Coming Soon to Minnesota...Lincoln...and Seattle!!!

It's that time of year when SQLSaturdays start to slow down (in the U.S. anyway) as we march towards Summit and the holiday season.

Having said that, I have three speaking engagements in the near future - two SQLSaturdays and...SUMMIT!!!

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I will be giving slight variations on the same talk at all three events as I tweak possible changes for my Summit talk.

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SQLSaturday #796 - Minnesota - St Paul, MN - October 6th

SQLSaturday #767 - Lincoln - Lincoln, NE - October 27th

PASS Summit v.20 - Seattle, WA - November 5th-9th

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Minnesota and Lincoln are always amazing events, and this is only my second time speaking at Summit.  I have spoken at more than a dozen SQLSaturdays and yet I get edgy thinking about being on stage at Summit (it's just a really big SQLSaturday, right?  ...right?)

http://he.memegenerator.net/instance/59791161/mr-bean-you-just-keep-telling-yourself-that

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The talk I am giving is my Extended Events talk:

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Getting Started with Extended Events 

Few subjects in Microsoft SQL Server inspire the same amount of Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt (FUD) as Extended Events. Many DBAs continue to use Profiler and SQL Trace even though they have been deprecated for years. Why is this? 

Extended Events started out in SQL Server 2008 with no user interface and only a few voices in the community documenting the features as they found them. Since then, it has blossomed into a full feature of SQL Server and an amazingly low-impact replacement for Profiler and Trace.

Come learn how to get started - the basics of sessions, events, actions, targets, packages, and more. We will look at some base scenarios where Extended Events can be very useful as well as considering a few gotchas along the way. You may never go back to Profiler again!

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I have been tweaking it to add more demos and extend the length (Summit sessions are 75 minutes and most SQLSaturday sessions are 60-70 minutes.)  Even if you have seen me present this session before I hope you will get something out of it.

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Another important part of SQLSaturdays and Summit to me are the pre-conference sessions/workshops.  They do cost an extra fee but it is worth it for a full day of in-depth training on a topic by a dedicated speaker (events like this don't give preconference slots to just anybody).

All three of these events have preconference sessions, and to me as primarily a systems DBA I recommend the following:

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SQLSaturday Minnesota (Full List at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sqlsaturday-796-minnesota-pre-cons-tickets-49272636783?aff=SQLSaturday)

Data Security for the Cloud by Ed Leighton-Dick from Kingfisher Technologies - I have known Ed for some time and he has put a lot of time into becoming a rising star in the security area.

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SQLSaturday Lincoln (Full List at https://www.sqlsaturday.com/767/eventhome.aspx)

Level UP! Your Cloud Infrastructure Skills by David Klee of Heraflux - David is one of the top (if not the top) speaker on SQL Server on VMs and the cloud.

Data Security for the Cloud by Ed (see above) - if you don't see Ed in Minnesota you have another chance in Lincoln!

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Summit (Full List at https://www.pass.org/summit/2018/Learn/Pre-ConferenceSessions.aspx) 

SQL Server Security by Denny Cherry of Denny Cherry & Associates Consulting (DCAC) - Denny is a security (and all-around) SQL Server expert who always gives a great talk.

Modernize your SQL Server with Bob Ward, the Tiger Team, and CSS Escalation Engineers by Bob Ward and the SQL Tiger Team from Microsoft - nobody can melt your brain like Bob Ward.  Any time you can see Bob speak, you should...period.

Fixing Query Performance Problems from Estimates, Statistics, Heuristics, and Cardinality by Kimberly L. Tripp of SQLskills.com - Kimberly knows more about statistics and the related topics than anyone I know, and she shares it so well. 

Kimberly and Bob are in the same time slot (all-day Tuesday) and in this case I am going to see Bob but I have already had weeks of training from Kimberly and if her topic sounds more interesting to you it will be worth it!

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Hope to see you at these events and in the preconference sessions!

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Speaking This Weekend in Iowa City!

Come out to SQL Saturday Iowa at the University of Iowa this Saturday 06/23/2018 for a SQL Saturday that never disappoints - Iowa always puts on a fun event with great atmosphere and informative sessions.

I am giving the premiere of my new presentation "Intro to Powershell for the SQL Server DBA"

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Many DBA's have the same outlook on Powershell - we all know we should use it, but we don't think we have time to learn one more tool that isn't even really part of SQL Server anyway.  I was one of these DBA's for many years, but recently I have come to respect the *power* of Powershell.

Come learn the basics of Powershell, how Powershell and SQL Server interact with each other, and finally how to use Powershell to automate common SQL Server tasks such as maintenance and SQL Server installations.  If you need to interact with Windows or Active Directory, odds are Powershell is the right tool for the job - come learn how to use it!

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There are also many other amazing speakers and sessions this weekend, including Microsoft Data Platform MVP's David Klee (@kleegeek) and Ed Leighton-Dick (@eleightondick).

Hope to see you there!

Speaking at PASS Summit 2018!

I found out a few days ago that one of my sessions was selected for Summit this Fall - I will be presenting an updated version of my "Getting Started with Extended Events" session that I have been working at SQL Saturdays over the last couple years.

I have submitted to Summit multiple times over the years, and every time the email comes in late May/early June my stomach knots up - I have been selected to speak once before (2016) but I still have that little bit of self-doubt.  Were my abstracts good enough?  Does anyone care about the subjects I want to talk about?  Who am I kidding anyway?

But when the email comes and one of the sessions says "Accepted"...

I have to admit for a brief moment it feels like this:

https://theworkingcaregiver.files.wordpress.com/2017/03/you-are-the-chosen-one-pl-ffffff.jpg

...but the moment passes pretty quickly, because I know that I am but a little piece of the big puzzle.  There are dozens of  Community Speakers and also dozens of Microsoft and Partner Speakers, not to mention the *HUNDREDS* of volunteers that make PASS and the Summit work.

It is still exciting to be selected, and each time it is a little humbling to hear people who don't happen to get selected in any given year offer up congratulations to those who are picked; we all support each other, and it's likely next year I will be congratulating someone else when they get picked and I don't.

Compared to Mr. T, I think in this case Emmet is more on-target:

At the end of the day we are all #sqlfamily and we all  have our own unique talents and our own unique voice - even if a particular event or venue doesn't select you, keep sharing - speaking/writing/whatever - because everyone has a story to tell.

Come to SQL Saturday Providence!

Tomorrow 12/09/2017 is SQL Saturday #694 in Providence, RI.

I will be presenting by SQL Server Health Check session first thing in the morning:

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Does it Hurt When I Do This? Performing a SQL Server Health Check

Speaker: Andy Galbraith

Duration: 60 minutes

Track: Enterprise Database Administration & Deployment

How often do you review your SQL Servers for basic security, maintenance, and performance issues?  Many of the servers I "inherit" as a managed services provider have quite a few gaping holes. It is not unusual to find databases that are never backed up, servers with constant login failures (is it an attack or a bad connection string?), and servers that need more RAM/CPU/etc. (or sometimes that even have too much!) 

Come learn how to use freely available tools from multiple layers of the SQL Server stack to check your servers for basic issues like missing backups and CheckDB as well as for more advanced issues like page life expectancy problems and improper indexing. If you are responsible in any way for a Microsoft SQL Server (DBA, Windows Admin, even a Developer) you will see value in this session!

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In total there are six tracks with five individual sessions each, so a full day of content!

Registration is still open at https://www.sqlsaturday.com/694/RegisterNow.aspx - come to Bryant University tomorrow and check it out!

Come See Me in Minnesota in October!

The schedule for SQL Saturday #682 Minnesota 2017 is out, and I will be giving my talk on Extended Events:

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Getting Started with Extended Events
Speaker: Andy Galbraith
Duration: 60 minutes
Track: Administration

Few subjects in Microsoft SQL Server inspire the same amount of Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt (FUD) as Extended Events.  Many DBA's continue to use Profiler and SQL Trace even though they have been deprecated for years.  Why is this?

Extended Events started out in SQL Server 2008 with no user interface and only a few voices in the community documenting the features as they found them.  Since then it has blossomed into a full feature of SQL Server and an amazingly low-impact replacement for Profiler and Trace.

Come learn how to get started - the basics of sessions, events, actions, targets, packages, and more.  We will look at some base scenarios where Extended Events can be very useful as well as considering a few gotchas along the way.  You may never go back to Profiler again!

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The event is October 7th at St Paul College, and is *free* (with an optional $15 lunch).

I have spoken at numerous SQL Saturdays over the last few years and can definitely say the crew in Minnesota does a great job assembling a schedule and taking care of the attendees (and speakers!)

There is also a great slate of full day pre-conference sessions on Friday the 6th:

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The Complete Primer to SQL Server Infrastructure and Cloud
David Klee
Level: Intermediate
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Powering Up with Power BI
Brian Larson, John Thompson...
Level: Beginner
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DBA Fundamentals - give yourself a solid SQL foundation!
Kevin Hill
Level: Beginner
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Azure Data Services Hands On Lab
Matt Stenzel
Level: Intermediate

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The pre-cons cost $110 which makes them a great value for a full day of training from some great SQL Server professionals!

Hope to see you there!

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Upcoming SQL Saturdays - June 2016

I am speaking at two different SQL Saturdays in June!

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First up on June 4th is SQL Saturday #517 Philadelphia (#SQLSAT517) - I am speaking at 2:45pm on "Getting Started with Extended Events."  This is quickly becoming my favorite of the talks that I give because I learn something new every time I present it:

Few subjects in Microsoft SQL Server inspire the same amount of Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt (FUD) as Extended Events.  Many DBA's continue to use Profiler and SQL Trace even though they have been deprecated for years.  Why is this? 

Extended Events started out in SQL Server 2008 with no user interface and only a few voices in the community documenting the features as they found them.  Since then it has blossomed into a full feature of SQL Server and an amazingly low-impact replacement for Profiler and Trace. 

Come learn how to get started - the basics of sessions, events, actions, targets, packages, and more.  We will look at some base scenarios where Extended Events can be very useful as well as considering a few gotchas along the way.  You may never go back to Profiler again!

Register for SQL Saturday Philadelphia now (before it goes to wait-list!) at https://www.sqlsaturday.com/517/registernow.aspx!

I am also excited about this event because I will be attending Karen Lopez's (blog/@Datachick) Friday pre-con "Model-Driven Database Development: Physical to Implementation" - Karen is a very engaging and entertaining speaker who really knows her stuff.  There are still tickets available at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/model-driven-database-development-physical-to-implementation-karen-lopez-tickets-24628652964! 

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The following Saturday June 11th is SQL Saturday #523 - Iowa City (#SQLSatIowa) - I am up at 10am with "Does it Hurt When I Do This? Performing a SQL Server Health Check":

How often do you review your SQL Servers for basic security, maintenance, and performance issues?  Many of the servers I "inherit" as a managed services provider have quite a few gaping holes. It is not unusual to find databases that are never backed up, servers with constant login failures (is it an attack or a bad connection string?), and servers that need more RAM/CPU/etc. (or sometimes that even have too much!)  

Come learn how to use freely available tools from multiple layers of the SQL Server stack to check your servers for basic issues like missing backups and CheckDB as well as for more advanced issues like page life expectancy problems and improper indexing. If you are responsible in any way for a Microsoft SQL Server (DBA, Windows Admin, even a Developer) you will see value in this session!

This talk covers a wide array of tools to check out your servers, including the awesome DMV scripts from Glenn Berry (blog/@GlennAlanBerry) of SQLskills.

Register for SQL Saturday Iowa City now at https://www.sqlsaturday.com/523/registernow.aspx!

I am not headed to any pre-cons in Iowa City but there is an impressive line-up from many top speakers including my buddy David Klee (blog/@kleegeek) - he is covering "SQL Server Infrastructure Tuning for Availability and Performance" - tickets for his (and the other) pre-cons are available at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/sqlsaturday-iowa-city-2016-pre-conference-sessions-registration-24792389705?ref=ebtn

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I have written multiple times about how amazing SQL Saturdays are as both training and networking opportunities.  If you are in the area either of these weekends come see me and check it out!

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Hope this helps!

Why I Love #SQLSaturday

PASS SQLSaturdays are free 1-day training events for SQL Server professionals that focus on local speakers, providing a variety of high-quality technical sessions, and making it all happen through the efforts of volunteers. Whether you're attending a SQLSaturday or thinking about hosting your own, we think you'll find it's a great way to spend a Saturday – or any day. - sqlsaturday.com

Sounds simple, doesn't it?  Here are the top three reasons I *LOVE* SQLSaturdays:

The opportunity to learn - the quality and quantity of free training available at a SQLSaturday never ceases to amaze me.  Most SQLSaturdays have anywhere from three to six tracks, resulting in 15-30 sessions on everything from database administration to business intelligence to professional development and everything in between.  Sessions range from 100-level introductory up through 400-level expert.

 

If you want to pay $100-$150, most SQLSaturdays offer full-day "pre-conference" sessions on the Friday before the event (and sometimes even the Thursday before as well). While it isn't free, there aren't very many places to get a full day of high end training for a hundred bucks!

Another aspect of this is *who* provides the training.  I regularly see sessions from Microsoft Certified Masters (MCM's) and Most Valuable Professionals (MVP's) as well as amazing content from first-timers dipping their toes in the pond.  At a recent SQL Saturday (in Boston) I saw an MCM present a great talk on working with virtualized SQL, one MVP speak on working with your infrastructure team, and another MVP talk about the Query Store, an upcoming feature from the unreleased next version of SQL Server.  Having said that, one of the best SQLSaturday sessions I have ever seen came a couple years ago from a first-time speaker excitedly presenting a new way she had devised to analyze trace data. 

All of these speakers share their expertise without pay or reward (other than usually a nice dinner the night before).

The opportunity to share - another fun part of SQLSaturday for me is being one of those speakers sharing what I know for free.  I have written before about the benefits of blogging and speaking, and they are many.  The biggest benefit to me personally (not counting the joy of helping others) is how creating a presentation helps force me to learn a new topic or a better way to do something I already do.

The presentation I used to give all the time was about doing health checks using Glenn Berry's DMV scripts, Ola Hallengren's maintenance solution, and how to make them work together to check client servers.  The presentation I frequently give now is about Extended Events (XEvents) - I told myself about a year ago I needed to learn more about XEvents and Powershell, and I knew (for me) creating presentations would help.  I submitted an Intro to Extended Events 100-level session to a couple of SQLSaturdays, and when it was chosen I was suddenly very motivated to learn more about the topic to produce the content!

The first presentation - the health check talk - highlights an aspect of how I work with SQL Server, and it is shared by many others.  The are lots of free tools and shared knowledge out there about SQL Server, and you don't need to recreate the wheel nine times out of ten - a little Google-Fu or #sqlhelp will usually give you an answer or at least give you raw material you can mold into an answer.  Just because you are working with someone else's raw material does not mean you can't write or speak about the situation - just make 100% sure you give credit (and notation) whenever it is due.  If you read my blog or see me speak with any regularity you will see that a lot if what I write about is *how* I use someone else's scripts, whether modified or "straight from the box," as opposed to creating completely new scripts, but I also reference those authors' blog posts, forum answers, and Twitter feeds.

You don't have to create a completely new way to do something for it to be useful to share!

The opportunity to network - I list this third, but it can often be the most important. While it can be very useful to interact with the #sqlfamily online, there is no substitute for being able to sit down across the table from an expert on a topic you need help with and getting hundreds of dollars worth of free consulting while forming friendships that continue on after the event ends. There is nothing like the #sqlfamily, and it is fun to watch people from other areas as their eyes open wide. I have seen an Oracle DBA visit a SQLSaturday and watched their jaw hit the floor when they heard a speaker sharing their expert knowledge for free; I have had a manager ask me "How did you get the answer so fast?" and reply "I got on Twitter and asked the person who wrote the feature and he told me"; I have watched people who have never met in person raise thousands of dollars for charitable causes suggested by #sqlfamily members.

Another way to get involved and network is to volunteer at a SQLSaturday. I mentioned the speakers are volunteers, but so ate all of the others involved - coordinators, room monitors, check-in staff, and the rest.

This networking is invaluable to your career in other ways - two of my last three jobs came from a member of the #sqlfamily notifying me directly of an opening or making a key introduction to help me start the process.

SQLSaturdays are awesome!!!

Another Source of Knowledge

It started with a tweet from one the many members of the #sqlfamily who always has something meaningful to say, Jes Borland (blog/@grrl_geek):

The referenced link is http://www.ted.com/talks/celeste_headlee_10_ways_to_have_a_better_conversation.

I followed Jes's advice, paused the other items I was working on, and watched the talk.  It was a nice tight eleven minutes on how to be present in the moment, paying attention to those around you and interacting with them in a more meaningful way.

I was not formerly familiar with the speaker Celeste Headlee (blog/@CelesteHeadlee), a public radio talk host, but after listening to her talk I could definitely listen to her again - she spoke very clearly and made her points without much fluff.

I'm sure some people will tune out right there, thinking they would never agree with a public radio host or her agenda - my take has always been that it is worth giving any speaker at least two chances.  If I have listened to you speak/present/etc. twice (anyone can have a bad day) and both times you have failed to hold my interest (on topics in which I am interested) I will discount then you as a speaker - at least as a speaker I would be interested in listening to.

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While I enjoyed this particular talk, it reminded me of something I used to really enjoy doing and have all but stopped over the last couple years.

I tripped over TED talks online five or six years ago, back when I still worked in an on-site office.  I don't remember how - probably from Twitter or Facebook - but I discovered this wide array of free recordings that I could listen to on my breaks or when I had a free few minutes.  As a full-time work-from-home these last few years I have not handled my workday in the same way (I eat lunch with my family now for example) and have not watched talks in the same way I used to.

TED is a nonprofit organization that puts on a series of conferences on Technology, Entertainment, and Design.  The talks given at the conferences are by practice 18 minutes or less (although some do run longer), with many talks being around ten minutes long.

The conferences themselves aren't cheap (and as such I have never been in person) - TED2017 in Vancouver next year has a registration cost of US$8500 - but the real treasure trove are the talks themselves, posted online for free on TED's website (and often on YouTube) after a reasonable time has passed.

TED talks are given by an amazing array of speakers from all different backgrounds, from industry leaders like Bill Gates and Richard Branson to intellectuals like Sir Ken Robinson and Dan Gilbert to entertainers like Apollo Robbins and Ze Frank.

You can search the talks by topic or speaker or length, or you can watch one of the curated playlists of talks to see talks related to one another on a given subject.

A sidebar to the TED conferences and talks is TEDx, TEDx is an offshoot of the parent conference where local staff organize an event that is a combination of TED-style talks from local/regional speakers and airings of national TED talks.  The best comparison I can make for SQL Server is to think of TEDx as TED's SQL Saturday - not entirely accurate but close.  TEDx talks are also available for viewing for free at ted.com.

Another benefit of a resource like this is to a speaker (or a potential speaker, which is about everyone).  You can learn a lot about speaking to an audience from simply watching other people present, and these talks are great examples.

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At the end of the day, you probably won't learn anything directly about SQL Server from seeking out things like TED talks, but you will learn a lot about the world around you, and remember Knowledge is Power!

http://cdn.thedailybeast.com/content/dailybeast/articles/2014/09/06/schoolhouse-rock-a-trojan-horse-of-knowledge-and-power/jcr:content/body/inlineimage.img.800.jpg/47000010.cached.jpg

(Whoa...flashback...)

Hope this helps!

POSTPONED to 02/11 - Speaking at the Omaha SQL Server User Group *Tomorrow* Night!

UPDATE - due to weather conditions today (snow this AM and sub-zero cold tonight) we are postponed to next Wednesday 02/11 still at Farm Credit - I will be giving this same talk and we hope to see you there!

Please RSVP at this new link: http://omahamtg.com/Events.aspx?ID=268

Thanks!

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I will be giving my talk on "Performing a SQL Server Health Check" tomorrow night at our local SQL User Group.  We will be at Farm Credit Services of America at 6pm.  You can RSVP at this link:

http://www.omahasql.com/2015/01/28/omaha-ssug-february-2015-performing-a-sql-server-health-check/

Hope to see you there!

Speaking at #SQLSat307 in Iowa City!

I just received confirmation I will be speaking at SQL Saturday 307 in Iowa City on June 7th!

 

I will be giving an updated version of my Ola Hallengren Maintenance Solution talk that I have given at a few previous SQL Saturdays, re-titled "Are You Maintaining Your SQL Servers?"

Are you performing all of the regular maintenance you should on your servers?
 
Do you not run CHECKDB because "it takes too long"?  How about Index Maintenance - does that take too long?
 
Do you really have the appropriate backups in place?
 
Do you have benchmark numbers in place to compare when your server is "slow
 
Come discuss the answers to these and other questions - we will discuss the free Maintenance Solution scripted tools from Ola Hallengren and how they can help you fix these and other problems with a little easy coding you can do yourself.  We will also discuss other tips and tricks to help you maintain and troubleshoot your SQL Server instances.

SQL Saturdays are awesome training and networking experiences - the full schedule hasn't yet been published but there were multiple Microsoft MVP's on the submissions list.  For only a $10 lunch fee you can spend the day learning about SQL Server and networking with your peers.

Register now and I hope to see you there!

New Page - "How to Get Involved With the SQL Server Community"

I recently composed an email (on the side) for a client DBA looking for info on getting involved with the community, looking for training, etc - and now I have turned it into a web page here on my blog - please check it out and please let me know anything I should add or fix - I want this to be as accurate and helpful as possible - thanks!

http://nebraskasql.blogspot.com/p/how-to-get-started-with-sql-server.html

Come See Us at SQL Saturday #165 in Lincoln!

I will be speaking with several of my House of Brick Technologies colleagues at SQL Saturday #165 in Lincoln in a couple weeks (October 6th):

I am giving my solo presentation on the Ola Hallengren Maintenance Solution and also co-presenting "Virtualizing Business Critical SQL Servers" with our SQL Server Solutions Architect David Klee (blog/@kleegeek). The Virtualizing talk is a how-to session as well as a tips-and-tricks session on this very popular topic - everybody virtualizes their DEV and TEST, but what about when you need to virtualize your Tier-1 OLTP app?  Come find out!

 Klee is also presenting his talk on "Database Health and Performance" which covers lots of metrics and settings that we use when we check SQL Server environments and what we recommend to our clients. You know you need to see it!

Another colleague Dave Pettengill is giving a pair of solo talks - "A Database Perspective" is a generalist view of databases and DBA's drawn from his seasoned career in IT, and "Heart to Heart with Business Users" cracks the code of how to talk to your non-technical end users without making their eyes glaze over with geek-speak.  Check them out!

Other than us there are multiple amazing speakers - SQL Server MVP's Kevin Kline (blog/@kekline), Chris Shaw (blog/@sqlshaw), Bill Pearson (@Bill_Pearson), and Phil Brammer (blog/@PhilBrammer) are going to be here, as well as noted regional speakers Bill Fellows (blog/@billinkc) and John Morehouse (blog/@sqlrus), and our local Microsoft SQL Server Technologist Sudhir Gajre (@SudhirGajre) and many more - come on out for a great day!

Oh by the way, did I say REGISTER NOW! See you there!

SQL Saturday 154 Rocked - Great Job St. Louis!

This last Saturday (09/15/2012) I traveled to St. Louis to present at #sqlsat154.  My colleague David Klee (blog/@kleegeek) and I each had one session chosen to present - he spoke on Database Health and Performance and I spoke on the Ola Hallengren Maintenance Solution.  This is the first SQL Saturday I have been to with Klee where we haven't given our marquee "Virtualizing Business Critical SQL Servers" presentation, but we were still looking forward to the event.

 Unfortunately my travel was pinched on both sides of the trip so I missed the Friday night speaker dinner and I had to leave early before the last session of the day Saturday (also missing the after-party) but the SQL Saturday I saw was great, especially considering this was the first ever SQL Saturday in St. Louis and it was organized by a team without any SQL Saturday experience anywhere else - they nailed it!

First, they used the SpeedPASS, which is cool because it is a single stop to print off your admission ticket, name badge, lunch ticket, and vendor raffle tickets all at once.  Definitely something every SQL Saturday should be doing if they already aren't.



Second, they created a Guidebook for the event which gave the speakers and attendees an easy way to pull all of the event information (schedule, local map, etc.) onto our smart phones - again something every SQL Saturday should be doing (and maybe they already are.)

The conference hotel was the Crowne Plaza Clayton, just a couple blocks from the event.  It was a classy older hotel with wood floors in the guest rooms and a very nice complementary breakfast.

It was a beautiful Saturday and we walked to the venue, the  Center for Application of Information Technology (CAIT) at Washington University St. Louis.  It was a nice venue with decent-sized classrooms and the best part was that all of the classrooms were very near each other so there wasn't lots of roaming through the building looking for your room.  The only exception was the room I in which I presented, which was up one flight of stairs from the others, but that room was directly adjacent to the opening registration area so even it was still easy to find.

Klee had the first session of the day and the room was overflowing with about a dozen people standing or bringing in extra chairs in the back of the room. 




Klee presents a firehose of information in this session and even though I tech reviewed his slides it is still all I could do to keep up as we flew through the data.  He had lots of good questions from people on his performance metrics and how they applied to physical servers versus virtual servers and vice-versa.  Afterwards several people approached us for follow-up, which was great!

The second session of the day for us was "PWNED! Security, SQL Server, and You!" by Arie Jones (blog/@programmersedge).  This session was informative and more than little scary as Arie discussed the fact that most of the malware loose in the world is based on freely available tools - tools that both the good guys and bad guys use to do battle on a daily basis.  The session was about more than just SQL Server, describing tools that can exploit networks, operating systems, and more. He described how he recently checked a hotel he was staying in and could have had widespread access using those relatively simple tools.  Like I said - scary stuff.

 The next session (the last before lunch) was "Cubicle to Consulting" by Scott Shaw (blog/@shawsql).  As I have spent 10+ years as a cubicle employee and only 11 *months* as a consultant I was interested to hear Scott's take on the topic.  I also was interested in meeting Scott as I have talked to him online but never met him in-person.  Scott had a very even-handed approach, describing the pluses and minuses of each situation and comparing each of them to being a contractor, which he described as being a combination of the two.  Very informative non-technical content.

We did have a great moment of comedy in this session when Scott described how he is often confused with @sqlshaw (SQL Server MVP Chris Shaw) and promptly two people in the room started tweeting about Chris (@sqlshaw) rather than Scott (@shawsql) and it drew a somewhat confused response from Chris since he wasn't even at the event in St. Louis. {-:

Lunch was prepacked sandwiches from Amighetti's.  The sandwiches had too much mayo on them for me (I'm picky that way) but I heard lots of positive comments from the other attendees.  Lunch also brought us sponsor presentations, so we learned about Scott Shaw's employer Oakwood - a BI and infrastructure consultancy based out of St. Louis.

I was up for the first session after lunch with my presentation on how to "Maintain Your DBs with Help from Ola Hallengren." 

 I added some demos to the presentation this time around and it added some needed detail (and length) to the presentation and overall it went very well.  Similar to Kansas City I had several people in the room who were already using Ola's MaintenanceSolution.sql and just wanted to find out whether they were already doing what I was pitching, and I had several others who had never heard of it before (or had heard of it and never investigated it) and based on the questions and comments I believe I had some converts. {-:   My slides are available at the SQL Saturday #154 site on my presentation page here.  Similar to Klee's session, after my session we had some great follow-up questions and distributed some business cards.

As I mentioned above I had to skip out before the last session of the day to catch my flight (I missed out on Brian Flynn's (@brianpaulflynn) session on "Pivoting Performance Data & Pinpointing Problems" - maybe next time Brian!) but overall I was very impressed with Sanil Mhatre (blog/@sqlsuperguru) and the SQL Saturday 154 team and their efforts and I am definitely looking forward to the next SQL Saturday St. Louis!


As I have previously stated, the SQL Saturday phenomenon has exploded in the last couple of years and if there isn't one near you, contact Karla Landrum (blog/@KarlaKay22) and PASS and they will help you set one up - it is definitely worth it!