This is another memory of the PASS Summit, this one inspired by Argenis Fernandez, who wanted to raise money for Doctors Without Borders. I wrote a bit about the effort that year.
If you have a memory, share it with #SeattleSummitMoments.
Nothing major this year, though I will have a different hat.
A few years ago at the Summit, Andy Warren and I set up a Game night. We convinced the organizers to give us a room for a few hours one night. We invited people, charged a small admission that was really a 2 drink minimum to fund the bartender, and we bought a few games. People coming brought a ton of games, and it was a fun, quiet night.
There is no official Game Night this year, which is slightly disappointed this year, but this year is a reboot of the Summit, so I understand. Plus, I don’t have the energy to run something.
I’m hoping a few of you in the community pick this up. There are a few community events listed on the Summit site, but I’d like to see more.
I’m calling on a few of you to set up Game Nights. Pick a night, pick a time, and set up a free EventBrite event to get people to register for tickets. I might expect a 30% drop off, so if you want to get 10 people together to do something, allow 13 tickets.
For Game Night, all you really need is a few tables where people can gather. I’ve seen people play games in hotels or the WSCC lobby. There are a few game venues around Seattle as well. You can bring some games, or ask others to do so.
Running an event can be easy. Jenn and Sean McCown do a meetup every year at Top Pot, literally just asking people to show up, share a cup of coffee, and chat.
If you want to find a few fellow gamers while you’re at the Summit, think about putting together a small event. Email the Summit and get your event listed.
Today’s coping tip is to realize you can’t do everything; what are your three top priorities now?
It’s a few weeks before the Data Community Summit, volleyball starts, vacation planned for Dec. My priorities now:
I started to add a daily coping tip to the SQL Server Central newsletter and to the Community Circle, which is helping me deal with the issues in the world. I’m adding my responses for each day here. All my coping tips are under this tag.
Today’s coping tip is to write down three specific things that have gone well recently.
Easy, as a lot of things have gone well. I’m going with some travel things, as I’ve done a lot lately. I came off 6 weeks in a row of going somewhere every week.
1. My Global Entry/Pre expired as I was leaving for a trip. I found out at the airport, and luckily didn’t miss my flight. I scheduled an interview online, it was renewed, and things worked when I got home. Amazing to me, but also it was pretty cool how well this worked.
2. I had to change some plans, and needed to cancel part of a trip and rebook part. It went really well, in fact, smoother than I expected. I’ve often had minor glitches with software handling complex things, but in this case the travel worked great.
3. I arrived late on a trip and needed a hotel for the night before a drive the next morning. I checked, and there were enough points to book a free room for a quick overnight. Love when that happens.
I started to add a daily coping tip to the SQL Server Central newsletter and to the Community Circle, which is helping me deal with the issues in the world. I’m adding my responses for each day here. All my coping tips are under this tag.
Voice of the DBA 