I got to admit, this SQL Saturday was a power packed lineup with some really good talented speakers. Due to other speaking obligations I was unable to submit a session or attend the full day, but the first half of the day did not disappoint. The venue at Indiana Wesleyan was fantastic and my hats off to all the speakers and volunteers.

I was able to attend 2 and a half sessions (yes you read that right as I wasn’t able to stay for the full time for the last session). I didn’t realize it then but looking back was glad to see that the sessions in which I did attend were my fellow Friends Of Red Gate colleagues.

Session 1: The day started off early with a session on Changing Your Habits To Improve Performance of Your T-SQL  by Mickey Stuewe ( B | T ). The session was a smooth session that captured the audience both with intelligence and structure. Several good points on how to improve SQL queries, formatting, and cursors. It was even nice to see an attendee ask what formatting tool was being used; which the reply was SQL Prompt.

Not long into it one of my fab five walked into the room Mr. Steve Jones ( B | T ) himself. It was an honor to meet him and have him give a session here in Louisville even though I could not be in attendance for it. He was one of the most down to earth people I’ve met in the SQL Community thus far.

Session 2: Next up on the list was a speaker I’ve been wanting to hear for awhile ~ Wayne Sheffield ( B | T). His session was titled Table Vars & Temp Tables – WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW!  This session was not for the faint of heart as we dove into a fair good amount of technical data surrounding myths and the like. A very interactive session that provided some great insight into the internals of the structures found in tempdb etc. For those who have not heard Wayne speak on this session I urge you to download the session and go through it at your leisure; there is a treasure trove of goodness to be found.

Session 3: Last up on my list prior to my departure for my own speaking engagement was none other than the Scary DBA himself Grant Fritchey (  B | T ). His reputation proceeds him, but I found it awesome that when I walked in that he was doing burpees (which is a form of Crossfit training). His session was one I wanted to stay for Best Practices for Database Deployment. Grant is one of the coolest speakers I’ve been able to hear in a while; not sure if it is because I can relate the DBA portion or what but the first half was spot on with structure of DBAs, developers, releases and finding the middle ground. At the end of the day we all want to end up at the same goal and working together not against each other is key.

I hated to miss Steve Jones,  Ed Watson ( B | T), and Jason Brimhall’s ( B | T) afternoon sessions but glad they are able to be downloaded here. (please check the schedule tab; downloads will be found there)

I’m glad I was able to meet a lot of new faces and interact with some fresh talent coming up. The community is alive and well guys; groups like what was experienced today in Louisville shows the eagerness of people wanting to learn. Taking their own time out of their own days; thankful for families who support us in our SQL endeavors. I can’t wait for next year to submit some session(s).

None of today would have been possible if it wasn’t for Malathi Mahadevan ( B | T). My hats off to you for your continued effort year in and  year out.

Until the next time……