Tag: SQL

Speaking Topics for 2018

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Last year, I added data science to my talks.  This year, I’m planning on growing more of my technical skills – learning React, Vue, and Node.js.  In terms of talks, servant leadership has joined the family of topics, and it’s a topic I’m excited to present.   These are just some of the topics I am presenting in 2018.

Data Science with Python, R, and SQL Server

In 2017, I had a goal to start looking into data science topics and see what’s in store.  By the end of 2017, I started talking about how you can use Python and R on SQL Server to bring the computations to the data, rather than bringing the data to the computing.  With regards to adventures in 2018, I plan on continuing looking into data science topics and continue talking about Python and R and how they can be used on SQL Server.

The next talk for this is:

  • The Polyglot Data Scientist – Adventures with R, Python, and SQL – CodeMash – 1/12
  • The Polyglot Data Scientist – Adventures with R, Python, and SQL – Cleveland .NET User Group – 1/25

Mentoring

Mentoring was a topic that came up a couple years back and continues to come up.  Whether it’s from the perspective of being a mentor and how to become a better mentor or from the perspective of being a mentee and how to find and engage mentors, I have talks that address various angles of mentoring.  My career wouldn’t be this successful if I tried to go this alone – I have wonderful mentors in various aspects (tech, business, and life) who have guided me along the way.  In my past roles, I’ve had the privilege to mentor over 200 career shifters who have wanted to go into development or who have been in development a short time.  I also am in the process of formalizing mentoring programs for those who want to do formal mentoring programs at their companies but aren’t sure how to implement it or how to administer it.

My upcoming talks include:

  • Bringing Up Future Techies – NEOISF – 1/17
  • Making the Most of the Mentoring Relationship – Developer on Fire Remote Conference – 1/22-1/24

Leadership

New to my topics in 2018, I am presenting a talk on servant leadership.  Growing up with a father who showcased servant leadership, as well as reading his cousin’s book on servant leadership, this is something that runs in my family and comes naturally to me.  I have had numerous leadership experiences as well as a few formal roles, and all of my experiences plus the guidance I learned early on come to life in this talk.  When I present on servant leadership, I present it from a tech’s perspective, working in the trenches with my tech support team,  coaching my junior developers, and alongside my fellow tech educators.  I include stories of things I’ve done that would cause people to raise eyebrows and yet realize why it’s okay – and sometimes necessary – to make decisions that may seem absurd but have underlying reasons.

For those who want to see it in action, it’s currently lined up at:

  • Becoming a Servant Leader, Leading from the Trenches – CodeMash – 1/11

Other Topics

There are other topics that I have talks for and am still interested in speaking on.  These topics include:

  • User Experience (UX) for Developers – why it matters and what we as developers can look for and do to make things easier all around
  • Social Media and Personal Branding – how we can take little steps to help stand out in the sea of developers
  • History of Women in Tech – can do a general talk or can tailor this to specific areas of interest (particular tech communities such as a particular language or user group)
  • The Importance of Professional Development and how to find opportunities – affordable ways to grow your skills and the importance of staying relevant in the field
  • Acceptance Test Driven Development / Behavior Driven Development – understanding the concepts and how to apply it in various languages (C#, Java, Ruby, Python, and soon to add JavaScript)
  • Growing and Supporting a Tech Community – geared for those who may not have much of a tech community and how to start it and get it going.  This includes talking about networking and how to promote your community.

Conclusion

If you are interested in any of these or would like to have me present these at a user group or conference, please reach out to me either via email, Twitter, or in the comments here.  I enjoy talking with others, sharing knowledge and learning from others’ stories as well.  Looking forward to meeting others and sharing more knowledge in 2018!