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DBA

Early December 2010 Free Training From PASS VCs

  • pass_logoUnderstanding Join Operators
  • How to Use Dynamic Management Views to Monitor and Diagnose Performance Issues With High Volume OLTP Workloads
  • Using OLAP to Optimize and Maintain Predictive Analytics Models


Understanding Join Operators
December 7, 2010 12 PM noon Eastern Time (GMT -5)
Ami Levin

SQL Server implements three different physical operators to perform joins. In this session, we will examine how each of these operators works, including its advantages and challenges. Using real life examples, we will better understand the logic behind the optimizer’s decisions on which operator to use for various joins. Finally, we will learn how to avoid some common join related pitfalls and how to get better performance from our queries.

Ami Levin
Ami is a Microsoft SQL Server MVP, with over 20 years of experience in the IT industry. For the past 12 years, he has been consulting, teaching and speaking on SQL Server worldwide. He manages the Israeli SQL Server user group, leads the local support forum, and is a regular speaker at Microsoft conferences. Ami is the CTO and co-founder of DBSophic, a company that develops workload tuning solutions for SQL Server applications.

How do I attend?  Live Meeting link


Dr. DMV: How to Use Dynamic Management Views to Monitor and Diagnose Performance Issues With High Volume OLTP Workloads
December 8, 2010 12 PM noon Mountain Time (GMT -7)
Glenn Berry

SQL Server 2005 introduced Dynamic Management Views (DMVs) that allow you to see exactly what is happening inside your SQL Server instances and databases with much more detail than ever before. SQL Server 2008 R2 adds even more capability in this area. You can discover your top wait types, most CPU intensive stored procedures, find missing indexes, and identify unused indexes, to name just a few examples. This session (which is applicable to both 2005, 2008 and 2008 R2), presents and explains over thirty DMV queries that you can quickly and easily use to detect and diagnose performance issues in your environment.

Glenn Berry

Glenn works as a Database Architect at NewsGator Technologies in Denver, CO. He is a SQL Server MVP, and he has a whole collection of Microsoft certifications, including MCITP, MCDBA, MCSE, MCSD, MCAD, and MCTS, which proves that he likes to take tests. His expertise includes DMVs, high availability, full text search, and SQL Azure.

How do I attend?  Live Meeting link


Using OLAP to Optimize and Maintain Predictive Analytics Models
December 10, 2010 12 PM noon Eastern Time (GMT -5)
Eugene Asahara

In complex Predictive Analytics (PA) scenarios where it is being applied to a complex system or the players involved are actually trying to undermine the predictions (ex: credit card fraud), the sophistication of the PA must be taken up a notch or two. In this Webcast I will describe techniques for building sophisticated PA systems on the Microsoft BI Stack by using OLAP to:
• Analyze, validate, and optimize PA models.
• Manage and Monitor the performance of the PA models in a Performance Management style.
• Surface PA results to end users in a manner that allows them to work through the ambiguity that remains around predictions.

Eugene Asahara
Eugene specializes in high-end Analysis Services implementation and performance tuning, predictive analytics, and overall BI architecture. He has thirteen years of experience on the Microsoft BI stack; including one year on the SSAS product team and seven years as a Lead DB/BI Architect at Microsoft Consulting Services. Aside from consulting on BI engagements by day Eugene develops bleeding-edge BI software by night. Many of his thoughts around BI and that bleeding-edge space can be found at www.softcodedlogic.com.

How do I attend?  Live Meeting link

End of October Free Training from PASS Virtual Chapters

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Applied MDX
Refactoring SQL Applications
Implementing SQL Server in a utility model
WIT Monthly Conference-Call
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Applied MDX
Monday October 25th 12 pm EDT (GMT-4)
Kevin Geoff

Learning the basics of MDX is one thing – learning how to incorporate MDX into custom OLAP applications is another.  In this presentation, I’ll show several examples of MDX inside SSRS reports, PerformancePoint Services dashboards, and even inside of Excel.   We’ll also look at using MDX inside of OLAP calculated members and data-driven KPIs.  The attendee will come away with different perspectives on how MDX is necessary to create flexible OLAP reporting.

Kevin Geoff
Kevin is a 2010 SQL Server MVP ,2005-2008 .NET/C# MVP ,SQL Server/Business Intelligence senior instructor and courseware author – SetFocus, LLC ,Columnist for CoDe Magazine (Baker’s Dozen Productivity Series), and a Developer/consultant in the industry since 1987

How do I attend? Live Meeting link

_____________________________________________________________Refactoring Refactoring SQL Applications
Tuesday October 26th 12 pm EDT (GMT-4)
Jeremiah Peschka

Refactoring SQL is not like refactoring application code. This talk will demonstrate proven SQL refactoring techniques that will help you identify where performance gains can be made, apply quick fixes, improve readability, and help you quickly locate places to make sweeping performance improvements. Jeremiah Peschka has years of hands on experience tuning SQL applications for performance, throughput, and concurrency.

Jeremiah Peschka
Jeremiah is an Emerging Technology Expert with Quest Software. Jeremiah works with different software to identify new techniques and trends in the world of data storage. Over the course of his career, Jeremiah has worked as a system administrator, developer, and DBA. Previously, Jeremiah spent 2 years at Cass Information Systems, a utility billing provider.

Jeremiah is involved in the Professional Association for SQL Server. When he is not volunteering with the development community, Jeremiah can be found blogging about data storage, relational databases, and software development at http://facility9.com. He can also be found on Twitter as @peschkaj.

How do I attend? Live Meeting link

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Implementing SQL Server in a utility model
Wednesday October 27th 12 pm EDT (GMT-4)
Jason Massie

A SQL Server as a Service(SQLaaS) in a utility computing model can be a robust platform providing self service provisioning, better utilization of hardware and power, lower administrative overhead and chargeback capabilities. It can allow your internal and external customers to forget about the database and focus on developing and deploying apps that add value to your core business. In this session, we will cover key benefits of offering the DB in a utility computing model which could be part of your larger SOA strategy. Next, we will look at some key considerations from the DBA and IT decision maker’s perspective that will drive the infrastructure design. Several different architectures will be discussed along with their business driven considerations. We will look at SQL Server 2008 r2 features that are well suited for a utility model as well as SQL Server vNext and 3rd party tools. Lastly, we will look at areas that may require custom development to meet your specific needs.

Jason Massie
Jason has 10 years experience as a DBA and currently manages the Oracle and SQL Server DBA teams for Terremark. He is a SQL Server MVP. Jason has spoken at the Professional Association of SQL Server Conference, the North Texas SQL Server Users Group, SQL Connections and TechED. You can read more about him at http://jasonmassie.com and contact him at jmassie at terremark.com

How do I attend? Live Meeting link

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Women In Technology Conference Call
Wednesday October 27th 3pm CDT/1pm PDT (GMT-5/GMT-7)

Please email Wendy Pastrick ( email | twitter ) for dial in information

  • This will be our final call before the PASS Summit.
  • Final planning for our PASS presence: Welcome Reception,  WIT Luncheon, Chapter Lunch
  • Discussion about roles in the chapter
  • At the end of the meeting, we offer Open Mic time for people to share news or ask open ended questions

Early October Free Training from PASS VCs

pass_logoEnsure Business Continuity with SQL Server, Windows Server 2008 R2 and Hyper-V Live Migration
Maps Integration into Reporting Services
Use PowerShell to Get the Most out of SQL Server
Women in Technology discussion at SQL Saturday #49
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Ensure Business Continuity with SQL Server, Windows Server 2008 R2 and Hyper-V Live Migration
October 12th 12:00 PM EDT (GMT -4)

Presenter: Ross Mistry

See ways to reduce deployment time and adapt to changes in hardware utilization or capacity requirements quickly, with minimal downtime, using SQL Server and Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V Live Migration. The session will also focus on SQL Server Virtualization alternatives, high availability strategies within a virtualized environment and a real life demonstration of moving a SQL Server Virtual Machine from one physical host to another with Live Migration. Finally, the session will also include case studies based on designs at the Microsoft Technology Center.

Ross Mistry

Ross Mistry is an Enterprise Architect at Microsoft, bestselling author and a former SQL Server MVP. Ross focuses on designing and implementing SQL Server solutions for Microsoft’s largest customers at the Microsoft Technology Center in Silicon Valley. Ross is a frequent speaker at SQL Server community events such as SQL PASS, SQL Europe PASS, Connections and SQL Bits. His recent books include; Introducing SQL Server 2008 R2 (MSPress), Windows Server 2008 R2 Unleashed (SAMS) and SQL Server 2008 Management and Administration (SAMS). You can follow him on twitter @RossMistry.

How do I view the presentation?
Attendee URL:  Live Meeting link

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Maps Integration into Reporting Services
October 12th 12:00 PM EDT (GMT -4)
Presenter: Matt Smith

The purpose of this presentation is to display the functionality of Bing maps integration into SSRS on SQL 2008 R2. Topics include how to use geospatial data, create map layers, and drill through actions to enhance usability of reporting.

Matt Smith

A Technology professional with over 5 years experience in various areas of software from database development and architecture to application development . Primary focus is on Business Intelligence. Industries include automotive, finance, healthcare, hospitality, education and real estate.  Matt takes pride in thinking outside the box, building customer relationships, and his liaison abilities between the technical and business worlds. Personal interests include anything sports or outdoor related, photography, salt water aquariums, and family.

How do I view the presentation?
Attendee URL: Live Meeting Link
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Use PowerShell to Get the Most out of SQL Server
October 13th 12:00 PM MDT (GMT -6)
Presenter: Allen White

PowerShell is the new scripting environment from Microsoft for managing server environments.  Because PowerShell supports the .Net Framework, accessing SQL Server in a scripting environment is easier than ever before.  Whether you need to access data or manage SQL Server, PowerShell makes it possible.  This session will give an introduction to PowerShell, explain the basic ADO.Net objects required to connect with SQL Server, and demonstrate accessing SQL Server from PowerShell scripts, both from a data and a management perspective.

Allen White

Allen is a consultant and mentor for Upsearch Technology Services in Northeast Ohio. He’s spent over 35 years in IT and has been using SQL Server since 1992 and is certified MCITP in SQL Server and MCT.  Allen has been awarded Microsoft’s MVP Award for the last four years. He’s active in the Ohio North SQL Server User’s Group and contributes in the MSDN Forums, answering questions about SMO and PowerShell, and maintains a blog at sqlbolg.com

How do I view the presentation?
Attendee URL: Live Meeting Link
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Women in Technology discussion at SQL Saturday #49
October 16th 4:00 PM EDT (GMT -4)
Presenter: Kathi Kellenberger

This is a general round table discussion about women in technology. This presentation is open to men as well.

Kathi Kellenberger

Kathi, former SQL Server MVP, is a Data Technology Specialist with Microsoft in St. Louis. She is author of “Beginning T-SQL 2008″ (Apress) and co-author of “Professional SQL Server 2005 Integration Services” (Wrox) and “SQL Server MVP Deep Dives” (Manning) as well as over two dozen technical articles. Before joining Microsoft, Kathi was a DBA for Bryan Cave LLP, an international law firm. She has involved with the PASS community for several years, winning the PASSion award in 2008.

How do I view the presentation?
Sign up to attend SQL Saturday #49

Late September Free Training from PASS VCs

pass_logoThe DBA and Virtualization Virtual Chapters hope that last weeks 24 Hours of PASS got you in the mood for more free training.  Here’s what they have on tap for you this week:
Top 10 SQL Server Mistakes and Mis-steps
Storage and Virtualization for the DBA

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Top 10 SQL Server Mistakes and Mis-steps
September 22nd 12:00 PM EDT (GMT -4)

Presenter: Tim Ford

From Tim Ford’s (@SQLAgentMan’s) continuing blog series on the same topic comes a presentation in which we’ll go over common mistakes made by new and seasoned SQL Server Professionals alike. Learn how to avoid these issues before they happen and correct matters after you’ve seen them in your environments.

Tim Ford
Tim is a Microsoft SQL Server MVP and SQL Server Professional with Next Wave Logistics, has been working with SQL Server since 1999. He is also an author of SQL-centric articles for MSSQLTips.com, SQLServerCentral, and Simple-Talk.com and just completed a book on the topic of SQL Server DMVs with Louis Davidson. He is the host for the annual Quizbowl at the PASS Summit each Fall. 

Live Meeting Link:
https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/usergroups/join?id=5B3JGF&role=attend

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Storage and Virtualization for the DBA
September 23rd 12:00 PM EDT (GMT -7)

Presenter: Denny Cherry

This is a preview of Denny’s full day PASS Summit pre-conference session in which Denny disccusses how storage can be one of the biggest bottlenecks when it comes to database perfomance and how to troubleshoot storage performance issues and tie the virtual platforms to the storage array so that you can maximize the storage performance for your SQL Servers and the virtual environment.

Denny Cherry
Denny has over a decade of experience managing SQL Server, including MySpace.com’s over 175 million user installation, one of the largest in the world.  Denny’s areas of technical expertise include system architecture, performance tuning, replication and troubleshooting.  Denny currently holds several Microsoft Certifications related to SQL Server as well as being a Microsoft MVP.  Denny is a longtime member of PASS and Quest Software’s Association of SQL Server Experts and has written numerous technical articles on SQL Server management.

Live Meeting Link:
https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/usergroups/join?id=J8RZQ8&role=attend&pw=RFxB5D%2FsM

Early September Free Training from PASS VCs

pass_logoIntroduction to SQL Server Statistics
Designing High Performance I/O for SQL Server
Data Mining with PowerPivot 2010
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Introduction to SQL Server Statistics
September 7th 12:00 PM EDT (GMT -4)

Presenter: Andy Warren

This beginner to intermediate level session will introduce you to statistics, including how to create, manage, troubleshoot, and more! Statistics are a key part of getting solid and repeatable performance and is easily just as important as having indexes. Whether you’re a DBA or trying to get by without one, this session will give you the information you need to know.

Andy Warren

Andy Warren is a SQL trainer focusing on basic administration and performance tuning, he runs the free SQLShare.com training site, is currently a SQL Server MVP, blogs daily at SQLAndy.com, started the SQLSaturday franchise, is co-President of the Orlando SQL Server Users Group, serves as a member of the Board of Directors of PASS, and was a founding partner in SQLServerCentral.com. In his remaining free time he’s working on a book for first time managers.

Live Meeting Link: https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/usergroups/join?id=2CHB5C&role=attend&pw=W%5Dw5%22K45B

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Designing High Performance I/O for SQL Server
September 8th 12:00 PM EDT (GMT -6)
Presenter: Jimmy May

This session attempts to describe the “full story” of SQL Server I/O.  We will start at the hardware level working our way up the stack through Windows and into the SQL Server storage engine.  I aim to provide in depth information about all aspects related to the fundamentals of high performance storage design for SQL Server and best practices on this complex subject.

Jimmy May

Jimmy is a Sr. Program Manager for the SQL Server Customer Advisory Team.  He is the manager of the SQL Server Customer Lab where customers from around the world bring the biggest, fastest, & most interesting SQL Server apps for tuning.  He is a founder of both the Indiana Windows User Group (http://www.iwug.net) and Indianapolis Professional Association for SQL Server (http://www.indypass.org).  Jimmy recently moved to Redmond from Indianapolis, Indiana with his lovely bride, Phyllis, and Fannie May the Wonder Dog.  Subscribe to and read his SQL Server performance and personal productivity blog at http://blogs.msdn.com/jimmymay.  Contact him at jimmymay@microsoft.com or aspiringgeek@live.com.  Jimmy is also part of the rich & robust SQL Server community on Twitter:  www.twitter.com/aspiringgeek.

Live Meeting Link: https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/8000181573/join?id=S29G25&role=attend
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Data Mining with PowerPivot 2010
September 8th 12:00 PM EDT (GMT -4)
Presenter: Mark Tabladillo

Excel provides a compelling and ubiquitous interface for Microsoft Data Mining. With new features available through PowerPivot, business users can apply the technology through a well-designed infrastructure of Microsoft technologies. This presentation will welcome any newcomers to data mining, and provide interactive demos which highlight data mining through these technologies.

Mark Tabladillo

Mark provides consulting and training for data mining with Solid Quality Mentors. He has taught statistics at Georgia Tech and for the graduate business school of the University of Phoenix. In addition to his Microsoft certifications (MCAD .NET and MCT), Mark has years of deep experience with the SAS System, and has presented at many local, regional, and national technical conferences.  Mark produces a data mining resource and blog at http://www.marktab.net

Live Meeting Link: https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/usergroups/join?id=2J4ZPD&role=attend&pw=8QN%40qdzgQ

Late August 2010 PASS VC Presentations

pass_logoWriting a better Where Clause
SQL Storage for Performance: Best Practices
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Writing a better Where Clause
August 24th 8:00 AM EDT (GMT -4)

Presenter: Scott Gleason

This session will cover the basics of writing optimized query’s with focus on the ‘where clause’ and ‘having clause’ of a select statement. If you have never attended a query performance session before, you’ll learn a lot!

Scott Gleason
Scott has worked in Jacksonville Florida exclusively as DBA for over nine years. He is currently the Vice President of the Jacksonville SQL Server Users Group (JSSUG) and actively speaks about SQL at SQL Saturdays and Code Camps.

How do I view the presentation?
Attendee URL:  Live Meeting Link
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SQL Storage for Performance: Best Practices
August 25th 12:00 AM EDT (GMT -4)
Presenter: Amy Styers

SQL Storage Planning for Best Performance What are the different storage optimizations available for SQL server? What are some techniques that can be used to determine performance bottlenecks? Amy will discuss tips and tricks from the field on how to answer these questions for planning and designing your SQL infrastructure from disk up!

Amy Styers
Amy is a Microsoft Infrastructure Architect in the EMC Commercial Solutions Advisory Group where she has been engaged for the last three years discussing with customers their options for highly available, highly scalable, high performing Microsoft applications. She regularly addresses customers with regards to their virtualization initiatives and helps customers make decisions regarding architecting their Microsoft infrastructures both in physical and virtual environments.

Meeting Link: https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/8000181573/join?id=S2G482&role=attend

Early July 2010 PASS VC Presentations

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Loops, Lookups and Splits: SSIS Beyond the Basics
Managing Teams

Why Should I use Stored Procedures?
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Loops, Lookups and Splits: SSIS Beyond the Basics
July 13th 9:00 PM EDT (GMT -4)

Presenter: Tim Mitchell

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In this session, we’ll explore some of the useful tasks and data flow components of SSIS. Join in as we review the File System Task and the SSIS looping containers, as well as data flow components including the Lookup Transformation, the Conditional Split, and the Derived Column. This session will include various demonstrations using SSIS 2008.

Tim Mitchell

Tim Mitchell is a Microsoft SQL Server consultant, developer, and speaker. He has been working with SQL Server for over 7 years, working primarily in business intelligence, ETL/SSIS, and reporting. He has earned numerous certifications and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science from Texas A&M at Commerce, and is a Microsoft SQL Server MVP. Tim is a business intelligence consultant for Artis Consulting in the Dallas, Texas area. See his full profile and blog at www.timmitchell.net.

How do I view the presentation?
Attendee URL:  Live Meeting link

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Managing Teams
July 13th 1:00 PM EDT (GMT -4) / 10:00 AM PDT (GMT -7)

Presenter: Andy Leonard

AndyLeonard

Are you a member of a team of database professionals? Are you part of a developer team? Do you manage or lead a team? This presentation is for you. Andy Leonard shares experiences, war stories, and lessons learned from years of managing and leading teams.

Andy Leonard
Andy is an Architect with Molina Medicaid Solutions, SQL Server database and Integration Services developer, SQL Server MVP, PASS Regional Mentor, and engineer. He is a co-author of Professional SQL Server 2005 Integration Services and SQL Server MVP Deep Dives. Andy blogs for SQLBlog.com. His background includes web application architecture and development, VB, and ASP; SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS); data warehouse development using SQL Server 2000, 2005 and 2008.

Click here to join the Live Meeting.

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Why Should I use Stored Procedures?
July 14th 12:00 PM MDT (GMT -6)

Presenter: Jack Corbett

JackCorbett

With the proliferation of ORM Tools like Linq To SQL, NHibernate, there has been a move to no longer use stored procedures for Data Access, I personally disagree. This will be a professional and polite open discussion starting with why I believe stored procedures are the best way to access data in SQL Server. Alternate view points welcome.

Jack Corbett
Professional who has worked with SQL Server for 10 yrs (6.5-2008) and experience in .NET development as well. Author of several articles for SQLServerCentral and video author for SQLShare.com. Speaker at several SQLSaturday’s and Florida User Groups. Co-President of OPASS. Lover of all things SQL except Analysis Services and MDX.

Live Meeting Link: https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/8000181573/join?id=7FKD56&role=attend

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Late June 2010 PASS VC Presentations

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ETL with PowerShell
June 22nd 9:00 PM EDT (GMT -4)

Presenter: Chad Miller

In this session we will look at performing common data loading tasks with PowerShell. A basic understanding of PowerShell is helpful, but not necessary. Specific topics covered include importing structured files, XML, WMI objects and ADO.NET data sources.

Chad Miller
Chad Miller is a Senior Manager of Database Administration at Raymond James Financial. Chad has worked with Microsoft SQL Server since 1999 and has been automating administration tasks using Windows PowerShell since 2007. In his spare time he is the Project Coordinator/Developer of PowerShell-based Codeplex project SQL Server PowerShell Extensions (SQLPSX). Chad leads the Tampa PowerShell User Group and is also a frequent speaker at SQL Server users groups, SQL Saturdays and Code Camps.

How do I view the presentation?
Attendee URL:  Live Meeting link
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How SQL Server Indexes Work
June 23rd 12:00 PM EDT (GMT -4)

Presenter: Sharon F. Dooley

There are many useful presentations about indexes. Most of these concentrate on tricks and techniques. This presentation will provide the background knowledge of index architectures so that you can understand why techniques work and select the appropriate indexing strategies for your databases. Topics covered include page splits/fragmentation, disk accesses required for different index types, covering indexes and optimization.

Speaker Bio:

Sharon Dooley (MCP, former SQL Server MVP) has worked with SQL Server since its first release. Her major areas of specialization are database design and performance tuning, though she also does a lot of administration. She has a consulting practice and teaches and writes courses for Learning Tree International, where she is SQL Server Curriculum Manager. Ms. Dooley is the author of SQL Server 7.0 Essential Reference (New Riders), the lead author of Professional SQL Server 6.5 Administration (Wrox). Sharon is an active member of PASS (The Professional Organization for SQL Server) and has presented at numerous conferences. She was named a Microsoft MVP in 2001 and was an MVP for SQL Server until 2004. In her spare time, she enjoys being bossed around by her cats.

Attendee URL: https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/8000181573/join?id=7DJZ27&role=attend

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Reporting Services for the DBA
June 23rd 12:00 PM CDT (GMT -5)

Presenter: Ef Romero

Reporting Services for the DBA: Using Reporting Services to monitor and affect changes to SQL Server.

Ef Romero:
Ef Romero is a Senior Consultant at Hitachi Consulting where he specializes in business intelligence development with SQL Server. His work with SQL Server is concentrated in ETL, data warehouse development, database optimization, and reporting. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees, both in pure mathematics, from UTEP and has worked as a mathematician and BI developer for the past four years. He is a collaborator on the recently published book SQL Server Reporting Services Recipes: for Designing Expert Reports.

Attendee URL: Join the meeting

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