Over the last couple days you may have noticed some slight changes on my blog. Well believe you me when I say some more are coming! You may be asking yourself, “Self, what are all these changes for? Dustin’s blog was already great! Why mess with a good thing?” That’s a good question and one I hope to answer through this blog post.

Changes to my Blog

My WordPress blog site will be getting an upgrade! My current blog layout has served me well and I have always liked the look and feel but I think I could do for a better layout that makes the content more easily accessible to the reader. Because of this, I’ll be meeting with ladies in the marketing department at Pragmatic Works to have them give my blog and social media outlets a look to see what improvements I can make.

You may have also noticed that I’ve added my speaking calendar to my blog. At the top of my blog you’ll find a link to Dustin’s Calendar, as well as a smaller version of the calendar in my blog’s right sidebar. The purpose of the calendar is to make my speaking schedule more available to you. I love to have interaction with the audience and readers of my blog when I’m out speaking at SQL Saturday and other PASS events so hopefully I’ll be able to increase my availability and interaction with you through the calendar.

I’m also looking at creating some new and in-depth content for the blog including some new styles of posts and whitepapers, so definitely stay on the lookout for that material. If you have some great ideas of new content or style in a specific area of the SQL Server world send me a message! I’d love to hear from you!

Social Media

Follow Dustin on Twitter

For the longest time the only social media avenue I’ve really leveraged semi-professionally was my Twitter account. Sometimes I published technical stuff, links to my blog, interesting articles, but other times I published tweets unrelated to SQL Server. Going forward, I’ll be using my @SQLDusty Twitter account strictly for professional purposes.

I’ve always loved Twitter because the Twitter world provides you and I with a unique opportunity to connect, network, and gain access to incredibly qualified experts, professionals, and celebrities that work in our field who, without Twitter, we would never gain access outside of an expensive conference or training event. Almost anyone will respond to a 140 character message.

If you’re not following me on Twitter, please do so! Twitter is a great place to chat me up for ideas, questions, or just to say “Hi”. I’ll post links to new blog posts, whitepapers, speaking events, giveaways, and more, so be on the lookout for some changes to my Twitter Account and for some new content.

Like Dustin on Facebook

Also, I’ve created my own Facebook page! Facebook is also a great tool, but unlike Twitter, Facebook gives us the ability to make available a greater variety of types of content to you. Here you can send me a live chat message if you have a question about a challenge your facing on a project at work or if you want to pick my brain on a particular topic. With over 1 billion active users, Facebook gives you and I to interact in a completely different way than Twitter and in more than 140 characters.

So head over to my Facebook page and give me a Like, as I’ll be doing some giveaways in the very near future for some great free technical material and other fun stuff.

YouTube & Google+

Coming soon, I’ll be experimenting with a new (to me) style of content for training, education, and networking: YouTube! I’ll begin producing educational videos regarding SQL Server and Microsoft Business Intelligence. People learn in many different ways, but most people learn visually. I hope to increase the quality of the delivery of my content by leveraging short, to-the-point, self-produced training videos that you can watch during the work day while you take your lunch or during a short break from the grind.

So give me a follow on Google+  and subscribe to my channel on YouTube and be on the lookout for some very cool and informative videos on SQL Server and BI.

I hope you’re as excited as I am about all the new content I’ll be releasing and making available to you. If you have any great ideas regarding materials and content you’d love to see, leave me a comment, send me a message on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, or Google+ and let me know! I’d love you to discuss your ideas!