22Aug 2012 by Grant Fritchey 1 Comment

24 Hours of PASS, Fall 2012

PASS, SQL Server, T-SQL, Tools
It's time to get your learn on again. The schedule for the Fall 24 Hours of PASS is up and ready for registration. This is the Summit preview session, so many (most, all) of the speakers are showing off some of what you can learn at their sessions at the PASS Summit 2012 itself. It looks like a pretty exciting bunch of topics given by some of the best professionals in the industry. I'll be presenting Three Ways to Identify Slow Running Queries on September 20th, 1400 GMT. This is just a sub-set of the information that I'll be presenting during my all day pre-conference seminar, Query Performance Tuning: Start to Finish. The full seminar I talk about how to measure the performance of your systems, identify which queries are…
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16Aug 2012 by Grant Fritchey 3 Comments

Coming to Your Town

PASS, Professional Development
I can't sing and I can't play and I left the young generation behind a while ago, but I'm still coming to your town, or maybe one near you. Between August and December I'm hitting a substantial portion of the country, so if you want to have a little fun, discuss SQL Server, network, or just chat, here are your chances. Please, ask me questions. Please, walk right up and say hello because we can learn from each other and I love my SQL Family. Here's where I'm going to be: SQL Saturday #125 in Oklahoma City, August 25: Only one presentation here, Top Tips for T-SQL Performance, but it's a fun presentation. Register now because time is running out. SQL Saturday #156 in Providence, RI, September 15: This is…
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27Jun 2012 by Grant Fritchey 5 Comments

The New Phone Book Is Here!

PASS
I can't help it. I get really terribly excited when I publish a book. Maybe it should be old hat. Maybe I should be jaded. But I'm just a 12 year old (it's been argued 10) in reality so I get really, really jumping up & down excited when I get that wad of paper and my name is on the cover. It just doesn't seem to get old. What am I talking about? Oh, sorry. Let me explain. After about nine months of work, my new, revised edition, of the Query Performance Tuning book is available. I want to publicly, and loudly, thank Joe Sack(blog|twitter) for the incredible job he did as tech editor. His hard work, and ruthless criticism, made this book what it is. Despite the scar…
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19Jun 2012 by Grant Fritchey 2 Comments

PASS Summit 2012

PASS
I sure hope you’re planning on attending the PASS Summit this year. If you’re not, you might want to reconsider. They’ve just released the list of sessions. You should click this link and check them out. There’s going to be some magnificent instruction available in all aspects of SQL Server. You don’t want to miss it. On a personal note, I’m doing an all-day pre-conference seminar on query performance tuning. It’s called “Query Performance Tuning: Start to Finish.” The pre-con’s, as we call them, are an additional cost on top of the cost of the Summit itself. But you’re flying out to Seattle anyway. Why not attend a full day of learning, walk away with a little more knowledge under your belt. I’m going to give you as much information…
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13Jun 2012 by Grant Fritchey 2 Comments

PASS Nomination Committee

PASS
For some reason, which isn’t completely clear to me, we’re voting for part of the members of the Nomination Committee who will work their buns off (make no mistake, this is not a glamor posting) to pick and choose from the people applying to be possible candidates for the PASS Board to arrive at a final slate. This voting opens today, although you can’t seem to vote from the web site, but have to wait for an email to show up (not yet in my Inbox). Regardless of the confusion I feel about this, I’m going to vote for the people I think will do a good job. You should too if you’re a member of PASS. I know almost every one of these people personally. Any of them will…
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16May 2012 by Grant Fritchey 18 Comments

Don’t You Know Who I Am?

PASS, Professional Development
I’m happy to say that for most of you out there, the answer to this question is “no.” That’s as it should be. I’m not anyone all that special. I present technical sessions at various events from local user group meetings to SQL Saturday’s to international events like the PASS Summit and 24 Hours of PASS. Why? Not because the attendees know my name, that’s for sure. It’s because of a combination of at least two of these three things: The organizers might know my name or may know of my books or the fact that I’m working for a vendor that sponsors their event I’ve submitted sessions that seem to be of interest to the people who might be attending the event being organized I’ve got a track record…
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08Mar 2012 by Grant Fritchey 1 Comment

Let’s Talk

PASS, Professional Development
I’m travelling to several upcoming events and I’d love to sit down and talk with you. Yes, I get it, most of these events you’re going to see the sessions, but you really should plan on networking too. Here’s your chance to get started on that: Southern New England SQL Server Users Group, East Greenwich,RI – 3/14/2012: TSQL Deployment and Continuous Integration Best Practices SQL Saturday 120, Orange County - 3/24/2012: I’m presenting two times here. They’re both presentations that I’m working up for Connections. Common Backup Problems and How To Deal With Them TSQL Deployment and Continuous Integration Best Practices SQL Connections:Las Vegas 3/26 – 3/29/2012: I get it. You don’t go to Vegas to network. That doesn’t mean you can’t still do that too. I’m presenting three sessions.…
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19Dec 2011 by Grant Fritchey 2 Comments

PASS Summit 2012 Evaluation Results

PASS, Professional Development
I say it all the time because it’s worth repeating, feedback is a gift. Good, bad or indifferent (well, not indifferent), feedback is a wonderful gift. Any time you appreciate a speaker, give them feedback. Any time you think a speaker could improve, give them feedback. Any time you hate a speaker, give them feedback. It’s really the best thing you can do. With that in mind, I have a huge stack of gifts in front of me here, the evaluations from the PASS Summit.Thank you very much to each and every one of the 160 different evaluations I received. I presented three times at the summit, once on a pre-con with Gail Shaw called “All About Execution Plans,” one time in a spotlight session called “DMOs as a Shortcut…
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17Oct 2011 by Grant Fritchey 4 Comments

PASS Summit 2011: Wrap-Up

PASS
Another Summit done gone by and I’m exhausted. You know you did the Summit correctly if you’re crawling onto the plane to leave because you can no longer stand. That’s where I was on Saturday. I’m going to go ahead and write down a few thoughts about the Summit, but I want to point you over to Andy Leonard’s (blog|twitter) blog for what is a truly great summary. I won’t blame you if you read that & skip this. Still here? This year the Summit was amazing. I think it’s probably the best run Summit I’ve attended. From registration on Sunday night, to the final sessions on Friday, everything was dealt with in a timely and professional fashion that made the place a joy to attend. Huge kudos to the…
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14Oct 2011 by Grant Fritchey 4 Comments

PASS Keynote Day #3: Dr. Dewitt

PASS
And we’re off. We opened with a video of people saying “Connect, Share, Learn” and “This, is Community” Rob Farley & Buck Woody came out with a song about long running queries. [8:20]Wayne Snyder has been working with the PASS organization since 1999. He spoke at the first PASS Summit and he’s been on the board forever. He has finally hit the point as immediate-past president where he has to leave the board. We’ve got a great little thank you for him from all sorts of people. Wayne is a magnificent guy, seriously. If you see him, thank him for his service. [8:28]We have a new executive committee, Bill Graziano as President, WHOOP, Douglas McDowell is Executive Vice-President and Thomas LaRock is VP of Marketing and finally, Rushabh Mehta is…
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