Notes on SQLSaturday South Florida 2018

Notes: Due to travel delays I missed the speaker dinner. I missed the chance to catch up and meet new people, but I have to admit the introvert in me enjoyed a quiet evening before a busy Saturday. That’s not to suggest that I will plan to miss more, it’s an invaluable networking opportunity (if […]

Notes on the May 2018 SQLOrlando Meetup

Late writing notes! 55 registered, 28 attended. Not bad, and about on track for expected 50% drop. Really, 28 made for a good meeting. Posted to meetup, one email out to the oPASS/MagicPASS list, so by design not doing a lot of extra messaging. First meeting downtown, but strangely almost no one attending worked downtown! […]

SQLSaturday Orlando 2018 – Planning Update #2

Continuing the notes I wrote in Update #1, got a few more things done last week: Received confirmation that the event was approved, good! Logged in to the admin site and did these things (about 10 mins): Set the call for speakers end date Picked vegetarian as a lunch option (there are others you can […]

SQLSaturday Orlando 2018 Registration is Open

We’ve just opened up registration and the call for speakers for our 12th SQLSaturday here in Orlando. We did #1 back before we numbered them and this year we’re an astounding #801. It’s fun to watch that number keep increasing! The call for speakers will end on July 20th. We encourage speakers to submit at […]

SQLSaturday Orlando 2018 – Planning Update #1

Each year I try to capture a little more on how to set things up here in Orlando. Right now its all in one spreadsheet with a bunch of tabs. Low tech, but good enough for now. Here’s what I’ve done so far: Mar 1. Reserved our date for this year, Oct 6th. As always, […]

Thoughts on the 2018 (and beyond) PASS Elections – Part 1

Last week Wendy Pastrick of the PASS Board posted PASS Election 2018 Timeline. It’s a good post for a few reasons: It signals changes to an existing process (which leaves time for discussion/uproar as needed and any resulting course corrections) It explains why the change is being made It has measurable goals (though I’d argue that […]

SQLOrlando Meetup Coming Up on May 23, 2018

We’ve been on a break with regards to most things SQL here in Orlando, but we’re getting things going again with a double-the-content meeting featuring Kendal Van Dyke and Tom Staab. This will be the first time we’ve held a meeting in downtown Orlando so I’m interested to see how that goes. We’ll also be […]

Good Seeing

I just finished reading The Perfect Machine about the construction of the Hale Telescope at Mount Palomar (here is a pretty good picture). Fascinating story with regard to both the people involved and the engineering. It took 21 years from getting the funds to when the first images were captured. Lots of interesting pieces; the struggle […]

Notes from SQLSaturday Jacksonville 2018

Notes: Great attendance, easily 400+ Lunch was smooth this year due to changing to boxed lunches Rooms were in 2 different buildings. Sometimes you have to, but it always adds complexity Speaker gift was a ‘survival kit’s with lots of useful bits including a USB C to HDMI/DVI/VGA (similar to this) and another with with […]

Benefits for Veterans

Wanted to share a few things I came across recently with regards to benefits for veterans: You can get a printed VA card now by signing up via ID.me (ID.me also comes in handy for things like qualifying for incentives from car manufacturers). The card does not have your social security number on it, so it’s […]