Every time I attend a SQL Saturday, I leave with a rejuvenated and even further reinforced sense of community. Cleveland (SQL Saturday #60) was by far no exception. Allen White (blog | twitter), Erin Stellato (blog | twitter), Cory Stevenson, Brian Davis (twitter), and all others involved put on a fantastic event that endured some crappy weather, parking problems, and significant delays and hardship for at least one speaker - sorry Grant! (Grant wrote about his experience.) I was able to meet several community members that I'd only ever "met" on twitter, and even while nose-deep in preparation, I saw a lot of conversations going on, which is great. (At least one SQL Saturday I've been to in the past seemed like most people kept to themselves.)
I presented two sessions: one on SQL Server 2011 ("Denali") and, for the first time, one on bad T-SQL habits to kick. I learned a lot about balance here... my Denali presentation went 5 minutes over, and my bad habits talk fell way under - mostly because I was expecting a lot more pushback on what I think are bad habits. Would have been great if I had been scheduled to give the two talks back-to-back in the same room. :-) Another balance lesson: the Denali talk had 10-12 attendees. The bad habits talk was standing room only: 50+. I hope everyone was happy with my presentations, and I'm eager to see the feedback results.
I got to spend a lot of time with co-worker Scott Fallen, who has not yet learned to not fear the twitter. SQL Sentry was quite happy to sponsor Friday night's speaker dinner at The Brew Kettle, where we had a fantastic time, with lots of great conversations.
Anyway, it was a great event that felt quite polished. These folks clearly put in the work to pull off a high-class event. To top it all off, a hand-written thank you card, signed by all of the organizers? Come on!
Also, just curious, did anybody else see the guy who could have been the twin brother of Chris Pratt (from Parks and Recreation)?
I saw him multiple times throughout the day (he even attended one of my sessions), and I thought for sure I recognized him from somewhere. It didn't hit me until I was on a plane home. Could it have been him?
Anyway, several SQL Saturdays to come, including Chicago and Boston. Next up: Vancouver, February 26th. Hope to see you there.