Search results matching tags 'Troubleshooting' and 'PASS'

Recap - SQL Saturday 151 in Orlando

KKline — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 14:19:00 GMT

It's always a feel-good experience for me to return to SQL Saturday in Orlando, the place where SQL Saturdays were started by Andy Warren (Twitter | Blog). On this trip, I delivered a full-day, pre-conference seminar on Troubleshooting and Performance Tuning SQL Server. I also delivered a session on SQL Server Internals and Architecture to a totally packed house. For those of you who emailed me directly, here's the link for the special SQL Sentry offer.

I got to attend the extended events session by Jack Corbett (Twitter | Blog), middle in the photo above. Good stuff, Jack! Jack led the Orlando PASS Chapter for a few years and, although he relocated back up to New England, he enjoys getting back to Orlando when the opportunity presents itself.

I also got a chance to do a podcast with Rodney Landrum (Twitter | Blog), in the SQL Saturday chef's outfit on the right. Rodney, you should get your blog details up at the PASS SQL blogger page, btw. Rodney is also known as "the guy with the Red-Gate tatoo". Ask him why, when you meet him in person. I'll post the direct link to our podcast when I get it from Rodney. But in the meantime, be sure to check out his SQLBeat webcast. There are lots of great speakers and respected authorities to hear on his podcast.

As I mellow with age, I've found that I most enjoy connecting with friends and building relationships. The above picture shows me, Eddie Weurch (Twitter | Blog), and Pam Shaw (Twitter), head of the Tampa PASS Chapter. Pam, Eddie, and I were swapping some hilarious stories about our early years in snowy climates. Pam had the good fortune to be pulled, face first, through the snow by her mom during a trip to the school bus stop on the first big snow of the season. Mom, it seems, wanted to make sure she got to the bus stop safely, but instead fell down two steps from the front door of their home, sliding all the way to the bus stop firmly clutching Pam's hand. ROFL!

I got to spend some time with Ryan Adams (left) and Kendal Van Dyke (right), as well. There may have been some liquor involved. However, the highlight of my evening was definitely when Kendal yelled "FINALLY!" at the waitress bringing our plates out ten minutes after the appetizers were served. Kendal was actually paying no attention to the waitress or the plates and was instead yelling at the TV where the Florida State vs South Florida football game was playing. The waitress, on the other hand, was mortified. Hilarity ensued as he tried to explain that he was not the least bit cross with her. :^)

Ryan is going to be presenting at the upcoming spring 2013 SQLCruise event. You should definitely attend! Ryan Adams has lot more content here (Twitter | Blog). Kendal, by the way, is a standing member of the current PASS Board of Directors. He's written some excellent content and, just recently, moved to Upsearch consultancy where my friend Allen White (Twitter | Blog) works. Kendal Van Dyke has more content here (Twitter | Blog).

I hope you're planning to attend a SQL Saturday event soon. And not just the event, but also the after-event gatherings as well. You can almost always be sure that most of the speakers will be there. It's a great way to enlarge your professional network as well as to make real and lasting friendships!

Enjoy,

-Kev

-Follow me on Twitter

Two New Slide Decks. Plus, the Week in Colorado.

KKline — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 15:03:00 GMT

I had the honor of traveling the great state of Colorado last week, speaking at the PASS chapters in Boulder, Colorado Springs, and Denver. At all three events, we had a stellar attendance and, at least in Denver, broke all the records in recent memory both in terms of overall attendance and in first-timers. Denver, in fact, was standing room only and had nearly 30 first time attendees. Great news! I also want to give a special shout-out of thanks and appreciation to Chris Shaw (Twitter | Blog) whose hard work and tenacity ensured that all of Colorado got to see me speak. From left to right, Gabriel Villa (Twitter), me, Chris Shaw, and Rebecca Mitchell (Twitter). If it weren't for Chris, I wouldn't have been there. Thanks for putting in the time, amigo!

New Slide Decks!

During the 3-day jaunt, I presented two of my more popular sessions. These are updated slide decks, in case you want to download them here:

UG - End-to-End Troubleshooting

and

UG - Top 10 SQL Server Administration Mistakes

Be sure to check in the Slides area of the website, if you want to see the links for SpeakerRate, and in the case of several of my presentations, white papers, video recordings, etc. It's the People that Matter

A Blast from the SQLPASS Past!

I've always tried to maintain the relationships I built with the founding members of the PASS board of directors. After their time on the PASS board, almost all of them have moved on from SQL Server to other adventures. Pam Smith, the first president of the organization, is now a professor. Guy Brown, the second president, is now the director of IT at his same employer, rather than just SQL Server as when he was on the PASS board. A few, such as Kurt Windisch, a former VP of PASS, and my good friend Joe Webb (Twitter | Blog), are still active in the SQL Server space. One relationship that I've enjoyed over the years is with PASS' original Microsoft liaison and now a Denver-area software entrepreneur Steve Murchie (at right) running his own healthcare IT outfit. Steve has been a source of inspiration to me and also of great advice for all things startup-related. It was great to connect with Steve and catch up on his latest doings.

I also got to enjoy an evening out with the local attendees after the Denver user group meeting. It was great to hang out with folks there. I got to meet Kevin Cox (twitter), a member of Microsoft's incredibly talented SQLCAT group, and for whom I was a technical editor on a SQL Server v6.5 book back in the Neanderthal era. That shows just how old both Kevin and I actually are. Other cool folks that I got to meet included Steve Wake, Mike Fal, Marc Beacom, Jason Kassay, Jason Horner and my ol' buddy, Kelly the Greeley Geek.

On top of that, long-time SQL Server MVP and all-around awesome guy Steve Jones (Twitter | Blog) visited. I kept him out way too late that night which, to be honest, isn't usually my style. But the good conversation propelled us on past midnight.

The Good Folks at SQL Server Professional and Windows IT Professional Magazines

I've written for SQL Server Professional (formerly the artist known as "SQLMag") in some form or another starting from my first cover article for them way back in the mid 1990's. My Tool Time column has been going strong there since, oh, around 2006 iirc. For most of the time I've known the folks at SQLMag, they were located in Loveland, CO but they were able to move to some incredibly nice digs just up the road in Fort Collins. In all the many years, I've written for them, I'd never been to their offices - until now. It was great to visit and break bread with Megan (to my right), Blair (across), and Jaylee (across and to my right)!

I've always supported SQLMag and encourage you to subscribe. On top of the goodness already in the digital magazine, there are some neat developments coming down the pipeline with SQLMag which I think we'll all enjoy. Be sure to subscribe today! (You can click the badge on the left or simply go to http://www.sqlmag.com).

What's Next?

My current travel schedule is pinned up on this blog post HERE. However, I also know of a couple on-line appearances and probably a trip between the long gap between now and my next in-person appearance at the Orlando SQL Saturday at the end of September, where I'll also be teaching a pre-conference seminar (register HERE for the seminar).

SSWUG

The first on-line event to note is my a presentation by SSWUG of my Leadership Skills for IT Professionals video series, starting on August 24th. Sign up using the hyperlink (note that a video plays immediately upon loading the webpage, in case you want to be ready to pause or stop it). You can also buy a DVD set of the 14 hours of leadership training content.

24HOP - The 24 Hours of PASS Event

I'll also be speaking on the topic of influence in the next 24 Hours of PASS coming up on September 20th and 21st. Registration for the twenty-four hours of around the clock presentations is completely free and well worth your time. Check the schedule for the event and register! Even if you can only watch one or two sessions (or even zero sessions), be sure to register so that you'll automatically be notified when the sessions become available as streaming media.

Enjoy!

-Kev

-Follow me on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook

What PASS sessions will I try to attend?

AaronBertrand — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 19:55:00 GMT

Every year at PASS, I do the same thing. I hmm and haw over which sessions I want to go to, and I end up making some tough choices at game time. This year I believe I'll be pretty busy, so my typical pie-in-the-sky view of how much I'll be able to attend just isn't going to pan out. Instead, I have selected 5 sessions that I really want to try to attend; it may be a lofty goal, but I'm going to do what I can to make it happen. This post is as much of a reminder for myself as it is meant to be interesting to you; probably even more so.

(As a side note, I believe you'll need to be signed in to the PASS web site in order to click any of the below links.)

Tuesday, November 9th

DBA-492S : Tracking Waits with Extended Events : Andrew Kelly
4:30 - 6:00
This was a tough choice; there are a LOT of good sessions in this time slot! In the end, my curiosity about Extended Events won out over interesting sessions from SQLCAT, Adam Machanic, Kevin Kline and Ben Nevarez.

Wednesday, November 10th

DBA-588C : CSS Update Queries - Under the Hood : Conor Cunningham
10:15 - 11:45
DBA-599C : Inside SQL Server Latches : Bob Ward
4:30 - 6:00
These both look to be excellent sessions, and I don't think my brain will have room for much else on this particular Wednesday.

Thursday, November 11th

DBA-449M : Expert Query Performance Troubleshooting : Boris Baryshnikov, Conor Cunningham
1:00 - 2:15
DBA-346M : What's new in T-SQL in the Next Release of SQL Server : Tobias Ternstrom
2:30 - 3:45
Again, I just don't see how I can go wrong at either of these sessions. I always feel I have performance troubleshooting skills to learn, and of course I am interested in what new T-SQL functionality will be coming our way in Denali.

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/.

Free Training for You, Punishing Workload for Me. Thank You for Enjoying My Misery.

KKline — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 19:12:00 GMT

Everybody enjoys a little free training now and then. I've got mountains of free training in the works. Some of it is in-person and local while some are in webcast format. Please join me as you're able!

Tomorrow - Wednesday!

Wed, Feb 10, 2010 12 pm (noon) MST - PASS DBA Virtual Chapter; Top 10 Administration Mistakes on SQL Server

There are a short list of mistakes that, if you know of them in advance and prepare for them, will make your life much easier. This presentation shows you these mistakes, the "low hanging fruit" of database administration. Once you apply the lessons learned from this session, you’ll find yourself performing at a higher level of efficiency and effectiveness than before. Quest is sponsoring this and raffling off a copy of my book, SQL in a Nutshell, and O-M-G a KINDLE!!! (Free, but registration required.) And if you haven't already done it, join PASS!

Day After Tomorrow - Thursday!

Thu, Feb 11, 2010 at 11 am EST - Quest Software Pain of the Week; Understanding & Preventing SQL Injection Attacks - with Kevin Kline and K. Brian Kelley

SQL Injection attacks is the most common hacker trick used on the Web and yet, one of the easiest to prevent. Learn what they are and why you need to be concerned about them. In this webcast, I and SQL Server MVP K. Brian Kelley (blog | twitter) will demonstrate different types of SQL injection attacks. You’ll learn how to find and block them to keep your databases safe, preventing disruptions to your organization. Quest is sponsoring this as well and raffling off more goodies. (Free, but registration required.)

Thu, Feb 11, 2010 at 6 pm CST - Nashville .NET User Group; Ten Things DBAs Want .NET Developers to Know

Stereotypes abound for different types of people in the IT world. Developers think DBAs are control freaks. DBAs think developers are unruly cowboys. How do we overcome these differences? If you’re a developer, your best strategy is to manage your DBAs’ anxieties and demonstrate your competence and credibility. Attend this session to learn about 10 techniques that developers can apply to their code which will calm your DBAs’ fears and earn their admiration. Techniques include how to analyze a query plan and how to make sure your query is taking advantage of the best available indexes. Attendance is free although registration is encouraged so we can get a good count for the food, plus there's free pizza and a raffle at the end. Drinks afterwards at Chilis.

Coming Soon

Mar 03, 2010 >>>FULL DAY OF FREE TRAINING!<<< - Quest Software SQL Server vConference; Troubleshooting and Performance Tuning with Kevin Kline, Brent Ozar, and Ariel Weil

Join SQL Server MVPs, Kevin Kline and Brent Ozar (blog | twitter), along with Quest Product Manager Ari Weil —all from Quest Software—as they interactively present tips and tricks to help you monitor your SQL Server environment with ease. You’ll learn how to use Dynamic Management Views (DMVs) to simplify troubleshooting and significantly enhance SQL Server performance. The day consists of eight sessions with live Q&A - a great way to get answers to your questions straight from the source. Chat live with Quest experts. Plus, you can visit the Quest booth to download helpful resources like white papers, watch demos and more. This virtual training day is free and you can attend the sessions that fit your needs - perfect for tight budgets and busy schedules.

Mar 06, 2010 - PASS SQL Saturday, Charlotte, SC

The SQL Server Community will experience an event like no other in the Southeast region. Renowned speakers from around the world will gather in Charlotte, NC to share their knowledge on Microsoft SQL Server. This is your opportunity to meet, network with and learn from the SQL Community leading experts such as Andrew Kelly, Rick Heiges, John Welch, Brian Knight, Geoff Hiten, Andy Warren, Jessica M. Moss, Rafael Salas, Sergey Pustovit and Tim Ford. Also scheduled to present are current SQL PASS President Rushabh Mehta and former SQL PASS Presidents Wayne Snyder and Kevin Kline.

Mar 24, 2010 - PASS DBA Virtual Chapter; SQL Internals & Architecture Apr 08, 2010 - Quest Software Pain of the Week; The Admin's Guide to SQL Server w/ Buck Woody Apr 12, 2010 - PASS Chapter, Houston; topic TBD Apr 17, 2010 - PASS SQL Saturday, Chicago; Keynoting w/ Brent Ozar May 13, 2010 - Quest Software Pain of the Week; SQL Server for the Oracle DBA w/ Buck Woody May 13, 2010 - PASS Chapter, Louisville; topic TBD May 15, 2010 - PASS SQL Saturday, Louisville; topic TBD May 22, 2010 - Indy Tech Fest; SQL Internals & Architecture