SQLSaturday #59 – Speaker Interview Series #18 – with Matt Van Horn
Notes from the SQLSat#59 Team: SQLSaturday#59 is just 5 days away and will take place at Microsoft Offices Midtown Manhattan, 1290 Avenue of the Americas (6th Floor), New York, NY. Attendees should plan to arrive beginning at 7:45am to allow enough time to be processed through building security (please make sure to bring a picture ID). We are filled to capacity and registration is closed!
Now that PASS is all behind us, it’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas! Well, not quite yet, but Christmas may come early at SQLSaturday#59, and Denali CTP1 may stuff your stockings with holiday cheer! We’re giving away so many prizes, goodies, SWAG, books, and raffling off software licenses from your favorite vendors, you’re not going to want to miss it! Isn’t SQLSaturday#59 a great way to kick off your holiday season, with Thanksgiving right around the corner?
Alright then, place your bets, luck be a lady tonight! No we’re not having a casino at the event (that was the SQLServerCentral Party 🙂 We pick up our speaker interview series with Matt Van Horn, hailing from Philadelphia, PA, who has done work for the online gambling and casino biz, and is now currently a Senior Consultant at Infragistics.
Matt is a seasoned developer with proficiencies in a wide-array of programming languages and platforms, focuses on creating flexible and dynamic code tailored to the specific needs of customers. He is an experienced presenter, regularly speaking at various user group meetings Code Camps, and our SQLSaturday#59 event. He will be bringing us valuable info on how to take advantage of SSRS interactive features.
RP: Matt, give us a little info about yourself, your background, your career and your involvement in the SQL Community.
MVH: I am really more of a programmer than a DB guy. But I have always enjoyed DB work. I have been programming since I was 15 (im 24 now) and got started with PHP/MySQL. My last job really forced me to grow as a developer given that for over a year I was the only really technical person in a company that wrote complex LOB apps so I was forced to learn to handle all the roles that are typically split among designers/developers/testers/DBA.
RP: What is your area of expertise? How did you become a DBA/SQL Professional?
MVH:I have always enjoyed database work whether it is SQL/MySQL I think I just enjoy the structure that a relational database management system offers. My last job was a .net shop in a small tech company 7 employees (2 developers) so I had to do everything from the DB to CSS. I am really a big fan of reporting services and writing efficient queries and trying to tweak performance as much as I can.
RP: What advice would you give your fellow colleagues who are trying to become more senior professionals?
MVH: Go to events like this one! Get out an meet your peers and people that are doing new and cool stuff that you could maybe apply to your projects.
RP: As I see the question all the time, what do you tell folks who want to get more involved in the SQL Community?
MVH: Go speak at a user group!!!! Start attending them if you’re not yet! Start a blog and share some tricks of the trade that you have come across. Get to know your local Microsoft Developer Evangelist.
RP: What are 3 of your favorite features in SQL Server 2008/R2?
MVH: Well I haven’t really gotten into R2 yet but in SQL 2008 I totally love the fact that they made it so easy to pull fields out of a dataset when it is inside of a table. In 2005 building reports with a lot of columns and cells
RP: What are you working on currently?
MVH: Currently I am working on a book on Silverlight dashboards, building two windows phone 7 apps , working on getting out and speaking anywhere.
RP: Cool! My son keeps telling me about the new Windows phone 7. He’s only eight, but becoming quite the young techie.
What are some of your other interests, hobbies, etc. when you’re not being a DBA/Engineer/BI professional?
MVH: For anyone that has ever received an email from me my signature says it all “I code therefore I am.” I may be doing something else but chances are I am thinking about the next totally awesome thing that I want to build. That being said I love to hit a bar or a club with some friends, travel, watch some TV, and have even soloed an airplane.
RP: What are you looking forward to, or, what excites you the most about presenting at our SQLSaturday event in NYC?
MVH: Well I always love going to NYC first off. Second I had a great time presenting at the last SQL Saturday (#39) NYC event. NYC has some great user groups and events all year round and I am always happy to be a part of them.
RP: Give us a preview of the topic and session you have planned for us at SQLSaturday#59
MVH: My talk is titled SSRS Interactive Reports. In my session I will show some of the interactive features of Reporting services. Of all the presentations that I do I tend to have the most fun presenting this one.
RP: Anything that you would like to add?
MVH: I look forward to meeting with all of you soon!
RP: Yes, we’re very happy you will be joining us!
In light of Matt’s recent run in with the law, we are happy to say he’s been released on bond so he can present at SQLSaturday in NYC. He will be accompanied by his parole officer, so no need to be alarmed. Just kidding, but he should have a great story to tell. We wish Matt the best, and look forward to seeing him as well. Thanks, Matt we appreciate your time!
Well, as I said at the top, the 5-day countdown has begun! You can follow us on Twitter with hashtag #sqlsat59, and get news on all our events with #sqlsaturday. Once again, here is the agenda. See you there!
Please note the early Wake-Up Session with Steve Jones, and alternatively, the WIT (Women in Technology SQLCoffee chat with datachick Karen Lopez.
Agenda:
7:30am - Sponsor/Speaker Registration
8:00am - Attendee Registration & Breakfast (Main Hallway)
8:00am - Wake-Up Session with Steve Jones (@way0utwest)
8:00am - Women In Technology Coffee Chat with Karen Lopez (@DataChick)
8:40am - Event Kick-Off
9:00am/10:00am/11:00am - Session #1, #2 and #3
12:00pm - 1pm - Lunch
12:05-12:25: Sponsor Session #1 (Red Gate with Steve Jones)
12:30-12:50: Sponsor Session #2 (WhereScape )
1:00pm/2:00pm - Session #4 & #5
3:00pm - Closing and Raffles
Schedule:
