Improving Networking at PASS Events–Part 1

This week I’m spending some drive time thinking about how we might improve networking at SQLSaturday and that led to me thinking about the general state of networking within PASS. Some early thoughts on networking in general: It’s not enough to put people in a room and say “network” It’s not enough to put like […]

Does SQLSaturday Increase Chapter Attendance?

One of the big goals for SQLSaturday was for it to be a membership drive. It’s worked hugely well in some ways; we’ve added tremendously to the number of PASS members, grown the size of the Chapter mailing lists (for those that held a SQLSat), and introduced a lot of people to PASS/Chapters. But has […]

SQLSaturday & The Speaker Wait List

When a new SQLSaturday event is launched an email is sent to all the speakers who have opted in to notifications for the region, basically saying “we hope you’ll speak at our event”. It’s lightweight and useful, and generally the only ‘send to all speakers’ message for that event, but with around a 100 events […]

SQLSaturday Orlando 2015–Classes on Thursday and Friday for Even More Learning

We have a solid tradition here in Orlando of offering some all day classes the Thursday and Friday before SQLSaturday. It started way back at #1 when we brought Joe Celko to town! It’s a way to give our local community the chance to do some deeper learning at a relatively inexpensive price – $120 […]

Seeking Full Day Seminars For The Friday Before SQLSaturday Orlando 2015

We’re planning to run one or two (or maybe even three) seminars (aka pre-cons) in conjunction with SQLSaturday Orlando 2015. What are we looking for? An interesting topic. I know that’s vague, so let’s say we want a topic that will be of interest to 15+ people willing to pay to attend. A good abstract. […]

Presenting at the Space Coast SQL Group on August 13, 2015

I’m heading to the coast on August 13, 2015 to talk about database corruption, SQLSaturday Orlando, and the possibility of a SQLSaturday Cocoa Beach in 2015 with the members of the Space Coast SQL Group.

Working With Sponsors

Apologies for the poor photo, the example was trampled a bit on the journey home! This past weekend at SQLSaturday South Florida they put these out on the table prior to the end of the day raffle and wrap up. It’s a half sheet of yellow 8.5×11 paper, directions on one side (shown below) and […]

Notes From SQLSaturday #379

Notes from the trip: Made the trip down without stopping and without getting stuck in traffic – a first! Attended speaker dinner on Fri night. Nice location, service was slow. I don’t understand how they reserve space for large parties and then fail to staff for it Good signs to event on Sat morning Speaker […]

Im Attending SQLSaturday #379 in South Florida on June 13, 2015

It’s almost summer and that means it’s time for a trip to South Florida for SQLSaturday #379. I’ll be doing my presentation on Learning Plans, trying to meet the speakers I don’t know yet (quite a few), doing some learning of my own, and staying over until Sunday to enjoy a little time in Ft Lauderdale […]

Presenting To The Orlando .Net Users Group on June 11, 2015

I’ll be returning to ONETUG just less than a year from my last presentation, delivering technical content and evangelizing for SQLSaturday Orlando. My goal on technical content is get them to see SQL Server as a really, really interesting piece of software written by developers and that can do amazing things if you know how […]