Last year, I had a series of blog posts that matched up with a webcast I did targeting First Timers to the PASS Summit 2011.  Here is a link to the final blog post which is a summary of those posts and links to the main points in the series. A good deal of the information in those posts are still relevant.  I am in the process of ...

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 ...

It is almost time to cast your vote in this year's PASS BoD Elections.  Things have changed considerably since the first PASS BoD election that I participated in.  That was in 2001.  I hadn't even been to a Summit or even a chpater meeting yet.  I had registered for the PASS Summit 2001 (which was postponed to Jan 2002  ...

Just a reminder that I will be speaking at the SF UG SQL Server User Group on Sep 12.  Here is a link with all of the details.  If you are in the area, It would be great to see you!

I have a business trip scheduled out far enough in advance for a change.  I was able to schedule a presentation at the San Francisco SQL Server User Group on Sep 12 about SQL Server Consolidation Strategies.  If you will be in the SF area on Sep 12, I invite you to attend ar just drop by to say hello.  You can find out more about ...

Well, it is official...  there is a race for the community seats on the PASS NomCom.  I am very pleased to see that we have 12 people who decided to put their names forward for this task.  This is largely a thankless job that takes a great deal of time, judgement, and consideration. I have put my name forward as one of those people ...

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 ...

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 ...