{"id":619,"date":"2013-10-21T09:06:00","date_gmt":"2013-10-21T16:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/3.209.169.194\/blogs\/erin\/?p=619"},"modified":"2018-12-14T09:11:09","modified_gmt":"2018-12-14T17:11:09","slug":"pass-summit-2013-final-recap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sqlskills.com\/blogs\/erin\/pass-summit-2013-final-recap\/","title":{"rendered":"PASS Summit 2013: Final Recap"},"content":{"rendered":"

I haven’t traditionally written recap posts for the PASS Summit, but this year was just phenomenal, and I think that down the road I would regret it if I didn’t take a few minutes to summarize the highlights.<\/p>\n

\"Perry<\/a>
Perry and I arrive at the PASS Summit<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In no particular order…<\/p>\n

#SQLRun<\/strong><\/p>\n

On Wednesday morning about 70-some people congregated in downtown Charlotte for the now-traditional #SQLRun.\u00a0 Organized by Jes Borland<\/a> (whom I really don’t have enough wonderful adjectives to describe), it was a 3.4 mile run with fellow SQL runners in the complete dark.\u00a0\u00a0 It was the perfect way to start Day 1 of the Summit.\u00a0 A run, when it includes friends, is never bad.\u00a0 I met a couple new people that I saw throughout the week, proving again that common interests outside SQL Server help facilitate those relationships within PASS.\u00a0 Whatever your passion, I encourage you to find people with the same non-SQL interests at conferences and SQLSaturdays.\u00a0 You just never know who you’ll meet.<\/p>\n

My Sessions<\/strong><\/p>\n

My first session was Wednesday morning after the keynote, and it was Making the Leap from Profiler to Extended Events<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Perry<\/a>
Perry checking out the crowd before my XE session<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This was one of my favorite topics to cover this year, and based on feedback throughout the week, it hit home with many people.\u00a0 Over 300 attendees made it to the session (the picture above was taken 15 minutes before I started), and I had great questions throughout and finished right on time.\u00a0 In case you missed it, I’ll be giving a shorter version of the same session this Wednesday at noon EDT for the DBA Virtual Chapter (sign up here<\/a>) and again next week at SQLIntersection.\u00a0 Scripts can be downloaded from the PASS site<\/a>, or from the SQLskills site<\/a> under the Conference Demos heading.<\/p>\n

My second session was Friday morning at 8 AM, How to Avoid Living at Work: Lessons from Working from Home<\/a>.\u00a0 Despite the early hour, we had a good number of attendees and a great discussion.\u00a0 As I mentioned in a post back in August<\/a>, I’m still adjusting, but it’s going well \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

The WIT Panel<\/strong><\/p>\n

I had the honor of sitting on the WIT Panel on Thursday, and even though I probably said less than the other panelists, I had the opportunity to address a couple great questions (including one from an audience member).<\/p>\n

\"2013<\/a>
2013 WIT Panel (L to R: Gail Shaw, Kevin Kline, Cindy Gross, Rob Farley, me, and moderator Mickey Stuewe)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

You can view the recording here<\/a>, and since Thursday I’ve had a lot of time to reflect on what else I could have said, particularly when I answered the question from the audience member.\u00a0 I want to include it here, for reference, and if you watch the video it starts at 59:11:<\/p>\n

I had an interesting experience.\u00a0 I was walking around the Expo yesterday and after having a short conversation with someone, someone said to me, well, you are a woman working in technology, you are a foreigner, you are a former collegiate athlete, and you are young.\u00a0 You have all this working against you, how are going to make it in this industry?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

My reply to her was that I would have said, “How am I NOT going to make it?”\u00a0 Because here’s the thing: YOU decide what you can and cannot do, what you will and will not do.\u00a0 You are in complete control of your destiny.\u00a0 People will doubt you.\u00a0 People will tell you that you aren’t good enough, don’t know enough, that you’re not “something enough”.\u00a0 Don’t listen to them.\u00a0 Know who you are…and if you don’t know, figure it out.\u00a0 I firmly believe that once you fully accept the person that you are, and you like<\/em> that person, that nothing will stop you.\u00a0 Have confidence in yourself and then go forth and conquer.\u00a0 And to the guy that said that?\u00a0 There’s one part of me that wants to kick his @$$.\u00a0 The other part of me feels sorry for him.\u00a0 He has no idea what he’s up against.<\/p>\n

The SQLskills Team<\/strong><\/p>\n

A conference bonus is that I get to see the SQLskills team.\u00a0 It’s not often we’re all together because we’re scattered throughout the US.\u00a0 I had time with every member of the team, including a couple dinners which really provide time to catch up in a relaxed setting.\u00a0 I also moderated Kimberly’s session,\u00a0Skewed Data, Poor Cardinality Estimates, and Plans Gone Bad<\/a>, on Thursday, which was a lot of fun.\u00a0 If you have any interest in statistics, go watch her session on PASS TV<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Me<\/a>
Me and Kimberly – notice how tall I am?! (photo credit @AmazingScotch)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

SQL Sentry<\/strong><\/p>\n

I cannot say enough good things about SQL Sentry<\/a>.\u00a0 They sponsored many events at the Summit including (and if I miss one please let me know):<\/p>\n