Last month I blogged about the SQL Crazy train making a whistle stop in Providence Rhode Island.  A couple of weeks prior to that, you may have read this article about the Salt Lake City event.

What you have not seen is a recap of either of those two events.  I just want to give a quick bit of feedback on both events at this time.

The SLC event was held at the Adobe building down south in Utah county – just outside of Salt Lake City.  We’ll let it slide that it wasn’t even in the same county as the event name.

Overall, the event was good.  A lot of people attended.  The food was good (catered BBQ and Pizza as reserve in case there wasn’t enough BBQ).  The speakers were good, the facilities were mostly good, and the topics presented were good.

Above all of the good of the event comes the great stuff.  I particularly enjoyed the opportunity I had to chat with people like Kevin Boles and Argenis Fernandez.  I also had the great time to mingle with people like Andre Dubois, Keith Tate, Aaron Cutshall, Jason Kassay and Reeves Smith.

I had met each of these people at one event or another and I had time to chat with them all over again.  It is always nice to reconnect with other community volunteers.

If you ever have the chance to attend the session about SysInternals Tools by Argenis, then DO IT!  I particularly enjoyed that session.

Much like SQL Saturday in Salt Lake City, I enjoyed the Providence event.  I found myself bailing on some of the sessions more in Providence than in SLC so I could tech talk.

I really enjoyed pulling off to a quiet corner to answer tech questions and to try and help resolve problems.  The questions were in part about my presentations, and in part had nothing to do with anything that I presented.

One thing that I thought worked rather well was the scheduling of my second session.  The session preceding mine was about a framework for SSIS.  My session was essentially about a framework for SSRS.

I left both of my sessions feeling that both audiences during my sessions were engaged.  When I present, I monitor the group to try and determine if they are engaged and it seemed like the attendees were there and wanting more.

After the event, the speakers and volunteers gathered for a social evening at a local restaurant.  I thought that the concept worked out really well.  I have to admit that I was a bit skeptical at first with the layout.  I am happy to admit that the skepticism was squashed promptly.  The chance to meet with the volunteers and other speakers in a more informal gathering was ideal.  I enjoyed it even more than a formal dinner – in this particular occasion.  It is this kind of informal get together for speakers and volunteers to mix and socialize that I would be interested in seeing more frequently at SQL Saturdays.