Search results matching tags 'Speaking', 'Database Design', 'Professional Development', and 'People'

See You in St Louis, and then London, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Stockholm, and York, UK

KKline — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 20:55:00 GMT

Good grief, there's a lot of travel in my future. <sigh ... deep breath> It'll be exhausting and it'll be hard to lose so much time with the family. But if I'm able to avoid travel mishaps, it'll be fun.

Meet Me In St. Louis

I'll be speaking in St. Louis, MO on Tuesday, September 14th for their mid-day meeting. The details, as I have them, are:

Tuesday, September 14, 2010 1-4pm

Location: Microsoft St. Louis Office, Three City Place Drive, Suite 1100, St. Louis, MO 63141

http://www.microsoft.com/about/companyinformation/usaoffices/northcentral/stlouis.mspx

Parking is in the garage behind / next to the building. There is an entrance to the building from the 2nd floor in the garage.

Additional details and instructions on how to log in

Speaker: Kevin Kline, Quest Software Topic: SQL Server Internals and Architecture

Speaker: Kevin Kline, Quest Software Topic: SQL Statement Tuning with Query Optimizer Strategies

I'll be giving away free t-shirts, posters, an eBook or three, and backrubs (super-models, only).

SQL Bits, On the Cheap

I’ve tweeted previously about the SQL Bits conference in York on September 30th – October 2nd, but this is my first blog post about it. Now is the time to settle your plans to attend. And while you're settling those plans, take advantage of Quest Software's 20% discount on the Thursday and Friday sessions requiring payment. Just be sure to use the code QST20 when you register. The Saturday is free for everyone. Note - I said FREE. So if you're struggling to convince your boss of the value of the time off and cost required to attend these events, then at least plan to attend Saturday. But as you can see here, the prices are quite low compared to most other conferences of similar quality. I firmly believe the standard for speakers and content at SQLBits is second to none in the UK. I'll be a wallflower in comparison to other friends of mine also speaking at the event, such as Brent Ozar, a MCM SQL Server and former colleague now working with SQLSkills, Buck Woody, the well-known "Real World DBA" and senior technical specialist from Microsoft, as well as many other SQL Server MVPs, authors, and speakers, such as the event organizer, Simon Sabin, and Quest Software SQL Server expert and editor-in-chief of SQLServerPedia, Iain Kick. Some sessions I'm looking forward to include:

Monitoring and Tuning Parallel Query Execution - Part II – R Meyyappan
Where the bl**dy h*** are you? (Spatial Data Visualisation) - Rob Farley (all the way from Adelaide, Australia)
Introduction to Performance Analysis and Tuning – Simon Sabin
Oracle for SQL Server DBAs – Gavin Payne
Lies, Damned Lies And Statistics. Making The Most Out of SQL Server Statistics - Maciej Pilecki
Extreme scaling with SQL Azure – Martin Schmidt
Automating SSIS - Andre Kamman

Attendance will definitely enhance your skills and ability to do your job. The added bonus is that York is a lovely place to visit with a beautiful and storied cathedral, so I highly recommend the event for all SQL Server professionals. Prior to SQLBits, I'll be presenting in London, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, and Stockholm. I hope you can attend an event closer to you if you cannot make it to York!

And Just to Make Sure I'm Thoroughly Frozen...

While I usually have a policy against visiting places cold enough to die between the front door and the mailbox, I'll be stopping in at SQL Saturday 58 in Minnesota for a SQL Saturday taking place on Friday (not a typo), October 29th, the day after my birthday. I'll be 21 years old and, since I'm now of legal drinking age, you should by me a drink. The event organizer, as well as my friend and fellow MVP, Jason Strate, just has to be different by holding the event on a Friday, eh? Track the event on twitter using the hash tag #sqlsat58. Read all the details here and register asap!

Once finished in Minnesota, I'll barely get a breather in before heading right back out for the big PASS 2010 Summit in Seattle from Nov 8 -11. Hope to see you at one of these events soon!

Best regards,

-Kevin

Twitter @kekline

SQL Saturday is Coming to Nashville! Won't You?

KKline — Tue, 18 May 2010 02:42:00 GMT

How 'Bout a Little Context?

Let me be direct with you. I love SQL Saturday. If it were a woman, I'd marry it. (Avoiding all extraneous thoughts of what my real wife would say, etc etc).

Check out this fun Flickr Feed from the recent SQL Saturday in Chicago or these picks by Jorge Segara (blog | twitter) to see the sort of fun that's in store. But who can argue with a day of free SQL Server training and a chance to network with great presenters and a wide swath of your peers?

Keynotes are more fun when the put-downs fly!

I've tried to support SQL Saturday as much as I can since Andy Warren (blog | twitter) launched the program a couple years back and have spoken at several. You might say to yourself, "Self, Kevin works for a vendor. Don't they want him to speak at as many SQL Saturdays as is humanly possible?" Well, Mr. Self, you'd be mistaken. You see there's a keyword in the name that might reveal why my employer doesn't provide unlimited enthusiasm for me to speak ... it's the SATURDAY part of the whole thing. Yes, of course, my employer wants me there. But they also recognize that Saturdays are my own and that, if I spend a day or two there on the weekend (including the travel time), then that's a sacrifice of my own choice. I would still need to be at work and on task bright and early on Monday morning. Not that they'd make me, it's just that my job is the sort that work is never simply skipped, it is only ever deferred. So if I took a comp day, which they'd gladly provide, I'd still have to finish the work somehow, someway. All of this goes to say that I really, really love SQL Saturday, the community vibe that it creates, the volunteers who drive it, the folks who attend. So I'm happy to give up a few days throughout the year to support it.

Come to Nashville in August!

Guitar, Cowboy Boots, Cowboy Hat, and Tight Denim NOT Required

My good friends Joe Webb (blog | twitter) and Louis Davidson (blog | twitter) have been angling to host a SQL Saturday here in Nashville for quite a while. As co-leaders of the local PASS chapter in middle Tennessee, it made a lot of sense to host an event like this. I wasn't at all resistant to the idea, I just didn't want to do the work myself. However, they did a great job of getting the ball rolling and even took on the majority of work themselves. Together with other volunteers in our local chapter - Shelton Dickson, Roberto Lopez, and Christina Leo - we've all set to work to host SQL Saturday #51.

The event will be hosted on Saturday, August 21st at the shiny new facility of Nashville State Community College located at 120 White Bridge Rd. Nashville, TN 37209:

If you'd like to attend, check out all the details here. Joe Webb and Christina Leo get all the credit for logistics.

If you'd like to speak, read the details in our call for speakers here. Louis Davidson is running the program selection process.

If you'd like to sponsor, sign up on-line here. This one is my responsibility.

It's free to register, there is a $10 fee if you want us to provide lunch. And remember, seats always fill up fast!

If you're going to attend and you have a twitter account, be sure to tweet using #sqlsat51!

I hope to see you there in August!

Join Me May 19th for 24 Hours of PASS

KKline — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 14:16:00 GMT

Join Us for 24 Hours of SQL Server Training

(with a special focus on SQL Server 2008 R2)

Did I mention that your Cohorts in Crime (that be me and Brent Ozar) are presenting?!?

The FREE 24 Hours of PASS event is bringing an exceptional lineup of SQL Server and BI experts to your computer starting at 12:00 GMT (UTC) on May 19.

Get an in-depth look at the hottest SQL Server and BI topics, including (but not limited to!) - the new SQL Server 2008 R2, with its business intelligence and data management innovations, and much more.

When does it start? 12:00 GMT (UTC):

New York: 08:00
Chicago: 07:00
San Francisco: 05:00
London: 13:00
Paris: 14:00
Moscow: 16:00
Mumbai: 17:30
Singapore: 20:00
Sydney: 22:00

The roster of phenomenal speakers features many MVPs and top-rated presenters, including Adam Machanic, Andy Leonard, Brad McGehee, Brent Ozar, Brian Knight, Chuck Heinzelman, Dean Richards, Don Kiely, Don Vilen, Donald Farmer, Glenn Berry, Greg Low, Jacob Sebastian, Jessica Moss, Kevin Cox, Kevin Kline, Louis Davidson, Maciej Pilecki, Peter Myers, Peter Ward, Rushabh Mehta, Sean McCown, Simon Sabin, Thomas Grosher.

Check out all the great SQL Server sessions you can attend for FREE. Share this information with a friend or colleague.

PASS is looking forward to having you join us all for this exceptional event. Please contact us at 24hrs@sqlpass.org with any questions. You can also find lots of general details at http://www.sqlpass.org/24hours/2010/.