Boy, have I got a weird challenge for you, dear reader.
When Erik & I started building Expert Performance Tuning for SQL Server 2016 & 2017, our PASS Summit pre-con, I talked with the PASS staff about the attendance record for pre-cons. I thought, “Wouldn’t it be cool if we had the biggest pre-con ever?”
Turns out the record attendance number is 269. Gulp. That’s a pretty big number to beat, especially when pre-con sales might be down this year given the Halloween date, and the fact that there’s a good lineup of pre-cons on Tuesday. So you can imagine my surprise when I asked for a sales update last week, and…
You’ve already bought 279 seats.
You beat the record, and we’re still over a month out from the event!
So that got us to thinking in the company chat room: what would it be like to run a Kickstarter-type set of stretch goals? What would you folks want if we hit 300, 350, or 400 attendees?
Keep in mind that they shouldn’t be bulky physical items like t-shirts or hoodies because we can’t easily drag 300 t-shirts into the conference center. But what about virtual goods, or small things that are easy to carry in?
We’re already giving every attendee an Enterprise/Everything Bundle for 1 year, but here’s some of the other things we’ve thought about as stretch goals:
- Longer bundle access (say, 2 years or 3)
- Bundle access for a friend, too
- Special 1-time-only commemorative stickers
That’s where you come in, dear reader: what would you want? We’ll pick our favorites this week, and if you were the first one to suggest something we end up doing, we’ll give you a free Enterprise/Everything Bundle too.
34 Comments. Leave new
I think you two should dub the voices for a buddy scene from a movie. Suggestions: Buzz Lightyear arrival from Toy Story; horse chase and jump sequence from Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid; Narrator meets Tyler Durdin from Fight Club; Jon Snow & Tormund from Game of Thrones.
HAHAHA, other than the legal problems, I think we’d be all for it. Although we’d probably go for something 1980s. Maybe Heathers.
If you’re going to go 80s’ go with Tango & Cash then.
WOW! I loved that movie, hahaha. Haven’t thought of that in forever.
I could totally picture you in Heathers, Brent. Really any scene. But Erik? I’m thinking something more.. I don’t know. Not quite GG Allin. Maybe Rock N’ Roll High School. Or maybe the Sid and Nancy movie (http://amzn.to/2xljd7d)
That’s not a bad idea. Brent is a dead ringer for Nancy.
HAHAHA
Everlasting life, and a sticker.
“For values of everlasting”
Or we could immortalize everybody in a comment in sp_Blitz, hahaha.
I know my request is not possible, you guys have those cool coffe mugs.
Yeah, I love those, but dragging 300 of those around would suuuuuck. We’ve got about 30-40 of them in my apartment, and they come bubble wrapped. They take up a TON of space, and even bubble wrapped, they still break. (sigh) I wish we could do that, too.
How about if you reach 400 , then random select 4 people that can join the team during office hours. That would be cool.
As long as one of the people randomly selected is Pinal Dave, I’m all in.
DANG, we should just invite him no matter what.
That would rock. I love his groupby session.
I think you should get one mini bible type leather book bound of all your best blogs or and memorable quotes and give it away in a lottery Get the book Branded up of course. Oh and get all the team to sign it.
Select somebody at random to come on the next company retreat!
Or just give away seats to the in-person or online classes.
Give everyone a free BlackBerry Classic, preloaded with all your direct numbers and one months’ worth of free technical advise.
(Note, I have no skin in this game, I’m not going to PASS Summit)
UNSUBSCRIBE
How about if attendance hits 300, everyone gets a ticket for a bay cruise with a beverage of their choice?:
http://bit.ly/2yb6H7R
Or a ticket to the museum of pop culture:
https://www.mopop.org/
Or, even better, a tour of Bill Gates house by Bill and Melinda. 🙂
Hahaha, I think you overestimate the presenter’s share of the revenue, heh. 😀
Forgot a link:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Gates%27s_house
Give 1-5 lucky persons a physical or virtual tour at Microsoft headquarters where SQL Server is actually developed.
EP – you read this blog, right?
You think Microsoft is waiting at the door for me, holding it open, inviting me and my friends in? 😀
I accidentally signed up for the e-mail notifications and I saw your comment Brent, and I literally spit a little coffee out of my mouth. I could picture a certain.. Well anyway. I laughed.
Well they say keep your friends close and your enemies closer 🙂
Free consultation for 10 random winners?
The way our consulting works, that would be nearly three months of free work. Not sure that quite balances out ?
“I Survived Erik & Brent’s Precon” badge ribbons and stickers?
Rubber masks in the faces of your staff for the Halloween party (a la Game of Thrones)?
OOH! OOH! I know!
Magnets. Brent Ozar Unlimited Magnets.
What could go wrong?
¯\_(?)_/¯
HAHAHA, I was actually surprised nobody had said this yet. I was just laughing about it with Erika this weekend.
You know I got that plate in my head.
PBR’s and fried seafood