The 2008 PASS Summit, Washington State Convention Center, November 18-21, 2008

The PASS Summit is an annual event for the SQLServerCentral.com crew and has been since 2001. We have attended the event and thrown an opening night part for the last 5 years and we're looking to have another great one this coming November.

This conference is dedicated to SQL Server and put on by PASS ,the only professional association for DBAs and developers devoted to SQL Server. It's a great opportunity to not only learn from your peers at a variety of sessions, but brainstorm with them, ask questions, and get stimulated by the unique solutions many of them have implemented in their own jobs.

And with the Summit in Seattle, Microsoft will send hundreds of developers over to speak, and just answer questions, interacting with you, the end-user. This is the chance to actually find out how many things work inside SQL Server and perhaps solve some of those pesky issues.

If you register before Aug 31, you pay $1595, saving $600 off the full conference rate. If you use the "SSC6" registration code when you do so, you not only save another $100, but you get to come to the SQLServerCentral.com opening night (Tuesday) party.

We've thrown a fun casino night party for the last 4 years and am looking to do it again this year. The party's location will not be known until we get closer to the time, but it will immediately follow the PASS opening reception on Tuesday night, probably starting at 7 or 7:30pm.

Last year we had over 60 prizes last year for about 130 people attending the party and most of them are randomly given out. Come join the fun!!!

Just be sure to use the "SSC6" code when you register.

We are also selling tickets for the party, which you can read about below.

Learning Opportunities

There are lots of great sessions available from many DBAs and developers just like you.

However for some in-depth learning, I have heard wonderful things about the pre-conference sessions, which are full-day events on Monday and Tuesday. This year the following sessions are available:

• Advanced T-SQL Querying and Programming in Microsoft SQL Server 2005 and 2008 (App Dev Track) by Itzik Ben-Gan
• SSIS 2005 and 2008 Boot Camp (BI Track) by Brian Knight
• Deep dive into MDX (BI Track) by Mosha Pasumansky (Microsoft Corp.)
• System Performance Monitoring & Troubleshooting (DBA Track) by Andrew Kelly
• Maximum strength: High-Availability and Disaster Avoidance/Response Strategies using Microsoft SQL Server Technologies (DBA Track) by Buck Woody (Microsoft Corp.)
• Securing SQL Server from Predators (App Dev Track) by Peter DeBetta
• Database Maintenance: From Planning to Practice to Post-Mortem (DBA Track) by Kimberly L. Tripp and Paul Randal
• Upgrading to SQL Server 2008 in complex environments (DBA Track) by Rebecca Laszlo (Microsoft Corp.)
• SQL Server Data Storage Formats: Internals, Performance and Best Practices (DBA Track) by Kalen Delaney
• SQL Server 2008 Features for Developers (App Dev Track) by Bob Beauchemin
• .NET Data Access from A to Z (App Dev Track) by Mike Pizzo (Microsoft Corp.) & Jose Blakesley (Microsoft Corp.) - Tentative
• Designing, Planning, and Tuning a Scalable BI Solution (BI Track) by Erik Veerman

If you are looking for some just-in-time training in one of these areas, I'd check out the various sessions.

Tickets

A number of people are receiving discounts or complementary registrations for various reasons (volunteer, chapter leader, speaker, etc.). In order to allow them into the party and still make it a managable event, we've decided to sell tickets. We're taking a small loss on the party, but we'd like to allow everyone in that wants to come.

So, for tickets, we are selling them for $30 each. You can paypal money to [sjones at sqlservercentral.com] and include a note with the names of the people for whom you are buying tickets. I'll confirm receipt and get your name added to the list of people who should be allowed in.

We will also accept cash at the door. If you cannot paypal money for some reason, please send me a note and say you'll bring cash to the party, so I can plan for you to come.

Steve Jones