Tag: SQL Saturday

Learn about Encryption at SQL Saturday #265
You can learn about encryption at SQL Satuday #265 is Portland, Oregon in a couple weeks. I’ll be heading out to the event on November 16, 2013, my first visit to Portland in 15 years. In addition to my session on the various encryption options in SQL Server, I’ll be talking about your career with my branding talk, plus there are many other amazing sessions.

A few quick links:

Register for SQL Saturday #233

Register for the FRIDAY, November 15, 2013, FREE Red Gate Seminar

With the MVP Summit in Redmond the following week, you have the chance to learn about:
- Finding bad queries
- Learning about IO
- Deadlocks
- and more
Check the schedule for the details and to pick the best sessions for you. It’s a tough choice, but no matter what you choose, I’m sure you’ll learn a lot.

It’s a busy day for me, as I’ll also have a lunchtime session where I’m looking to talk about Red Gate Software’s vision and experience with database deployment. We’ve been working hard to find ways to deliver our software faster, and we’ve put that knowledge into a few products. Our goal is to try and make it easier for you to deploy changes to your databases, so come let me know what challenges you face and what holes are in our solutions.

It should be a great event, and if you’re in the area on Friday, November 15, 2013, and you want to learn about better database development and deployment strategies, Red Gate has a free SQL in the City Seminar that you can register for. Grant Fritchey and I will be talking about version control, continuous integration, and deployment in this FREE, half day seminar. It’s aimed at beginner to intermediate level people, so register today if you can attend.
November 5, 2013
My Busy Weekend
This weekend is the fall camporee for my middle son’s Boy Scout troop. He’s one of the senior scouts in the group, and he’s committed to help run some of the training sessions and competitions for younger boys. He asked if I’d go along on the trip and help out, something I’m usually happy to do. However this time I had to decline, informing him that I’d be out of town this weekend. He asked me where I’d be. My answer:
- Friday – Atlanta for SQL in the City 2013 Atlanta
- Saturday – Charleston for SQL Saturday #227
- Sunday – Charlotte, prepping for SQL in the City 2013 Charlotte next Monday.
He told me that’s quite a bit of travel, and he’s right. However that’s not all of it. My journey starts today as I head to LA for SQL in the City 2013 Pasadena.
October 7, 2013
An easy travel week for SQL in the City and SQL Saturday #190

This week I have two more events in my busy fall schedule: a SQL in the City Seminar on development and SQL Saturday #190. However my travel plans are limited to getting in my car and driving from the ranch to the Denver Tech Center for both events. These are rare, local events for me and a nice break from the 8 or 9 other events the rest of this year that I need to travel to.

It’s going to be a busy week, however. I have to deliver the whole Friday event myself, which is a lot of speaking. I did 2 of the 3 sessions earlier this year, so it’s not a long stretch, and it’s certainly easier than the full day pre-cons and training sessions that you get from Brent Ozar, Unlimited or SQLskills, but I feel some pressure since I don’t have any supporting cast and it’s a local event. Plus this will be my first time delivering one of the sessions. Fingers crossed the demo gods are kind to me.

On Saturday I have just one session on branding, which I enjoy talking about. After that, it will likely be a shorter day for me as I travel again on Tuesday for DevConnections. However I hope to see a few friends and meet new people at the event. Come on by if you can.

September 24, 2013

Opportunities Abound

There are so many opportunities for many of you to learn more about SQL Server. It’s amazing to think how many more choices we have today than I did early in my career. When I moved to Denver, we had a user group that met somewhat sporadically, an MSDN lunch hour every month, the PASS Summit, and training classes from various vendors like New Horizons.

That’s changed today and when I look at my schedule, it’s incredible to think how many of them I’m going to be a part of this fall. I’ve got a busy travel schedule the rest of the year, and I’ll only touch a small portion of the events that you could use to increase your SQL Server knowledge.

There are quite a few conferences this year. DevConnections in a few weeks, the PASS Summit mid month, and SQL Intersection at the end of October. I’ll be speaking at the former and latter, skipping the middle one this year. There are two SQL Rallys, Nordic and Amsterdam in Europe. There are also lots of pre– and post-cons and other workshops sessions around the events. There are even amazing training classes from vendors like SQLskills and Brent Ozar Unlimited that will teach you a tremendous amount about SQL Server. I’m hoping to attend one of these sessions in the next year.

If your boss won’t pay for a conference or class, there are plenty of free events as well. SQL Saturdays are everywhere, almost every weekend. I’ll be at San Diego, Denver, Charleston, Portland, and Washington DC this year, but there are plenty more. Many of them offer pre-cons, at low costs. You might consider covering the cost yourself and asking your boss to pay for the time off.

My employer, Red Gate Software, is putting on some of their own events. We are doing seminars before some of the SQL Saturdays and I have SQL in the City events in Pasadena, Atlanta, and Charlotte this year. These are free events, just register and come.

If you aren’t close to any events, there are more and more online resources. SQLServerCentral should be your first stop, but there are videos, webinars, virtual chapter meetings, and great subscriptions from vendors. If you want to self-study, there are great books you can buy as well as online challenges to help you learn.

There are all levels of costs, online, local, worldwide, etc. resources that you can use to learn more about SQL Server. I’d highly encourage you to make a plan and improve your SQL Server skills over the next year. I guarentee there’s something for every budget and situation.

Steve Jones

Video and Audio versions

Today’s podcast features music by Everyday Jones. No relation, but I stumbled on to them and really like the music. Support this great duo at www.everydayjones.com.