It is an honor and I am excited to be speaking at the January 16th, 2016 installment of SQL Saturday Nashville (#SQLSatNash). I will be doing a ‘spotlight' 90-minute session covering the keys to being a successful SharePoint administrator, with a focus on database administrators who might have inherited a SharePoint farm or have been tasked with implementing it. We will cover common SharePoint misconceptions & use live demos to show frequently performed tasks. Lastly we will cover the training options and other resources available to make your job easier and more automated. With the extended time I plan on diving a little deeper than I could with a regular…

As it turns out, my last scheduled SQL Saturday event for 2015 was one of the closest – #SQLSat403 was my first time at the event held in Louisville, but I hope it won’t be the last! The speaker dinner was held at a great restaurant that was known for is delicious food – even featured on one of the TV cooking shows! We all gathered around tables and talked shop, family, work, and stuffed our faces with a lot of pizza. My session, Keys to Successful SharePoint Administration for the DBA, was slated later in the day, so I was able to attend several sessions throughout the day. I…

I traveled up to the great state of Indiana for SQL Saturday Indianapolis this past weekend. My session went well, except for the demo. I performed a SharePoint 2013 install using PowerShell but the installation didn’t finish. The most likely reason is that the virtual server host was busy (disk I/O). Oh well, the process had completed some steps and I was able to show databases without the GUID – which is kinda the point. I also attended Mike Lawell’s Execution Plans for Mere Mortals session. A lot of the information was new for me, but that is why I love going to SQL Saturdays – I stretch my knowledge.…

It was a such a great pleasure being part of the first SQL Saturday in Chattanooga! I arrived on Friday for the speaker dinner. Larry Ortega and the rest of the organizing crew did an excellent job with the dinner and getting #SQLSat410 started off. Another plus for the event – right outside my hotel was the Jurassic Park vehicle and the Mystery Machine (Scooby Doo van). On Saturday, everything seemed to run very smoothly and attendees were ready to get their learn on. My presentation went well – even the demo worked! The group was awesome and we had a productive conversation. Download the deck from my Tuning SQL…

It was a great honor to speak at SQL Saturday Atlanta this past Saturday. This event is known to be a good one with large attendance, high-quality speakers, and a great organizing committee. #SQLSat392 was a huge success! This year’s theme was Back to the Future, and along with movie references in the event materials, speaker shirts, and signage, there was a DeLorean parked out front! My session, Tuning SQL Server, went well – great conversation from the attendees and the topic was received really well. I learned a few things as well, so I will apply that to my upcoming speaking opportunities. Robert Verell, who lives in the same…