Ok, I have to admit the painful truth. I'm reliably slow to the finish line. This year, I got my slides into PASS HQ by the skin of my teeth, the weekend before the event was to begin.  Although I could say with a straight face ''I uploaded my slides!''.  I have to be honest that I wasn't surprised when many of my attendees said that ...

Even though I've recently changed jobs, I'll still be speaking at a lot of SQL events across the country and internationally.  There are still a few trips that I've yet to finalize, in particular with the fine folks in Houston, run by my friend Nancy Hidy (blog | twitter), and my friends in San Francisco and Silicon Valley, run by ...

I always enjoy spending time with my friends from Atlanta, as well as meeting folks and making new friends. If you live in the Atlanta area, I hope you'll join me on the evening of Wednesday, February 9th, 2011. Details are at the Atlanta SQL Server user group website. It's common knowledge that I have a terrible memory for many ...

I'm speaking tonight on Top 10 Mistakes DBAs Make at the Atlanta SQL Server User Group meeting in Alpharetta, GA.  You can find all of the details here.The Best Dang Design Book for SQL Server Professionals - EVER!I thought I'd liven things up a bit with a little contest.  The rules are simple: A. If you don't follow me on ...

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 ...

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 ...

I freely admit it - I'm a sluggard.  I should be blogging a couple times per week and tweeting in between.  But, for some unknown reason, April has been a tough month to get this in gear.  Hence, I'm putting out an omnibus post to cover all of the stuff I've been up to, instead of the one-off's I usually post when I've got ...

Join me tomorrow for the PASS DBA Virtual Chapter meeting SQL Server Internals & Architecture. It's the most fun you'll ever have learning about the inner workings of a relational database - I promise! Click here to register. You don't have to register to attend.  But if you register today, you'll be entered into the drawing to ...

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 ...