Search results matching tags 'Community' and 'adssug'

Conor Cunningham speaking to the Adelaide SQL Server User Group

rob_farley — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 03:31:00 GMT

The guy behind the Query Optimizer, Conor Cunningham, is speaking on Sep 27 (well, Sep 28 here in Adelaide) to the User Group in a few weeks’ time. I only wish that he could be there in person, but as he lives in Texas, it’s much cheaper for everyone if he uses LiveMeeting. But it’s still a massive honour, as Conor is one of the most respected and knowledgeable people working in SQL Server anywhere, inside or outside Microsoft.

I’ve heard many people refer to his talk at SQLBits VI as the highlight of the conference, and this is the talk that he’s going to present for us as well – called “Inside the SQL Server Query Optimizer”. I’m expecting it to be excellent, and I only wish I could be there. Luckily, as it is via LiveMeeting, I hope to be tuned in. If you can’t be there (because you’ll be somewhere else), then feel free to join us via LiveMeeting as well. I’ll post a link in the comments here a few days beforehand. If you are due to be in Adelaide, then please try to be there in person, as user groups are so much more than just the content. Come to spend time with other SQL people. For those not in Adelaide, here’s a list of times around the world (thanks to timeandate.com).

Interestingly, on the same day, Adelaide is hosting another free event – about Windows Phone 7. My good friend Nick Randolph will be in town on the Monday and Tuesday to teach people about how to write applications for WP7. They’re planning to time lunch on the Tuesday to cater for anyone who wants to pop downstairs to Conor’s session, which is excellent of him. Nick is a terrific advocate for communities, having run groups and set up communities in both Perth and Sydney over the years. If you can get to his day (which remember, is FREE – just like the SQL User Group), then registration info is at his blog. Seats are limited for Nick’s event, so please only register if you’re very serious, but get in early.

Buck Woody in Adelaide via LiveMeeting

rob_farley — Mon, 24 May 2010 05:02:28 GMT

The URL for attendees is https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/usergroups/join?id=ADL1005&role=attend . This meeting is with Buck Woody. If you don’t know who he is, then you ought to find out! He’s a Program Manager at Microsoft on the SQL Server team, and anything else I try to say about him will not do him justice. So it’s great to have him present to the Adelaide SQL Server User Group this week. The talk is on the topic of Data-Tier Applications (new in SQL 2008 R2), and I’m sure it will be a great time.

Why not join us? Buck will be joining at us 8pm on Monday night (May 24th) in his time zone (US Pacific), which is 4am Tuesday morning (May 25th) in the UK and 12:30pm Tuesday lunchtime (May 25th) here in Adelaide. But if you can come in person, then register using this URL and join us for pizza around noon.

Presentations about SARGability tomorrow

rob_farley — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 02:40:27 GMT

Tomorrow, via LiveMeeting, I’m giving two presentations about SARGability. That’s April 27th, for anyone reading this later. The first will be at the Adelaide SQL Server User Group. If you’re in Adelaide, you should definitely come along. Both meetings are being broadcast to the PASS AppDev Virtual Chapter.

The second will be in the Adelaide evening at 9:30pm, and will just be and my computer. The audience will be on the other end of a phone-line, which is very different for me. I’m very much used to being able to see my audience, rather than just being in a room by myself. The level of interaction will be slightly smaller, so I might have to find a laughter track to play when I say something funny. (Don’t worry – I won’t actually do that… I’m used to telling jokes and hearing nothing but crickets)

The first session is at 12:30pm in Adelaide. That’s 1pm on the east coast of Australia, 3pm in New Zealand, and 8pm on Monday 26th in Seattle. If that doesn’t suit you, then it’s being “repeated” at 9:30pm in Adelaide, which is 1pm in the UK, or 8am on the east coast of the USA. The links to join the LiveMeeting session are: 12:30pm Adelaide and 9:30pm Adelaide

So what is this SARGability thing, and why is it important to you?

Essentially it’s about making sure that your indexes can be used properly, so understanding it will help you make your queries run better – and it’s not a hard thing to pick up, either. We’ll be looking at the basic concepts, some misconceptions that people have, and then extending the ideas to the point that (hopefully) will make you want to re-examine some old queries to see if you had really been letting the Query Optimizer do its thing.

I think the sessions will be recorded, but I’m also very happy to be answering plenty of questions as we go along. If you want to jump in and send me queries, I’ll happily give time to looking at them.

SQL community events in Adelaide this week

rob_farley — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 08:17:07 GMT

Two events coming up in the next few days in Adelaide.

On Monday 22nd, we see the start of the Australian Azure Launch, with David Lemphers coming over. David has a tour, hitting five Australian cities in four days, starting in Adelaide. It should be a good event, with the SharePoint, .Net and SQL Server groups combining for it. You can register here.

The other is the Adelaide SQL Server User Group’s regular meeting on Tuesday 23rd. We have Aaron Nelson speaking to us remotely about PowerShell in a session shared with the PASS AppDev Virtual Chapter. I’ve done a couple of PowerShell talks over recent years, but it will be good to hear another perspective on it. Aaron has written a couple of blog posts on it here and here. Aaron’s a seasoned presenter from many a SQL Saturday, so it will be good. This will be the group’s third virtual meeting, with Jonathan Kehayias speaking to us recently, and Paul Randal doing a session a few years ago. Since Adelaide is remarkably remote, the idea of sessions via Live Meeting is quite appealing, even though I’d much rather have the people visit in person. If you’re coming to the Adelaide meeting on Tuesday, please register here so that I have an idea about numbers for lunch.