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AppDev

PASS AppDev VC Presents: SSIS Tips & Tricks

Dec 27th, 2010
by Aaron Nelson.
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www.sqlpass.orgSSIS Tips & Tricks
12/28/2010 12 Noon Eastern Time (GMT-5)
Josef Richberg

Learn some of the quirks and capabilities of SSIS. Learn about the pitfall of “parallel path choicing”. Use the Script Component as a data source (to solve complex sourcing issues) and as a data destination (to get around the identity column conundrum). See how to use Script Tasks to build directory scanners for efficient file import techniques. We’ll also go over some the tunable properties of the Data Flow object.

Josef Richberg
Josef is a DBA for HarperCollins Publishers working with SQL Server and SSIS.  He has over 17 years’ experience designing, building, and tuning SQL Server.  Josef was the recipient of the ’2009 Exceptional DBA’ award and actively blogs at http://josef-richberg.squarespace.com.

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

End of September Free Training from PASS VCs

Sep 27th, 2010
by Aaron Nelson.
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pass_logoNext-Level SQLCLR: Parallel Processing and Bulk Load
SSRS R2: The New Stuff
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Next-Level SQLCLR: Parallel Processing and Bulk Load
September 28nd 12:00 PM EDT (GMT -4)
Presenter: Adam Machanic

The power of SQLCLR as a performance tool has been well-documented at this point; certain queries, when re-written the right way using SQLCLR components, can run an order of magnitude more quickly. If you’re already using SQLCLR, or need that extra push, attend this session to discover how to take things one step further using advanced techniques and a custom SQLCLR component that will help you leverage the power of parallelism to burn through your rows more quickly than you ever thought possible. This session includes some of the material that will be covered in Adam Machanic’s full-day PASS Summit post-conference seminar, “A Day of Doing Many Things at Once: Multitasking, Parallelism, and Process Distribution.” More information on the seminar is available here: http://sqlpass.eventpoint.com/topic/details/AD311P

Adam Machanic

Adam is a Boston-based independent database consultant, writer, and speaker. He has been involved in dozens of SQL Server implementations for both high-availability OLTP and large-scale data warehouse applications, and has optimized data access layer performance for several data-intensive applications. Adam has written for numerous web sites and magazines, including SQLblog, Simple Talk, Search SQL Server, SQL Server Professional, CoDe, and VSJ. He has also contributed to several books on SQL Server, including “SQL Server 2008 Internals” (Microsoft Press, 2009) and “Expert SQL Server 2005 Development” (Apress, 2007). Adam regularly speaks at user groups, community events, and conferences on a variety of SQL Server and .NET-related topics. He is a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) for SQL Server, Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP), and a member of the INETA North American Speakers Bureau.

How do I attend?
Attendee URL: LiveMeeting Link
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SSRS R2: The New Stuff
September 29th 12:00 PM EDT (GMT -4)
Presenter: Mike Davis

In this session Mike shows you the new features in Reporting Services 2008 R2. You will learn how to use the Map control, Sparkline, Indicator, and Data Bars. See the new report builder 3.0. Learn about shared Data sets and report parts. Learn how to drill down from the US level to the state level using the map controls.

Mike Davis

Mike is a MCTS, MCITP, Senior BI consultant, and Trainer at Pragmatic Works.  He is an author of two Business intelligence books.  Mike is an experienced speaker and has presented at many events such as several SQL Server User Groups, Code Camps, SQL Server Launches, and SQL Saturday events. Mike is an active member at his local user group (JSSUG) in Jacksonville, FL.

URL: https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/usergroups/join?id=H2JWQQ&role=attend&pw=tS3%24Gtj%60z

Mid September Free Training from PASS VCs

Sep 9th, 2010
by Aaron Nelson.
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pass_logoThere’s going to be over 30 hours of free online SQL Server training next week and you’re not going to want to miss out!
Indexes and Other Free Performance Boosts
Building your 1st Performance Point Dashboard in SharePoint 2010
24 Hours of PASS: Summit Preview
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Indexes and Other Free Performance Boosts
September 14th 12:00 PM EDT (GMT -4)
Presenter: Jeremiah Peschka

The database is often viewed as a major performance bottleneck. There are a number of quick, easy, painless techniques that can increase the performance of an application not just by a small amount, but by orders of magnitude. These techniques include simple indexing techniques, T-SQL techniques, and general database application design patterns that give great gains in performance. In this session, you will learn how to look at a database to identify these problem areas and how to resolve common issues that you will encounter.

Jeremiah Peschka

Jeremiah (blog|twitter) is a Database Expert with Quest Software. He is a SQL Server MVP, user group leader, and PASS Director at Large. Jeremiah has a passion for spreading knowledge and writing about himself in the third person. When not using a computer, Jeremiah can be found playing guitar, reading, writing, wandering around central Ohio, or speaking at various SQL Server events.

Live Meeting Link: https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/usergroups/join?id=DJ8WK2&role=attend
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Building your 1st Performance Point Dashboard in SharePoint 2010
September 14th 12:00 PM EDT (GMT -4)
Presenter: Adam Jorgensen

Many of you have seen the coolness that is PerformancePoint in SharePoint 2010. Come get hands on with Adam as we go through the ins and outs of creating your first dashboard.  See some of the cool visualizations you can use and how they work together to create a cool user experience.

Adam Jorgensen

Adam, MBA, MCDBA, MCITP: BI has over a decade of experience leading organizations around the world in developing and implementing enterprise solutions. His passion is finding new and innovative avenues for clients and the community to embrace business intelligence and lower barriers to implementation. Adam is also very involved in the community as a featured author on SQLServerCentral, SQLShare, as well as a regular contributor to the SQLPASS Virtual User Groups for Business Intelligence and other organizations. He regularly speaks at industry group events, major conferences, Code Camps, and SQLSaturday events on strategic and technical topics.

Live Meeting Link: https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/usergroups/join?id=K5S9BK&role=attend&pw=B%3B4%2F%7D38%3Br
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One more quick note.  There’s this little online event going on the following day called the 24 Hours of PASS and this time it’s been rearranged to be timed better for the massive amount of Data Professionals in the Eastern half of the US [and Canada, Puerto Rico, The Bahamas, Bermuda, Virgin Islands, Netherland Antilles, & Brazil, etc… yeah them places too]

24 Hours of PASS: Summit Preview

Join an exceptional lineup of SQL Server and BI experts from around the world as they present a sneak peek of PASS Summit 2010 in 24 free live webcasts September 15-16.

This installment of 24 Hours of PASS delivers the hottest SQL Server and BI content directly to your computer – with a twist. Instead of running continuously for 24 hours, the September event divides the webcasts across 2 days, with each day beginning at 12:00 GMT (UTC). Check out what time it starts in your neck of the woods.

Dig into data warehousing, MDX, KPIs, and DTS-to-SSIS migration. Learn best practices for sizing database hardware and performance tuning. Get an in-depth look at PowerShell, storage for the DBA, and the latest T-SQL enhancements. And see how to manage teams, make your presentations rock, prepare for your next job, and more.

Tune in to hear your favorite MVPs and PASS Summit speakers, including Kalen Delaney, Andy Leonard, Kevin Kline, Brad McGehee, Allen White, and many more.

Register today for your top picks – or plan to attend them all!

Think the 24 Hours of PASS lineup is impressive? You won’t want to miss PASS Summit 2010 in Seattle, WA, Nov 8-11. The 24 Hours of PASS program gives you a glimpse at the unmatched technical content PASS Summit has to offer across more than 160 technical sessions, 14 pre/post-conference seminars, and invaluable networking opportunities.

Late August 2010 PASS VC Presentations

Aug 24th, 2010
by Aaron Nelson.
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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

Jul 8th, 2010
by Aaron Nelson.
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pass_logo

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

Jun 21st, 2010
by Aaron Nelson.
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 pass_logo
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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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Early May PASS VC Presentations

May 10th, 2010
by Aaron Nelson.
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Next week is the 24 Hours of SQL Server 2008 R2 PASS but before we get there the Virtual Chapters of PASS have some free training on tap for us:

pass_logo
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“You Got XML In My Database? What’s Up With That?”
May 11th 12:00 PM EDT (GMT -4)
Add to Calendar
Presenter: Stuart Ainsworth

A brief presentation exploring the marriage of XML and relational databases, including when it works and when it doesn’t. Coverage will include various use case scenarios, and some tips on how to improve performance using design techniques.

Stuart Ainsworth:

Stuart I Ainsworth, MA, Med is a Database Architect working in the realm of Financial Information Security; over the last 15 years, he’s worked as a Research Analyst, a report writer, a DBA, a programmer, and a public speaking professor. He’s one of the chapter leaders for AtlantaMDF, the Atlanta chapter of PASS. A master of air guitar, he has yet to understand the point of Rock Band (“You push buttons? What’s that all about?”).

How do I view the presentation?
Attendee URL:  Live Meeting link
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Indexing Guidelines
May 12, 2010 Noon Mountain Time (-6 GMT)
Presenter: Greg Larsen

This session will discuss indexing guidelines. During this discussion there will be information about how developers and DBA’s should approach the indexing development lifecycle. This lifecycle will help attendees understand that you shouldn’t just develop some indexes while you are developing your applications and then forget about them. In addition some indexing guidelines will be discussed. These guidelines will help you make better choices on which columns to select for your indexes and how those columns should be ordered in multi-column indexes. There will be number of demonstrations to support this discussion. Lastly an indexing toolkit (a set of scripts) that you can use to help manage your indexes will be provided.

Greg Larsen:

Greg Larsen has been working with SQL Server since 1999. He has authored over 125 articles related to SQL Server. He holds a MCITP Database Administrator and Developer certification for SQL Server 2005 and is a SQL Server MVP. Greg also hosts the www.sqlserverexamples.com website which contains a number of T-SQL examples to help you manage your SQL Server environment and application T-SQL code. Greg has a full-time DBA gig, but also provides SQL Server consulting services in his spare time.


Door Prize: There will be a drawing for a $50.00 Amazon Gift Certificate
Registration: You can attend the meeting without registering but if you want to be entered in the drawing, you must register at https://www.livemeeting.com/lrs/8000181573/Registration.aspx?pageName=jhh2nc28185sd034 no later than 5:00 PM Eastern on May 11th.

Live Meeting Link: https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/usergroups/join?id=CPN75W&role=attend

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12 Key Development Areas
May 13th 1:00 PM EDT (GMT -4)
Presenter: Andy Warren

A good professional development plan has to go far beyond ‘learning more technology’, it has to encompass the wide variety of skills you need to build the next step in your career, and it has to include a variety of learning methods. We’ll discuss how much time and money you should budget when building your plan, and how the distribution of time and money changes as your career evolves. We’ll look at the growth phases you’ll encounter, learning how you learn best, how to keep up with new technology without burning out, and even how things like blogging and Twitter can be an interesting part of your plan.

Andy Warren
Andy Warren (@SQLAndy) 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 and squeezes in some woodworking for relaxation.

Live Meeting Link: https://www323.livemeeting.com/cc/usergroups/join?id=5233Z9&role=attend

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Extract, Transform, and Load your Data Warehouse
May 14, 2010 12:00 PM EDT (GMT -4) Add to calendar
Presenter: Jessica M. Moss

One data warehouse buzzword that often gets used is “ETL”, also known as extract, transform, and load.  But what does this really mean from a data warehousing perspective and how do we use SQL Server Integration Services to perform these ETL functions?  This session will answer these questions and show solutions to common ETL problems.

Jessica M. Moss

Jessica M. Moss, an architect with Ironworks Consulting and a Microsoft SQL Server MVP, is a well-known practitioner, author, and speaker in Microsoft SQL Server business intelligence.  Jessica has created numerous data warehousing solutions for companies in the retail, internet, health services, finance, and energy industries and authored technical content for multiple magazines, websites, and the book “Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Integration Services Problem-Design-Solution”.  Jessica enjoys working with the central Virginia community and speaks regularly at user groups, code camps, and conferences.  You can read about her work on her blog, http://www.jessicammoss.com.

Live Meeting Link: https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/usergroups/join?id=CPPC3S&role=attend

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PASS Virtual Chapters Late April Presentations

Apr 23rd, 2010
by Aaron Nelson.
1 comment

To finish up the month of April we’ve got sessions from AppDev and DBA and I’m even including one from PASS on ‘Intro to Speaking At PASS’.  The AppDev group will be hosting the SARGability session twice, once for people having Lunch in Australia or Dinner in L.A. and once as a Late lunch for people in the UK (*I think).

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Understanding SARGability (to make your queries run faster)
April 27th 12:30 PM Adelaide, AUS CST  (GMT +9:30) [April 26th at 8:00 PM PDT (GMT -7)]
Add to Calendar (AUS)
April 27th 8:00 AM EDT (GMT -4)
Add to Calendar
Presenter: Rob Farley

SARGable means Search ARGument able. It relates to the ability to search through an index for a value, but unfortunately, many database professionals don’t really understand it. This can lead to queries which miss out on the potential to run much quicker. This is a talk involving lots of demos, showing plenty of queries and execution plans. Any time I’m not typing on the screen, I’ll be waving my hands around to explain things, with apologies to those tuned in through Live Meeting.

Rob Farley:
rob_side
Rob Farley runs LobsterPot Solutions, a consultancy based in Adelaide, Australia. He has been consulting in IT since completing a Computer Science degree with first class honours in 1997 and using SQL Server since 1998. He is a regular presenter at conferences such as TechEd Australia, heads up the Adelaide SQL Server User Group and holds many Microsoft certifications. He is a Microsoft Certified Trainer and is a recipient of the Microsoft MVP Award for SQL Server. Rob has also helped create several exams for Microsoft Learning, and has recently written two chapters for the book SQL Server MVP Deep Dives. Rob’s blog can be read at http://sqlblog.com/blogs/rob_farley/

How do I view the presentation?

Attendee URL (AUS):  Live Meeting link

Attendee URL: Live Meeting Link
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SQL Server 2008 Audit
April 28, Noon Eastern Time (GMT -4)
Presenter: Thomas LaRock

With SQL Server 2008 you now have the ability to set up auditing with SQL Server Audit. Attend this session for an overview of SQL Server Audit, learn how to initially configure an audit for your server or databases, and examine the audit logs to report on the information that is captured.

Thomas LaRock:
DBA_Survivor
Thomas LaRock is a seasoned IT professional with over a decade of technical and management experience. Thomas is a member of Quest Software’s Association of SQL Server Experts, currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Professional Association for SQL Server (PASS), and is a SQL Server MVP. Thomas can also be found blogging at http://thomaslarock.com and is the author of DBA Survivor: Become a Rock Star DBA.


Door Prize: There will be a drawing for a $50.00 Amazon Gift Certificate
Registration: You can attend the meeting without registering but if you want to be entered in the drawing, you must register at https://www.livemeeting.com/lrs/8000181573/Registration.aspx?pageName=fmxpl8tdzwcrc6z0 no later than 5:00 PM Eastern on April 27th.

Live Meeting Link: https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/8000181573/join?id=6K8GPR&role=attend

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Intro to Speaking At PASS: Creating a Winning Abstract (If I Can Do It, Anyone Can!)
April 28, Noon Central Time (GMT -5)
Presenter: Chuck Heinzelman

Have you ever attended a conference (such as PASS) and thought to yourself, “Wow, I wish I could speak at something like this!” Speaking at a conference like PASS is not something reserved for the superstar speakers. Each year PASS actively calls out for presentation proposals from members of the SQL Server community. During this session we’ll talk about what goes into creating a submission for the call for speakers with the goal of reducing the fear and anxiety that can go along with the process.

Live Meeting Link: https://www.livemeeting.com/lrs/0000000379_116/Registration.aspx?pageName=nk4md836r0tzp94j

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Coming in May…

Stuart Ainsworth presents “You Got XML In My Database? What’s Up With That?”

and

Patrick LeBlanc presents “Introduction to SQL Server Profiler”

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