SQL Server Social No. 2 – Movember Edition

Posted on November 24, 2011 by Luke Hayler

Last Thursday saw the first of many regular SQL Server Social events.Held at the Sherlock Holmes Inn on Collins Street, it was a great event with around 25-30 people in attendance. A lot more than I imagined considering a last minute change to the date.

Stephen Few, renown educator and trainer in BI Visualisations and author, had been giving a BI Visualisation workshop earlier in the week. I was in attendance at the workshop and managed to persuade Stephen to attend our social event. He was only in Melbourne until Friday November 18th, hence the last minute change to the date.

It was a Movember themed event, but unfortunately not that many people took part. I was one of two Mo Bro’s of the evening. Angus Bell had quite the impressive Mo and walked away with a heap of Movember merchandise (which he later gave away at another Movember party), as well as bottle of wine. It was a great effort by Angus, check out his Mo below and donate to his cause here:

Next month’s event is in the works and will be held, once again, at The Sherlock Holmes Inn. Dates and times will be communicated soon. Stay tuned for more on SQL Server Social!

SQL Server Social Update – Stephen Few to join us!

Posted on November 15, 2011 by Luke Hayler

That’s right. Stephen Few, the leading educator and author in data visualisation techniques, will be joining us for the November SQL Server Social event.

However, in order to have Stephen join us, it has meant that I have had to change the date of the event. So, SQL server Social will now be held THIS THURSDAY, 17th November 2011.

Stephen is an incredibly busy individual and travels all over the world enlightening people on data visualisation best practices, so I am privileged that he has agreed to join us.

I’ll be sending out updates to those of you who have already registered and will be apologising profusely. Don’t worry, if you can make it, your current registration will still stand. For those of you who can now make it, please head over to http://sqlserversocial.eventbrite.com to sign up. Don’t forget, this is a rare opportunity to come and meet, and chat to, one of the leading experts on data visualisation.

SQL Server Social – Movember Edition!

Posted on November 6, 2011 by Luke Hayler

It’s back! After a very successful pilot event back in May this year, SQL Server Social has been confirmed for November, so it’s time to save a date in your diary so you don’t forget.

Event Details

Date	24th November 2011
Time	5:30pm onwards
Venue	The Sherlock Holmes Inn, 415 Collins Street, Melbourne, Australia
Special Theme	Movember!
Eventbrite link for registration	http://sqlserversocial.eventbrite.com/

If you are not sure what SQL Server Social is all about, you can either read about the first event here, or check out the following recap:

What is SQL Server Social

SQL Server Social is a monthly event that has been created to provide SQL Server Professionals with a chance to network with industry peers, discuss predefined topics, have a little fun, have a beer and make some new friends.

What is the aim of SQL Server Social

SQL Server Social aims to build local SQL Server communities through regular social meetings, where database professionals can share their experiences and learn from their peers through open discussion.

Movember Edition

This month’s edition is a special one. It’s Movember and that means Mos! Here’s what the campaign is all about:

During November each year, Movember is responsible for the sprouting of moustaches on thousands of men’s faces in Australia and around the world. The aim of which is to raise vital funds and awareness for men’s health, specifically prostate cancer and depression in men.

For all the guys planning on attending, let’s see who has the best Mo by the 24th of this month. There’ll still be 6 days remaining until the official end of the campaign, but it’ll be good to see how you are all faring by that stage. This will be my first year participating; you can follow my ‘progress’ on my Mo page – mobro.co/lukehayler. If you feel so inclined, I have also put together a team for SQL Server Social, so show your support for the cause and join in!

Facebook Page!

SQL Server Social now has it’s own Facebook page. This page will be used to keep all the fans in the loop with updates about future events, photos from past events, links to interesting SQL-related sites, and so-on and so-forth…So if you are on Facebook why not tag along and keep up-to-date. Check out the page here.

Twitter!

SQL Server Social is also all over twitter like a bad rash. Follow us for updates – @sqlserversocial

SQL Crosswords

One of the [optional] challenges for the event is to complete a SQL Server Crossword. The SQL Server Crosswords have been generously donated to our cause by John Sansom (blog | @JohnSansom). John is a DBA in the UK and is a frequent blogger at www.johnsansom.com. John has had several awards bestowed upon him including Microsoft’s Community Contributor 2011 and SQLServerPedia’s Professional Development 2010 Winner as well as being a Rock Star Blogger (in Tom La Rock’s rankings). John has a wealth of information on his blog, so do yourself a favour and go check it out.

See you there!

Journey to the PASS Summit 2001 – Part 6 – Day 0. Getting to Seattle.

Posted on October 12, 2011 by Luke Hayler

My ~~awesome adventure~~ looooooooooong frikkin’ journey to Seattle started well enough in Melbourne, Australia. Airport check-in was the start of the fun-and-games though. It took over an hour to actually check in and then I found out that the flight had been delayed by 2 hrs. Joy!

All was not lost though, as I had met Darren Gosbell (@darrengosbell) at the airport and we proceeded to have a drink and light lunch at one of the bars. We chatted about the PASS Summit quite a bit as well as the BI Maestro program/exams/certification. once we had boarded the plane, and we were underway the flight was reasonably enjoyable; as much as can be over the course of 14hrs.

My troubles started again in LAX (which is a dump btw). I progressed, slowly, through immigration, customs, picked up my bags and dropped them off at the baggage drop and then proceeded to check-in for my next flight to Seattle. Apparently I had no ticket for this flight. Huh. But it’s right there on my itinerary? 3 phone calls and over an hour later I was running to catch the Alaska Air flight. Thankfully I made it to the gate with 10 mins to spare. Which is all I cared about at that point.

The flight was only a couple of hours and I managed to dose off occasionally. When I was awake I was kept entertained by the interesting landscape of the West Coast. An I may have been dreaming when I saw this and thought “Sim City?”

The mountain below is, what I can only assume, Mount Rainier.

I also managed to snap this pic of Seattle right before we came in to land. I couldn’t quite believe it when it was a clear sunny day!

I’m in Seattle!

Journey to the PASS Summit 2011 – Part 5 – MUST have app ‘Guidebook’

Posted on October 10, 2011 by Luke Hayler

If you are one of the lucky ones who get to attend this year’s PASS Summit, then this is the Guidebook for your PASS Summit week. Literally – there’s an app called ‘Guidebook’. If you have an iPhone/Android smartphone. Guidebook is the awesomeness that organises your week at the Summit. No question.

When you download Guidebook and search for ‘PASS’: Bingo! There was the guide for the PASS Summit 2011. W00t! I downloaded the guide, and after having created my schedule for the week all on my phone, I figured you lot need to know about it too. The app and the guide, not my schedule; although if you really want that too then I guess I could share it with you. Just ask.

Here’s why you need Guidebook with the PASS Summit 2011 Guide: