Voice of the DBA

Tag: conferences

The Conference of the Year–T-SQL Tuesday #153

It’s the second Tuesday of the month and it’s time for T-SQL Tuesday. This one is hosted at my request by a good friend, Kevin Kline. Kevin has been a large part of the #sqlfamily as a speaker, teacher, educator, friend, and driving force for PASS and the annual Summit conference.

This invitation is asking about a conference or event that changed your life, that created an opportunity, or just changed your life. Career, other otherwise. It’s a great topic, and it’s one reason that I am running SQL Saturday. Events and interactions with others can change your life. It did for me, and for many others.

1999

This year always stands out as a reminder of Prince (RIP). However, it was also the first year I lived in Denver. I moved out with my wife and two kids to work at a financial services firm. That summer I saw an advertisement for a new professional group, the Professional Association for SQL Server. They were having a conference that October in Chicago. I asked my boss to go, they agreed, and I made arrangements.

Two things stand out to me. First, my wife, sister-in-law, and toddler son came. We went to the last baseball game of the year at Comisky Park. My wife and SIL also smoked cigars with me in the hotel bar. A memorable fun trip for me.

The second thing that stands out is that I met Kalen Delaney there. I’d read her Inside SQL Server book and watched her talk. Afterwards I went up to the stage and asked a question and shook her hand. An exciting moment for a young data professional at the time, and one that spurred greater interest in learning more about SQL Server and becoming a better DBA. I’ve also been honored to know Kalen and meet her at many events around the world since.

That event kick started me from being just a DBA to being someone that wanted to be involved with the community, that believed I could speak in front of people and teach them things, and I could help my career by attending other events.

Conferences and Career

Most years I attend 10-20 conferences and speak at them. I may attend a few others and not speak, and I usually have a few internal or Redgate run events. I’ve very lucky, and I enjoy getting to visit interesting places in the world as a part of my job.

While I pick up technical bits and might get an idea for how to solve a problem in code, the most valuable parts of conferences are talking with other people and networking. Yes, networking, which is really just shaking a hand and answering a question. Or shaking a hand and asking a question. Or even commiserating with someone next to me about how some technology doesn’t work. Sometimes those last conversations are the most memorable and enjoyable.

This networking is incredible and I’m amazed how I hear about different opportunities. Even before I ran SQL Server Central, talking to people at events drove my career forward.

Whether you go to a user group meeting, a local SQL Saturday, or a larger paid conference like the PASS Data Community Summit or SQL Bits, if you make an effort to chat with people, interact, and take notes, I think you’ll find it as invaluable to your technology career as I have.

Getting Involved

The last thing I’d note is that I run SQL Saturday as an independent, US charitable 501.c.3 corporation, independent of Redgate. I’ve found user groups to be great, but hard to manage every month. When Brian, Andy, and I set up SQL Saturday, we did so to bring local conferences to people whose employers might not pay to send them to Ignite, the PASS Summit, or other expensive conferences.

I would love to see more SQL Saturdays in more places in the US. It’s not that hard to run one, and you don’t even have to speak in front of a crowd. If you’re interested, ping me at admin@sqlsaturday.com.

August 9, 2022
The Summit is Back in Person

Registration for the Data Community Summit opens today! You can sign up and come to Seattle in November with all the other data platform pros that you’ve missed seeing the last two years.

The event will be hybrid, but I’m going in person. I’ve missed seeing many of you, and I am looking forward to the chance to wave, shake hands, hug, and interact over coffee and cocktails in person. I’ve gone to a few conferences this year and have a few more scheduled. Each one of them is a little more normal, which I hope is a trend that continues.

If you aren’t comfortable coming in person, there is a still a hybrid option, with recordings of sessions for no-demand sessions available early. This will help with speaker Q&As, but there will also be a lot of sessions taking place live, with the ability to watch and ask questions, almost as if you were there. SQL Bits did a great job with hybrid, and I expect the Summit to be even better.

Breakfast is Back

Breakfast is back this year, which means you can wander into the convention center early, meet with friends, and make new contacts.

One of the things I’ve enjoyed is wandering around the hall and looking for friends to chat with. Or stopping at a table and introducing myself. Or just picking a spot and seeing who might come up. With a few meals a day, this is a great chance to expand your network and learn just how diverse our community can be.

Register Early

As with many events, prices rise over time. Now is the time when you can convince the boss to pay the least by registering now. The discount today is enough to cover quite a bit of the travel expenses, and every bit can help. You have until May 25 to get this opening pricing.

This is THE event for data professionals, especially those working with SQL Server, the Microsoft Data Platform, or using AWS. There are many blogs and posts across the years about the value, excitement, and knowledge gained at the event. Show a few to your boss and get registered today.

Seattle is a wonderful city, and there is a lot to do. If you want to combine a fun vacation with the trip, I’ve had some good times there with my kids before and after the event. If you’ve never spent a couple days there, this might be the time to think about it.

This is the homecoming for the data platform community and I hope that I see some of you there. If you see me, please stop my and say hi.

March 31, 2022
An Amazing Live SQL Bits in 2022

I was lucky to travel to London last week and attend SQL Bits 2022. This was the first live SQL Bits I’ve been to in 4 or 5 years, and the first one held since 2019. Two years away, but back strong and as wonderful as ever.

The event was at the London ExCel center, which is a large exhibition hall. There were 4 or 5 other events taking place, and the 1,000+ SQL Bits event was in less than 1/10th of the space. Still, a large space that reminded me of what a large conference is like.

The event hall was a large space, surrounded by curtains, with booths in the middle and around the edge. The Community Zone was a section near registration that had some benches, large pillows, and of course, an arcade machine. Various people were hanging out here all week.

The “rooms” were spaces that were curtained off with large screens, stages, and seating that was separated out with tables and space. Overall, I liked the room, though there was a low rumbling of crosstalk from other sessions. Not so loud that it felt like I was listening to two speakers, but more there was a lot of ambient noise, and I had to focus on my speaker. Applause was a bit loud.

I saw lots of friends. Here’s my Kevin Kline shot, adding to my collection. I’ve seen Kevin at events all over the world for the last 20 years and it’s always a treat.

I also ran into John Morehouse and many others. I didn’t end up taking as many pictures as I would have liked. A sore wrist and a phone stuck in the wrong pocket had me rarely taking it out.

The Friday keynote was a Community one, which I really liked. Rob Sewell and Ben Weissman hosted and asked a number of us to pick our favorite feature in the data platform.

I had my moment on stage and someone got a nice shot.

Both keynotes were live in one of the 12 rooms, but broadcast to the others. That meant that there wasn’t a large space where everyone had to go to in order to watch. They could go to session rooms and see the keynote. I like this idea, and would like to see it at more events. Requiring a large space is hard, and expensive.

One thing I like about Bits is lots of breaks, with time between sessions to walk around, see people, get coffee, etc. Some events seem to have everyone running from place to place, but Bits is more relaxed.

Speaking of relaxing, I was wiped out by Friday afternoon. I spent a good portion of time relaxing in the main expo hall, talking with Redgaters and others.

London is an amazing city, one of my favorites, and I had a couple nice dinners out with Brent Ozar. Here’s one with Erik Darling and his wife. Wonderful times with friends that I’ve missed the last two years.

The party Friday night was a fun affair. I liked that some food and refreshments were in the expo hall, which was quieter. A smaller space behind there was the louder party with music, games, and dancing. Not quite my style, but it was nice to see people having fun. I had to fly Saturday morning, so a quick photo with Grant and Kathi as I was leaving.

SQL Bits went too quick, and I was sorry that I wasn’t there for the last day. It was a lot of fun, and a sign that people still want to meet in person and conferences will come back. I’m looking forward to future events and hopefully SQL Bits in 2023 as well.

March 15, 2022
Traveling to SQL Bits

I’m heading to SQL Bits this weekend, and will be in London most of next week for the conference. I’m excited. SQL Bits is my favorite conference, as I’ve noted before. I’ve missed the event too often, usually because of schedule conflicts, and I’m thrilled to be heading back to both London and the event.

I’ll be delivering a pre-con on Wednesday, with Grant and Kathi, and have a couple sessions. Thursday. The schedule is packed with some amazing speakers. Some will be virtual, but lots of us will be live, in-person.

If you are near London, and feel safe, consider registering and coming out. Lots of precautions are in place, and I think they have done a good job of preparing for a large conference.

With the pandemic, travel has been restricted and plenty of people have been cautious. Across two years, I’ve felt a range of emotions, but I feel confident in my safety, and that of others, at this time.

This should be a fantastic time, and I look forward to seeing friends and meeting new people next week.

March 2, 2022