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 ...

Yeah, alright. I know PASS puts on heaps of free training all the time. There are meetings around the world all the time, as held by hundreds of chapters. Seriously, there’s over 240 chapters in the world. If you figure that they typically have a 2 hour meeting once a month, that makes over 480 hours of training per month. That’s an average over ...

Are you using your benefits to further your SQL Server skills? The other day, the company I work for (Scalability Experts) had a benefits meeting where open enrollment for insurance and other similar things were discussed.  Since we are a small company, we outsource HR/Payroll/Benefits and I discovered a new benefit that I was unaware of ...

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 ...

My guys are great! When PASS started accepting abstract submissions for their Summit (in October this year), some of the LobsterPot employees immediately started looking into ideas for talks they could do. We rate communication as one of our key values at LobsterPot, and all my staff are keen presenters. Roger Noble was at the PASS Summit ...

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, ...

In less than a week, SQLPASS hosts another 24 Hours of PASS event, this time with an array of 24 female speakers (in honour of this month being Women’s History Month). Interestingly, the committee has had a few people ask if there are rules about how the event can be viewed, such as “How many people from any one organisation can watch it?” or ...

PASS Feedback came in last week. I also saw my dentist for some fillings... At the PASS Summit this year, I delivered a couple of regular sessions and a Lightning Talk. People told me they enjoyed it, but when the rankings came out, they showed that I didn’t score particularly well. Brent Ozar was keen to discuss it with me. Brent: PASS ...

10/23/2010   Two more eligible developers and deserving projects have been selected.   Any proposals submitted but not selected this time will be reconsidered at each upcoming award cycle. (Refer to this to review the award criteria, details, and benefits.)   In no order of implied importance.   Michael Peterson, ...

It is with both sadness and excitement that I am announcing I am leaving my position as Senior Data Architect at OTO Labs. The sadness comes because I am leaving behind a great company and an outstanding team, many of whom I am quite happy to consider friends rather than co-workers.   This decision was not easy; I spent several days and ...