Largest Online Technical Learning Event

Well I knew I would have some exciting news today. I am going to be part of the largest on-line technical event. Here is the official announcement. If you are looking at going to this event everything can be found at
www.VconferenceOnline.com

SSWUG.ORG Hosts the Largest-Ever Online Technical Learning Event

Over three days, more than 120 sessions from 40 expert speakers will provide the most in-depth online technical learning resource event ever presented

Tucson, AZ, September 16, 2008: November 5, 6 and 7, 2008, SSWUG.ORG is presenting a comprehensive learning event for SQL Server, Business Intelligence, SharePoint and .NET Development technologies, at http://www.vConferenceOnline.com. The online event will present sessions in 12 simultaneous tracks from 40 different industry-recognized presenters. The conference, presented entirely online with broadcast-quality sessions and classes, includes full video of the presenters, downloadable session materials, transcripts and much more. In addition, attendees are not required to travel, instead being able to attend the conference from the comfort of their office or home.

“We’re excited to present this fall conference suite – in the June conference, according to our attendees, combined, they saved more than $2,500,000 in travel and conference expenses alone,” says Stephen Wynkoop, Editor and Founder for SSWUG.ORG. “This, combined with the amazing array of presenters, the decreased time away from the office and the complete learning environment provided by the vConferenceOnline tools means our attendees and exhibitors get an excellent, meaningful online event never before possible.”

SSWUG.ORG is combining four different conference disciplines in the comprehensive conference schedule. Attendees will be able to pick from Business Intelligence, SQL Server, SharePoint and .NET Developer technologies, all running concurrently. In addition, attendees are able to view sessions and download transcripts, scripts, examples and tutorials on-demand following the event.

Chris Shaw, Director of Virtual Conferences, outlines some of the concepts being addressed with the conferences: “We’re really looking to create an amazing community event. We want to make sure attendees are able to gain real-world insights into the technologies they use and support. They’ll also experience a wide array of technologies and, at the same time, they are able to come back, review sessions and pick up those finer points that may have been missed in sessions when they first are attended. The fact that you can review sessions on-demand after the original schedule means you won’t miss a single tip, and you can broaden your skill set by attending sessions from other disciplines,” said Shaw. “Our speakers are well-known book authors, Microsoft MVPs and recognized industry experts. Never before has such an incredible gathering of speakers been presented in an event like this, assuring that the information to be gained is top-notch and rock solid.”

The virtual conference also means people are more environmentally conscious, and at the same time learning in ways simply not possible at traditional conferences. From full transcripts to on-demand materials, real-time chats with speakers and networking with other attendees and vendors, attendees and exhibitors both win.

“The focus is on learning, networking, tips, tricks and techniques that you can put to use the minute you’ve finished with a session. More than 91% of our attendees say they can use what they’ve learned immediately in their jobs. Combine this learning with the eco-friendly online approach, the complete elimination of travel expenses for attendees, the interaction and learning tools provided, the expert speakers – you have a way to vastly increase your knowledge without breaking the bank or expending significant out of office time,” Shaw said.

Exhibitors and Partners include Title Sponsor Idera Software, online labs for attendees are provided by Maximum ASP. Other exhibitors and partners include Quest Software, B-Eye Network, SQL Sentry, AvePoint, SQL on Call and more.

“We’re amazed by the incredible response and can’t wait to bring the world’s largest online technology learning event for the community. This concurrent scheduling will let attendees get the best of all worlds; access to simultaneous sessions, exposure to other technologies and a great learning environment,” said Wynkoop.

About SSWUG.ORG and Bits on the Wire, Inc.

Tucson-based SSWUG.org (www.SSWUG.org) is the biggest online community site for database and development professionals in the world. With more than 500,000 registered users, daily columns about issues and technologies that impact the technical professional, weekly online video programs, tips and more, the site brings the community together to solve issues and stay up to date on industry trends. Bits on the Wire, Inc, also based in Tucson, is the parent company for SSWUG.ORG.

SQL Server 2008 Tools review

I got some really exciting news today. I talked with Stephen Wynkoop, the founder of SSWUG and Microsoft MVP. It looks like we are going to get him to do an additional session. A review of some of the new tools that come inside SQL Server 2008, he will also be doing all the keynotes that went really well in the last VConference that were based on SQL Injection. The code samples that he showed in the keynotes were amazing. It one thing to hear about how people do it, but a completely different thing when you can see how this code damages your database so bad.

To top the day off I got to talk to Donald Farmer a BI Guru that really had a lot of great things to say. Many times you meet these people and when you talk to them about problems that you see on a day to day basis you worry that you are the only one that is going to see that problem. Let me give you an example. I ran into something funny with SQL Server 2008 last week. My system computer was showing that I had x amount of memory yet the SQL Server that I thought was installed locally was showing 4 times that. I thought wow, maybe something is really wrong here. I jumped up on the newsgroups on Microsoft and posted my question. I was really surprised when I got a lighting fast response from a friend of mine Kalen Delaney author of the Inside SQL Server books. After a couple of posts that went back and forth I figured out that it was completely on my side and that I was looking at another server via my client tools. Thanks to Kalen for the help. But did I feel stupid. I guess it just reminds me to stick to the details.

Well good day for now. Chances are you are going to see an exciting announcement from me some time tomorrow. There is some things that I have been working with and I think it will be announced in the next 24 hours.

Open Questions and Answers

We are looking at doing a session at this upcoming SSWUG SQL Server Conference that will be based on all the questions that we have received in the past. With SQL Server 2008 being released not too long ago I wanted to give everyone a chance to ask questions that they would like a panel to answer. On the panel I believe there will be Steve Wynkoop, Paul Neilson and myself.

So here is your chance, ask away. We will answer as many questions as we can in the allotted 1 hour time slot. We are looking forward to your questions. Just post them here as a comment.

SQL 2008 Here I come

I have loaded SQL Server 2008 CTP on my laptop a few times now. I used it for presentations during the June SSWUG SQL Conference. I even put the RTM on my Vista machine and had not a single issue. Yesterday around 4:00 PM I ran started to put the same install on my laptop to prepare for my sessions for the Oct SSWUG Conference and I ran into an issue. For some reason I was getting a .Net Framework 2.0a error. After reading a few blogs and MSDN articles I was not better off. I tried to repair my .NET Framework. Heck I even tried to install sp1 to it just to see if that would fly and I was stuck.

You know my last post I spent an hour writing about how we tell people that it is ok to reboot their machine. Well this is a lot along the same lines. After working on it until 2AM this morning I went to bed. I repositioned my mind in a happy place this morning and decided that it was time to build from the ground up. I removed all the .Net Framework installs and reboot my system then proceeded with this process.

• Installed .Net Framework 2.0
• Reboot
• Installed .Net Framework 2.0 sp1
• Reboot
• Installed .Net Framework 3.0
• Reboot
• Installed .Net Framework 3.5
• Reboot
• The fired away with my SQL Server 2008 Standard Edition.

So hear I am 24 hours later and I am up and running on SQL Server 2008 on my laptop running Windows XP Pro. I hope you want to read a lot more about SQL Server 2008 because I am starting to write my presentations now.

Training of the Future is Now!

Folio posted an article on July 31^st that I think is showing the wave to the future. Prices are going up in travel, and the cost to get a trainer to come to you is larger then what many people can afford to pay. On top of all that budgets are shrinking, and companies are expecting the employees to start paying for their own training. The end result is there is an answer for you.

Conferences that are the future are done on-line. So how do you know when to pick an online conference? Look at the feature sets it offers – Do you have to pick up a phone and dial into a call? If so imagine your ear stuck to a phone for 8 hours and get an idea of how much of a learning experience that will be. Another key thing to look for is what you are going to see. Are you going to see a glorified web-cast with a bunch of power points shoved in your face while you are spending time trying to listen to a speaker you can not see? Think about it this way… When you were in school every teacher had a different teaching style:

I once had a history teacher in collage that instead of a lecture he would act the parts that he was teaching. I have studied Lewis and Clark many times. But it never sat in my head until the instructor played the part and was showing the class how people would row down a river, or talk to Native Americans that did not speak the same language. Best class I took, and now I love to learn about History.

Each student has a different learning style. Some can just pick up a book or read the notes and they are good with that, others can just listen to the lecture. Some students need the ability to see visual aids that the instructor had. Many people need a combination of these. In short I think that if you spend the time looking at all of the conferences that are out there you will find the best experts, the best quality and the best learning experience at VConferenceonline.com.

The Eve

Not much to say today, I am really excited about everything that is going to happened on Tuesday the 24^th. I have been the Conference Chair for the SSWUG SQL Server conference and the team has put in a lot of work. Many people don’t realize how much effort goes on behind the scenes to create a conference like this.

I am truly honored to be part of this through my career of public speaking this has been the most challenging experience that I have faced to date. There is a ton of great information that I am really excited to get feedback on. It was interesting to watch MVP’s do their work, speakers come up with ways to teach subjects so that people with different learning styles could pick up what was being taught. A big and special thanks goes out to all the speakers, all the attendees and all the staff at Bits on the Wire.

It has been my pleasure to work with some of the finest people in my career. I plan to post a day by day review of the conference. If you are registered, I will see you there (well virtually of course). If you have not registered, it’s not too late. Any sessions that you may have missed will be available on demand starting Friday at noon.

http://www.vconferenceonline.com/sswug/

One week left

Just a short note today, we have one week left before the SSWUG SQL Server Virtual Conference. We are really getting excited about the 11 speakers and the 30 sessions that we have this time. I have some 10% off discount codes if you want them feel free to e-mail me at Chris[AT]sswug.org. The price is only $100.00 and I know when you compare this to going to a live conference the savings is huge. I also know that when we did a survey last Feb. that 86% of the over 800 attendees said they learned something they could use that week at work. Back to work with me. Just thought I would drop a little note about the conference and what I am doing. http://www.vconferenceonline.com/sswug/

Recent News

Thought I would drop by and post that I have been working the SSWUG V-Conference’s like a mad man. We have announced that there are going to be 4 conferences in September to October. We are really excited to have many people starting to look at what the Virtual Conferences have to offer. The 4 conferences are going to be SQL Server, .net, BI and Share Point. As far as the June Conference is concerned we have a great line up of speakers and the site is coming together really nice. If you are interested in going to the conference there is a VIP Code that you can use to get you a 10% discount. To get this discount go ahead and head to:

http://www.vconferenceonline.com/SSWUG/

When you register use VIP Code: VIPCS2008DIS

On a side note I was looking at the SSWUG Newsletter today and found it really interesting post on security and where do you apply it in your application. You may want to check it out here: http://www.sswug.org/columnists/editorial.asp?id=1428

The other news that I caught up on last week was that SQL Sentry released a new product called Performance Advisor. I am a heavy user of SQL Sentry Event Manager, and I feel like the built a great tool that helps me with a lot of day to day monitoring. I am really looking forward into seeing how the Performance Advisor helps me in my every day job. Check Out SQL Sentry here:

http://www.sqlsentry.com/