Next week is the 2024 PASS Data Community Summit in Seattle. I’ll be traveling Monday to the event to see a few thousand fellow data professionals, developers, managers, and more. I expect quite a few people to be traveling this weekend and enjoying SQL Saturday Oregon and SW Washington or just getting to Seattle for Pre-cons on Monday, but I’m slightly worn out so shortening my trip a bit.
First Timers
If you’ve never been to the Summit before (this is the 26th), then there is an FAQ available. I would highly recommend checking out Edwin Sarmiento’s First Timer Guide. It’s a great resource.
Also, make sure you aren’t this guy (or girl).
Summit Sessions
There are a lot of sessions available. I got asked for recommendations, and it was almost overwhelming, even when I skipped pre-cons. All the pre-cons are by great speakers and experts, so no recommendations there. I’m also not recommending lightning talks as those are just for fun.
Here are some I like, though I am biased towards DevOps and forward-thinking topics.
- A Modern Approach to Patching, Upgrades, and Technical Debt – Allan is great and we all could find better ways to patch and minimize interruptions to clients.
- Automated Database Deployments – Principles for Success – Disclosure, I work for Redgate, which is featured here, but automating deployments is big. I help people with this every week.
- Scaling Columnstore Indexes – Thomas is amazing and works on some of the largest systems I know. He has answered many questions for me over the years and Ienjoy hearing him talk about different topics.
- Dive into the Delta Lake – I think Delta Lakes and the delta format are going to be important to most data professionals over time, so an understanding of what this is can help you in the future. Note, if you’re not an analytics developer or ops person not, maybe watch this later. There’s also another session from Ed Pollack on this topic.
- Database Architecture Antipatterns and Fails – I’m a big believer in using patterns and knowing to avoid antipatterns.
- The Power Hour – I’ve seen many of these from the MS BI team over the years and they are always fun.
There are lots more sessions, but those are ones I’d want to see (or watch later).
After Hours
Don’t go out alone. I know some of you need a break or need to re-charge. Heck, I do at times, but minimize this at the Summit. Take advantage of the time to meet others and spend time with them. Build bonds, network, learn more about our industry or just about other people.
There are community events during and at night. Go on a walk with others, pick a place for dinner on Mon/Tue/Thur/Fri, or ask people to do something in Seattle. I’m not a big nightlife person, so don’t ask me, but I do recommend the Underground Tour if you’ve never done it. There are great museums around if you have an off day, especially the Museum of Flight.
I’ll be at the SQL Server Central / Datavail Casino Party Tuesday night and the Redgate event Thursday. Wednesday I’ll be at the expo hall reception and then likely go to bed. Dinner with a friend planned for Monday already.
Enjoy the Summit if you’re there. If you’re not, take my advice above at any event and don’t be an introvert for a few days. You’ll be tired, but you will grow from the experience.