oracle just put up with videos from some of the user group leaders. After that, check out their new User Group Central with information about Oracle user groups around the globe.

So get out there and meet some new people and learn some new things.

Come to KScope12.

Join a user group.

See you in San Antonio.

Kent

P.S. Don’t forget to submit an abstract for Oracle OpenWorld before the deadline passes. It will get you a free pass to the show (worth over $2000). Tell’em ODTUG and the Oracle Data Warrior sent you.

Posted in Chi Gung, ODTUG, Oracle, User Groups and tagged , , , , , ,
21 Mar 2012
3 Comments

Looking for an IT Job in North America? Check out this great graphic.

I try not to repost too many things but I got this in my inbox this morning and was so impressed with the graphic used for conveying the information I could not resist (visualization anyone?).

Plus I know many folks are looking for work.

Both Houston (where I am) and Denver (my fav) make the list.

12 Cities To Find An IT Job In 2012
Source: Modis – IT Staffing Agency

Posted in Work-Life Balance and tagged , ,
14 Mar 2012
1 Comment

Ready or Not – It’s Time to Submit an Abstract for Oracle Open World 2012

Yup, it sneaks up on you pretty fast.

Seems like only a few weeks ago I was in San Francisco at OOW 2011, and now it is already time to think about what to present in September.

This year, Oracle OpenWorld will take place September 30-October 5 at the Moscone Center, San Francisco.

If you are ready to go, the call for papers is here.

Important Date:

The Call for Papers will close at 11:59 p.m. PDT on Monday, April 9.

Not a lot of time to submit.

Again this year I am the OOW Content Coordinator for the Oracle Development Tools User Group (ODTUG), so I will be one of the people reviewing your submission.

If you are an ODTUG member and want to represent ODTUG at OOW 2012, this is your chance! On the abstract submission form, there are two user group related questions you need to answer.

First, be sure to indicate that you are a member of a user group.

Second indicate that you belong to or are submitting on behalf of Oracle Development Tools User Group. 

If you do not indicate ODTUG, we (well, me and a few others) will not be able to see your abstract or review it.

I hope you will take advantage of this opportunity to share your knowledge, experiences, and solutions with other developers. I look forward to reviewing the abstracts submitted by the ODTUG experts.

Key Point: If your abstract is accepted, you will receive a complimentary registration to Oracle OpenWorld (worth over $2,000 ).

Even if you do not want to present, you can learn more about OpenWorld here.

So start writing that abstract and submit before April 9th.

See you in San Francisco!

Kent

Posted in ODTUG, Oracle and tagged , , , , , , , ,
11 Mar 2012
1 Comment

Want to be a Data Vault implementation Black Belt?

Are you tired of seeing failed data warehouse projects?

Tired of being part of the problem or having to clean up after someone else messed it up?

Well, now you can be part of the solution and kick implementation failures in the <you know what>.

I am pleased to tell you that my good friend, Dan Linstedt, creator of the Data Vault, has just launched a new, online, Data Vault training portal.

And it is now open to the public!

The first class you can get is on Data Vault implementation.

It is way cool!

The quality is excellent and the material is even better (including material I have never seen in a class). Dan provides tons of information about not only the right way to implement the Data Vault but gives examples of how he has done it and gives you code templates (for multiple databases) you can implement on a real project.

Why would you want to sign up for this training? Well lots of reasons:

  1. You read the Data Vault modeling book, but can’t quite see how to load the model after it is built.
  2. It’s less expensive than face to face training. No time off or travel required!
  3. You can rewind and watch the training at your own pace (no need to feel behind or ahead of the rest of the class).
  4. You get access to the course for an entire year instead of 1 to 3 days in a lecture format. So you can watch it over and over again.
  5. You get to ask Dan questions directly (and you can even engage and interact with other students).
  6. Dan is going to host tele-seminars for members only where you can ask him any question (without having to pay his normal consulting fees).
  7. It is currently on sale at a huge discount.

This is really a great deal.

So, what are you waiting for?

Head on over to the site now and get started! (If you are ready to buy and want to skip the sales stuff, just scroll to the bottom and hit “add to cart”. So why are you still here?)

You can’t get this material anywhere else and get direct access to the guy that invented it.

Doesn’t get much better than that.

Later.

Kent

Posted in Data Modeling, Data Vault, Data Warehouse, Oracle and tagged , , , , , ,
08 Mar 2012
1 Comment

How many kinds of data models can you name?

When someone says they are building a data model, that can mean many different things to many different people. My long-time friend and mentor, Dave Hay, has produced a very helpful and detailed video called “Kinds of Data Models, and How to Name Them.”

It is very useful for not only beginning data modelers but for experienced folks too as it will make you think about the language you use when talking about data models.

Heck, this will be good for managers too – it will help you be much more specific when you are interviewing candidates for data model and data architecture positions.

And, best of all it is free for everyone to watch. Check it out here.

Post it, re-post it, Tweet it. You know the drill…

Later.

Kent

P.S. Stay tuned for a way cool data vault training opportunity. If you have not subscribed to my blog yet, now is the time so you don’t miss this announcement.

Posted in Data Modeling and tagged ,

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