Reflections on SQL Bits 9

Thanks Aaron for the writeup.  Your comments are always very fair. I am delighted you had another great SQLBits experience.

We have had fantastic support from SQL Sentry for six events now and I was very amused with Nick's latest swag innovation. Didn't he say you guys may have some at the PASS Summit? I don't want to ruin the surprise but for anyone reading this let's just say it's always worth a trip to the SQL Sentry stand...

Oh and I hold my hands up. I did the site visit and ultimately recommended the Adelphi to the team. However, when I went it was nowhere near the temperature we experienced last week-end. We've basically had two sunny week-ends all year and both have been over SQLBits. You might be forgiven for thinking the weather is always like that over here. Believe me - it is not :).

As for the wireless this is something we will take back to the venue. They were warned many, many times and they did apparently have their systems upgraded. However, it was clear to me that they didn't do enough. I can't begin to tell you how many times we raised this and also how many times I had to go and complain.

As for the bedrooms - yes they were shall we say tired.  I guess the Adelphi is one of those lost splendour hotels. However, you are right the beds weren't exactly the best - although the rates were significantly less than in Brighton.  I'll be honest though this isn't something I looked into terribly deeply. Finding venues/hotels big enough to handle a SQLBits event is tough. The bedrooms is definitely a secondary consideration.  However, I will add a "mushy" bed test to the site visit for future consideration :).

Thanks again for coming over and supporting us with your knowledge and experience. I look forward to catching up with you again in a week

Cheers, JRJ

I agree its all James fault.

The weather was exceptional, as can be testified by the fact we gave everyone scarves. How stupid did we look. Last year in York it was really chilly.

As for the internet, having good internet is high on our priorities. Normally its a go/nogo decision maker but in this case the venues we had on offer we had to compromise somewhere.

We did push and push to get things upgraded but it didn't happen. In Brighton we paid to upgrade the hotel to 100Mb so we would have a good experience. In Liverpool they just couldn't/wouldn't do anything about it. We did have extra access points put in but as many testified the system couldn't cope with the number of connections.

We will definitely make sure the next one has better internet access.