I am fortunate enough to be speaking to a user group with a really cool name - Atlanta.MDF (Microsoft Database Forum).  Although I visit Atlanta often, it usually involves running from one councourse to another and rarely do I get the chance to visit the user group.  I have made it to the user group on several occassions in the past, but ...

I recently got my DVD set from the PASS 2011 Summit and started to look through all of the sessions that I missed.  Wow!  I can't wait to go through all of these!  It will take me a while. Since this is a new year and many people are often greeted with new challenges (like a new server to manage), I decided that this session would ...

  Yesterday a member of the SQL community who I deeply admire sent me a DM on Twitter asking whether I had done a SQLFamily post for Thomas LaRock’s (blog|@SQLRockstar) Meme Monday for November. I replied that I did not, and I regretted not having done so. A subtle DM followed my response: “Get on it, you have all week”. And indeed I must. ...

As I alluded to in my blog series on ''What to expect at the 2001 PASS Community Summit'', the SQL Clinic will once again be in full swing.  See the following blog post on how to best be prepared to get your question answered.  http://blogs.msdn.com/b/psssql/archive/2011/09/19/inside-the-sql-server-clinic.aspx  

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 ...

In this post, Logistics centered around how to get to downtown from the airport (SEA - commonly referred to as SEA-TAC for Seattle - Tacoma). As you would expect, the Seattle airport is almost always busy.  Some airports have periods where almost no activitiy is going on.  That is rare here.  Signage is good throughout the airport ...

I really don't think that you can get the full flavor of the Summit unless you delve into Social Networking.  There are multiple vehicles for social networking.  Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, LinkedIn, and Yelp are all tools in the Social Networking Toolbox.  At the Summit, the best one of these is Twitter.  With twitter, yo ...

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 ...

The Summit is much more than just geat content from excellent speakers.  There is a great deal of other stuff going on at the Summit to really enhance your experience.  In this post, I will not focus on the ''after hours'' events. Do you want to get your hands dirty with Denali?  Perhaps you downloaded the latest Denali bits, but ...