It’s that time of the year again, to look back and reflect on what’s been happening around this blogging journey I’m on.
You won’t find SQL scripts in here folks. I’m rambling to myself, but you’re very welcome to stay awhile and listen.
Tock
Back in 2022 it was very much a tick year. That is to say an evolution rather than revolution, borrowing Intel’s terminology. A concerted effort with writing, the challenge of a new role in my career, and a number of personal changes.
This year has been very much incremental in all areas, a continuation of the momentum started in 2022. The past year has focussed very much on consistency. On the blog I’ve continued to iterate to tweak mainly how the content is shaped and presented.
When it comes to the content itself I’ve been heavily SQL focussed this year due to my role being primarily a database developer. That may have removed a bit of variety compared to 2022’s content however it’s let me dive into some areas more than I otherwise may have.
Scheduling for the blog has been pretty reasonable. I’ve been able to get ahead at times but there are still certainly some just-in-time pieces when life has left me short on time occasionally.
I also hit a couple of milestones this year. Not only did the blog surpass 100 posts but also moved past 100 consecutive weeks of posting too. Here’s a quick selection of posts which I enjoyed either writing or learning about through the year:
- Modifying Data in Multi Table Views
- Impact on Statistics of Rolling Back Transactions
- Auditing Schema Changes with DDL Triggers
- Utilising Bit Masks with Bitwise Operators
- Optimising Sort Operators in Window Functions
Whilst some of my content will inevitably be better than others, I can happily say that I’m proud of each and every post in its own way.
Big bang
The outcome I’m most proud of for this year came right at the tail end. I woke up Saturday 2nd December to a very welcome surprise:
What proceeded was the busiest day I’d seen on the blog. Ever.
Where was all that traffic from? Well, I’m not quite sure to be honest. I think it may have come from a SQLServerCentral weekly email but I can’t be sure. If anyone does know or has a copy please get in touch!
It so happened that this was the week where I’d posted my 100th consecutive weekly post. Coincidence? No idea, but more eyes on this content and more feedback was always a goal so it’s a welcome change.
December ended with over 1,200 views compared to previous months which were in mid-double digits at best. This was a massive end to the year and so I wanted to shout out those who made it possible.
I wanted to say a big thanks to the folks at SQLServerCentral for their support through their daily and weekly emails which have such a broad reach and have brought so many eyes to my content. They have been a regular source of traffic the last few weeks.
I’ve also really appreciated the support from Kevin at CuratedSQL who has not only provided visibility but also taken the time to read, summarise, and even challenge the content. Your feedback has been valuable, thank you.
Looking back
So for a bit of fun I thought it was right to take a look back at last year’s post and see what I was hoping for and how that did (or didn’t) quite pan out.
I wanted to get better at planning ahead. I’m still lacking in that department. As mentioned above it has improved but there are still periods with rafts of headings in the backlog just waiting to be expanded on. Much like 2022 though, 2023 has had it’s own dry patches.
Expanding into other areas such as other SQL Server components – Reporting Services or Integration Services for instance – has been nil this year. Being more focussed on database development at work has tilted content more in that direction. That’s not to say it’s a bad thing, but there’s plenty more to explore when the time is right.
Finally I wanted to get more eyes and feedback on my content. Thankfully as we saw above that came to fruition through December. This has certainly give me a push to build more engaging and informative content where I see the opportunity in the new year.
Overall grade looking back at last year’s ambitions? – a pretty hard C. I think that stands for Consistency, the theme for the year.
Looking ahead
The new year is shaping up very much to be another tick. There’s a lot coming up already including a new job and a new home on the horizon. More relevant here however is how things are going to shape up with the blog.
In terms of the content I’ll be sticking to weekly posts about SQL Server, T-SQL Tuesday, or something adjacent to those areas. Content will be similar for the time being whilst things transition. My new role will be using Azure so whilst that didn’t make the cut last year there may be some creeping in.
An area I’d like to improve is by shortening the content to make it more easily digestible. I typically end up around 800-1000 words each week. I’d like to be able to convey the message in a more concise 500-700 words but just as effectively. We’ll see how I go. I like to ramble and we’re already over 1000 words here…
The new year is looking like a big one with many opportunities on the horizon – known and unknown. For now I will thank you if you’ve made it this far through the post. 2024 is here, let’s get after it folks.
Andy Brownsword 