Showing posts with label SQLSaturday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SQLSaturday. Show all posts

Friday, July 21, 2017

SQLSaturday Baton Rouge #628 2017

Come join around 500+ attendees and speakers learning and networking at the LSU College of Business – Business Education Complex on Nicholson Drive Extension in Baton Rouge on Saturday July 29th 2017 8AM till 5PM. There will be plenty of MVPs and other experts in the areas of SQL Server, Business Intelligence, Microsoft Data Platform, .Net, SharePoint, System Administration and more. The schedule is located here.

My session is on What is new in Analysis Services? I will try to cover some of the neat things I see that are helpful as well as try to encourage you to watch blogs because SQL Server is starting to be released more frequently, like every year.

Steve Jones from SQLServerCentral.Com and RedGate will be there with sessions Branding Yourself for a Dream Job and Bringing DevOps to the Database.

Stay till the end and see if you can win a prize from all the wonderful Sponsors and please Thank them.

Remember this event is FREE!!!


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Thursday, June 1, 2017

SQLSaturday Pensacola and Houston

I have the honor of being selected to speak in Pensacola and Houston this month. Pensacola has been a great place for SQLSaturday and it is no different than Houston. Both have active PASS community volunteers that love to host a learning event for free.

Both events have conference level 60 minute sessions by MVPs, MCMs and other prefessionals. AND IT IS FREE!!! Well, sometimes they charge for lunch.

 

Here is the schedule for Pensacola this weekend Jun 3rd, 2017 - http://www.sqlsaturday.com/617/Sessions/Schedule.aspx

What is Power BI?

Do you want to know what all the fuss (or excitement) is about concerning PowerBI? Then, this session is for you. We will walk through the process and marketing of what now is Power BI. Reports will be developed and displayed as well as the history of development of Power BI and what to look out for in this ever changing application. You will also learn that this tool is not replacing the Data Warehouse and Architect positions. Actually, it will produce more work for us (DBAs, Architects, etc.) It is another reporting option Microsoft that is positioning itself in the changing world of Business Intelligence

And here is Houston’s on Jun 17th - http://www.sqlsaturday.com/651/Sessions/Schedule.aspx

Business Analytics in SQL Server 2016

Ever wonder what’s going on with Microsoft Business Intelligence features? Is everything going to the Cloud, or can I still rely on my own servers to design systems? Well, this session is for you. We are going to spend hours on looking at the new features of SQL Server 2016 that will help you create on premise solutions for you company or clients that complement the solutions you have already built. SQL Server 2016 not only gives you new tools like R integration and Mobile Reporting, but enhances Analysis Services and Reporting Services you have been using for years

You will leave with a comforting feeling that Microsoft is not leaving you behind if you do not or cannot go to the Cloud. Perhaps we shall see the thunder of BI love to what we know best and to succeed in the future

See ya soon!!!

Monday, January 18, 2016

SQLSaturday Austin – Jan 30th

I will be speaking with other SQL Server experts for SQLSaturday #461 in Austin on Jan 30th, 2016. This is a FREE day of training. FREE!!!
There are also a couple of great Pre-Cons on Friday Jan 29th, 2016 that are very cheap compared to similar training at big conferences.
 
SQLSaturday #461 -- the precons will be held on Friday, January 29th, 2015 at the Microsoft office, 10900 Stonelake Blvd., Suite 225  Austin, TX  78759.  
Registration for SQLSaturday #447 Precon:
Creating a High Availability and Disaster Recovery Plan BY Ryan Adams -- http://sqlsat461-ha.eventbrite.com
Performance Tuning Like a Boss BY Robert Davis --http://sqlsat461-perf.eventbrite.com

Here is a list of the sessions for Saturday (FREE!!!):

Session Time Session Title Track Speaker(s)
09:00 AM - 10:00 AM Branding Yourself for a Dream Job Professional Development Steve Jones
09:00 AM - 10:00 AM Designing Stored Procedure Solutions Application & Database Development Jennifer McCown
09:00 AM - 10:00 AM Enforce Best Practices with CMS and Policy Based Management Enterprise Database Administration & Deployment Ryan Adams
09:00 AM - 10:00 AM From Here to Azure Enterprise Database Administration & Deployment Thomas LaRock
09:00 AM - 10:00 AM Know what your machines are doing besides SQL Server - WMI, WQL, and PoSH Enterprise Database Administration & Deployment Michael Bourgon
09:00 AM - 10:00 AM Using Power BI when Implementing Data Analytics Management Practices BI Information Delivery Ginger Grant
10:10 AM - 11:10 AM Continuous Deployments using SSDT Application & Database Development Christopher Wolff
10:10 AM - 11:10 AM Fun Facts about Availability Groups Enterprise Database Administration & Deployment Joe Hellsten, Joe Hellsten
10:10 AM - 11:10 AM Introducing Azure Data Factory Enterprise Database Administration & Deployment Kevin Hazzard
10:10 AM - 11:10 AM Introduction to Time Series Forecasting Advanced Analysis Techniques Peter Myers
10:10 AM - 11:10 AM SQL Server Deprecated and Discontinued Features Enterprise Database Administration & Deployment Nancy Hidy Wilson
11:20 AM - 12:20 PM Database Virtualization (Monster VM) – Vsphere 6 Enterprise Database Administration & Deployment Michael Corey
11:20 AM - 12:20 PM Dimensional Modeling 101 BI Platform Architecture, Development & Administration Thomas LeBlanc
11:20 AM - 12:20 PM Making the Leap from Developer to DBA Professional Development Amy Herold
11:20 AM - 12:20 PM Monster Text Manipulation: Regular Expressions for the DBA Enterprise Database Administration & Deployment Sean McCown
11:20 AM - 12:20 PM Parameter Sniffing the Good, the Bad and the Ugly Application & Database Development Lance Tidwell
02:00 PM - 03:00 PM Azure Machine Learning: From Design to Integration Advanced Analysis Techniques Peter Myers
02:00 PM - 03:00 PM Backup and Restore Tips and Tricks Enterprise Database Administration & Deployment Ryan Adams
02:00 PM - 03:00 PM ColumnStore Index:
Microsoft SQL Server 2014 and Beyond
BI Platform Architecture, Development & Administration Jayaprakash Jothiraman
02:00 PM - 03:00 PM Database Design Throwdown Application & Database Development Karen Lopez, Thomas LaRock
02:00 PM - 03:00 PM SQL Server 2014/2016 In Memory Technologies - OLTP (aka Hekaton) & ColumnSt Application & Database Development Reinaldo Kibel
02:00 PM - 03:00 PM The Data Warehouse of the Future BI Platform Architecture, Development & Administration Stan Geiger
03:10 PM - 04:10 PM "Can I Get A Report of This?": Introduction to SSRS BI Platform Architecture, Development & Administration Jeremy Frye
03:10 PM - 04:10 PM Changing Your Habits to Improve the Performance of Your T-SQL Application & Database Development Mickey Stuewe
03:10 PM - 04:10 PM Configuring SQL Server for Mission Critical and Scalable Deployments Enterprise Database Administration & Deployment Suresh Kandoth
03:10 PM - 04:10 PM Make Your SQL Server Queries Go Faster Enterprise Database Administration & Deployment John Sterrett
03:10 PM - 04:10 PM Mission Possible: Interactive Performance Troubleshooting - Index Enterprise Database Administration & Deployment Jim Murphy
03:10 PM - 04:10 PM Overview of Security Investments in SQL Server 2016 and Azure SQL Database Enterprise Database Administration & Deployment Jamey Johnston
04:20 PM - 05:20 PM Analyze your query plan like a Microsoft Engineer! Advanced Analysis Techniques Daniel Janik
04:20 PM - 05:20 PM Introduction to Biml BI Platform Architecture, Development & Administration Tim Mitchell
04:20 PM - 05:20 PM Service Broker: Coach your processes asynchronously Application & Database Development William Wolf
04:20 PM - 05:20 PM SQL Server Database Encryption (TDE) Enterprise Database Administration & Deployment Ben Miller
04:20 PM - 05:20 PM SS2014 In-Memory Tables: Formula 1 Performance Unleashed! Application & Database Development Mike Byrd
04:20 PM - 05:20 PM Strategies for Working with Texas-sized Databases Enterprise Database Administration & Deployment Robert Davis

Monday, July 27, 2015

SQLSaturday #423 Baton Rouge

This is I believe the 7th SQLSaturday in Baton Rouge. Please come out this Saturday at the LSU Business Center to enjoy free training, prizes and networking with over 500 IT professionals.

sqlsat423 

Here is the schedule.

Thursday, June 4, 2015

SQLSaturday #408 Houston

I have been selected again to speak in Houston (Saturday, June 13th) for a SQLSaturday event and look forward to connecting with some Texas PASS members like Nancy, Alan, Jen, Sean and many others. The facilities at San Jacinto College in the Southwest part of the Houston area were great last year. These free events (yes, I said free) have wonder sponsors that help cover cost especially Lunch!!!

http://www.sqlsaturday.com/408/Sponsors.aspx

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The presentations for this event for me are BI related: Getting Started with Tabular and Excel 2013 Tips and Tricks. These are session I have done a couple of times and get great responses. I have a couple of speakers I would like to see and hope to peak inside their sessions.

Hopefully I will see some of you there and we can talk. Come find me.

Getting started with Tabular Analysis Services [Room 1.117]

Speaker(s)Thomas LeBlanc

Duration: 60 minutes

Track: Business Intelligence

 

Excel 2013 Tips and Tricks for Displaying a Multidimensional Cube [Room 1.147]

Speaker(s)Thomas LeBlanc

Duration: 60 minutes

Track: Business Intelligence

 

Monday, July 21, 2014

PASS Data Arch VC presents SQL Server MVP Grant Fritchey - How to Build a Database Deployment Pipeline

Please come join the Data Architecture VC this Wednesday to get info from MVP Grant about Database Deployment something all DBAs should be doing to work with developers.

Grant Fritchey – Microsoft MVP

July 23, 2014 Noon CST

How to Build a Database Deployment Pipeline.

The pace of business accelerates fairly continuously and application development moves right with it. But we’re still trying to deploy databases the same way we did 10 years ago. This session addresses the need for changes in organizational structure, process and technology necessary to arrive at a nimble, fast, automatable and continuous database deployment process. We’ll use actual customer case studies to illustrate both the common methods and the unique context that led to a continuous delivery process that is best described as a pipeline. You will learn how to customize common practices and tool sets to build a database deployment pipeline unique to your environment in order to speed your own database delivery while still protecting your organization’s most valuable asset, its data.

Speaker Bio:

Grant Fritchey, SQL Server MVP, works for Red Gate Software as Product Evangelist. In his time as a DBA and developer, he has worked at three failed dot–coms, a major consulting company, a global bank and an international insurance & engineering company. Grant volunteers for the Professional Association of SQL Server Users (PASS). He is the author of the books SQL Server Execution Plans (Simple-Talk

Webinar Link Click here   https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/3676956357735772161

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Upcoming Free PASS VC Webcasts

Here is a list of upcoming webcast presented by various PASS Virtual Chapters that are always free. Some are recorded to view later.

 

Database Administration VC

Date: July 9

Noon Mountainhttp://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?msg=PASS+DBA+Virtual+Chapter&iso=20140709T12&p1=75

Topic: How to be a great DBA– sponsored by Dell Software

Registration: You must register if you want to attend. You can register at

https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5111261580659448577

When you register, you will receive a link to the meeting. All registrants will be included in a drawing for a $50 Amazon gift card.

Presenter: Jeff Garbus

Abstract: This presentation describes the tasks a DBA needs to perform to do a great job. Formal training classes and certifications only take you so far; this session talks from experience about everything from preventive maintenance to planning to scaling to communication. Great for beginner to intermediate DBAs, as well as Developers who think this is a direction in which they might want to move.

Bio: Jeff Garbus is a well-known author, lecturer and consultant with more than 20 years of expertise in architecture, tuning and the administration of Microsoft SQL Server, Sybase ASE, Oracle, and other databases. Jeff has assisted clients of all sizes, from .com startups to the most demanding F100 clients. His specialty has always been maximizing database performance for his clients. Jeff has recently released his 16th book: Microsoft Transact SQL – The Definitive Guide. Jeff is also the founder and CEO of Soaring Eagle Consulting, a consulting and management consulting firm specializing in all aspects of database and information management. http://mssqlperformance.blogspot.com/

 

DBA Fundamental VC

 

WHAT       Rolling Upgrades, The Easy Way!

WHEN:      Tuesday, August 5,   11:00 AM – 12:00 PM CDT

WHO:        Argenis Fernandez

WHERE:   https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/998862692698291202

In this session we will discuss how to perform upgrades while maintaining high availability of your SQL server infrastructure by leveraging rolling upgrades. We will review how to use database mirroring or AlwaysOn Availability Groups for this, along with a simpler version using Log Shipping. This is a demo-intensive session that you won't want to miss. 

There will be a drawing for a $25  Amazon gift card at the end of the meeting.  A winner will be randomly chosen from all those in attendance for the whole webcast who provide their email address.

 

Data Architecture VC

 

Grant Fritchey – Microsoft MVP

July 23, 2014 Noon CST

How to Build a Database Deployment Pipeline.

The pace of business accelerates fairly continuously and application development moves right with it. But we’re still trying to deploy databases the same way we did 10 years ago. This session addresses the need for changes in organizational structure, process and technology necessary to arrive at a nimble, fast, automatable and continuous database deployment process. We’ll use actual customer case studies to illustrate both the common methods and the unique context that led to a continuous delivery process that is best described as a pipeline. You will learn how to customize common practices and tool sets to build a database deployment pipeline unique to your environment in order to speed your own database delivery while still protecting your organization’s most valuable asset, its data.

Speaker Bio:

Grant Fritchey, SQL Server MVP, works for Red Gate Software as Product Evangelist. In his time as a DBA and developer, he has worked at three failed dot–coms, a major consulting company, a global bank and an international insurance & engineering company. Grant volunteers for the Professional Association of SQL Server Users (PASS). He is the author of the books SQL Server Execution Plans (Simple-Talk

Webinar https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/3676956357735772161

 

Virtualization VC

 

Wed, Jul 09 2014 10:00 Mountain Daylight Time


SQL Server Virtualization 301

RSVP: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6360531090119570945

SQL SERVER VIRTUALIZATION 301

Can you objectively demonstrate that your SQL Servers are running the same or better after they were virtualized than when they were physical servers? Do you have your key system monitoring in place so you know your steady-state system performance metrics? What is your methodology and key items for benchmarking and baselines, and what are your long-term projections for when you will need more infrastructure capacity? Performance and capacity management topics are discussed in this interactive session, and key tips and tricks will be presented to help you squeeze the most performance from your virtualized SQL Servers.


David Klee, VMware vExpert, is a SQL Server performance and virtualization expert. With over seventeen years of IT experience, David spends his days handling performance and HA/DR architecture of physical and virtualized critical SQL Servers as the Founder of Heraflux Technologies. His areas of expertise are virtualization and performance, datacenter architecture, and risk mitigation through high availability and disaster recovery. When he is not geeking out on database and infrastructure techno.

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

SQLSaturday #308 Houston, TX Saturday May 10th

This will be the second SQLSaturday in Houston I have spoken at and I am excited about talking Execution Plans and Multidimensional Analysis Services. These are 2 topics I deal with on a daily basis, so it is great I get to help others understand these technologies.

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I also get to talk with John Sterret, Alan Kinsel and Nancy Hide Wilson who are #SQLFamily. Their hard work on spreading the knowledge of SQL Server is a pleasure to watch.

There are many great speakers coming to Houston because the MS TechED event is the following week in Houston. So, MVPs, MCMs and veteran speakers will be at San Jacinto College – South Campus this Saturday to help all us learn to love SQL Server.

Hope to see you there!!!

Monday, May 5, 2014

SQLSaturday #305 Business Analytics Edition Dallas–RECAP

So, I am flying home thinking about the event Saturday and many things are running through my head. No, not work on Monday. First, I would like to say that Hadoop is not going to replace SQL Server nor Business Intelligence. Second, a new thing is coming but it is only going to compliment what we already do. And last, Dallas did an excellent job of spreading the learning over 4 tracks with lots to choose from – Visualization, Deployment, Big Data and Analytics. You always had something good to choice from.

The Dimensional Modeling 101 session I presented was great. Lots of sharing of individual experience with creating dimensions and facts. Most of the time was spent on talking about surrogate keys and performance. When I first started doing dimensional modeling, I had the idea that all data came from one transactional system with foreign keys on all tables. The real world proves different. That is what happens after you use some technology for awhile. There was much talk about making mistakes with dimensional modeling and learning from success and failure. There were mostly good comments and 4-5 conversations after the session, during lunch and between other sessions. I look forward to reviewing the critical comments to improve my session abstracts, session content and presentation.

The first session I attended was Intro to Hadoop. The MSBIC group from Dallas was able to get HortonWorks’ speakers which help with explaining a lot about how Big Data works. It is obvious this is a good thing for high output manufacturing systems, logging systems or internet data. Future versions will expand the current features. You could hear many questions about how it all works because you want to wrap your head around the inner workings. The visual display of the Hadoop stack helped tremendously. There is definitely a programming background needed before diving into this new technology. You can download a free sandbox from HortonWorks.

After my session (9:45), I went to a session on pig. It was very hard to follow, so afterwards I went to the speaker room to discuss with others. There, I meet back up with Meagan from Kansas City and Kristen, the leader of the Oklahoma City SQL Server user group. This conversation continued from where we left off from the Friday night speaker social. There is a lot of excitement within the SQL Server community no matter where you are.

The lunch session involved a Microsoft Technical Architect (David Brown) from Dallas that shared his experience with clients in the BI stack. He had great examples that had people laughing and relating to his project management. One comment he made that has stuck in my head is that the problems presented with BI – Self-service, Master Data, Security, Performance, etc. – was “Maybe these problems are good to have for IT.” I think I understand.

The afternoon included a HDInsight session. The cloud is here and you can use it. Next was statistics with R and Mahout which was more about how excited the speaker was rather than demos (that worked). Lastly, was a Slalom consultant talking about Time Intelligence in PowerPivot. He did a good job of listing the functions, but more time should have been spent on simple examples rather than showing everything. The crowd started to ask to many questions that he had to back up and explain.

Finally, I wanted to mention something that happened during the last PASS Summit 2013 in Charlotte that triggered me  to come to this SQLSaturday. Karla was talking with me about the Business Analytics conference coming up and I said something about how this was not SQL Server. Her comments made me think back 6-7 years ago when BI started to gain exposure at the Summit and I and others where saying “This is not SQL Server.” Now, I am in the BI stack and love it. I still love DBA work, but I expanded my skills by learning SSIS and SSAS. In Baton Rouge, you need a variety of skills to be employed in the SQL Server realm. You can not just be an expert in SSIS and expect to be employed.

Now might be the time to learn some more skills – Big Data.

Winking smile

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

SQLSaturday #305 Dallas Business Analytics Edition

I am excited about being selected to speak and attend the May 3rd SQLSaturday BA Edition in Dallas, TX. There are a number of sessions I want to attend including Eric Mezell’s An Introduction to Hadoop, Andy Egger’s Applied Predictive Analytics, David Browne on Enterprise Business Intelligence (for lunch) and Garrett Edmonson – Measuring Data Warehouse Performance. The full schedule is here - http://www.sqlsaturday.com/305/schedule.aspx.

I hope to create some time to visit with old friends in the Dallas area like Brian Smith (MS) and Tim Costello. I hope this is a precursor for Dallas to host a PASS Business Analytics week long conference in the future. California was a little to far to travel this year even though I should have went.

I am presenting one of my first BI presentations I have ever given – Dimensional Modeling 101. When I move over to Business Intelligence, I had a strong background in Data Normalization. Transitioning to a Dimension Model was quite difficult and I wish I had someone to explain like Warren Thornthwaite did at a pass PASS Summit before I started. He did a great job using PASS registration data to great a simple Data Mart and Analysis Services cube while previewing in Excel. That hooked me.

Thanks to all the sponsors for helping make this a free event for all attendees.

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Friday, April 11, 2014

Call for Speakers – SQLSaturday #324 Baton Rouge

Baton Rouge is now on its 6th SQLSaturday and the event grows year after year. It all started with Patrick LeBlanc back in 2009 with #17 http://sqlsaturday.com/17/eventhome.aspx and with help from local User Groups (William AssafSparkhound), it has expanded its topics and attendees. This event is also called Baton Rouge Tech Fest because there are more than just SQL Server related topics. Last year, we had a CIO/Manager track, Windows Phone, SharePoint and .Net.

So, this is a Call for Speakers to the next SQLSaturday August 2dn 2014 in Baton Rouge at the Business Center on LSU’s campus. Most speakers get at least one session, so do not be shy about submitting. If you need help, practice by giving a Lighting Round at the local User Group (SQL and .Net) meeting the 2nd Wednesday of every month. There is even a Java user group meeting at the same time.

Pictures from previous SQLSaturdays in Baton Rouge

   

Sunday, October 20, 2013

Summit 2013 Review!!! plus SQLSaturday #237 Charlotte BI Edition

The week is over and I waiting for my flight home. I did not to get to as many sessions as past summits, but that was replaced with speaking opportunities consisting of 1 half-day session, a 75 minute regular session and speaking at the Charlotte BI SQLSaturday.

Tuesday was a busy day with the Volunteers meeting at 8AM followed by the Virtual Chapter meeting at 9AM. Good discussions were had at both, especially in the second meeting when I transitioned out as Data Architecture VC chair (to my friend Robert) and enter as a Virtual Chapter mentor. I was able to meet the leaders of the Azure(Nigel), Russian(Andrey), App Dev(Gabriel) and Fundamentals(Mark) VCs. It was good to put a face with a name. The Virtual Chapters are growing fast and have a lot to offer.

I spent the late morning and afternoon in a BIML workshop presented by Varigence and Linchpin People. Scott from Varigence did a great job showing the Mist interface with biml/biml script. This tool seems to be a great choice for people with large SSIS implementations. You do need some object oriented knowledge to work with the script, but it is worth it. I hope to just implement the BIML to create a template for connections and variables we use at work for most SSIS packages.

bimlws

The evening was hanging out with Robert from Baton Rouge for the Welcome Reception and Quiz Bowl. That is always entertaining and we talked to some First Timers at Summit and were able to help with explaining the next three days to them. Part of the evening was of course spent rehearsing the session demos. I even bumped into John Sterret during lunch.

Wednesday morning I arrived at 6:30AM to help start the day at the Community Zone which was a hug, huge hit for the whole conference. Thanks Karla!!! I spent the morning in the Speaker Ready Room cleaning up the Slicing and Dicing presentations and talking with speakers I have not seen in awhile. I meet Paul Turley and watch a cool demo he had for dashboards through his Windows Surface. Lunch was sitting at the Baton Rouge and North Arkansas chapter table and chatting with some new friends. Talk turned to not normalizing data and I had to leave Smile I did see Carlos Bossy talking about Predictive Analytics and the always great presenter Peter Meyers for Data Mining. Peter added some interface programming in .Net which was pretty cool along with 4 other demos.

Thursday was all about the 1/2 day session I was presenting on Attributes and Hierarchies in Analysis Services Multi-Dimensional edition. The presentation was being filmed and I forgot about that, so I am sure there are some comments I am going to regret if I watch it. The session went well, but the room was not half-full. One a good note, most people came back after the break and stayed to the end. I received many complements and look forward to the comments from the evaluations. Thursday evening was the Community Appreciation party at the NASCAR Hall of Fame and was packed. The facilities were great and probably heaven for some NASCAR fans.

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Friday morning I presented at 8AM on Transition from T-SQL to MDX and the room was packed. I received more compliments for this session than the previous. Afterwards, I bumped into Patrick LeBlanc who has moved from Baton Rouge to Atlanta. I spent time in the community zone and attended the ETL table for Birds of a Feather lunch. Todd McDermid (SSIS MVP for about 5+ years) stopped by and shared his experience which was appreciated. The afternoon was sessions from Brian Mitchell – Clustered-Column Stored Indexes for 2014, MS Program managers showing PowerView integration with Multidimensional Analysis Services and Paul White talking about Parallel Execution Plans.

One interesting point about the talks on Friday is 2014 clustered column indexes restricts the tables to not allow constraints, including a primary key.  Brian’s explanation was good and I understand why (because of the structure of a column store index), but it does not sound like a good idea to me. The PowerView on Multidimensional was good, but it only works with SharePoint integration.

Friday night for the Speaker’s dinner for SQLSaturday BI Edition in Charlotte, NC. I did the 60 minute presentation for Attributes and Hierarchies on Saturday. This event was well run (thanks to a large good of MSBI professionals in the CBIG group) and some speakers that were also speaking at the Summit. Here are some links to photos - http://slavasql.blogspot.com/2013/10/sql-saturday-237-charlotte-nc.html and http://www.flickr.com/photos/purnellphotography/sets/72157636740830425/

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Monday, October 14, 2013

My PASS Summit Schedule this Week

Well, it is here folks. The PASS Summit 2013. If you have never been to a PASS Summit, please look in to attending one year. There is more SQL Server Learning than you could fit in a month. You just need to break it down into digestible chunks.

Monday was a travel day, thank Delta and the Sheraton Downtown.

Testimonials

Tuesday, I am starting the day at 8AM for a PASS volunteer meeting, then continuing with the Virtual Chapter meeting at 9AM. I rotated out as chair of the Data Architecture VC and now I am a Virtual Chapter Mentor. The day continues with a late arrival to the BIML workshop. We could really use the automation from this script language for SSIS.

Biml Workshop

Wednesday morning, I will be volunteering at 6:30AM for the PASS Community center. Please come by and visit sometime during the Summit to meet the people who help put PASS events on. Then, on to learn some BI and Business Analytics with BI Power and Data Mining sessions

If you are not here, please follow sessions and announcements on PASS TV. You can actually watch some of the Spotlight sessions LIVE!!!

My first session is Thursday – Slicing and Dicing: Attributes and Hierarchies

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Hopefully, I will be able to give a blog about each day and the sessions attended.

Friday, July 12, 2013

24 Hours of PASS: Preview to Slicing and Dicing Summit Session and more…

For 24 Hours of PASS 2013 Summit preview (#24HOP – twitter hash tag), I was asked to give a preview of the 1/2 day session on Slicing and Dicing in Analysis Serves 2012 for the upcoming PASS Summit 2013. My response: No Problem.

In Denver, it was the year 2007 when I attended the first Summit. I had never been to a SQL Server conference before and just happened to read about it on SQLServerCentral.com. My boss thought it was a good idea for both of us to attend, Wow, what an experience that the first year! I sat through session after session of presentations on SQL Server stuff I had never known before. We used the SSC code to get a discount and a visit to the Casino Night put on by Steve Jones and gang.

Now, the tables have turned, and I have to present while expecting the attendees to learn the same as I had learned in 2007. By the third Summit in 2009, I was thinking: Hey, I can do that.

Analysis Services caught my attention because of the degree I received at LSU – Quantitative Business Analysis. I was amazed at what OLAP could do with data. This lead to reading Kimball books and a lot of trial and error. The meat of everything seemed the entry into a dimensional model, and this was through Attributes and Hierarchies.

This preview is about the defaults in Analysis Services Multidimensional Cubes and what needs to be changed or configured before using Attributes and Hierarchies.

Please come online with us on July 31st thru August 1st and get a taste of what you can expect from the Summit in Charlotte, NC Oct 14-18, 2013. You can pick one and more sessions to learn more about SQL Server.

Free SQL Server and BI Training

24 Live Virtual Sessions Delivered Over 24 Hours

What You Can Expect

Sunday, June 16, 2013

PASS Data Architecture VC presents Steve Simon–Challenges Designing Finance Data Warehouse

Steve Simon will join us on Thursday June 20th at noon central to help us understand some challenges with designing a financial data warehouse in the real world. Come chat with a SQL Server MCP and seasoned data warehouse architect to reflect on his many years experience in this industry.

There will be a $50 amazon gift card given away during the session.

Online Meeting URL: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/659855837
DataArch.SQLPass.org

When iCal
Event Time : Thu, Jun 20 2013 12:00 - 13:00 (GMT-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada)
Challenges to designing financial warehouses, lessons learnt

Speaker: Steve Simon, Senior Business Intelligence Development Engineer Atrion Networking Corporation

Summary: In today’s rapidly changing financial world, designing robust and durable data warehouses can be a challenge that does not always stand the test of time. In this presentation, we shall look at some of the challenges and design issues that were encountered whilst designing two custom warehouses and the steps that were required to cope with ongoing requirement changes, indecision from management, and shrinking budgets; all of which affected the progress of moving these projects from the design board to a profitable production stage.

About Steve: Steve Simon is a SQL Server MVP and a senior BI Development Engineer with Atrion Networking. He has been involved with database design and analysis for over 25 years. Steve has presented papers at eight PASS Summits and one at PASS Europe 2009 and 2010. He has just recently presented a Data Quality Services presentation at the PASS Nordic Rally in Copenhagen. Steve has also presented 5 papers at the Information Builders' (IBI) International Summits. He is a PASS regional mentor & chair of the Oracle/SQL Server VC.

Friday, May 17, 2013

SQLSaturday #220 Atlanta

From the tweets, it looks like there will be about 800 attendees sitting in on 11 different tracks with 5 or 6 sessions on each track. This will be the largest SQLSaturday event I have been a part of. It will be my first time at a SQLSaturday event in Atlanta. There are also 5 different pre-conference sessions today (Friday) from some great speakers – Bill Pearson, Denny Cherry, Stacia Misner, Eddie Wuerch and Adam Machanic.

I get to present 2 different sessions. DW ETL with SSIS 2012 was a session I did at the PASS Summit last year and Attributes and Hierarchies is a new session I presented to the local Baton Rouge SQL Server User Group a month ago.

Using SSIS 2012 for ETL in a Data Warehouse

This session will go through some old and new features of Integration Service 2012 to help with loading data into a Data Warehouse/Mart. The GUI has been improved visually during design and execution. The storage of packages has been update with Integration Service Catalogs. The Change Data Capture task helps with incremental updates. Logging has been improved for debugging. A demonstration of creating your own Slowly Changing Dimension with current Tasks will be shown with some design hints.

Attributes & Hierarchies in Analysis Services 2012

The session explains Attributes and Hierarchies in Analysis Services 2012 Semantic Model. They are used to slice (filter) and dice (group) measures and dimensions used to view analytical data. The slicing and dicing of data involves fields, columns, or whatever you want to labeled them. But, in SQL Server Semantic model these are called Attributes and Hierarchies. The configuration of these slicers and dicers are important in SQL Server Analysis Services. This session will demonstrate the difference between an attribute and columns in a hierarchy in the dimension as well as the configuration of these for best performance and viewing.

Hope to see ya’ll all there if you are local to the area.

Monday, May 6, 2013

SQLSaturday Atlanta #220–May 18th

I am pleased to be selected to present a session on Analysis Services at the Atlanta SQLSaturday this May 18th at Georgia State University. If you follow @SQLPass and #SQLSatAtl on twitter, you might have seen tweets about 775+ registered attendees for this event. You can still get on the waiting list if you really want to attend. So what does this mean? There are going to be lots of networking along with some of the great speakers sharing their SQL Server knowledge.

It is going to be cool to talk with Bill Pearson again, visit with Adam Machanic and Louis Davidson, plus get to sit in on sessions from Stacia Misner, Teo Lachev and Mellissa Coates. I wish I had time to go to a Brave’s baseball game, but I will instead go to the Speaker Dinner Friday night and the after-party on Saturday, then fly home.

Below is my session:

Attributes & Hierarchies in Analysis Services 2012

The session explains Attributes and Hierarchies in Analysis Services 2012 Semantic Model. They are used to slice (filter) and dice (group) measures and dimensions used to view analytical data. The slicing and dicing of data involves fields, columns, or whatever you want to labeled them. But, in SQL Server Semantic model these are called Attributes and Hierarchies. The configuration of these slicers and dicers are important in SQL Server Analysis Services. This session will demonstrate the difference between an attribute and columns in a hierarchy in the dimension as well as the configuration of these for best performance and viewing.

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

T-SQL Tuesday #41 – Presenting and Loving It

Some Tuesday mornings I have bacon with eggs and an English muffin. Not today though. I am blogging about Why I Love Presenting for T-SQL Tuesday #41 hosted by Bob Pusateri. I will attempt to answer all his questions.

What was the first time you gave a presentation in front of a group and really enjoyed it?

It was probably when I worked at IEM and became a Microsoft Certified Database Administrator (MCDBA) in SQL Server 2000. We (me) started to do Lunch & Learns at the office where everybody brought their lunch to a conference room and listened to a presentation. We were about to upgrade to SQL Server 2000 from 7.0 and I was asked to show the .Net developers (I was a developer back then slowly becoming the Accidental DBA) what was new in SQL Server 2000. There was so much to talk about, that it took about 2 months giving a Lunch & Learn every 2 weeks to cover everything significant to developers. One thing I learned by presenting was that SQL Server 2000 included Cascade Update and Delete in foreign key constraints. I had just finished a month project coding this in triggers for a 7.0 database with 100+ tables.

Was it something that was required of you in school?

Yes, presenting at a speech class at LSU was a requirement, but I did not take it as serious as I do today. It was just school, right?

Something you did in the workplace?

Yes, see answer to first question. I also continued Lunch and Learns when I started working for Amedisys following IEM. They actually provide the lunch for the group. We were upgrading to SQL Server 2005 at this time. This eventually led to presenting at the local Baton Rouge SQL Server User group started by Patrick LeBlanc about the Performance Dashboard.

Were you inspired by other SQL community members and thought “I think I can do that too”?

After attending the second PASS Summit, this is what I started saying to myself. I noticed that some presenters were really excited (Grant Fritchey and Paul Neilsen) about a topic and I thought I could do the same. It was not as easy as I fantasized, but it was worth the time and energy.

Whatever your story is, I’d love to hear it.

From there, I presented at the local user group and started submitting to the Summit. I was not accepted the first 2 or 3 years, but after presenting at about 5-6 SQLSaturday events, I was accepted by SQLRally in 2011, then the Summit in 2011 and 2012. The Virtual Chapters of PASS really help as well and I started to volunteer to help run a VC.

By far the greatest benefit realized from presenting is learning the technology. There is countless hours I sit and read and practice the material over and over. This repetitiveness ingrains the mind with the ideas and practices of the technology. It then carries over into the day-to-day motions of being a DBA. The companies I have worked for get an experience expert.

Thursday, November 1, 2012

PASS Summit 2012–My Schedule

Using SSIS 2012 for Data Warehouse ETL

I have been fortunate to be selected this year to speak at the PASS Summit 2012 in Seattle. This presentation will go mainly over 3 new features: The Change Data Capture and DQS controls as well as deploying SSIS projects/packages to the SSISDB catalog. Throughout the presentation, there will be usage of 10-20 more new features all depending on the demo and questions. 75% of this presentation is demos, so come along for the ride. I love presentations that show how to use SQL Server.

Pre-conference Session – Monday

After arriving on Sunday afternoon, I will go to Rod Colledge’s session on BI Dashboards with Dashboard Designer and PerformancePoint. This will satisfy the first goal of the conference; to take back what I learn and create 2 sets of dashboards for a project at work.

Monday night, I am going to the networking dinner Steve Jones and Andy Warren are hosting. I did this last year and it was a great way to sit with 4-6 SQL Server geeks and enjoy a dinner and conversation.

Registration

Community Involvement – Tuesday

Tuesday morning, I will be attending 2 round table discussions with Virtual Chapter leaders and SQLSaturday leaders/volunteers. I am the chair of the Data Architecture VC and have helped with the past 3 SQLSaturday’s in Baton Rouge and spoke at the first 3.

House of Bricks is hosting a SQL Server on VMware boot camp which I have decided to attend to help understand the configurations for the VMs we run at Turner Industries in Baton Rouge.

Tuesday night I am going to float between the Welcome Reception, SQLServerCentral.com/Redgate casino night and a speaker reception.

image

Main Conference – Wednesday

I am going to start out the morning at the Community Area booth which has been expanded this year in size. It will be great to say hi to Karla and other PASS workers and sign people up for Virtual Chapters and PASS.

The first session I am attending is Sean Boon’s Building Compelling Power View reports Lunch will be sitting at the Virtual Chapter tables talking Data Architecture.  The afternoon starts with Stacia Misner’s SSAS Storage followed by my SSIS 2012 presentation and ends with SQL Server and SharePoint: best Frienenies which should be a fun session.

Wednesday evening will be talking with vendors at their reception for attendees which was a hit last year.

Thursday Sessions

The morning starts again at the Community area early in the morning. The first session (10:15) is Carlos Bossy talking Data Modeling Best Practices for Enterprise Tabular Models which should help me with Data Mart designs for PowerView reports which is another goal for work. During Lunch, I will be Live Blogging and Tweeting from the Woman In Technology Luncheon which should be fun.

The afternoon starts with Running Reporting Services in SharePoint Integration Mode which Turner just had a consultant (SparkHound) install with SQL Server 2012 and SharePoint 2010. I really wanted to see Deeper Tabular Models with Wayne Snyder (who is a cool dude), but I think the SSRS is more valuable for work. I can always watch the recorded session when I get the DVDs.

The afternoon ends with Dive into the Query Optimizer and Monitoring Analysis Services which are both part of my daily checklist at work. Thursday evening, Microsoft is sponsoring a trip to Seattle’s Music Experience museum for 2-3 hours. The last couple of years it was at a GameWorks, which was pretty cool. I am expecting a good networking evening this night.

Friday Sessions and Homebound

I am leaving around 3:30PM Friday to spending time with family and friends on Saturday, so I will only be at 2 sessions plus lunch. I am getting married in January, so I need to get back to Baton Rouge, plus we (LSU) plays Miss St. at home that Saturday.

The first session (8AM) will be Power(view)ful Tabular semantic Model Development with Mark Davis, then Tim Mitchell learning me on ETL Gone Bad: Handling Errors and Data Anomalies in SSIS. These are 2 great speakers and consultants.

Lunch will have me sitting at a Birds of a Feather table on Data Warehouse Modeling and SSIS ETL.

WOW!!! That is a lot

That seems like a big schedule, but I am not evening doing everything that is available. The first year I attend PASS (07 in Denver), we spent time at the Microsoft First-Aid room working with replication developers on a problem in SQL Server 2005. The following year, I spent time in the Virtual Lab learning SQL Server 2008 new features. There is also visiting with vendors and collecting swag. The exhibition hall is sold out. Then, there are lightening talks which help speakers get a start with presenting as well as Microsoft Chalk Talks. There are pre-conference sessions on Monday and Tuesday.

The PASS Summit is full of stuff to do during the day and at night. I know a lot of people like #SQLKaraoke and Photo walks plus a #SQLRun on Tuesday morning. It is fun watching the SQL Kilt day and Thursday is wear your SQLSaturday shirt day.

Lastly, meeting and saying hi to friends like John Sterret (That is the back of his head above), Scott Shaw, Carlos Bossy, Patrick LeBlanc, Devin Knight, Erin Welker, Grant Fritchey, Thomas LaRock, Louis Davidson, Sean and Jen McCown, Wesley Brown, Kevin Boles and the list goes on and on. The SQL Community is the best group of technology geeks that love to share the #SQLLove.

Hope to see you there, and please come say hi and introduce yourself to me.

God Bless

Below is a picture from the first SQLSaturday in New York, and little did I know I was with Thoams LaRock, Adam Jorgenson, Grant Fritchey, Andy Leonard and Robert ?

SQLSaturdayNewYorkSpeakerRoom

Saturday, July 28, 2012

SQL Saturday #150 & TechDay in Baton Rouge–Sharepoint

This year’s SQLSaturday in Baton Rouge includes a Sharepoint track with 2 local speakers(Cody Gros & Eric Trivette), MCM Tom Resing and Bill Waters. Sharepoint sessions are great for those in the BI field using Microsoft BI stack managing PerformancePoint and PowerView/SSRS integration or SQL Server DBAs having a Sharepoint SQL instance.

 
8:20AM - Mapping Mashups with SharePoint Designer

Mapping Mashups with SharePoint Designer including an Overview of Current Map Service Providers, an Introduction to Customizing the Data View Web Part, and a Demonstration of Dynamic Mapping from List Data

Session Level: Intermediate

Tom Resing

Tom is a Microsoft Certified Master in SharePoint. He is passionate about online collaboration technologies and loves being active in the SharePoint Community. Tom has been blogging about SharePoint for the last 5 years after certifying on the 2007 platform. Tom has enjoyed 15 years in the internet industry developing products and web site functionality in Perl, C++, Java, VB.Net and C#. With SharePoint, Tom prefers an Out of the Box approach to deployment.

Contact URL: http://tomresing.com

 
9:35AM - SQL Server Best Practices for SharePoint 2010

Are you a SharePoint administrator and now have to maintain all your SharePoint databases? This session will provide you with the information you need to maintain your SharePoint databases including: - Backup/Recovery of databases - Determining your recovery model -Building maintenance plans - SQL Aliases

Session Level: Intermediate

Cody Gros

Cody Gros has been in the IT field for over 7 years working with SharePoint and Windows Server Technology. He is well versed in SharePoint 2010/2007 and is experienced in applying PowerShell scripting to SharePoint and Active Directory automation solutions.

Contact URL: http://blog.codygros.com

 
10:50AM - SharePoint Development for ASP.NET Developers

Getting started in the world of SharePoint development? Have ASP.NET development experience? In this session, you will learn how SharePoint 2010 is built off the ASP.NET platform. We will also bridge the gap between both platforms by covering the basics of the SharePoint platform and set you on the path to developing your own SharePoint solutions.

Session Level: Beginner

Eric Trivette

Eric Trivette, MCPD, has been working with Microsoft ASP.NET since December 2006. Eric began SharePoint development with SharePoint 2010 and works with Antares Technology Solutions as a consultant where he designs and implements custom solutions in SharePoint 2010 and all versions of ASP.NET.

 

1:10PM - Integrate with Business Connectivity Services

Business Connectivity Services with Microsoft SQL Server including an Overview of the Business Connectivity Services, an Introduction to Configuring BCS, and Demonstrations of using External Lists and External Data Columns.

Session Level: Advanced

Tom Resing

Tom is a Microsoft Certified Master in SharePoint. He is passionate about online collaboration technologies and loves being active in the SharePoint Community. Tom has been blogging about SharePoint for the last 5 years after certifying on the 2007 platform. Tom has enjoyed 15 years in the internet industry developing products and web site functionality in Perl, C++, Java, VB.Net and C#. With SharePoint, Tom prefers an Out of the Box approach to deployment.

Contact URL: http://tomresing.com

 

2:25PM - Adding Metro Style Navigation to a SharePoint Site

This is a walk through of how to create a Metro Sytle Navigation to a SharePoint Site, potentially including exposing high level Core Metrics in tiles to bubble that key information to users.

Session Level: Intermediate

Bill Watters 

Speaker photoI am a Nerd who loves soccer, hanging with my family and sharing what I learn. I have been in IT for over 15 years and focused on Portal Solutions for the last 10. I am currently highly focused on BI Integration with SharePoint and making data more accessable to users.

Contact URL: http://wattersbill72.wordpress.com