Voice of the DBA

Category: Uncategorized

  • PASS Summit 2009 – Keynotes

    I’m not going to look back at the keynotes since I blogged about them. If you are interested, you can read about them:

    Instead I’m going to focus on some constructive criticism. I like seeing a great speaker, and I’d like to see 3, 4, or 5 great ones at the PASS Summit in the future. So a few comments.

    Be Interesting

    Let me say this, other than Kevin Kline’s tribute and Dr. Dewitt’s talk, I had to go back and look at notes to remember what happened. All of the keynotes should be interesting to technical DBAs and developers. It doesn’t have to be a technical presentation, but then make it interesting in a business sense, or use thought provoking topic. Don’t market to us or give us a high level technical view.

    PASS Remarks

    I think it’s good to have some summaries of what PASS is doing as opening remarks. However I’d like to see them kept short and quick. I would also hope they were relevant to the event. Don’t spend a lot of time promoting the “rah-rah” PASS has these stats, and don’t read the slides.

    Use the live Twitter feed, which I thought was cool to see in Wayne’s keynote, but use it to comment on what’s happening. Respond live to something that came up.

    Overall I liked the events, and the presentations for exceptional volunteers. However smooth out the processes and get those people up front and ready to come on. So what if they know a day before and tell 12 friends. It’s still a surprise to most people. The tribute to Kevin Kline was wonderful, and anyone that thinks Wayne shouldn’t have cried is out of touch. Kevin deserved recognition for a decade of efforts and I think I might have teared up if I was presenting it.

    The other thing I’d say is that you should pick the best speakers from the PASS board. Don’t just stick with a set agenda of the executive committee. The best people in those slots aren’t necessarily the best speakers. The three we had this year do a great job of being loose, but that might not be the case in the future.

    Microsoft Keynotes

    We had 3 this year. Three executives and one technical fellow. Two good, one bad, in my opinion.

    We are SQL Server professionals. In two decades of doing this, the vast, vast majority of the probably thousands of people I have talked to think this way:

    We believe in Microsoft products.

    Sure, we complain and point out issues. But that’s because they’re issues, not because we want to switch to Oracle, Java, or something else. We’re already sold, we’re using your products, and we want to continue to use them. You don’t need to sell us.

    So stop the marketing. Both MS keynotes were too focused on why MS products are great, what we see in new versions, etc. It’s boring, and it’s a waste of a chance to speak to people that already love your products. Give those presentations to mixed audiences, and instead pick something exciting to us. Something that doesn’t just talk new products, but speaks to the audience.

    I’ve seen Bill Gates speak a number of times. Quite often he’s made fun of himself, but he’s looked forward. Not at the latest product releases. OK, he’s done that at times, but he’s also made me think. Steve Ballmer talks marketing, but he at least has more energy.

    Pick interesting speakers, maybe more technical fellows or Microsoft Research people that will make us think. Pick a business speaker, perhaps like the keynotes from the first Business Intelligence conference, Michael Treacy or Dr. Robert Kaplan.

    Make us think.

    And pick interesting customer references. Find someone exciting. I talked to the customers later, and they had interesting things to say, but they weren’t interesting on stage. Get people engaged.

    Lastly, make them short. The keynotes ran too long this year. Heck, take 5 minutes between them and throw out some MS t-shirts. 

    Dell Keynote

    I’ve watched this twice now. In Denver two years ago and this year in Seattle. I have no idea who presented two years ago, but the guy that did it in 2009 was horrible. No offense to him, and he seems like a smart guy, but a few items that Dell should address.

    1. Whoever wrote the presentation, and whoever approved the topic, remove them from the loop. They have no business being involved next year.

    2. Know your audience – A high level, this-is-DR presentation is a waste of time for the vast majority of the attendees. A better topic would have been some real life disaster issues and how you would/could prevent them. Or even some of the cool stuff Dell has done in engineering larger servers.

    3. Be fascinating – We are much more likely to talk about the Dell keynote positively if it catches our attention. Look to the Dr. DeWitt keynote for an idea of what’s interesting. People loved that one. It doesn’t have to be theoretical. Tell us how Dell.com handles transactions. Show us something large scale that you do. Pique our interest.

    The marketing folks can’t help themselves. They somehow try to tie Dell to the keynote and think we’ll buy your products. Just stop that. Most of us don’t have a choice in what we buy, so stop it. Impress us and we’ll mention that to the decision makers.

    Bloggers

    It was great to have the blogger table this year and last year. I look forward to doing it next year if I’m invited and I think the exchange of tweets in real time adds to the event. One thing I’d recommend here so that people can read through accounts is have a way for us to send our posts to the PASS HQ. Most of us tweet them, but if you had a page we could submit thoughts on each keynote, or each day, that would be great. Or even low-tech with a series of email addresses (day1@sqlpass.org, tomcaseykn@sqlpass.org, etc.) and then have someone post them on the Summit event page, it would be a great way to promote us, and the PASS Summit at the same time.

    I’d also like to see some fairly consolidated locations for pictures and videos that people shoot for the Summit. The #sqlpass hash tag seemed to work well, but it would be great to have someone clean up and produce some great timeline of the event a week or so later. Even the videos shown in the morning would be great promotions for the event.

    I enjoyed the PASS Summit 2009, and am already looking forward to 2010.

    Tomorrow I look back at some of the pictures and video I’ve seen of the event.

  • PASS Summit 2009 – Fun

    I’m not a big party guy, and in fact, more than a few people can attest to the fact that I’m likely to duck out early at evening events. However there are some fun things at PASS that I wanted to mention, and let you know what you can (likely) look forward to next year.

    SQLServerCentral

    I mention this a lot, at least I think I do, but we typically host an opening night party at the PASS Summit. We’ve done it for 6 or 7 years, and I’ve settled on a casino themed party. We have a code that you can use when you register to get a free ticket, or you can buy a ticket for $30.

    We spend all the money that we get for the party on the event. I typically give away a polo shirt and a book to everyone, and then a lot of other prizes. Lots of DVDs, books this year, flash drives, cameras, and more. I save 3 big prizes for the big gamblers (a Zune HD, $150 to Best Buy, and a camera this year), and then randomly gave away other prices like a digital photo frame, to others at the end.

    This has also become the event for the Exceptional DBA award presentation.

    SQL Karaoke

    I heard that after my party on Monday a bunch of people went out to a karaoke bar. I got dragged out there on Thursday night and while I didn’t torture anyone by getting on stage myself, it was great fun for about 20-25 Summit attendees.

    I’m not sure that I’d want everyone coming, but there are a few places yo can go and if you have a group of people you’ve met, suggest that they go out and try something. Even wandering down near the water and finding a restaurant to sit and chat in would be great. There are also lots of bars with bands in Seattle.

    Gameworks

    I’ve always wondered by Gameworks wasn’t more a part of the Summit since it’s across the street from the Convention Center. I’m sure it’s a money thing, but this year it was rented by Microsoft for a Wed night party. I was only there for an hour, but it seemed people really enjoyed it. A great way to get to know someone and have fun playing games.

    Vendor Parties

    These are typically invitation only, but are a lot of fun. Ask about them at the various booths and see if you can get invited. I typically attend the SQL Sentry party since I’ve known the people working there for years and consider them friends. It’s usually a fairly small affair, but this year was packed with close to 100 people at one point.

    Quest also usually throws a big party and I hear great things about it. There are likely other parties as well, so spend some time networking and getting to know vendors. If you are a customer, be sure to ask if something is going on. I also usually attend the Friends of Red Gate dinner as well.

    SWAG and Dinner at the Day One dinner

    It’s not necessarily a real party, but it can be fun. The end of the first day of sessions takes place in the vendor expo, with dinner catered among the various booths. It’s a chance for you to talk to vendors and grab some swag in a fun atmosphere.

    There’s More

    There are no shortage of things to do in Seattle, or in any of the other convention cities. Tim Mitchell wrote about being “That Guy” and he certainly wasn’t that guy this year, getting on stage to sing and attending other parties.

    There are a number of MVP events, which limits them to a few people, but if you’re a part of that group, be aware.

    Seattle is an interesting city, and things are relatively close. Cabs aren’t expensive, especially with 3-4 people sharing them, and you can reach a number of places. Things I’ve done in the past and would recommend:

    • The Space Needle – Not much here, but it’s a worldwide landmark
    • The Experience Music Project – Worth going in, and it has a Science fiction Museum in the building.
    • Seattle Seahawks / Seattle Mariners – Professional sports.
    • The Underground Tour – I found this fascinating and learned about Seattle history.
    • Museum of Flight – Good for adults and kids. Walk through a Concorde.

    There are other museums and theaters as well if you like those things. I’d even recommend bringing your family the weekend before or after and seeing Seattle. My son and I had a great time in 2008 touring the city.

    Tomorrow I’ll talk about the keynotes and some things I think they could do to improve them.

  • PASS Summit 2009 – Overall Event

    I thought that we got a great Summit from PASS in 2009. This week I’ll be looking back at some of the things that occurred and give you some notes from my perspective on the event. I’ll also include some pictures from myself and others, along with a few videos where I can.

    First, thanks and congrats to the PASS Board, and the PASS Staff, all of whom put together one of the smoothest Summits I’ve seen. It might be the best one, and while there are things that need to be changed or tweaked, the event just ran smoothly.

    I wrote some blogs about the keynotes, but for the most part I was meeting people and seeing sessions all week, so I didn’t have time to blog. Heck, I barely had time to write editorials and no time to shoot video of them. The blogs I put out from last week:

    I also wrote a bit about the Women in Technology lunch, which was great. I enjoyed it and plan to make that an annual part of my Summit experience. I’d encourage everyone to attend this, and to encourage women to come into technology. It’s not that men don’t need encouragement, but stereotypes often mean an extra effort would help with women.

    The overall organization of the event, I thought, was much better this year. I didn’t see people too lost or confused. While many of us attend the Summit yearly, or every other year, a survey showed that this year we had about 40% first time attendees. That’s a big number, and while I saw a few people looking confused (I stopped to ask them if they needed help), it seemed that people easily found sessions and rooms, despite things being spread across 3 floors and both the North and South sides of the Summit.

    It also seemed that quite a few people attended a pre- or post-conference session. That’s good to see, both for speakers and attendees. A full day of training, where you can get in depth knowledge on one particular subject. If you were in one of those sessions, I’d love to have specific notes about what value you got from the sessions.

    Tomorrow I’ll write about some of the fun events from the Summit, things that are worth going to as a way to relax and have fun outside of the sessions.

  • Skipping SQL Connections

    http://www.lvabj.org/LasVegasSign.jpg I’ve never been to Las Vegas, and was looking forward to going for the first time this week for SQL Connections. SQLServerCentral is sponsoring a track and I was looking forward to speaking to a new group of people that doesn’t usually come to the PASS Summit.

    That’s off now and it looks like I’m not meant for Vegas at this time. I have cancelled my trip, and won’t be attending the show.

    I would like to go, I was planning on it, and slightly dreading turning around for another trip so soon. As late as Saturday afternoon, as I was driving back from the airport, returning from Seattle and the SQL PASS conference.

    Then I got a call from my wife. I’d left her a message when I arrived in Denver, and as I got off the highway, my cell phone rang.

    “Hi honey, glad you’re home from Seattle. I broke my arm.”

    That was the welcome home for me. I immediately turned and headed to the hospital where I found my wife. She’s fine, in fact, more annoyed by the experience than hurt. She’s also more worried about the young colt she was working with than herself.

    However with a spiral fracture of her forearm, and a hard splint until Wednesday, I can’t leave her alone. Between the need to feed horses, an older dog that needs help standing up, and kids, we aren’t confident that she could manage without hurting the fracture more.

    She could manage, but she’d likely do too much, and turn what should be a simple fracture into something that needs surgery. That’s the big reason I need to be home.

    So I’ll miss SQL Connections, a show that I’ve never been to. But I plan on going next year, and being prepped for a couple presentations. We’ve had bad luck with this trip, as another speaker also had to cancel due to medical issues with his family. I’ve learned that you need to be sure you have an extra presentation or two in your bag, just in case.