AlantaMDF SQL Server Users Group. Photo courtesy of www.sqlvariant.com.

I have just finished up a three event speaking tour that, which unfortunately, should have been a four event tour, but my flight to Germany (via London) was cancelled, and I was unable to attend European PASS as I had hoped.

I started out on Monday, speaking at the AtlantaMDF SQL Server Users Group, which is lead by SQL Server MVP Geoff Hiten. I spoke on “How to Become an Exceptional DBA,” which is a presentation based on my book of the same name (download the free eBook version here). Apparently, the meeting has its highest attendance ever, with 93 attendees, about one third of which were first time attendees.

Next, I flew to Chicago to speak to the downtown Chicago SQL Server Users Group, where I spoke Thursday night on “How to Optimize tempdb Performance.” The group is lead by Bill Lescher, who was a most gracious host. We met at the Chicago Microsoft Technology Center, and I got a brief tour of the facility from Ross LoForte, a SQL Server technology architect with Microsoft (and SQL Server book author).

Chicago SQL Server Users Group. Photo by Bill Lescher.

Then on Saturday, I made two presentations at the Chicago SQLSaturday event. I presented on “How and When to Use Indexed View” and “Introduction to Graphical Execution Plans. The event, which was coordinated by Wendy Pastrick, Ted Krueger, and Aaron Lowe, had about 20 speakers, over 30 sessions, and over 300 attendees.

Photo courtesy of www.michaelkappel.com.

Chicago SQL Saturday wraps up with Q&A and prize drawings.

After the Chicago SQL Saturday, I was supposed to fly to Neuss, Germany for European PASS, but my flight was cancelled due to the Iceland volcano ash, so I ended up going back home to Hawaii. My next trip is in May, where I will speak at IndyTechFest in Indianapolis, IN and the North Texas SQL Server Users Group.