Are you attending the SQL PASS Summit conference in Charlotte, NC this week? If so, let’s meet up! If not, plan to attend this conference next year. The SQL PASS Summit is my number-one must-attend technical conference each year. 

The SQL Server community is a very unique group in that it is an extremely tight-knit community of like-minded professionals. I personally feel that it has the strongest sense of community of any technology-related community out there, and the comradery felt at this conference (and other SQL Server events, like SQL Saturdays) is simply unparalleled. My number one focus for this each year conference is networking, and the relationships made with the people you meet will last a lifetime. 

Throughout the conference, I will be all over the place, but you can probably find me near the Consultant’s Corner booth (Linchpin People, SQL HA, Denny Cherry) in the Exhibition Hall or in the SQL PASS Community Zone spending time getting to know attendees.

I am also speaking this Friday on a session that I love entitled ‘Squeezing Top Performance from Your Virtualized SQL Server‘ at 1:00pm in room 208AB. If you have virtualized SQL Servers and want to know more about how to manage and get the most performance out of your critical servers, don’t miss my session! If you just want to know more about how virtualization works as a database professional, come see me as well.

For those of you who are attending this conference for the first time, I have a number of little tips for you. These will help you get the most out of the conference.

• Networking is essential, and take some time to sit back and talk with fellow attendees. The opportunities for planned or spontaneous networking are endless. 
• Kendal Van Dyke (b | l | t) is holding sessions for first-timers and getting to know the community more on Tuesday, October 15, from 2:45-3:45p and 4:00-5:00p in rooms 201-202.
• The welcome reception is Tuesday night from 6:30-8:00p, and is not to be missed!
• The exhibitor reception is Wednesday night from 6:00-8:00p, and is not to be missed either.
• SQL Sentry has a free shuttle running to get you around downtown!
• The SQL PASS Community Zone is open Tuesday to Friday, early to late. Don’t miss the opportunity to ask anything that might be in your mind!

For those that are interested, I am looking to sway a large crowd to go outdoor go-kart racing at the GoPro Motorplex located in Mooresville, just north of Charlotte, on Friday after the Summit officially comes to a close. They are open until 8:00p, and can reach very high top speeds on the track. If you want to go, just head on down! The last Summit session wraps up at 5:30p so we can head down afterwards and catch some food after we race.

I hope to see all of you at the Summit!