Conferences and Classes

The speakers are great, but the audience is great, too! One of the great things about the SQLPASS Summit is the annual Women in Technology lunch. Not only does the lunch feature an interesting presentation, but you get to talk to men and women at your table about diversity, how to build better teams, and how…

I’m Killing It at PASS Summit 2015!

Last Updated February 12, 2017

Doug Lane

I’m delighted and honored to be presenting two sessions at the 2015 PASS Summit in Seattle: “Living and Dying by Dynamic SQL” and “SQL Server Mystery: Dead Reports Don’t Talk”. Since I’ve never done either of these sessions at the Summit before, here’s a little more information about the sessions to help you decide whether to attend:…

PASS Summit #FreeCon2015: What We’re Talking About

Last Updated February 13, 2017

#SQLPass, Blogging, SQL Server

FreeCon SQLSaturday Chicago 2012 On the Monday before the PASS Summit in Seattle this year, we’re putting on another one of our FreeCons. The FreeCon is different from a typical conference pre-con – it’s free, and it’s about the SQL Server community, presenting, marketing, branding, networking, and yes, some technical stuff too. In the past,…

#SQLPASS #Summit14 Keynote LiveBlog: Dr. Rimma Nehme

Last Updated November 6, 2014

8:25AM Pacific: Goooood morning Seattle! It’s time for day 2 of the PASS Summit, and this morning we’ve got a technical keynote lined up. I’m a much bigger fan of these than the day 1 marketing keynotes. Dr. Rimma Nehme from the Microsoft Gray Systems Lab is talking Cloud Databases 101. Here’s the abstract: Cloud…

Announcing the 2015 #SQLPASS FreeCon (and taking applications)

Last Updated February 12, 2017

Four years ago, we put on the FreeCon: a free invitation-only pre-conference event before the PASS Summit here in Seattle. The FreeCon was like a pre-conference session focused on your career and the SQL Server community. The goal was to spark fires, encourage people to reach for new levels of community contribution, and build connections to help…

#SQLPASS Summit 2014 Keynote LiveBlog

Last Updated February 12, 2017

10:03AM – Ranga back onstage to finish things up. Thanking Pier 1 for letting them share the exploratory work. And we’re out! 10:00AM – Power BI adding a new authoring and editing mode. James removes the pie chart and replaces it on the fly. Now that is knowing your audience – nice job. 9:58AM –…

SQL Server Query Store

Last Updated December 19, 2017

#SQLPass, Execution Plans, Query Store (QDS), SQL Server

Execution Plan Hell I spend most of my day tuning SQL Server to make it go faster. I’m usually called in after the fact, when the app has become intolerably slow. One of the first things I ask is, “What’s changed?” Nobody ever knows with any sense of accuracy. I understand – until now, SQL Server hasn’t…

Change Your #SQLPASS Password Right Now.

Last Updated February 12, 2017

What you need to do: log into SQLpass.org and change your password. If you use the same password anywhere else, change it on all of those sites immediately as well. Why you need to do it: anytime you ever logged into SQLpass.org or SQLsaturday.com, or updated your password, or created an account, your password (along…

Developers: You Don’t Need a DBA. I’ll Prove It.

Last Updated February 12, 2017

That’s right, you heard me, and I’ll prove it on a really big stage. I’m honored to announce that I’ll be the first speaker at this year’s 24 Hours of PASS: Summit Preview Edition. On Tuesday, September 9th, join me for my newest session: “Developers: Who Needs a DBA?” Here’s the abstract: You store data in…

#SQLPASS Speakers: Here’s How to Improve Your Session

Last Updated February 12, 2017

#SQLPass, Writing and Presenting

This year there’s a couple of special challenges you need to keep in mind for projecting your beautiful knowledge out to the audience. Fixing the Contrast Levels PASS distributes a custom PowerPoint template – looks great this year – but the contrast level is extremely light. The template uses light blue and light gray text…

Our Sessions at the #SQLPASS Summit 2014

Last Updated June 25, 2014

#SQLPass, Writing and Presenting

The session list has been published, and we’re excited to say all of us have been selected to speak at the PASS Summit again this year. Here’s our sessions: Are Your Indexes Hurting You or Helping You? – Jes Schultz Borland – Queries need your help! Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to…

Alaska has a SQL Server User Group!

Last Updated February 13, 2014

Doug Lane

Alaska is on the PASS map! I’m really stoked to share the news: Alaska (my home state) finally has a PASS Chapter of its own! The group just got started last December, and officially welcomed into the PASS organization at the end of January. While they don’t have a Facebook or Twitter account yet, they…

#SQLPASS #Summit13 Women in Technology Lunch – Live!

Last Updated February 12, 2017

Jes Schultz

Welcome to the second day of #SQLPASS #Summit13! I’ve been having a blast this week – presenting a precon with Brent and Kendra, watching great speakers like Erin Stellato and Bob Ward, chatting at the Community Zone, and walking the vendor booths. Today is one of my favorite events – the annual Women In Technology…

#SQLPASS #Summit2013 Professor DeWitt Keynote

Last Updated August 11, 2019

#SQLPass, In-Memory OLTP (Hekaton), SQL Server

This morning at the PASS Summit, we have the pleasure of listening to Professor David DeWitt talk about Hekaton internals. I’m actually not going to liveblog this – I’m going to sit back and take in the presentation as an attendee because it’s going to be so damn good, and I’m not going to be…

#SQLPASS #Summit2013 Microsoft Keynote Liveblog

Last Updated February 12, 2017

Charlotte, NC – Your intrepid reporter is onsite at the convention center, settling in at the Blogger’s Table. At 8:15AM Eastern time, PASS President Bill Graziano will take the stage, discuss PASS, and then hand things over to Microsoft’s Quentin Clark for product announcements. Some of the things I’m looking for include: Attendance numbers on…

Celebrating Two Years of sp_Blitz® (And a New Version)

Last Updated February 13, 2017

#SQLPass, First Responder Kit, SQL Server

Two years ago this week, I took to the stage at the PASS Summit 2011 and unveiled sp_Blitz®, my free health check stored procedure that helps you rapidly take over SQL Servers you’ve never seen before. Some historical highlights include: 117,125 downloads 117 checks (technically much more than that, because we look for variations of…

Make SQL Apps Go Faster – Only 60 Seats Left!

Last Updated February 12, 2017

Kendra Little

In just a few weeks, Brent, Jes and I will be giving a full day pre-conference session at the SQLPASS 2013 Conference in Charlotte, North Carolina. Our pre-conference will be Tuesday, October 15, 2013. There’s only a few seats left! This pre-con’s going to be killer– we’ve got 240 folks registered and ready to learn.…

What Does the #SQLPASS Board of Directors Do?

Last Updated February 12, 2017

The PASS Board of Directors election is coming up, so I sat down with Allen Kinsel (Blog – @AllenKinsel) to get some insight. Allen knows first-hand. Brent: The PASS Board of Directors election is coming. What exactly do Board members do? Allen: Board Members set the direction and future vision for the organization. In a…

51 Questions About Your Conference Session Submission

Last Updated November 25, 2021