Voice of the DBA

Tag: PASS

  • Debating #PASSSummit Pre Cons for Monday

    I’ll be speaking at the PASS Summit in 2020, and I have some things to prepare for that. I get a conference admission for the event and access for a year, so I’m not too pressed to spend 3 days sitting in live sessions.

    However, I can always use training. I also want to support PASS this year during a pandemic, life and business altering event.

    I’d like to take a pre-con, at least one on Monday. This post looks at my choices for Monday. It’s a little stream of consciousness, trying to think through a few things.

    Tl;dr – I choose Building Power BI Reports that Communicate Insights and Engage People from Meagan Longoria. If you want to know more about her class, check out her promotional video.

    The Monday List

    When I look at the page of pre-cons available, there are a lot of great choices for Monday. The list is:

    My first thoughts is they’re all friends. Maybe a strange thing, but I’ve shared an adult drink with all these people, some of them many times. I’ve had one on one conversations, met many of their partners, and even been in some of their houses.

    They are also outstanding in their fields. All of them could teach me quite a bit, even in areas where I have some knowledge. As much as I’m overjoyed to see Rob every chance I get, I think that an intro to PoSh is out. The Edge stuff from Kevin is interesting, but way outside of my area. I’m not sure how helpful this is personally or professional for my current role, so I’ll skip this. I’ve seen Chris talk Python, and it’s great. I like his style and approach, and I recommend this one, but I’ve dabbled a bunch in Python and in Data Science. I keep working through a few resources in this area at times, so I’ll skip this.

    Everything else is interesting in some way. I’ve never taken a full class from Itzik, though I have enjoyed a number of sessions. It is tempting to try and learn a few more complex T-SQL queries from him live. It’s different than reading his work, and it might give me ideas for work. Worth considering.

    Learning more about Azure is good. I’ve been wanting to study for the Azure fundamentals exam, even saved this blog from SSC today:https://mostafaelmasry.com/2020/08/22/azure-dp-900-data-fundamental-certification-perpetration/ . I worry slightly this might be too general and full of practical stuff that would be good to know, but might not help me with the exam. At the same time, this is likely good info that might help me write more questions and content. I’m moving this slightly down my list.

    Perf tuning is always good. I need to write more content here, as I think we’re lacking some at SSC, but I don’t have a lot of desire to focus here right now. I think this will be like some of the Brent Ozar classes I did, which were good, and I learned things, but likely this will repeat some stuff I know and just haven’t kept organized in my head. I love Pinal, and I’ve heard this is a good session (he’s done it before), but I’m going to skip it.

    I don’t really run servers, but doing things to help your virtual environments run well is always good to learn. I’ve only lightly worked with the admin side of VMWare and Hyper-V. I can’t quite decide if this helps me personally or professionally. I think it would provide me with some knowledge and content, but I think it’s less likely than some other things, so I’m going to pass.

    Power BI is fascinating to me. I think it’s a transformational tool for many companies that deploys interactive visualizations. I learned quite a bit while working my way through the Stairway series on SSC, but I know I barely know anything. This one is as tempting as Itziks.

    That leaves Ben’s Kubernetes session. Ultimately, I do think the future of SQL Server and lots of data platforms will be containers, and K8s. However, I don’t think many of us want to know the ins and outs of K8s. We want AWS, Azure, or someone else to run most aspects of the platforms, and while I’m sure I’d learn something, I think this is also less useful for now. I’d like to attend this late.

    The Finalists

    I’m really down to three choices now: T-SQL with Itzik, Azure with Denny, or Power BI with Meagan. These would all improve my career, and help me with my job, as well as being relevant. They’re all relevant, but also in areas that I struggle to really focus on for a long period of time.

    I’d like to think there are other resources I can use for Azure, and I am thinking to just try and go through some study here to take the exam, so I’m going to cut Denny’s. A hard choice, but that’s what I need to do.

    For the other two, I don’t really know what to do. I went back and re-read both descriptions a bit, trying to decide what I’ll learn. I know I’ll get in depth T-SQL from Itzik, and I would like to improve my query skills. I often find myself amazed by the queries some of the people post in the SQLServerCentral forums. However, I also know that Itzik does this class for different events. Even thought I skipped it in the past, I think I might get another chance. In fact, there are a couple pre-cons for the Data Platform Summit.

    Therefore, I’m going to sign up for Meagan’s class, update Power BI Desktop, go through the last couple articles in the Stairway, and see if I can learn a few things about building reports.

  • Without PASS, Our Community is Worse Off

    This year the PASS Summit is virtual. I’m speaking, as a donation, and Monica Rathbun has written some thoughts on the event. I’m hoping that attendance is high enough to enable to organization to survive beyond 2020.

    You can help by registering for the event. There are lots of great sessions, and some wonderful pre-cons.  I want to do a pre-con, but I’m struggling to pick one. I need to decide soon, and 2 pre-cons alone is about what the entire conference costs. I’m going to get some training at a good cost, but also support the organization and pre-con speakers.

    PASS Brings Us Together

    I have a bit of a like/dislike relationship with PASS. It’s not much stronger than that, but I have struggled to support them at times, for various reasons.

    However, as I talked about the organization with a friend, we both agreed that PASS, however flawed they are, makes our community better. From user groups to SQL Saturdays to the Summit, they have fostered an environment that brings us together.

    Certainly volunteers make user groups and virtual groups go. Organizers keep things on track and speakers make the events worth attending. SQL Saturdays are almost completely driven by people in the community. Even the great networking experiences at the Summit are largely driven by speakers and volunteers that openly great people, put on events like Game Night, the Photowalk, and SQL Karaoke.

    It’s us that makes things special. It’s not the PASS staff or the Board of Directors or a conference.

    It’s us. Each of us, engaging with each other.

    At the same time, I think that without PASS providing the central place we congregate, that marketing can focus on (mostly community marketing), and giving some financial or other resource support, I’m not sure how well things would go.

    I think we’re worse off if PASS fails. In some sense, I hate writing that sentence.

    Is the Summit Worth It?

    Training typically costs $400-700 a day, depending on who you go to. Online training might be worth less, or feel that way, but a lot of full classes cost this much. If that’s the case, then the $999 bundle, which includes 2 pre-cons is worth the cost. Heck, 2 pre-cons are $800, and it’s only $200 more for the Summit included.

    To support PASS, get other sessions, and keep alive an amazing event that has likely helped you in your career, and by proxy, your employer, I think it’s worth it.

    Forget about Microsoft and Amazon doing their large conferences for free. They lose money anyway on those events, spending hundreds of thousands, or millions, on Ignite, ReInvent, or something else for marketing. The DevOps Enterprise Summit, the Pass Summit, and others can’t survive without some revenue. Apples and oranges trying to compare these.

    I think the cost for the Summit is fair. Maybe it should be $100 more or less, but I wouldn’t quibble about that. If you’ve enjoyed the Summits, if you’ve learned, support PASS if you can. I think the two pre-cons are a good value, and I would emphasize that to your boss.

    Two full days of intense training from experts, then 3 more days available for a year. That’s not a bad deal to sell to the boss.

    Once in a Lifetime

    This pandemic is a once is a lifetime event. I hope.

    To me, this is like the hurricane that nearly destroyed PASS in its early years. Kevin Kline makes a case that we should step up because of the nature of these difficult events. I tend to agree, though clearly PASS has struggled through some difficult times.

    I don’t know if I would continue to support this as a virtual event in the future. I have to see how this year goes. I don’t know if the way that the PASS organization is structured or handles finances makes sense. I’ll give them a pass this year and come December we can review and debate this.

    I don’t remotely think PASS handles communication, transparency, and governance well. My view is the culture and BoD has failed miserably here for over a decade.

    I’ll still support them this November and give them a chance to improve.

    Now is the time, in my opinion, to support PASS. We can push for change in December, but for now, I think the world is better with PASS in it, and we, as members, should support the organization.

  • Tonight is the PASS Marathon on SQL Server Performance

    The event is tonight, and it’s my first time helping out as a moderator. I got a call for volunteers, and I added my name. The event starts at 1800GMT and runs for a few hours.

    You can register here.

    The schedule is up, and I’ll be moderating Vern Rabe’s session on Poorly Performing T-SQL Queries and How to Fix Them. I’ve known Vern for a few years and enjoy seeing him at SQL Saturday’s. This will be a good session, so tune in and ask some good questions.

  • Making a Donation to PASS

    This year the PASS Summit will be virtual, though not free. Until June 19, the conference will cost $500 for the 3 day conference, $900 with precons, and $349 for a single pre-con. SQL Bits is still scheduled for September, and I wonder if they will move to virtual. Microsoft has moved all events to virtual for the next year, which puts pressure on others. The flip side is Microsoft events are mostly marketing and many other events are fundraisers for their organizations.

    PASS reopened their call for speakers, which is interesting. I wouldn’t expect any speakers to pull out from the event, but perhaps I’m wrong. Or maybe they’re expanding the schedule, since I know time zones will be an issue and I suspect we’ll see some broadcasting across the 24 hour clock. To do this isn’t free, as the infrastructure and coordination of staff to make an event happen cost money. Microsoft can just lose money on staff, but for PASS, SQL Bits, and other events, they need help. Even with volunteers helping, you need some staff. Staff requires money.

    This means the request from PASS this year is for every speaker to essentially donate their time to create a presentation and deliver it for little to no compensation. They can watch other talks for free, there will likely be some speaker gift, and there is some marketing and exposure from speaking at the Summit, but this is different than getting an admission to the live event. I don’t know how employers, clients, etc. view anyone’s speaking experience at the Summit, but it’s on my speaking CV multiple times and I’m proud that I’ve been able to speak there.

    I didn’t submit earlier this year when the call for speakers opened. The timing was bad for me, personally, and I decided to forego attending. When the call re-opened, I decided to submit. I am happy to support the community, and a virtual event means that travel and timing is less of a factor.

    I have seen some speakers question whether being asked to deliver a talk for free that will be behind a paywall is a good idea. They question if this is a fair trade for their time and effort. I think each speaker can make their own decision. I don’t mind if you speak, or if you decide this isn’t for you. It is a fair question, and there are plenty others we can debate: the financial structure of PASS, the decisions about the Summit, and the future direction of the organization.

    PASS already had a deficit in their budget this year. The Summit will likely generate less money and potentially the deficit will be larger. If I can donate a few tens of hours to build a session and deliver it, and help with the financials of PASS, I am happy to do so. I plan to support a few other events later this year as well, helping organizers where I can to weather this difficult time.

    Steve Jones

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