Voice of the DBA

Tag: travel

  • Leveling Up for Sales and Marketing

    I’m heading to Austin today for Redgate’s internal Level Up conference. This is designed to help employees improve their skills in some way. The original ones focused on technology skills, but they have grown to include other business skills. A nice writeup from 2019 is here.

    This has traditionally been in Cambridge, UK, but last year we had an event in Austin. I couldn’t attend because of other commitments, and have actually never been to Level Up. Fortunately for me, there are actually a few events this year:

    • Level Up Sales and Marketing, US – May 2023, Austin
    • Level Up Sales and Marketing, UK – June 2023, Cambridge
    • Level Up Technical, UK – July, Cambridge

    This year, I’ll get to attend the first two, though not likely the third. I’d like to hit the technical talks, but I also have a lot of other trips and travel, so I have to pick and choose.

    I’m not speaking here. I speak a lot, and this is a chance for others to share their knowledge. I have offered to mentor and support others, and I ran a presentations tips and tricks session recently. Actually, I may do that in a few other places and record it.

    Having an internal conference isn’t cheap or easy, but it is a neat way to build bonds in the company and tailor training to what you need. I’ve been asked to speak at a few other companies’ conferences, and I’ve always enjoyed it.

  • Off to the 2023 Microsoft MVP Summit

    I’m off today to Seattle, Redmond actually, and the Microsoft MVP Summit. This is an annual conference Microsoft has run for their MVPs, allowing them to interact and learn from the developers for various products.

    I am a Microsoft Data Platform MVP, which means that I’ll mostly be seeing sessions and talking with the developers for SQL Server, Azure SQL, Synapse, etc. All the Data Platform stuff.

    The entire event is under NDA, so I can’t discuss anything that happens or what I will learn. At least not this week. A lot of this will come out from under NDA in the next few months, and this event gets me the chance to work with some things before they become public.

    It’s also the chance to get to know the developers and product managers better. I’ve become good friends with some over the years, and I look forward to the chance to not only learn from them, but share a meal or drink at some point this week.

    A quick trip, out today, back Thursday. Just in time to meet the tractor guy Friday.

  • Viva Las Vegas–Off to VS Live

    I’m off to VS Live Las Vegas  for a few days this week. I was in the UK last week and I leave early Wed-Fri for a trip this week.

    If you’ve never been to VS Live, it’s a neat event. Smaller than many conferences, but it covers a bunch of different technologies for developers. Databases are a small part, and I’m always honored when I get to speak there. I hear different perspectives and questions than I find at many data professional events.

    I also learn some interesting things about software development from others. To me, this is a great way to round out my knowledge. When I was more of an attendee than a speaker, I liked going to these events that are focused on multiple technologies.

    If you want a last minute trip to Vegas, come this week. If not, there are some other great events coming up this year. Think about going to one if you do a lot of development:

    I won’t be at those, sadly, but my schedule is a little crazy in 2023, so I’m limiting the submissions. Hopefully I’ll do a few more of these next year.

  • Enjoying SQL Bits

    It’s been a good week at SQL Bits. This is my favorite conference, and the organizers go out of their way to make it a fun and sustainable event.

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    I brought three different shirts. Day one:

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    Day 2:

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    and Day 3:

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    The conference center in Newport is fairly large, and dedicated to Wales. We see the dragon out front.

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    I even got a chance to stand next to this, and it’s pretty big.

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    And castles inside. The theme for the week was dungeons and dragons, and Redgate joined in with the castle theme.

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    Overall, the Expo was a nice success, and often busy with the food (and coffee) available inside.

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    We even had a mini dragon for Lego Steve

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    And more full sized dragons

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    There were the bean bag chairs everywhere, with the updated logo on one side. Sponsor logos were on the reverse side.

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    There was a big wall where artists were sketch noting after sessions. I thought this was pretty cool. I forgot to check after mine, but I was saying good bye and getting ready to leave and forgot to look.

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    Overall, it was a great week, and again, an amazing conference put on by the SQL Bits crew. I enjoyed it and look forward to coming back in the future. Wales was a great site, and I had a lot of smiles, laughs, and fun with others.

    The Redgate crew was great, and it was nice to spend time with them, something I don’t always get to do at events.

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    The party was a lot of fun as well, with some amazing costumes. Some random shots here:

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    As I walked back through Heathrow, I always pass this iconic image, which both makes me smile and brings up a little sadness as I leave the UK. Another great trip though.

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