Ajarn Mark Caldwell Blog

Just who IS AjarnMark?

My real name is Mark Caldwell.  I am an IS/IT professional based in the Seattle area.  I consider myself to be trilinqual, being able to speak both Geek and Executive in addition to plain English (U.S. variety).  Although I do some computer programming, I don’t call myself a developer.  Although I have administered dozens of SQL Server databases, I don’t call myself a DBA.  Although I have done analysis and design, I don’t call myself an analyst or designer.  And although I have advised companies and governments, I don’t call myself a consultant.  I just think of myself as a professional IT solution provider.

I have worked in Information Technology since before it was called IT.  Starting while I was in high school in Spokane, Washington in the early 1980s, I taught myself BASIC programming and operated a popular Bulletin Board System (BBS).  That was back in the days when CompuServe and The Source were the big boys, and they were just starting to figure out how to send email from a user on one BBS to a user on a different BBS across this thing called the Internet.  After graduation I came over to the University of Washington to study business and finance, and quickly found work in IT.

In 1992, I formed my own company called Infoneering.  I created this name from a combination of the words information and engineering, to symbolize the organized, professional and reliable approach that I took to the business of IT.  In the years since then, I have provided services to major insurance and financial institutions, local governments, dot-coms, and software development companies.

In July, 2001, I stumbled across a SQL Server community known as SQLTeam.  I found the people there to be knowledgeable as well as friendly and very helpful.  I became a part of the community, giving back to others through forum posts, writing articles, and now this weblog.  It is indeed my pleasure to help build this community, and share my knowledge and experiences with others.  Remember:  A rising tide raises all boats.

In 2005 I accepted an employment position with a company where I thought I could make a difference with a small team of developers.  I was able to influence the workings of the development team, pushing for better practices, and in 2007 was officially promoted to be the Software Engineering Manager for this company.  A more detailed list of my professional credentials can be found on my LinkedIn profile.

And for those of you still wondering about the Ajarn part of my handle, it is the Thai word for instructor or professor.  I have studied and taught a style of martial arts from Thailand known as Lotus Self Defense and so acquired the title.  It seemed like a good, unusual, easily remembered name to bring onto the web.  And so here it is.

I can be contacted via this web site at http://weblogs.sqlteam.com/markc/contact.aspx, although I rarely respond directly to questions or requests for help.  If you have a SQL question, I encourage you to post it in the forums on the main SQLTeam site where you will get timely, quality responses.

Thanks for stopping by, and Happy Reading!