SQL Connections Fall 2011 Speaker Evaluations

In keeping with the past, I’m going to go ahead and post my evals for the two sessions I did at Connections in Vegas back in November. It was a mixed conference for me. The first session I had ~80 people. The second session I had 9. Yeah, weird. But there were great speakers there (as usual) so I’m hardly shocked that I had low attendance, but the funny thing is I expected the sessions to be reversed. The low one was the session I lavished love & attention on. The high one wasn’t given as much of my focus. Figures.

Here are the evals. I love how Connections shows the high, mean and low so you get a sense of how you fit.

SQL Server Optimization Checklist (36 responses)

Q1. Speaker’s knowledge of topic
Your average score for this session: 3.83 Highest score (all SQL Server speakers for this question): 4.0 Mean average score (all SQL Server speakers for this question): 3.77 Lowest score (all SQL Server speakers for this question): 3.32

Q2. Speaker’s presentation skills
Your average score for this session: 3.89 Highest score (all SQL Server speakers for this question): 4.0 Mean average score (all SQL Server speakers for this question): 3.53 Lowest score (all SQL Server speakers for this question): 2.59

Q3. Content of Speaker’s slides/visual aids
Your average score for this session: 3.64 Highest score (all SQL Server speakers for this question): 4.0 Mean average score (all SQL Server speakers for this question): 3.51 Lowest score (all SQL Server speakers for this question): 3.0

Q4. Speaker’s ability to control discussions and keep session moving
Your average score for this session: 3.83 Highest score (all SQL Server speakers for this question): 4.0 Mean average score (all SQL Server speakers for this question): 3.6 Lowest score (all SQL Server speakers for this question): 3.06

Q5. Accuracy of session description
Your average score for this session: 3.8 Highest score (all SQL Server speakers for this question): 4.0 Mean average score (all SQL Server speakers for this question): 3.59 Lowest score (all SQL Server speakers for this question): 3.0

Q6. I got what I expected from this session
Your average score for this session: 3.78 Highest score (all SQL Server speakers for this question): 4.0 Mean average score (all SQL Server speakers for this question): 3.44 Lowest score (all SQL Server speakers for this question): 2.56

Q7. Overall evaluation of this session
Your average score for this session: 3.86 Highest score (all SQL Server speakers for this question): 4.0 Mean average score (all SQL Server speakers for this question): 3.54 Lowest score (all SQL Server speakers for this question): 2.75

Overall the details are about what you would expect. Most of the numbers are in the middle to high range. But there was one person who did not like this session at all. I received lots of low marks from her/him.

Comments (my response in parenthesis):

• Best session so far!

• Need more examples. (there were none in this session, adding them would require cutting other stuff, not sure what to cut here to add other stuff. Not sure if I should, still, something to consider)

• Great presentation!

• Great sessions.

• Grater[sic] use of hand puppets. (I am working on this. Maybe reveal my new skills at Tech On Tap)

• Great session and Q & A.

• One of the best sessions of the conference.

• Great info and very engaging presentation! Best of conference.

• Great info. Thank you. Best session so far by far.

• This is an excellent session on information and content.

• One of the best sessions this conference, very interactive.

• Demos might of helped refer back to his book. This way would be good intro to material with follow up. So what if you are referencing a book. (Excellent points. Thanks)

• Icy cold room. Noise I back hall was annoying. Grant’s a great speaker. Very clear and to the point. Liked encouragement of audience participation.

• Awesome session! I will be able to start using what I learned immediately.

In short, I think I can be proud of this one.

Lucky 7: Seven Different Solutions for Bad Parameter Sniffing (3 Responses)

I was so happy with this presentation. I really expected a big audience. Ah well. The evals were all 4.0. Thanks everyone. Here’s the one comment:

• I know the attendance was low, but it was a great session. Completely new material for me.

That’s the kind of comment you live for.

Thanks to everyone who attended and thank you all for your feedback. It’s a gift and I truly appreciate it.