The 2009 PASS Summit is being held this November 2-5, 2009 in Seattle, WA. I know it can be hard to convince your boss to go, but there are some good reasons to attend.
PASS has put a page together to help you show an ROI to your boss. It includes a number of reasons why you should attend, including
- Learning new skills from experts
- Getting hands on practice in labs
- Asking SQL Server MVPs, authors, and Microsoft developers specific questions about your issues.
There are more reasons to attend, and you can check out that page for some things you can tell your boss. However, for you, the attendee, I'd recommend that you secure the funding and register with the SQLServerCentral code.
SSC3D
That's our code, and it gives you $100 off the registration fee and a ticket to the Monday night SQLServerCentral party. We've held an opening night party for the past six years and given away thousands of dollars of prizes each year. We promote the PASS Summit, we're in attendence, and we take the entire referral fee that PASS gives us and blow it on a series of prizes for everyone that uses our code. Wev'e given away
- hundreds of DVDS
- an XBOX every year
- multiple iPods
- camcorders
- handheld games
- digital picture frames
- and more!
If you have prize suggestions, let us know. The vast majority of our prizes are given out randomly with only a few saved for the big winners. How do you win? A combination of luck and skill at the casino party that we host every year. So get some friends together with a deck of cards and start practicing! Just remember that registration code:
SSC3D
If that doesn't motivate you to start bugging your boss, I'll tell you that this is the best place for you to meet the people that write the books and articles that help you learn about SQL Server. You can hear them talk about best practices, performance issues, troubleshooting and more.
And you can ask questions!
Every speaker I see at PASS will spend 10 or 15 minutes answering questions in the hallway after their talks and many will even follow up with you if it's an interesting question.
This is the chance to learn how to prevent issues, and cut down the need to call Microsoft for support. It's the chance to learn new ways to save money and build a better SQL Server environment for your company.
So sell your boss, calculate an ROI, and show that attending the PASS Summit is a great way for your training budget to be spent. Just remember to use this code when you register.
SSC3D