Free SQL Server Training Events

Your company’s broke, but you need SQL Server training?  There’s plenty of upcoming events that you should check out:

September 1: 24 Hours of PASS

The Professional Association for SQL Server is running 24 back-to-back sessions.  Topics include:

• Effective Indexing by Gail Shaw (Blog)
• SSIS Tips and Tricks by Simon Sabin (Blog)
• What’s Simple About Simple Recovery Mode by Kalen Delaney (Blog)

And many more!  You can register now for the 24 Hours of PASS (although the registration form appears to be borked right now).  Some of the times are pretty crazy, though – for example, I’m just not getting up at 1am to watch a webcast, even if it’s free.  I’ve asked PASS if we’ll be able to see archived versions.

October 21-22: Quest Connect

On October 21-22, Quest Software will be running their annual free webcast event for IT workers.  The speakers are top-notch – Quest has a lot of subject matter experts like me for all of our different systems management tools, including:

• Dmitry Sotnikov (Cloud Blog – PowerShell Blog – Twitter) – cloud expert, PowerShell expert, Microsoft MVP.
• Jackson Shaw (Blog – Twitter) – Active Directory & identity management expert.
• Joel Oleson (Blog – Twitter) – SharePoint expert and Microsoft MVP.
• Kirk Munro (Blog – Twitter) – PowerShell expert and Microsoft MVP.
• Me (but you already knew that, ha ha ho ho)

And many more Quest speakers like our CEO Doug Garn, our VP of Worldwide Support Kim Kinnison, etc.  (If you’re a Quest employee and you’re wondering why you didn’t make the bullet list, it’s because you ain’t got no links.  Help a brotha out.)

But wait – there’s more! We’ve also got industry experts like:

• Grant Fritchey (Blog – Twitter) – Principal DBA for FM Global, an industry-leading engineering and insurance company.  Author of SQL Server Query Performance Tuning Distilled.
• Tim Ford (Blog – Twitter) – Senior Database Administrator for Spectrum Health Hospital System and a PASS volunteer since 2002.
• Tom LaRock (Blog – Twitter) – DBA Manager for a global financial firm, a member of the PASS Board of Directors, and Microsoft MVP.

I’ll post more details about our sessions as we get closer, but here’s a sneak peek: Grant will be giving you insight into reading and interpreting execution plans, and Tim & Tom will be co-presenting with me about “A Sysadmin’s Guide to SQL Server.”  The webcasts will mostly be on-demand, so they’ll work around your schedule.  I’m excited about the material, and I know the event itself is going to be a ton of fun.  Not only is it free, but you’ll have the chance to win some pretty cool prizes too.

You can register now for Quest Connect 2009.

Ongoing Quest Webcasts and In-Person Events

Quest invests pretty heavily in their subject matter experts to get us out in front of the community as much as possible.  We do more than just database administration seminars, too.  At the Quest upcoming events list, you can register for webcasts like this Thursday’s SQL Server Book Corner with me, Kevin Kline, Grant Fritchey and Ross Mistry.

You can also watch dozens of on-demand webcast archives, too.  Those require registration, but it’s worth it, because these are hour-long sessions covering topics in depth.

If you’re just desperately devoted to me personally and you want to watch every webcast I do (and who wouldn’t?) you can check out my own upcoming events page, where I list the local seminars I’m doing too.

In-Person Regional Events: SQLSaturday and PASS Chapters

If you’re willing to leave Mom’s basement, you can get in-person live training from other DBAs for free too.  Check out Kendal Van Dyke’s list of upcoming SQLSaturday events, and peruse the list of local Professional Association for SQL Server chapters.  Both of these are great ways to learn something for nothing.

Don’t just choose one of these methods – absorb as much free training as possible, whenever your schedule permits.

Brent Ozar

Brent specializes in performance tuning for SQL Server, VMware, and storage. He's one of the very few Microsoft Certified Masters of SQL Server, a published author, and a Microsoft MVP. He likes travel, Jeeps, Apple gear, jokes, and writing about himself in the third person. Read more and contact Brent.

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