The Professional Association for SQL Server Summit is being held again this November in Seattle, and the Call to Speakers is now open. You can only submit 4 sessions, which seemed very small to me until I realized that I do entirely too many presentations.
In Twitter, somebody mentioned that it’d be a good idea if we could see what abstracts had been submitted so that we didn’t all try to cover the exact same topics. With that in mind, I’m listing my abstracts here, but lemme tell you something: don’t let my abstracts hold you back from submitting sessions with the same topics as me. Well, not the exact same – at least change the wording, maybe fix my typos.
Famous or Infamous? Turn Your Brand Up to Eleven
Blogging and Twittering aren’t just social distractions: they can be instrumental in your career by helping you to make more money, get yourself in front of the right clients and put you ahead of other job candidates.
Brent Ozar has been blogging at BrentOzar.com since 2002, and it paid off in 2008 when he was hired at Quest Software as a SQL Server Expert. He’ll explain how blogging and Twittering helped his career, and why he believes social networking and brand-building will be critical in the coming years.
Tom LaRock started blogging at SQLBatman.com using Brent’s guidelines. He’ll act as a devil’s advocate, and help draw the line between zealous online marketing and practical tips for people who make a living doing database administration, not blogging. He’ll explain what parts are easy for DBAs to do, and what parts require time and attention.
Session Goals:
- Learn how to start and configure a blog and a Twitter account
- Learn how to position yourself on the Internet and get noticed in all the noise
- Hear real-world stories about when blogs turned from positive assets into dangerous liabilities
Yes, I’m Actually Using The Cloud
There’s a lot of hype around cloud-based databases. After you get past the knee-jerk reaction about security, what else matters? Is it time to buy in, and what should you watch out for? Brent explains some of the pros and cons hes experienced running SQL Servers in the cloud, and will demonstrate how easy it is to fire up a new SQL Server in the cloud.
Brent’s involved with StackOverflow.com as an advisor, and he’ll talk about the decisions they made about whether to host production and/or disaster recovery servers in the cloud.
Session Goals:
- Learn to estimate an application’s costs in the cloud
- Learn options for cloud-based disaster recovery
- Learn how to talk to developers & managers about cloud database options
DRP101: Learn the Difference Between Your Log and Your Cluster
Developers and accidental DBAs: if you know more about how SQL Server handles crashes and disasters, you’ll be able to make a better decision about how to prepare. In this session, Brent will cover all of SQL Servers backup and high availability options at a high level, including clustering, log shipping, mirroring, replication and more. Hell show the pros and cons of each, and teach you how to pick the right method for your application. We won’t have enough time to dive into actual implementation demos due to the number of solutions we’ll cover, but we’ll show screen shots and give links to the best resources for each method.
No prerequisites! This session is targeted at DBAs and developers who don’t know their cluster from their logs.
Session Goals:
- Learn the difference between high availability and disaster recovery
- Learn real-world drawbacks of each solution
- Learn which methods complement each other for even better protection
Social Networking for IT Professionals
Jason Massie and I are co-submitting this one, and we’re putting the abstract for this together over the weekend.
I find this hilariously appropriate because Jason & I met each other via Twitter, started a web site together, and I’ve never even met the guy. If this session gets approved, we’re going to be meeting for the first time at the very conference where we’re going to speak about social networking! It’d be even funnier if we pledged not to see each other face to face until the session is about to start, but I dunno if I can go that far. Only if the session is scheduled for the first day.
Submit Your Abstracts Today!
I submitted abstracts last year and got turned down. At the last minute, a few speakers couldn’t make it, and PASS asked me if I could go forward with one of my presentations. For me, that was the best possible thing to happen: I got the privilege to speak at PASS, but I didn’t have any of the worries ahead of time like polishing my presentation over and over to make sure it was good enough. They were just happy to have me speak.
I’m hoping that same approach works this year: I’ve asked the selection committee to please turn my sessions down, and I’ll write them anyway in hopes that another speaker gets food poisoning or hit by a bus. In order for this plan to work, I need other speakers to be approved, and that’s where you come in. Give it your best shot – I’m counting on you. Thanks. I’ll send flowers.
3 Comments. Leave new
I guess sending flowers is better than sending bad sushi…..
It would be hillarious if you met onstage for the first time. It would be like one of those stupid blind date shows. If your session gets accepted you should bring flowers onstage for Jason Massie.
Are you interested in having Lon Safko the Author of The Social Media Bible as a speaker at PASS 2009?
Gerald – sorry, but the speakers for PASS 2009 have already been chosen. Thanks anyway!