Today is T-SQL Tuesday #36, hosted by Chris Yates (B | T).  The topic this month is ‘What Does the SQL Community Mean to You?’  I’m fortunate to live in an area with a SQL PASS chapter (MadPASS) and have attended many chapter meetings as well as several SQL Saturdays.  Over the years, I’ve met many great people and obtained a wealth of knowledge.

One of the biggest benefits I’ve gained from my involvement in the SQL community is inspiration.  When I attend a great presentation or read an impressive blog post, it inspires me to want to learn more and give back to the community.  In addition to the amazing knowledge, I have also been impressed with community members generosity and willingness to share ideas.  If I feel stuck on a problem, there is always someone in the community willing to help out.

A recent example is the free whitepaper ‘The Many-to-Many Revolution 2.0’ written by Marco Russo and Alberto Ferrari.  I found this whitepaper to be very well written and organized.  By working through the examples presented in the whitepaper, I am developing a better understanding of Many-to-Many relationships in both the multidimensional and tabular models of SSAS.

As I enhance my knowledge of the Microsoft Business Intelligence tools, I share what I learn via blogging and presenting.  I set a goal to write three blog posts per month and give two technical presentations this year.   I recently implemented my first SSAS tabular cube and plan to write a few blog posts that discuss building this cube in the next week or two.  I hope that by sharing what I learned, I too can inspire others to expand their knowledge and contribute to the SQL community.