Voice of the DBA

Tag: SQL Saturday

  • The 700 Milestone for SQL Saturday

    This past weekend was SQL Saturday #700. Another milestone in the franchise of events, and I was glad to attend. This is my fifth or sixth Colorado Springs event, and everything ran great. The leadership has changed over the years, as has the structure and format, but attendance continues to be strong and reliable.

    This year I was late, coming down after coaching youth volleyball. I arrived just as people were outside at the food trucks. That was a great idea, one that I think they took from our “no lunch”, bare-bones SQL Saturday in Denver. A few trucks pulled up and attendees could go outside and choose during a long break for lunch.

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    This is a smaller event, but consistently draws over 100. Many of them were still around for the end of day raffles, as you can see above.

    I’m glad to see the changing of leadership over the years hasn’t prevented this event from continuing. I always worry about sustainability as organizers grow through life and become busy or change careers. As many of us age, retirement is also an issue, and it’s important that we continue to find ways to hand off responsibilities and knowledge, as well as enthusiasm to others.

    I was only around for a couple sessions, including my own, but I did get a chance to hang out and chat with friends, even getting a selfie with a few.

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    I’d love to see more of you at the next Colorado Springs, but really more of you make an effort to attend, speak, volunteer, or organize for future SQL Saturdays. Fingers crossed we’ll meet at 800 (which should be coming soon).

  • The 700 Milestone

    I’ve watched various SQL Saturday milestones go by. I missed 100 in Brazil, but did manage to get to 200 in Philadelphia and 300 in Kansas City. 400 was in Torino, and I am sad about not making the effort to get there. 500 was Boston, but I had a conflict. 600 Chicago, but again, other plans.

    Colorado Springs was awarded 700, and I had to submit ASAP to that one. I’ve got a morning commitment for volleyball, but I’ll be racing down to get to the event and attend the after party.

    I’ve got a repeat presentation, Branding Yourself for a Dream Job, but there are some other great talks. PowerBI from TJay Belt and Meagan Longoria, Optimizer secrets from Brian Hansen, Data Science from Reeves Smith and more.

    Plus there are two great pre-cons on Friday. The Midnight DBAs talking Enterprise Maintenance and Kevin Kline giving you 50 things you need to know.

    If you’re nearby, get a free day of training and say hi in the afternoon. If you can convince the boss, I’d say you should take advantage of one of these pre-cons as well.

  • A Summit Just North of The Big Easy

    I’m off today, traveling down to The Big Easy, New Orleans for a beignet. Well, not just a beignet, but also because I’ll be speaking at SQL Saturday #628 in Baton Rouge tomorrow. It’s easier, and more fun, to fly into New Orleans, so I’ll do that, have a quick snack at Cafe Dumonde and then drive up to Baton Rouge. It’s an easy, relaxing drive, and a nice (albeit warm) part of the country.  Hopefully I’ll arrive in time for a quick jog around University Lake.

    This is the 9th SQL Saturday for Baton Rouge, one of the oldest (they started with #17) and this is my fifth time going. I always enjoy the people and crowds down there and this is one of the largest SQL Saturday events in the country. The schedule has 12 tracks, and with over 500 people coming, they need that many to keep from having every room overcrowded. I have two sessions, and I’m looking forward to seeing quite a few others from other speakers, learning a bit more about SQL Server.

    I think it’s great that this event includes lots of developers from the area and covers a huge variety of topics. People come from all over the area, from Texas to West Florida, and sometimes from Arkansas and Tennesee. There is a wide variety of data related, and a few developer, sessions, as well as a nice career track. There is a huge thirst for knowledge, and for some reason SQL Saturday Baton Rouge on the campus of LSU attracts many people from all over.

    It’s great that we have people in our community that will put together a large event to help others improve their careers and get excited about databases and software. Holding an event like this takes a lot of work, and my hat is off to the organizers. They do a fantastic job and really put on a great event for everyone. I’m glad we have large events like this, and I also am glad we have people putting on smaller events all over the world. We have a fantastic SQL Server community, and it’s always a treat to get accepted to present. I hope to see some of you tomorrow and many more in the future.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcast

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  • Back to the Big Easy and SQL Saturday #628 in Baton Rouge

    I’ve been fortunate enough to get to the Baton Rouge SQL Saturday a number of times. I think I’ve been 3 times and am heading back in a week for my fourth.

    This is an amazing event, one of the largest in the country. I’ve met people from Texas to Florida to Tennessee, all of whom drive to join the crowd of 500+ developers and database professionals. Held at LSU, it’s also a beautiful location.

    If you’re anywhere close, come down for a great, free day of training and inspiration. I’ll be doing two sessions:

    Hopefully I’ll see a few of you there.