Usually it is an honor when we get to present to a user group, but not this time, so let me explain.
I have no idea how my presentation got briefly mentioned in the invitation which went out today, without my consent. I have never asked or agreed to speak at SQL Connections February 2011 meeting in Chicago suburbs. Yet I apologize for any inconvenience it might have caused.
I was going to speak at the meeting of December 2010, which was agreed by email with the person in charge. I had spent some time preparing for the presentation, and was very surprised to learn that my presentation was canceled when I received the invitation for December 2010 meeting with a different agenda. Nobody sent me a note telling me that my presentation has been canceled.
Apparently this way of canceling presentations is very unusual. I have discussed this with quite a few other speakers, and nobody has recalled anything similar.
I was quite surprised when I had a closer look at the invitation for February 2011 meeting, which I just received:
You are invited to attend ...
SQL Connections February 2011
!!! SQLConnections 1st Birthday Celebration !!!
Please join us at the Microsoft Offices in Oak Brook for our 1st Birthday
BRENT OZAR
Tuning T-SQL Step by Step
If execution plans look like subway maps
of foreign cities, this session is for you. Brent will turn SQL Server
inside out by making YOU role-play as the SQL Server engine. He’ll feed
you one query at a time, make you write your own execution plans in
plain English, and then show how SQL Server draws out execution plans.
You’ll learn how sorts and joins rely on indexes, and get your first
glimpse into why statistics are so important. No tuning experience
necessary, but you do need to understand how to write SELECT statements
with joins.
Brent presented at the chapter’s first
meeting a year ago, and we are honored to have him back as the chapter’s
First Anniversary speaker!
Afterwards Alex will present the session he did not get to present in Decemeber.
Cant Wait to See You There!
Note that it does not include neither my last name nor the abstract for the presentation. Of course, Brent is a much better speaker than I. Naturally, the invitation may reflect this well known fact. However, failing to mention the speaker's last name and failing to include the abstract seems to be just a little bit over the top.
Even if I were planning to speak at this event, I would quite likely have canceled after such an invitation.