PASS Community Connector

Call for NomCom Applications Kicks off Elections Season

The PASS 2011 elections season is officially upon us with today’s opening of the call for Nomination Committee (NomCom) applications.

The NomCom is at the heart of the elections process, ensuring that each applicant for the four open Board of Director seats in this year’s general election possesses the characteristics and attributes necessary to lead the world’s largest independent, user-led organization for SQL Server professionals. This year, the PASS community will select three of the NomCom members... Read more.

Lightning Talks: Call for Speakers
Have a talent for sharing tons of valuable information in a short amount of time? PASS Summit 2011’s Lightning Talk sessions are tailor-made for you! This year, we’re putting together three 75-minute Lightning Talk sessions, each featuring ten 5-minute talks by various speakers on a variety of topics. If you’re interested, please submit a two-line topic description on the Call for Speakers website by August 17!

Best of #sqlpass #memories
What are your best memories from PASS Summit? Here are a few favorites from a recent twitterstream. Keep those memories coming by browsing Pat Wright’s album, tuning into the PASS YouTube channel, and joining in the Twitter discussion – just use the #sqlpass #memories hashtags!

sqlmal Listening to @drsql explain normalization 'n wondering how can this possibly be old. #sqlpass #memories
RumblingDBA Having sampler beers with Jeff Moden and discussing shop. Never knew DBAs could sing #sqlkaraoke. #sqlpass #memories
alzdba Being able to prove the ROI by implementing enhancements on our own SQLinstances enhancing reliability almost every time. #sqlpass #memories
SQLintheWild Sunday evening registration in 2009. Felt like a reunion more than a conference registration. #sqlpass #memories
GFritchey RT @heigesr2: Seeing the #sqlkilts out in force on Day 2 of #sqlpass Summit 2010 #memories. Day 2 again this year?...YES!
SQLChicken Meeting old friends for the first time. #sqlpass #memories
SqlAsylum Best part of #sqlpass #memories we get to make many more in a few months, I'll have my camera ready. :)

24 Hours of PASS
Is Back!

Join us Sept. 7 and 8 for two days of free, online SQL Server training. 24 Hours of PASS: Summit Preview features an exceptional lineup of SQL Server experts, who will be presenting a sneak peek of their PASS Summit 2011 sessions in 24 live webcasts. Register today.

Help Shape the PASS Summit Schedule
The Session Preference Tool is open for business again, and this time, your selections will help the Program Team determine room capacities and session scheduling for PASS Summit 2011. Just log into the tool and mark all the sessions you’re interested in attending. Your selections will be saved, and you can log in and add or delete sessions as many times as you want until the deadline. The Preference Survey ends August 19, so start marking your session choices today!

A New Look for SQLSaturday
PASS SQLSaturday events have been growing by leaps and bounds over the past year, even branching out internationally to Brazil, New Zealand, South Africa, and Portugal. This growth prompted a refresh of the SQLSaturday website, including an updated logo, a more polished look and feel, and improvements to such features as the schedule builder and login credentials. Check out the updated SQLSaturday website and logo (below), and look into setting up your own PASS SQLSaturday event today!

Download Microsoft SQL Server Code Name “Denali”
Denali is the next major release for SQL Server, and you can download the Community Technology Preview to try it out for free! Now's your chance to provide feedback about this production-quality release. Experience features including AlwaysOn high availability and Project Crescent rapid data discovery and visualization.

DW/BI VC: SSAS Data Without Tying Yourself in Knots
Aug. 11, 12-1pm ET (online)

PASS SQLSaturday - South Florida
Aug. 13, 7:30am - 5:30pm, Davie, FL

Data Architecture VC: Data Warehouse Architecture
Aug. 18, 1-2pm CT (online)

ProfDev VC: Learning from Real World Disasters
Aug. 25, 1-2pm ET (online)

DW/BI VC: Learn How to Develop an Interactive SharePoint 2010 Dashboard in 60 Minutes
Aug. 25, 12-1pm ET (online)

See More Events

And the Winning Keynote Topic Is...

Big Data – What is the Big Deal? claimed the most votes as the topic SQL Server pros want to hear favorite keynoter Dr. David DeWitt tackle at this year’s PASS Summit. Are you ready for the exploding world of big data? Do you know the difference between Hive and Pig? Do you know why MapReduce is being taught in many universities rather than SQL? Join us live in Seattle and learn more about this new world.

New Pre-Con by Dr. DeWitt In addition to his PASS Summit 2011 keynote, Microsoft Technical Fellow and popular Summit speaker Dr. David Dewitt will be co-presenting the full-day Pre-Conference seminar A Peek Inside an RDBMS on Tuesday, Oct. 11. Dr. DeWitt and his research team will describe how the major components of an RDBMS such as SQL Server work. You can sign up for this pre-con when you register for PASS Summit or contact us to add it to your existing registration.

Have Ed Assistance Benefits? Think Pre-Cons
Does your company provide educational assistance benefits to help pay for training workshops and seminars? Rick Heiges recently discovered that his does - and that PASS Summit’s Pre-Conference Seminars fit the organization’s benefits criteria of helping develop employee skills. Educational assistance benefits vary by company and commonly offer $500 or more toward approved training. Make sure you check out this year’s Summit Pre-Con lineup and investigate if your benefits package could help cover a high-caliber seminar or two.

From the Blogosphere:

Remember Your First High School Dance? – Arnie Rowland
Journey to the SQL PASS Summit 2011 - Part 1 – Luke Hayler
2011 PASS Summit Pre-Con Previews: Rob Farley and Allan Hirt – Lori Edwards
Orders of Magnitude: Scale-Out Your SQL Server Data - Mark Broadbent
I Like My IT Budget Tight and My Developers Stupid - Lisa Vaas

Quick links

Join the PASS Community:

PASS Summit 2011

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PASS Governance

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Professional Association for SQL Server
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