Next week, I am tentatively planning a webcast on Oct 3, 2013 @ 12:30pm ET as I have done over the past couple of years aimed at First Time Attendees.  Once I get things confirmed, I will post a link for registration.  I updated my PPT Deck with the new information and realized that most of the message and events / timings are ...

Today was the official announcement of the Candidates and the official start of the Campaign.  PASS Campaigns sure have changed a lot since I originally ran for a seat (and lost) in 2002.  The process has changed to become more rigorous in the Nomination stage.  This is a very good thing because in my view, there are no bad choices ...

I volunteered to help out and present a keynote at SQL Saturday #250.  It worked out that they couldn't find anyone better.  :-)  I am really looking forward to it and hope that I do not disappoint. The time available is about 40 minutes so it can't get too technical. Although I have been a part of 2 keynotes at the PASS Summit, I ...

On September 14, 2013, I will be speaking at the 2nd SQL Saturday event to be held in Pittsburgh.  I spoke at the last SQL Saturday event last year which was a blast.  This year, I will be presenting a session entitled ''Really Basic Perfmon''.  It is designed for the person who has heard about Perfmon before, but never really got ...

Research, Contemplate, Vote. In case you didn't hear, there is a campaign going on that impacts the PASS Organization and the SQL Community.  If you were a PASS member before June 1, 2012, you should have received a ballot link via email.  Polls close at 3pm PT on Friday, Oct 12, 2012. I am fortunate to know all 5 candidates for ...

As I finish up preparing for the Sep 20 (@1pm ET) webcast, I thought a final blog post may be appropriate in order to quickly reference many of the areas that I have touched upon.  Naturally, much of this information is geared towards First Timers, but Alumni are welcome to join in the webcast as well and are encouraged to help spread even ...

Now that I have covered just about all of the ''official'' Summit activities, it is time for a blog post about ''After Hours'' activities. There is a webpage that lists some of the activities that we are currently aware of.  You can find that page here. Monday Night Networking Dinner - Last year, Andy Warren and Steve Jones started a ...

One of the most valuable parts of the entire Summit experience is the networking that goes on. In this post, I will go over some of the opportunities for you to network with others.  Once again, this post will not focus on ''after hours'' activities which will come later. Badge and Ribbons - Once you get to the Summit and pick up your ...

When discussing ''How did you become a DBA'' with almost anyone, it was an accident.  Nobody seems to go to school to become a DBA.  Most DBAs that I know either were developers for a while and they took over the admin duties of the database server, or they were a system administrator and were tasked with taking charge of a database ...

I recently got back from a little vacation.  While I was driving, I'd say to my wife ''Hey, I have a friend who lives near here.  They are known as @SomeTwitterHandle.'' as we were driving through the area.  I thought how great it was to be able to think of my many friends on twitter as I was passing by.  I live in High Point, ...