You there, sitting in your cube and fuming at all the PASS Summit talk: you couldn’t talk your company into sending you to PASS this year, could you? Or, you got on the bandwagon too late. Whatever the reason, you’re stuck working next week, and you’re mad. We feel your pain, and we’re here to help.
Presenting…
The MidnightDBA Virtual PASS Summit*!
*Not actually endorsed by PASSWe want to make you as much a part of the Summit as you possibly can be, so we’re going to do everything we can to bring the event to you. We have put together an schedule of PASS and PASS-related events and sessions that you can take part in through the week of November 8-12. Keep an eye on this page (and my blog!) throughout the Summit – I will add more events as they become available…including one or two live speaker and attendee interviews!
Some of these items are live streamed, and some are recorded. A few are fixtures within the blog, such as the Virtual Vendor Area and the People We Meet page, both continually under construction as we talk to vendors and attendees.
NOTE: All times listed are Eastern!
ALSO NOTE: If you follow this schedule to the letter, you’ll get in 7 hours of training, 3 full keynotes, a luncheon, a Birds of a Feather session, several social events, 5 new pounds, approximately 30 miles of walking, a day of kilt-wearing, and a lot of exposure to groups, resources, vendors, attendees, authors, and speakers. That’s really not bad for not paying a dime! And, it’ll teach you to get on the ball sooner next year, to get all this and more in person.
Monday
Day: Simulate the irritation of traveling to the Summit by packing everything you’ll need this week into 2 suitcases, one of which may or may not be checkable. Before you get into your car, wait in an imaginary line just inside your front door for half an hour with shoes, belt, cell and laptop held in small boxes. Lose the “checked” piece of luggage in your trunk and do without it for the week.
Arrive and settle in. Go ahead and feel jealous of the people currently attending pre-cons – most of us at the Summit didn’t register for one, so we do, too. Prepare the Twitter client of your choice (I like TweetDeck), being sure to follow the #sqlpass hashtag. Follow @sqlpass and @MidnightDBA and tell us how totally #awesomesauce we are.
4:00pm LIVE - Watch the live streamed MidnightDBA Groupies Meetup at our Ustream channel!
6:30pm Virtual – Virtually attend the welcome event (keep track with the #sqlpass hashtag!) and meet the virtual chapters on the PASS Virtual Chapters Page. Virtual-virtual-virtual!
Bedtime: Sleep the wrong way round on your bed, to make it seem as if you’re sleeping in an unfamiliar room. Make sure the bedclothes are tucked far, far underneath the mattress, for that “hotel bed” feel.
Tuesday
Morning: Grab coffee out, and eat yogurt, cantaloupe, and cold pastries for breakfast.
From here on out, you should walk around your building twice between every segment of every day, to get the experience of walking around the Seattle conference center between sessions. But you can do it while snacking on too much fruit, nuts, cookies, candy, and coffee-flavored tea (or tea-flavored coffee).
8:00am LIVE - Watch the live streamed Tuesday Keynote. Live blog it.
Morning sessions - Pick two from the recorded 24HOP sessions.
11:30 am LIVE - Pick up lunch from a buffet-style restaurant somewhere and watch Sean’s Birds of a Feather table live on our Ustream channel.
3:00pm LIVE (sorta)- Watch the live stream of my Forgotten T-SQL recording (not a PASS live stream) on our Ustream channel.
6:30pm Virtual - Order in something yummy and keep track of the highly vulgar, entertaining, and exclusive Inappropriate PASS event via the hashtag #InapproPASS on Twitter. Come up with your own Inappropriate PASS session and blog/tweet/present it to your cat / local bar crowd. Remember to swear a lot, and assign someone the job of randomly shouting “THAT’S WHAT SHE SAID”. Give yourself something random as an award.
In slow moments, check out the Vendor Expo via our Virtual Vendor Area.
Wednesday
Morning: Dress in your spiffiest kilt for #SQLKilt Wednesday; throughout the day, treat anyone who is NOT wearing a kilt as silly and out of the loop. Grab coffee out, and eat yogurt, cantaloupe, and cold pastries for breakfast. Grumble about this to whoever is standing near.
8:00am LIVE - Watch the live streamed Wednesday Keynote. Live blog it.
Morning sessions - Pick two from the recorded 24HOP sessions.
11:30 am LIVE - Pick up lunch from the same buffet-style restaurant as yesterday, and watch the live streamed Women in Technology luncheon. See if it doesn’t surprise you, and blog about it.
3-5:00pm Virtual - Tweet us questions while Sean is manning the Ask the Experts table as a Powershell guru. Wander around the Virtual Vendor Area.
7:00pm Virtual – Get rip-roaring drunk on Jagermeister and Goldschlager (or follow my example and drink half a beer), and sing 80s songs very, very loudly, no matter where you are. Walk 2 miles home in the freezing rain at 1am to simulate the end of #SQLKaraoke night.
Thursday
Morning: Grab coffee out, and eat cantaloupe and cold pastries for breakfast (PASS is now out of yogurt). Grumble emphatically about this to whoever is standing near.
8:00am LIVE - Watch the live streamed Thursday Keynote…don’t miss David DeWitt! Live blog it.
Morning sessions - Pick two from the recorded 24HOP sessions.
11:30 Virtual - Pick up lunch from the SAME buffet-style restaurant as the last two days. Meet the Chapters lunch
Check out the People We Meet page to see the online presence of the interesting people we’ve talked to this week.
Friday
11:00pm CST (9pm ET) LIVE - Watch and chat with the MidnightDBAs in our weekly DBAs at Midnight live webshow (on, of course, our Ustream channel)!
After the Summit
- Buy – or better yet, get your company or user group to buy – the PASS Summit sessions and pre- and post-con DVDs.
- Keep up with the people on Twitter) and blogs that you’ve become familiar with at PASS.
- And be sure to rest and hydrate: the Summit takes a LOT out of you!
Happy virtual days,
Jen McCown
