xviiAcknowledgments
First and foremost, I must thank my bubbly best friend, fellow SQLBIGeek, biggest fan, and the mother
of my brilliant children—my beautiful wife Sherri. Without her, I would never have achieved many of the
successes that I have achieved. Sherri, you are amazing and I could not have done this without your
support, guidance, patience, and endless love. With that being said, I would also need to thank my
remarkable children, Bailey and Kylie. Thank you for all of the understanding, support, and patience
while I locked myself away in the dungeon for so many hours writing this book. Without you two being
such wonderful children, I could not have completed this book.
Next, I would like to thank my friend, coauthor, and technical reviewer, Rodney Landrum, for
all of his support and belief in me throughout the years. I am so thankful to be able to call you a friend
and I look forward to any future opportunities that we have to mash our brains together. Thank you!
To another friend and coauthor, Shawn McGehee: without all of your hard work and dedication
to putting out another great release, this book would not have come to a close. Thank you so much for all
of your ideas and contributions.
I would like to thank the Apress editorial team, Kevin Shea, Stephen Moles, Adam Heath, and an
extra special thanks to Jonathan Gennick, for all of their encouragement and guidance throughout this
project. Through the hundreds of email messages and conversations, you have expertly moved this book
along to completion and I look forward to getting to meet you all in person. It has truly been a pleasure
working with each of you. Thank you!
To my brilliant and humble SQL Server DBA friend and cousin, Chad Tucker: without that kick
in the butt many years ago, I would not be in Jacksonville, Florida. Without that nudge, I wouldn’t have
pursued public speaking, blogging, and eventually even authoring my first publishable work of art (this
book). From the bottom of my heart to the tip of my tongue, thank you!
Another person that I must provide a special thanks to is my good friend Marc Munago. He
probably doesn’t know this, but he has been a great inspiration to me the last few years with his
leadership traits and his ability to turn a penny into a dollar. He has been a true friend and mentor to
me. We often have great “idea” sessions where we bounce goals, plans, and aspirations back and forth.
Your support is very much appreciated and I thank you!
To my awesome neighbors, Eric and Cathy Eng! Eric is an intelligent entrepreneur, Engineer,
and an amazing father. Cathy, being a long time writer, has helped me out several times; she owns and
runs a company called Resume Rocketeer (www.resumerocketeer.com). Sherri and I always enjoy hanging
out with you. Thank you both for all of the late night talks and friendship.
To Scott Gleason, a great friend, supporter, and a huge fan! I am thankful for all of your
encouragement and your verbal marketing throughout this process, and the last several years for that
matter! You are a great friend and I thank you from the bottom of my heart!
Let me not forget to thank Cricket Weaver and Patrick Barr, who allowed me to fumble through
many proof of concepts and thorough testing of Reporting Services, while being a DBA consultant many
moons ago! Thank you for the patience and leadership that you both showed when we ramped up on the
product. Without that leadership, I probably would have thrown in the towel.