Sean McCown
I'm a SQL Server MVP and have been involved with SQL Server since 1995. I've also been working with multi-terabyte, high-transaction DBs since before they were popular.
I'm a Contributing Editor and the sole database expert for InfoWorld Magazine which means I also touch DB2, Oracle, Sybase, and any other DB out there. I've also written for SQL Server Magazine, SQL Server Standard, SSWUG, and SQLServerCentral.com.
At the magazine I concentrate on benchmarking vendor products, reviews, and industry analysis.
I'm also the founder of ITBookworm.com and MidnightDBA.com.
I'm a very prolific speaker and teacher in my community and my 3 main areas of teaching are backups, SSIS, and powershell, though I can teach on a myriad of subjects.
I also live in Dallas with my wife and our 3 georgous kids. Our kids go to a French school and are growing up way smarter than us.
I've taught Ed Parker's Kenpo for many years and I've been in martial arts in general for about 23yrs now. I hold black belts in both Kenpo and Tang Soo Do as well as significant rank in many other styles including Jujitsu, Aikido, Shaolin KungFu, and Pekiti Tirsia.
And believe it or not, in a previous life I was a French chef for 10yrs. I traveled the world with a world-renowned French chef who did more than teach me the ropes; he taught me how to BE a chef. The training is grueling, long, hot, and nothing even remotely as sexy as you see in the movies. The public rewards are few and the burns, cuts, and swollen feet are plentiful. For a true artist though there's no other life. I ultimately had to quit because I've had a couple leg injuries in my karate career and I've shattered my feet and I have a lower back disk that's slowly saying good-bye. So I had to get off my feet. Chefs also move around a lot and I just to tired of never being able to stay in one place. So I hung up my chef coat and turned it in for a pocket protector. My mother was very disappointed in me for a few years because she said I was wasting my gift in the kitchen. It wasn't until I started working for the magazine that she took notice of my new career and now she can't stop bragging about me.
So anyway, that's my story in a very small nutshell. I still cook all the time at home though I'm officially retired from catering and any other professional cooking.
Sean McCown, SQL Server MVP
Contributing Editor, InfoWorld Media Group
Read my book reviews at:
www.ITBookworm.com
Blog Author of:
Database Underground
DBA Rant