Introduction

This month’s T-SQL Tuesday subject is conferences. Xavier Morera asks us to answer a few questions about What we like, where and why.

Which is your favorite conference and why?

There are only a handful of conferences that I consider attending each year. All but one are SQL Server related with the other being PowerShell.

  • PASS Summit. (now resurrected by Red-Gate)
  • Data Platform Summit (DPS).
  • GroupBy
  • PowerShell Global Summit
  • EightKB

My favorite is the PASS Summit. All the ones I’ve mentioned are well organized and delivered, but PASS is bigger and draws more people and vendors. The more it draws, the more there is to experience.

Which is the best venue that you have visited for a tech conference?

While virtual is convenient and often cheap or free, I have a difficult time committing to actually attend. I love the idea of all the knowledge available but usually I get distracted and either don’t pay full attention or miss sessions all together. If I’m at a conference in person, my priority is the conference. I don’t have to try and focus on emails and support tickets and such. Just focus on the session I’m in or meeting new people.

As long as the venue is large enough to hold everyone and there are hotels near enough it doesn’t make much difference to me. The location however is a big thing. Las Vegas fits this as the best spot to have a conference. Lot’s of places to hold them with plenty of hotels. If you want entertainment, I’ve been led to believe that you can find that there too. 😉

Who is the best presenter that you have ever listened to?

I’ve seen tons of great presenters over the years so this one is very difficult to narrow down. I would have to say Brent Ozar comes in first. He’s presented enough at conferences and on his own that it’s a well rehearsed, polished presentation with the right amount of nitty gritty to keep you interested.

Rob Sewell runs a close second for SQL and first for PowerShell.

Which location would you like for your next event to take place and why Costa Rica?

I would still like for my next event to be in Vegas, but wow Costa Rica is gorgeous. I could probably be persuaded.

Conclusion

There a lots of great events and conferences out there hosted at great venues at wonderful places with amazing presenters. So many choices. Hopefully when things get back to normal we can all go attend some of them and have some fun.

Thanks to Xavier Morera for hosting this months T-SQL Tuesday and thanks for reading.

Check out my other T-SQL Tuesday posts.