Who am I?

My name is Rob Kerr. I'm a SQL Server MVP and a consultant with a Leading Microsoft BI and Analytics consulting firm. In addition to this site, I also have a blog site. I'm passionate about helping people use information to make their work a lot easier. I do that by focusing on how to take great big piles of data, extract the really important parts, and present it in a way that generates compelling insights. In our industry we call this "Business Intelligence". I just call it "fun!".

I've used Microsoft databases and development tools since I first wrote Microsoft BASIC code to store customer information for our family business on a Morrow MD-11 CP/M computer at the age of 13. Today I spend most of my time designing BI solutions for enterprise customers using Microsoft SQL Server products.

Why am I doing this?

A big part of my job is teaching others how to use Microsoft BI tools. I love helping other people work smarter and more efficiently. But what I hear from clients is that most training involves either a mountain of reading on their own--or boring hours listening to lectures in a classroom or on-line. I know from experience that learning how to use technology by watching someone else do it doesn't work any better than learning to drive by watching someone else drive.

I was inspired when I saw a talk by Salman Khan at TED 2011 where he relayed how the same quandary has shaped the way teachers started using his Khan Academy content over the last few years. His idea is to turn education on its head, having students study lectures in video format as homework – where they can move at their own speed, rewind, review and pause – then focus their time with instructors on reinforcement and mentoring.

It occurred to me that this is what my clients and students have been looking for too. It's why so many of them invent reasons to forego classroom training and go right to implementation (even before they're ready).

This site is an experiment. Can I digitize the basic building blocks of MS BI solution design into video form? Can I structure it so students can quickly find and review the specific areas of knowledge they need? Will time spent with their mentor be more productive as a result?

What's the goal for this site?

My goal is to present the content in the videos exactly the way I would if I were mentoring you one-on-one. I wouldn't talk for an hour without stopping (even if you'd tolerate it). I certainly would describe real-world examples. I probably wouldn't take more than 10 minutes to go over a specific topic, so no video will be longer than that. Every video will cover how to do something that MS BI practitioners need to know. Above all the goal for this site is to present a new alternative to the common learning options for Microsoft BI skills (classrooms, search engines, books and blogs).

Now, I don't think a web site like this, a blog, a search engine or stack of books can replace hands-on experience or real one-on-one mentoring. But I do think those basic building blocks of knowledge can be acquired more effectively. I hope I can be a part of finding out how to make learning new technology more efficient, engaging and fun!