Voice of the DBA

Tag: SQL Saturday

  • SQL Saturday as an Attendee

    Last week I did something that many people have already done. However this was my first experience, and I really enjoyed it. We’ll see if I get to do it again.

    I went to SQL Saturday #441 – Denver as an attendee. I hadn’t submitted to speak, but I spent half my day over at the event, watching some sessions, networking, and enjoying some time with my fellow data professionals.

    I’ve never done that before. I’ve attended many SQL Saturdays, 49 by my count, but always as a speaker. I’ll sit in sessions, but I always have a responsibility and my laptop.

    Saturday was a bit more relaxing for me. I could attend sessions on topics and focus more, being unworried about keeping my talk in my head, worried about setup or practicing anything during the day. I could focus all my time on someone else’s presentation, which was nice.

    I don’t know how many more SQL Saturdays I’ll get to attend like this. Certainly the ones in the Denver area are events I like to support by volunteering to present on a topic. Denver has grown quite a bit and we have many speakers from out of town that submit, so I may avoid submitting here in the future and continuing to attend, or volunteer in some other fashion.

    It was a fun experience, and I’m glad I got to go. It was worth my time, as I learned a few things that I am looking forward to trying out over the next few weeks.

  • SQL Saturday #403–Louisville

    This weekend I’ll be attending SQL Saturday #403 in Louisville, KY. If you’re in the area, think about taking a few hours out of your Saturday and coming to learn some SQL Server stuff. There’s a great schedule, with 6 tracks and 6 sessions per track.

    That’s 36 opportunities to improve your skills and career!

    I’ll be delivering two sessions during the event. I have my Branding Yourself for a Dream Job first thing in the morning at 8am. I know it’s early, but I like to give you some ideas for networking and planning your career for the rest of the day.

    My second session is Continuous Integration for Databases at 10:30. I’ll give you a taste of how to improve your software development process by using version control and a build server to verify and test your database code.

    There are some great afternoon sessions, but I likely won’t be there as I have family in town and want to spent a few hours with them. However come grab me in the morning and say “hi”. I really enjoy meeting the SQL Server community and look forward to another great SQL Saturday in Louisville.

  • Get Away from the Heat and Learn some Database Version Control

    I have enjoyed the trips I’ve made to New Orleans and Baton Rouge in the past. It’s a good getaway, stopping in the French Quarter for a few minutes before an easy drive up the road. However it’s warm, and I can’t ever get my wife or kids to come with me. For some reason, they don’t seem to enjoy the warm, August Baton Rouge weather. I, however, am looking forward to a jog around University Lake.

    LSU University Lake at BREC Milford Wampold Park

    This might be the best time to run, but I’ll likely be going around when it’s sunnier, and a touch warmer.

    However if you want to get out of the heat, perhaps you’d like to come learn about Database Version Control with Ike Ellis and me? Redgate Software has partnered with Crafting Bytes to deliver our workshop in Baton Rouge. We’ve put the workshops on sale, and only $100 for a full day of training.

    What will we cover?

    We’ll show you how to get your database in a Version Control System (VCS). We use Redgate’s tools, but the idea of using version control can be done in other ways. I’m running the labs, and you’ll see how you can keep track of all of your database DDL code, including Lookup data!

    2015-07-23 18_45_53-DLM-Workshop-2015-02-19-1708-export-i-fg1k1eq0 - VMware Workstation

    We are also covering some advanced features that the Redgate tools make easier. Things like branching, merging, and deployments. How many of you would love to know that development is done and we can deploy our changes like this:

    2015-07-23 17_14_22-Schema Compare_Deploy - Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio

    I’ll show you how you can deploy your changes right from inside SSMS.

    This is an in-depth workshop, covering way more than I could ever do at a SQL Saturday or conference. What’s more, we provide you with a VM and let you actually work through the skills we teach you. You will get real practice during the day to give you the confidence and practice for your own environment back at the office.

    I hope to see you at either the workshop or SQL Saturday #423 in Baton Rouge.

  • The First SQL Saturday in South Dakota

    There have been so many SQL Saturday events in many places, and in most of the US states, but there are a few that have never had an event. One more state gets its first event this July, with SQL Saturday #427 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

    I’m proud to be speaking at the event, and I just finished booking my travel. I’ve never been to South Dakota, so I’m looking forward to wandering around a bit on Friday before we kick off the first SD SQL Saturday on July 18, 2015.

    I’m going to be talking about Continuous Integration in the afternoon, but there are some other great sessions. Learn about baselines, Service Broker, Auditing, SSAS, Stress testing, Reporting, and more.

    If you’re anywhere nearby, make some plans now to get to Sioux Falls in July for some SQL Server education.