sqlpass

3 Reasons the #SQLPASS BA-Con Will Fail (And 1 Reason It’s Happening)

analytics, conference, sqlpass
78 Comments
Conferences have 4 parts: The attendees The material The speakers The organization Problem 1: PASS Doesn’t Have Enough Analytics Speakers or Content. PASS tried running a couple of business analytics (BA) conferences and got feedback from the attendees that the material wasn’t quite right. That’s because PASS’s traditional SQL-Server-focused membership doesn’t have enough presenters who can talk about real-world experience with cutting-edge analytics technologies. As a result, PASS has decided to skip the community call for speakers and instead just approach BA speakers with money. Read the PASS Board meeting minutes (PDF) for more details, including juicy details about free hands-on labs for the…
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#SQLPASS Election Interview with James Rowland-Jones

#passvotes, pass, sqlpass
1 Comment
PASS (the artist formerly known as the Professional Association for SQL Server) is about to hold their Board of Directors election. There are 3 spots open, and 4 people in the running. James Rowland-Jones is currently on the PASS Board, and this is his first time running for re-election. I wholeheartedly, wildly endorse James because I’m biased. I’ve known him for years in several capacities: As a sponsor manager – I worked with him back in my Quest Software days when I was an evangelist and he was managing vendor relationships for SQLbits. As a coauthor – on our book, Pro SQL…
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Announcing the New Business Analytics Conference

analytics, marketing, sqlpass
1 Comment
(Dear reader – PASS just announced a few changes to BAC 2015. The strangely-worded announcement is already causing a hubbub on Twitter, and I thought, “There’s gotta be a way to say this stuff clearly and positively.” So I’m taking a shot at it – here goes. Keep in mind that I have nothing to do with the BAC, I’ve never attended it, and I don’t even know why they’re doing this stuff. I’m making this up as I go.) Our annual PASS Summit is an incredible, mature event for data professionals. Every year, we’re lucky enough to get thousands of…
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How I Vote for #SQLPASS Board of Directors Members

#passvotes, pass, sqlpass
14 Comments
tl;dr – I’m voting for Grant, James, and Wendy. There are 3 open spots, and 4 people running. This means you have to pick one person who won’t get in. I’m a data guy, so I made a spreadsheet of what’s important to me: PASS Board of Directors Candidates When I elect somebody to a volunteer position, I want to know what they accomplish. Ideally, they blog and tweet about what they’re doing, but I understand that not everybody likes to communicate that way. Just in case, I also read the PASS Board of Directors meeting minutes looking for what they’ve…
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Wanna Run for #SQLPASS Board? Better Read the Rules.

#passvotes, pass, sqlpass
37 Comments
The rules this year are clearer than ever, and that’s awesome. But you’d better actually read them (warning: Word docx), because there’s a few doozies like this one: “All campaigning must promote PASS in a positive manner. Campaigning that breaks the stated rules or brings PASS into disrepute may be challenged by any PASS member.” Keep in mind that you’ll be running against PASS Board of Director members up for re-election. You can’t say anything negative about them or the choices the organization made while they were in office. You probably think what you’re saying is fine, but remember that “any PASS…
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Donate to Doctors Without Borders, and I’ll Wear…

doctors without borders, pass, sqlpass
1 Comment
Donate to this Doctors Without Borders campaign before the PASS Summit and check out what humiliating things we’ll be doing to ourselves: $5,000 Total Donations: Argenis Fernandez will wear this unicorn hoodie at PASS. Update: reached, woohoo! $10,000 Total Donations: Adam Machanic, Grant Fritchey, Steve Jones, and I will wear these furry rainbow leggings. That’s right, the Scary DBA and the Scary Parallelism Guy and, uh, me, who’s not really scary at all. Kirsten Benzel will also run the 11-mile SQL Long Run in the unicorn hoodie. Update: reached, woohoo! $15,000 Total Donations: While wearing the leggings, Adam, Grant, Steve, and I will line dance…
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I Need Your Help Improving #SQLPASS

conference, pass, presenting, sqlpass
68 Comments
Read this if you’re a #SQLPASS attendee – you’re the one I’m trying to help. Last week I wrote about how conference organizers pick sessions, and I closed by talking about how there’s no clear right or wrong way. However, some ways are wronger than others, and today let’s talk in general terms about what happens when things go wrong. I can’t possibly discuss this subject with actual speaker names lest I hurt people. (Disclaimer: that’s a dark music video about drugs and violence, but the song is insanely danceable and catchy, and it’s been stuck in my head for weeks. You’re welcome.)…
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My #SQLPASS Abstract Feedback (And How to Get Yours)

pass, presenting, sqlpass
13 Comments
When volunteer speakers submit a session for the PASS Summit conference, volunteers on the Program Committee have the tough job of ranking them and picking winners. In the past, this has been done completely in private, and speakers had no idea why their sessions weren’t accepted. This meant they couldn’t work to get better. Thanks to requests from the community, that’s changing this year! Amy Lewis, the Board of Director member responsible for the process, writes in her blog post announcement: “If you submitted a session proposal for Summit 2014 and would like the comments from the abstract review team,…
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Fact-Checking the 24 Hours of PASS

24hop, fusion-io, sqlpass, vendors
10 Comments
I woke up this morning, excited for the 24 Hours of PASS, and the slide decks are already online! Let’s check out the slides for the first session, Field Testing Buffer Pool Extension and In-Memory OLTP Features in SQL Server 2014. They start out by talking about how the SQL Server world has changed: Things Have Changed – note the memory Things definitely have changed – 4-8GB used to be normal for SQL Server, and now 32GB is pretty much the bare minimum for physical servers as the slide notes. I see smaller VMs a lot still though. Then they start…
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#SQLPASS and the 24 Hours of Microsoft

24hop, microsoft, pass, sqlpass, vendors
40 Comments
The Professional Association for SQL Server describes itself this way: “PASS is an independent, not-for-profit organization run by and for the community.” Every now and then, PASS runs a popular online event called the 24 Hours of PASS. With a name like that, and a mission statement like PASS’s, you’d assume the speakers would be community members. That was true for years – but this time around, there’s something a little different. The speakers are Microsoft employees (save one co-presenter). The topics focus on marketing SQL Server 2014 and Azure SQL Database. And the 24 Hours of PASS is sponsored by Microsoft.…
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Hi. I’m Brent.

That's me, Brent.

I live in Las Vegas, Nevada. I'm on an epic life quest to have fun and make a difference.

I co-founded Brent Ozar Unlimited to help make your SQL Server go faster. I also maintain sp_Blitz® and the open source First Responder Kit repo.

My current car collection includes a 1986 Ferrari 328 GTS, a 1964 Porsche 356, a 1971 VW Type 3 Squareback, and more.

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