\nOK, I've written about our February Immersion Event in two other recent posts:\n<\/p>\n
\nSadly, this is going to be my last post about our February Immersion Event on Internals and Performance. It was a fantastic week getting to know our attendees – from Q&A during lectures to breaktime to chatting in the lounge in the evenings. Quite a few attendees were surprised that we hung out and chatted with them after class and during breaks\/lunch. But, we still love what we're doing and we love hearing about all of the ways that you use SQL Server. And, to be honest, we also love hearing about your lives outside of SQL Server. I remember some great conversations about health (for me, it's trying <\/strong>to get healthy<\/em>), animals (a few dog lovers!) and racing cars (and a few speeding tickets – but I won't name names here at all!<\/em>).\n<\/p>\n \nWe all learned a lot and we also had fun. I know quite a few of you have asked about when we're going to get to your city – so that you don't have to travel. However, I have to admit that traveling to some of these events (and actually being away from home<\/em>) can be extremely beneficial. The networking and time spent hearing about other scenarios and even just the time spent relaxing (and not having to rush to get the kids or feed the dog or water the plants…<\/em>) can allow you really dive in and think about nothing but learning for a week. I know this increases the cost of the week but if you get more out of the training itself by being less distracted then that certain offsets the costs. And, we're also trying to choose comfortable, quality hotels – for reasonable rates.\n<\/p>\n \nGetting away and disconnecting <\/strong>(to a point<\/em>) will allow you to focus better and retain more. In fact, a couple of local attendees that made arrangements to stay late on Th and\/or Fr evenings ended up commenting to me later (retrospectively) that they wished they had stayed late on the other evenings as well. On Friday, there were about 12 of us that had a bite in the bar and stayed until after 8. Quite a few booked their flights to fly out Saturday morning just to make sure that they didn't miss anything on Friday.\n<\/p>\n \nSumming it up<\/u><\/strong>\n<\/p>\n \nSo, if I were to sum it up – an Immersion Event is about immersing yourself in the technology as well as in the process of learning<\/strong>. If you can disconnect for a week – and, REALLY disconnect – you might get even more out of it than just the daily lectures. Networking and learning from your peers is an important part of the experience. In fact, my favorite "fun" tweet of the week (there were TONS of great tweets on #SQLskills<\/a>):\n<\/p>\n \nWhat did the attendees say DURING and AFTER the event?<\/u><\/strong>\n<\/p>\n\n
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