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Last week I got a chance to talk with Dave Shackelford, the Instructor of our newly released Exchange Server 2007 Training.
Dave’s passion is technology and teaching.
He’s a Microsoft Small Business Specialist, holds an MCSE and a CCNA, and most notably he’s been Microsoft’s Most Valued Professional in the area of Exchange for the past four years.
He currently works as a partner to a number of consultants, teaches technology classes, and works with us, here at Train Signal!
Dave is also an excellent writer and problem solver.
He has been a contributing author for books on Windows Server and a technical editor for books on Windows Security, Group Policy, and Windows Server.
He does his own consulting in the areas of Network and System Engineering, Security and Remote Access, as well as technical training on a variety of topics. Check out Dave’s website, Shackelford Consulting for more information.
Dave also has a very interesting background … but I’ll let him tell you all about that!
Here’s Dave Shackelford on Britney, the Exchange Server 2007, his new training, and more!
Kasia: Since you’re a Microsoft MVP I have to ask … what are your thoughts on Britney Spears?
Dave: Well, I remember reading in the London Guardian at one point that Britney Spears had replaced Bill Gates as the celebrity most likely to be mentioned in a malware-carrying email, so it’s not a bad name to put in a filter … other than that, I worry about her children. I’ve got three kids of my own, so I think about that sort of thing.
Kasia: All kidding aside, I know you’ve been in the IT field for more than 15 years, how did you become an expert and when did you first get certified?
Dave: Well, I started building my own computer when I was in graduate school, working on a masters degree in Medieval Literature.
About a year after grad school, I decided that applying the same intensity to technology might be a better way to earn a living, so I began by teaching basic TCP/IP classes for students who were “re-training” after layoffs in other fields. After I taught myself to read binary for subnet masking and figured out how to teach it to others, I was hooked on learning/teaching tech.
I got my MCSE in 1997 and began working at an internet startup, and stayed with the company for seven years before branching out to do other things a few years ago.
Kasia: How did you earn your MVP title?
Dave: In 1999 I started contributing to a technology forum called Tek-Tips, focusing particularly on helping people with Exchange 5.5 database disaster recovery. You know those long threads in which you go back and forth for over 30 posts till the problem is solved?
Someone noticed my contributions in 2003, and I was awarded the MVP in January 2004. I think that the fact that I’d also been tech-editing several Windows Server books helped make me a good candidate for the award too.
I was totally surprised and honored when I found out. I’d never heard of the MVP program before, and I think it’s terrific, both in how it brings broad public input to shape future Microsoft products, and how it gives a lot of resources to the community.
Kasia: Why did you decide to start teaching?
Dave: I’ve always loved teaching. Before I got fully into technology, I taught classes for Korean and Chinese students who wanted to get perfect SAT scores. I taught the verbal component, and I think I might have known 99.5% of the non-scientific words in the English language at one point. Not any more.
While I was working my SysAdmin job, I also taught English composition and a CCNA class at a local university. I love leveling the playing field, making more people familiar with something that might normally only be known by a few.
Kasia: What distinguishes your Exchange Server 2007 training from the others?
Dave: Well, I think that it’s more real-world oriented, and not written with an exam as the goal. We have specific practical goals that we accomplish in each video, and while I do cover some theory, the focus is on how and why you would do a particular thing.
I’m also more welcoming of glitches and errors than other training might be. I think it’s valuable to see how easy it is to mess something up, and how you’d go about recovering, so I tried to incorporate some of that by either intentionally re-making a mistake that I know is common, or not rehearsing certain demos before doing them, so that some controlled chaos can creep in.
I create a balance that welcomes someone who is completely new to Exchange Server, while providing challenging content for those looking to upgrade their existing knowledge.
Kasia: What is your favorite thing about your new Exchange Server 2007 training?
Dave: I think my favorite thing is knowing that people are going to have the virtual me nearby to help them out on projects, and that I get to take credit for some fresh job confidence that the viewers of this course will have.
I also had fun creating my fictitious business that I center the scenarios around: Cash Cow Capital Group. Another favorite thing is that it’s finished! It was a big project.
Kasia: What is the hardest thing you cover in your Exchange Server 2007 training?
Dave: Thinking from a viewer’s perspective, my guess would be the SharePoint integration or the PowerShell coverage. Nearly anything is simple if you break it down enough. Time is your currency, and some of these videos are longer than others.
Kasia: What do you think is the best or most beneficial feature of Exchange Server 2007 that was not available in the older versions?
Probably AutoDiscover, since it saves so much time in deployment and configuration. It reduces a lot of setup-related friction between admins and users, and just works, if it’s been set up properly.
Kasia: Do you have any advice for someone going through your training?
Dave: I frequently show my viewers at least two ways of doing a task: with the Console and with PowerShell. Pay attention to PowerShell and practice with it, because there are some complex tasks you may need to do later on in your work that will require you to be somewhat familiar with the PowerShell environment.
Look at my training as a good foundation for further exploration. Although we do many different things and complete a lot of useful tasks, there are more complex scenarios out there, and I would like people to see my training as a way to quickly get familiar with the vocabulary, the architecture and the interface so that further investigation on certain topics is much simpler.
Kasia: Besides your work here at Train Signal, what else do you do?
Dave: I work as a “hired gun” for a dozen other consultants, helping them draft scopes of work for their projects, resolving mail-related issues for their clients and getting involved in disaster recovery scenarios.
I’m always interested in solving problems that people bring me. That keeps things varied for me, and I do everything remotely, so that’s convenient.
I also teach technology courses to Washington state IT employees a few days a month.
Kasia: What do you enjoy doing when you’re not working?
Dave: I like to play European strategy board games, brew beer, play with my kids, eat good food with my wife and watch foreign films. Going outside sometimes is nice too!
Kasia: Thank you Dave for a fun and interesting conversation and congratulations on the release of your first Train Signal training course!
song from a distant planet » Blog Archive » Finished that project Says:
January 28th, 2008 at 6:13 pm
[…] I finally concluded my video course production this month, and a few days later it went live at TrainSignal’s site. They are marketing it along with an interview they did with me. I’ve enjoyed working with them. […]
tony Says:
May 27th, 2008 at 3:10 pm
I ttly like this Exchange 2007 video tutorial its worth everything. Thanks to you Mr.Dave.