Search results matching tag 'New England'

[New England] Mark Souza on Big Data and Cloud at NESQL

Adam Machanic — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 18:33:00 GMT

This Thursday, January 17, at New England SQL Server we'll be featuring Mark Souza, General Manager of the Data Platform Group at Microsoft. Most of you are probably familiar with that name; he's the guy who founded the CAT team, and he's been in a number of key roles in the SQL Server organization for the past several years.

Mark's topic for Thursday is Big Data and Cloud at Microsoft. The talk should be an interesting look into how the company is approaching these key areas.

If you're in New England and aren't already a member of New England SQL Server, you can sign up here. RSVP is required to attend our meetings, and we will send out the invitation e-mail on Tuesday morning.

Hope to see many of you there!

Where Can You Find Me the Rest of This Year?

Adam Machanic — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 00:28:00 GMT

Autumn is creeping inevitably closer here in the US, and that means that speaking season is about to kick into high gear. Here's my current schedule for the remainder of the year:

September 8, 17:00 GMT (online) - 24 Hours of PASS webcast: "Baseline Basics or: Who Broke the Database?"

In this session, excerpted from my PASS Summit precon, I'll explain the whys and hows of using baselines to assist with performance tuning. If you find yourself more often than not tuning reactively rather than proactively, this session is for you. This is a free webcast, so why not join in?

September 8, 18:30 EDT (Waltham, MA) - New England SQL Server Users Group: "Windowing Functions in SQL Server 2008, Denali, and Beyond"

Two in one day! This session will kick off the 2011/2012 New England SQL Server season, and will cover what are (in my ever-so-humble opinion) the most important T-SQL enhancements in the past three versions of SQL Server: windowing function enhancements. I'll discuss what's there in today's shipping versions, and the new and incredibly powerful functionality that Denali brings to the table. If you're in the Boston area, don't miss it!

September 17 (Atlanta, GA) - SQL Saturday #89: (Two Talks)

After the great time I had at this year's TechEd show in Atlanta I could hardly wait to get back. Luckily, the fantastic SQL Server community in the Atlanta area scheduled this event, which gave me the perfect excuse to pack my bags for a return trip. The speaker lineup for this event is rock-solid, and I'll be contributing with two talks: my introductory dive into SQL Server parallelism, and an overview of my 15 favorite activity monitoring dynamic management objects. This should be a great event by anyone's standards, and it's free, so if you live nearby you have literally no excuse not to attend.

October 11, 08:30 PDT (Seattle, WA) - PASS Community Summit Pre-Conference Seminar: No More Guessing! An Enlightened Approach to Performance Troubleshooting

No more guessing! It's not just a catchphrase; it's a way of life. When faced with performance problems we have a choice: we can either run around panicking, wasting everyone's time (including our own), or we can use the huge amount of information at our disposal to figure out what's actually wrong and fix it. As the calm and collected type, I prefer the second option, and so should you. If you'll be attending the PASS conference, join me on Tuesday to learn how you, too, can quickly and accurately pinpoint the root cause of your performance issues.

October 12-14 (Seattle, WA) - PASS Community Summit Spotlight Session: Query Tuning Mastery: Zen and the Art of Workspace Memory

Your query is running, and it needs to sort some data. Or to hash some data. Or to perform a parallel operation. These things take memory, and as any SQL Server professional knows, in the world of SQL Server memory is worth much, much more than its weight in gold (even given today's hugely-inflated prices). Attend this session to learn the ins and outs of workspace memory: what it is, why it's needed, where the memory comes from, and most importantly, how to control it to make certain queries faster and other queries not have to wait as long. Workspace memory tuning is a mostly untapped performance opportunity that many DBAs can heavily benefit from learning how to leverage.

November 1-3 (Las Vegas, NV) - SQL Server Connections: (Three Talks)

My final speaking engagement of the year will be at the always-fun SQL Server Connections show in Vegas. (It's in Vegas! How could it not be fun?!) I'll be doing three talks during the course of the show: An introductory talk on my favorite topic the past couple of years, parallelism in SQL Server; a much more advanced parallelism talk to build on that one; and a talk on the various dynamic management objects that can be used in the quest for ultimate SQL Server performance. Save a spot for me at the poker table!

I'm really looking forward to these events. If you're going to be there let me know in the comments, and/or feel free to find me at any of the shows and say hi. (Buying me a drink or two wouldn't hurt either.) See you there!

[New England] SQL Saturday 71 - April 2 - Boston Area

Adam Machanic — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 20:08:00 GMT

April in the Boston area means many things. The Boston Marathon, the beginning of baseball season, and -- hopefully -- a bit of a respite from the ridiculously cold and snowy winter we've been having.

This April will mean one more thing: A full-day, free SQL Server event featuring 30 top-notch sessions.

SQL Saturday 71 will be the third full-day event in the area in as many years, and is shaping up to be the best yet. For the past several months I've been working and planning in conjunction with Mike Walsh, Grant Fritchey, and Tom LaRock. We've upgraded the venue, upgraded the food, managed to get speakers from all over the country, have a great roster of vendors for you to talk to at the event. And that is not the end. We're pushing to create even more perks to make this a truly memorable day.

So if you're in the area, or even nearby, and want to attend a top-quality training event at zero cost to you, register today.

Please note: This event is being created at zero cost to you, but that doesn't mean that it's being created at zero cost. The opposite is true; our upgraded venue is not cheap. Our budget is fairly tight and so we will be closely monitoring registrations and will end up with a waiting list. If you are not able to attend, it is your responsibility to make sure to cancel your registration as soon as possible! This will allow someone else to join us, and will keep us from squandering the funds that we've worked so hard to collect.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Spend a Week With Kalen Delaney in the Boston Area

Adam Machanic — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 16:30:00 GMT

If you're reading this blog, you're undoubtedly already familiar with Kalen Delaney. She's been writing the premier internals book series for Microsoft since SQL Server 7.0, teaching SQL Server for many years before that, and is known as one of the most knowledgeable people in the world when it comes to how SQL Server works and the art of applying that knowledge to your day-to-day work.

Given Kalen's extreme depth and reputation as a fantastic teacher, it should come as no surprise that last time we brought her to the Boston area the class sold out and we were forced to go to a wait list. Those who did get a seat praised the class as the best they've ever taken. So we've decided to bring her back to the area again for everyone who wasn't able to attend last time.

If you're serious about getting to the next level with SQL Server, this is the class for you. You'll learn internals and query optimization from one of the best in the business. The course will take place in the Boston area, April 11-16.

If you book before February 1 you can take advantage of our early bird $400 discount. This is an incredible bargain for a fantastic learning experience.

Let me know if you have any questions, and I hope to see you in Boston!

[New England] Last-Minute Discount for SSIS Mastery

Adam Machanic — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 15:20:00 GMT

Just a quick post to let you know that there are still some seats available for Andy Leonard's "From Zero to SSIS" course, running October 6-8 in Waltham, MA.

To help move the final seats we're offering a great discount to companies that are interested in sending more than one student. If you send two people, each seat will be reduced by $700, for a combined $1400 in savings.

As usual, let me know if you have any questions about the course or the offer.

Three Days with an SSIS Master - In the Boston Area - At a Discounted Price

Adam Machanic — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 16:57:00 GMT

If you've been working with SQL Server for long, you are no doubt familiar with the work of Andy Leonard. Andy is a true master of the art and science of data extraction, transformation, and loading. And as his recent blog series on the software business shows, he has also fine-tuned the art of dealing with the many types of people you're likely to meet when putting together enterprise-class solutions.

What does it mean to take this combined experience and apply it to an SSIS training course? Simple: You're guaranteed both the career enhancement of learning ETL from one of the best in the industry, and the benefit of war stories from someone who has truly seen it all.

Whether you're new to ETL or have been using SSIS for years, Andy's "From Zero to SSIS" course will help you get to the next level. Andy will start with basic material and quickly progress into some of the most advanced SSIS training material available in a public class. This is a rare opportunity to take a full journey through a topic that is at once both easy to use and deeply complex.

This class will take place October 6 - 8 at the Microsoft Technology Center in scenic Waltham, MA, a 20-minute drive from downtown Boston. And if the weather behaves you can expect to experience the class amidst the beautiful color spectrum of fall in New England.

From now through the end of the month, you can take advantage of a $150 discount on the course fee. Feel free to leave a comment below if you have any questions about the class.

Enjoy!

World Class Training For Them, an Amazon Gift Certificate For You

Adam Machanic — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 15:40:00 GMT

We have just two weeks to go before Paul Randal and Kimberly Tripp touch down in the Boston area to deliver their famous SQL Server Immersions course. This is going to be a truly fantastic SQL Server learning experience and we're hoping a few more people will join in the fun.

This is where you come in: we have a few vacant seats remaining and we need your help spreading the word. Simply tell your friends and colleagues about the course and e-mail me (adam [at] bostonsqltraining [dot] com) the names of the people you believe will register, or have them e-mail me your name and contact information when they register. For every person who buys a full-price registration between now and March 28 as a result of your help, I'll send you a $300 Amazon gift card.

Note: To keep things fair, if I receive the same name from two people the gift card will go to the first person who sent the name.

For more information on the course and to register, visit the Boston SQL Training Web site.

Paul Randal and Kimberly Tripp - Boston Area - March 29-April 2

Adam Machanic — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 20:09:00 GMT

If you've been looking for advanced training in the northeast, your wait is over. Paul and Kimberly will be gracing us with one of their famous "SQL Server Immersion" events the week of March 29.

This course will cover storage engine internals, indexing and performance strategies, and of course in-depth sections on database maintenance from the guy who wrote DBCC. You can't go wrong there. A complete outline is available on the course web site.

If you've never visited the Boston area, the spring is a great time to do it--we usually have great weather right in between the winter freeze and the overly-humid summer. The course location is Cambridge, MA, right near MIT: a really cool area with lots to see and do, easy access to downtown Boston via public transportation, and the weather should be perfect for some brisk evening walks around the Charles river after days of having your head pumped with SQL knowledge.

If you register soon you can take advantage of the "early bird" special, $600 off the $3100 course fee. Use registration code "EARLYBIRD" to take advantage.

Hope to see many of you there!

New England Data Camp v2.0 (SQL Saturday #34): The Almost-Final Schedule

Adam Machanic — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 17:25:00 GMT

The January 30 event is now starting to shape up quite nicely! Below you will find the current schedule of sessions for the day. We still have some room, so if you haven't registered already, now is the time to do so. Please make sure to register online if you're going to attend so that we can get a fairly accurate headcount for food, bags, etc.

Start Time	Business Intelligence	Data Development	Database Administration	Performance Tuning
08:15 AM	Slava Kokaev Introduction to SSIS - Developing SSIS Packages	Scott Abrants Automating Database Deployments with Visual Studio	Mike Walsh As a DBA, Where Do I start?	Bala Subra SQL Server Performance Tuning Tips
9:30 AM	Ayad Shammout Introducing PowerPivot (BI Self-Service) for Excel	Charles Hyman USING VSTS Database Edition and 2010 Preview	Aaron Bertrand Management Studio Tips & Tricks	Grant Fritchey Best Practices for Working With Execution Plans
11:00 AM	Bala Subra SQL Server Reporting Services	Matt Van Horn Developing with SQL Azure	Roman Rehak SQL Server Development Tips and Tricks	Mike Walsh You Can Improve Your Own SQL Code
12:15 PM	Michael Ruland Sponsor Lunch: Turbocharge your ETL with expressor
01:00 PM	Sunil Kadimdiwan Visualize your data on a Map	Steve Simon Data Access Layers: A Cornucopia	Ayad Shammout Building High Availablity SQL Server environment	Adam Machanic Dynamic Management Master Class: 15 Powerful DMVs
02:30 PM	Mike Litchfield Designing and Implementing an ETL Framework	Jim O'Neil "Dallas": Microsoft's Data Marketplace	Varsham Papikian Use PowerShell and SQLCMD - be more effective	Dean Richards Tuna Helper for SQL Server DBA's
03:45 PM	Steve Simon Data Mining.. Making $mart financial decisions	Matt Van Horn Pivot Data Visualization	Peter Tassmer Storage Design For SQL Server

Please note that registration opens at 7:45 a.m. We hope you'll show up on the early side to make the first session and avoid having to rush. We'll be providing coffee and some breakfast items to compel you to get out of bed and join us.

Please let me know if you have any questions. Looking forward to seeing many SQLblog readers at the event!

New England Data Camp v2.0 (SQL Saturday #34) - January 30, Waltham MA - Registration and Call for Speakers Open

Adam Machanic — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 14:59:00 GMT

Last week I very quietly announced, via Twitter, that we've officially launched the site for New England Data Camp v2.0, the second go at a full-day event jointly hosted by both the New England SQL Server Users Group and the Southern New England SQL Server Users Group. The event will take place on January 30, 2010, at Microsoft's Waltham, Massachusetts office.

If you missed last year's v1.0, you can check out the fantastic session list on my blog post for the event. We had just over 200 attendees and feedback was quite positive. This year's event promises to be even bigger and better, as we've partnered with SQL Saturday, which should smooth some of our rough edges.

We are planning to have up to 25 sessions in four or five tracks, and our public call for speakers is open and ready for your submissions. Never presented before? No problem--shake off your stage fright and give it a try. I promise, you will have a good time. The Data Camp audience is laid back and happy to learn from you, whether or not you're a seasoned presenter.

Just want to attend? That's fine, too. Our registration page is ready and waiting to reserve your spot at the event.

We're also looking for a few sponsors to help defer the cost of the event. If your company would like to increase awareness amongst the best and brightest data professionals in New England, you can do no better than to sponsor this event. Information on sponsorship plans is available on our Sponsors page.

Looking forward to seeing many SQLblog readers there! Please let me know if you have questions, concerns, comments, etc.