Voice of the DBA

Tag: summit

  • The Last Price Bump for the Data Community Summit

    This week the cost of the PASS Data Community Summit jumps up to full price, on Sep 21. This is your last chance to save big, so get someone to approve you trip and register this week.

    This the the largest and best conference for data professionals. You’ll have experts from all over the world and quite a few Microsoft developers attending. This is a great chance to network with them, learn, and ask questions that might save a support case or help you solve a problem.

    Talk to your boss about the event and explain how this benefits your career and helps the company. Many people have found this invaluable over the years as they bring knowledge and contacts back to their organization.

    Make a case, get approval, and get registered today and I’ll see you in Seattle this November.

  • The PASS Data Community Summit On Guy in a Cube

    I’ve known Adam and Patrick for a long time and I’m thrilled with the content they produce on their Guy in a Cube show. It’s a great resource for anything Power BI, and now, starting to cover Microsoft Fabric.

    I’ve been on their show before, but we did a new episode recently, talking about the PASS Data Community Summit 2023. They are teaching a pre-con session on Fabric and I recommend going to this one if you have a need to do data warehousing in Azure.

    Give the show a watch, and I hope to see you in November in Seattle. It’s a great trip for both you and your employer. You’ll get a lot of value from the event and I’m sure you will bring some knowledge back to your team.

  • Looking Forward to the PASS Data Community Summit 2023

    I was lucky enough to attend the very first PASS Summit in 1999. It was a brand new event, and while not overly large, it was busy and crowded in the basement of a Chicago Loop hotel. I had the chance to meet Kalen Delaney there and ask her a question. That was the highlight of the trip, but I also learned a lot about SQL Server 6.5 and 7 there, spending all the time I could in sessions and hanging out after each one listening to the questions others asked the speakers.

    Since then, I have been lucky enough to go to most of the Summits. The event has changed a bit, and I look forward to going to see friends each year and re-connect with them. I’ve also loved meeting new people, often those I’ve corresponded with online. Each event has been memorable and exhausting at the same time. It’s a busy week, and I can sometimes feel overwhelmed. However, it’s always felt like it was worth the trip.

    I saw a video from Kendra Little where she talks about what she’s looking forward to this year. She has a few things on her mind: connecting with people, learning from the people who write the software, learning from those that use the software, broadening her horizons, and being a part of the data community.

    My thoughts are similar. Last year I was looking forward to the event in person, but apprehensive with all the commitments I had for Redgate with speaking. This year I’m much less involved, working more on things before the Summit and I’m hoping I can enjoy the experience more with less work during the event.

    For many years I was always excited about the SQL Server Central party. That was a highlight for me and I was sad when the referrals that funded it went away. Perhaps I’ll get find a way to get it back in the future. For now, I want to connect with more people. I want to do this casually in a few ways. From the #sqltrain on Sunday to a few quiet dinners with friends during the week to taking time at night to attend some of the events that various vendors will sponsor, that will be a great chance to bond with friends (new and old) in a social way.

    I also want to connect more professionally with people, which I’ll do in the Community Zone, as Kendra suggests, but also around the convention center. I am planning on not having to rush to many things, which means I’ll have more time in hallways and after sessions to talk tech with speakers and attendees. I’m always amazed by the ways some of you use databases and software, and I find myself learning creative solutions that I might suggest to others in the future.

    The last thing that I’m looking forward to is the chance to motivate a few more people to run SQL Saturday events in 2024. We’ve had some new events in 2023, a few more than 2022, but not nearly as many as we used to see each year. I’m hoping to connect with more community leaders and volunteers to try and get them to consider organizing an event in the future.

    The Summit is a great investment in your career as a data professional, and it can be a good investment for your employer. Make a case, show them you want to learn and grow, and that what you learn there will help you in your job. It’s a park for those of you that bring value to your employer and the can help with retention. You’ll gain knowledge and make contacts that help you on a daily basis.

    I hope to see you in Seattle this November.

    Note: The price goes up Sept 20, so get registered before then.

    Steve Jones

    Listen to the podcast at Libsyn, Stitcher, Spotify, or iTunes.

  • 100 Days to the Data Community Summit Keynote

    The start of learning at the 2023 PASS Data Community Summit is 100 days away. I checked.

    2023-08-04 09_24_01-SQLQuery2.sql - ARISTOTLE_SQL2017.master (ARISTOTLE_Steve (52))_ - Microsoft SQL

    The Summit starts for many of us on Monday with precons or an early arrival and spending time with friends. However, the first keynote is Wednesday, and that’s the main conference for most people.

    100 days away.

    It’s amazing to think we’re that close. Speakers are working on their sessions, polishing decks and practicing demos. Hopefully attendees have gotten all their travel arranged. The sessions are out, and you can build a schedule. You can even still add a pre-con if you want.

    Hopefully I’ll see you there. If you’re valuable at work, if you get things done, make a case to send you to the Summit to learn things and network with others. Those contacts might be invaluable in the future when you have a question or problem.

    And if you’re going, consider coming to SQL Saturday Oregon the Saturday before and taking the train up with us. It’s a fun time.