30Aug 2010 by Grant Fritchey 4 Comments

Upcoming Presentations: #24HOP & #SQLSAT46

PASS
Blogging has been a bit quiet of late. That's because I've been spending a lot my spare time getting ready for presentations that I have to give. Two of them are in about two weeks. First, and this one is going to be a big deal, is 24 Hours of Pass: Summit Preview. At the PASS Summit this year I have two spotlight sessions, both on tricks and tools for tuning queries, one on using execution plans and the other on using DMVs. Since the 24HOP presentation is supposed to be a lead-in to the PASS presentations, I decided that before you started tuning queries, you need to know which queries to tune. The presentation is titled: Identifying Costly Queries. I understand there are already nearly 2000 people registered. Let's…
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23Aug 2010 by Grant Fritchey 4 Comments

PASS Elections

PASS
There are a lot of things I'd like to say about the PASS elections. I was on vacation last week when the news about the slate of candidates broke. I've gone through a lot of emotions thinking about this, which is funny, because, really, what does it matter? But, because of the people, and let's face it, PASS is nothing without the people involved, it does matter. But, I've decided to say as little as possible because I'm not convinced I can add constructively to the conversation and that is what is most needed at this time. First, I want to endorse a few candidates. The people I'm going to endorse, I'm endorsing because I know them personally. I've worked with them, I've talked to them, I've read their stuff.…
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11Aug 2010 by Grant Fritchey 3 Comments

24 Hours of PASS: Summit Preview

PASS, T-SQL
Registration is open for the second 24 Hours of PASS this year. This one is going to be a preview of the Summit itself. So all the sessions are tied, in some manner, to sessions being given at the summit.Here's a link to go and register. I'm very excited to be able to say that I'll be presenting in this 24HOP. One of my presentations at the Summit this year is Identifying and Fixing Performance Problems Using Execution Plans. It covers pretty much what it says, methods for fixing performance problems by exploring the information available within execution plans. But, how do you know you have a performance problem? That's where my preview session comes in. Identifying Costly Queries will show you several ways to gather metrics on your system so that you…
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16Jul 2010 by Grant Fritchey 4 Comments

Steve Jones to Run for PASS Board

PASS
I couldn't hide the lead. Steve Jones (blog|twitter) has announced he's running for the PASS board. I'm excited. I'm almost as excited as if I were going to run. Steve is not simply a major influencer in what we call the SQL Community. He brings two things to the party that I think are going to make him very successful on the board. First, he gets things done. He just does. He's one of those guys that seems to keep it together, just enough, to accomplish stuff. Second, he has real ideas. He's not someone who is simply going to iron out a wrinkle or three at the Summit. He's going to propose stuff that will make a difference. Put those two things together and I think we've got reason to…
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25Jun 2010 by Grant Fritchey No Comments

PASS Board Nominations

PASS
If you haven't heard, please allow me to let you in on a little secret. The Professional Association of SQL Server users (PASS) is holding open nominations for the board. If you are interested in running for the board or know someone who should run for the board, get to this location as soon as possible and get their name in. I feel that PASS does a lot for individual database users all over the world. I know people who take the contrary position and say that PASS doesn't do anything for them. If you're of that opinion, that's great. As a matter of fact, if you're of that opinion, I'd suggest you should run for the board. Now is your chance to make a difference. Now is the time…
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09Jun 2010 by Grant Fritchey 2 Comments

PASS 2010 Submissions

PASS
Since all the cool kids seem to be posting the sessions that they submitted to the PASS Summit, nerd that I am, I'll follow along and do the same. I submitted four sessions, two by invitation for a Spotlight session and two for regular sessions. I tried to branch out a bit from where I've been in the past to see if I can start talking about different topics. With that in mind, the first session was: Spatial Data: The Business Case We've all seen the cool presentations showing all the pizza joints near the conference center or all the bicycle shops on a biking route, but what's the case for spatial data and business? This session sets out to show how spatial data can be of interest to almost…
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27Apr 2010 by Grant Fritchey 2 Comments

PASS Summit, Kilt Wednesday

PASS
Last year at the PASS Summit we held a silly little event called Kilt Wednesday. Only three people took part, but it was very popular nonetheless. Here's a sample of what it looked like. This year is looking to be a lot bigger. Keep an eye on Twitter for updates under the hash tag: #sqlkilt. If you're going to the 2010 Summit, bring your kilt for Wednesday. Ladies, you're invited too. This is an unofficial event and has nothing to do with the PASS organization. We're just having a little fun. Remember, Seattle is home to Utilikilts, so you can pick up a kilt while you're there.
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22Apr 2010 by Grant Fritchey No Comments

PASS Summit Content Survey Results

PASS
The results of a survey conducted by the PASS organization have been posted (thanks to the Board for all their work, again). Since getting to speak at PASS is a competition, I really shouldn't be pointing this out, because I'd like to speak again. However, if you're trying to decide whether or not a detailed discussion of Windows Server 2008 Collation would be more interesting to the attendees than a session on Filtered Indexes (it wouldn't) you can go check it out on the survey. It should help you make better choices for what the attendees want to see. Of course, if everyone runs off and submits sessions on the same four or five topics, that's going to open up others. Regardless, this is a service to the attendees because…
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20Apr 2010 by Grant Fritchey 2 Comments

SQL Saturday #39, New York, New York

PASS
A town so big they named it twice. If you're not excited about SQL Saturday in NYC this weekend... why not? Take a look at the schedule. There are some excellent speakers presenting there. This is going to be a great opportunity to learn a lot of stuff, network with your peers, and possibly pick up a bit of free swag. What's not to like? See old friends, meet new friends, learn stuff and all for free. I'm presenting a session called MUQT (pronounced "MUCK" the T is silent because we shouldn't be doing this).
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14Apr 2010 by Grant Fritchey 23 Comments

The SQL Server Community

PASS
I attended, and spoke at, the inaugural meeting of the Seacoast SQL Server User's group last night. There were about 60 people in attendance. An excellent turn-out and congratulations go out to Mike Walsh (blog | twitter) and the other organizers. I was curious about something after watching Mike present the PASS monthly slide-deck. He asked how many people were PASS members. Approximately a third of the audience raised their hands. When it was my turn to speak, I asked how many people had heard of Buck Woody (blog | twitter). I was honestly shocked when only about 6 people raised their hands. Then I asked how many had heard of Paul Randal (blog | twitter). This time I had about 9-12 people. Finally, I asked about Brent Ozar (blog…
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