08Nov 2012 by Grant Fritchey 4 Comments

PASS Summit 2012 Day 2: KILT DAY!

PASS
Welcome to the fourth Kilt Day at the SQL PASS Summit. It might be a little silly, but it's fun. It's also Women in Technology day with the WIT Luncheon. Guys are invited. A short word about the bloggers table. Last year we were... a little loud. So this year, we were cautioned... well, more like told to be quiet or they'd take away our toys. I agree with the intent of the message, please keep it down. But the delivery... it hurt PASS at the bloggers table and upset people. As I was reminded last night by a dear, dear friend who I accidently hurt, how you deliver a message is as important as the message you deliver. But, that's OK. Let's learn from our mistakes, grow & move…
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07Nov 2012 by Grant Fritchey No Comments

PASS Summit 2012 Day 1

PASS
We're off and running here at the PASS Summit. New this year is live streaming all day. Bill Graziano is introducing the Summit. More importantly, he's introducing PASS. Further, he's introducing speakers to everyone. He doesn't mean just speakers at the summit, but anyone who has spoken at a SQL Saturday or a user group, and it was a scary large group of people. PASS has created a new web site to make it easier to find local Chapters. Track one down. On the one hand, it's weird that we're sitting at the PASS Summit and introducing the PASS organization, but I think they're right to do it. It's a great organization and I'm always surprised at how many people don't know about it. Bill's big announcement is the all…
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05Nov 2012 by Grant Fritchey No Comments

PASS Summit 2012: Day -3

PASS
The Summit proper starts on Wednesday, but the Summit starts at registration. I left a little early from work setting up for SQL in the City: Seattle in order to run up the hill and get to the convention center around the time that it opened. Why? Cause I get to meet my SQL Family for the first time this week. Lots of people are there and it really is like a family reunion. Smiles, hugs, catching up, stories. It's the best way to launch the event. Not a lot to report, but I just had to share. I love my SQL Family.
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17Oct 2012 by Grant Fritchey 2 Comments

SQL In The City: Seattle

PASS, Redgate Software
If you missed all the great speakers on the five city tour of SQL in the City, don't despair. Many of the same people will be back at SQL in the City in Seattle. It's scheduled on Monday before the PASS Summit proper starts, so if you're looking to get your learn on early and you can't sign up for a pre-con, this is a great, free, opportunity to pick up some additional instruction. Check out the list of speakers. It's going to be an event worth attending. I've seen the early drafts of the feedback forms from the prior five events. People really seem to enjoy this slightly different approach. In short, Red Gate puts on a heck of a show. During the five city tour, I was able…
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24Sep 2012 by Grant Fritchey 14 Comments

Interviewing a DBA

PASS, SQL Server, T-SQL
I'm not a fan of trivia style interview questions. Yes, I ask a few because you have to in order to immediately eliminate the completely unqualified applicants. Even those types of questions, in my opinion, need to be focused on concepts and not syntax. The reason we have the Books Online with SQL Server is because you shouldn't have to memorize every possible command along with all their parameters. Want to know how to write a MERGE query? Look it up. What does a MERGE query do? That you ought to know. I think concepts are important. Questions about the recovery models within SQL Server aren't trivia about the system, they're trying to get to your understanding of how point in time recovery works. I don't really like posting interview…
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21Sep 2012 by Grant Fritchey 5 Comments

PASS Elections 2012

PASS
Yeah, it's that time again. And we have a magnificent slate of people running. I mean truly amazing and wonderful people. I personally know each and every one of them. I've worked with them or watched them work on projects over the years. PASS has a true embarrassment of riches this time. Which... is problematic for me. I know them all. I respect them all, but I have to pick and choose... I can't do it. I really can't. Yeah, I'll finally vote. I ultimately put pen to paper (or, really, click on some boxes on the screen) and make my mark. I believe in democratic processes and every vote really does count. And if you're voting, regardless of who you vote for, your vote is not "thrown away." That only happens…
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07Sep 2012 by Grant Fritchey 12 Comments

SQL Server vs. Oracle

PASS, Redgate Software, SQL Server, T-SQL
Just so we're clear, I use SQL Server. I like SQL Server. But, this doesn't mean I have anything against Oracle. It's fine. It's good. But, I know very little about it. However, throughout my career I've found myself needing to understand it better. Either because I'm trying to train Oracle people to better use SQL Server and I need to be able to speak a little of their language to facilitate translation. Or, because I'm defending SQL Server on some technical point that the Oracle people don't completely understand. Or, because I've said something stupid about Oracle in my ignorance. Now, you know how busy you are, and I know how busy I am, so I doubt either of us has the time we really need to learn Oracle…
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22Aug 2012 by Grant Fritchey 1 Comment

24 Hours of PASS, Fall 2012

PASS, SQL Server, T-SQL, Tools
It's time to get your learn on again. The schedule for the Fall 24 Hours of PASS is up and ready for registration. This is the Summit preview session, so many (most, all) of the speakers are showing off some of what you can learn at their sessions at the PASS Summit 2012 itself. It looks like a pretty exciting bunch of topics given by some of the best professionals in the industry. I'll be presenting Three Ways to Identify Slow Running Queries on September 20th, 1400 GMT. This is just a sub-set of the information that I'll be presenting during my all day pre-conference seminar, Query Performance Tuning: Start to Finish. The full seminar I talk about how to measure the performance of your systems, identify which queries are…
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19Jun 2012 by Grant Fritchey 2 Comments

PASS Summit 2012

PASS
I sure hope you’re planning on attending the PASS Summit this year. If you’re not, you might want to reconsider. They’ve just released the list of sessions. You should click this link and check them out. There’s going to be some magnificent instruction available in all aspects of SQL Server. You don’t want to miss it. On a personal note, I’m doing an all-day pre-conference seminar on query performance tuning. It’s called “Query Performance Tuning: Start to Finish.” The pre-con’s, as we call them, are an additional cost on top of the cost of the Summit itself. But you’re flying out to Seattle anyway. Why not attend a full day of learning, walk away with a little more knowledge under your belt. I’m going to give you as much information…
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13Jun 2012 by Grant Fritchey 2 Comments

PASS Nomination Committee

PASS
For some reason, which isn’t completely clear to me, we’re voting for part of the members of the Nomination Committee who will work their buns off (make no mistake, this is not a glamor posting) to pick and choose from the people applying to be possible candidates for the PASS Board to arrive at a final slate. This voting opens today, although you can’t seem to vote from the web site, but have to wait for an email to show up (not yet in my Inbox). Regardless of the confusion I feel about this, I’m going to vote for the people I think will do a good job. You should too if you’re a member of PASS. I know almost every one of these people personally. Any of them will…
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