20Oct 2010 by Grant Fritchey 5 Comments

Kilt Day at the PASS Summit

PASS
Last year, with the infinite power at my disposal (read, zero), I declared Wednesday, Kilt Wednesday at the PASS Summit. It took off... a little ways. Three people wore kilts. Now, you'd think that three out of 3000 would almost not get noticed, but the three people wearing them... well, each for different reasons, we stand out in a crowd. Heck, I was even told one of us looked good in the kilt (wasn't me, of course). Anyway, where was I, oh yeah, we were noticed (and it might be because I jumped up on the bloggers table during one of the the key notes...) and now, this year, LOTS of people are planning on wearing kilts on Wednesday, November 10th, 2010. If you don't have a kilt, don't panic. You can always…
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14Oct 2010 by Grant Fritchey 4 Comments

Working the Door

PASS
You know those guys that work the door at clubs, seperating the wheat from the chaff, culling the herd, Choosing the Slain, sifting the gold from the dross, telling the difference between the sheep and the goats, winnowing out the weak, tipping the scales of justice... you know, the guys taking tickets. Well, this year, I get to do that job at the SQL Server Central party at the PASS Summit. That's right, I've been given absolute power, the keys to the kingdom, control of the list... you get the point. And best of all, while I was offered money, fame, power & women, I bargained for more and I got it. I'll be wearing one of those nifty Hawaiian shirts (Friday shirts) we always see Steve & Andy sporting. HA! And my wife won't…
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13Oct 2010 by Grant Fritchey No Comments

PASS Summit Birds of a Feather Lunch

PASS
The absolute biggest part of the PASS Summit is the one thing that most people don't take advantage of, networking. And no, I don't mean glad-handing everyone you meet, remembering all their names (although that is a good skill to have) and saying over & over again "Rush Chairman, damn glad to meet you." I mean taking advantage of the fact that you can talk to people that have already solved the problem that you're facing at work, or just might have some insight into that issue, or maybe you can give them insight into a problem they're facing. I'm mean, talking to people. Yeah, I know, we're all geeks, and worse than that, data geeks. That means we like to sit in dark little caves & grumble about our…
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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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