Allen White

PASS Tuesday - Query Plans in SQL 2005 and Thank You SQLServerCentral.com

Kalen Delaney not only writes great books, but delivers great session content as well. I spent the day Tuesday in Kalen's pre-conference session on Query Plans in SQL Server 2005. The last time I took a performance and tuning class was for Sybase SQL Server version 4.9, so things have changed just a little (grin) and it was great to have one of the best in the business up front delivering the material. Her analogy using how "normal" people arrange the clothes in their closets to explain hash joins was wonderful!

I met some great people at the Speaker Orientation meeting, and had a nice chat with Joe Celko about his next SQL Puzzles book. The PASS reception was a great place to renew acquaintences with people, including Rick Heiges, Tony Mann and Kevin Klein. The SIG Quiz Bowl was fun, and some people who probably wouldn't have volunteered for the quiz in past year's format walked away with some nice prizes.

Of course, the place was buzzing with the news about Red Gate's purchase of SQLServerCentral.com. I've chatted with Brian Knight at every PASS and TechEd conference for the past few years, and he's one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet. I congratulated him on the great news. At their reception I finally got to meet Steve Jones and Andy Warren (well, I've spoken to them at past conferences, but they didn't know me). I've got an article coming out on their site next week, so they were able to put a face with my name.

About five years ago when researching a problem I was having I discovered SQLServerCentral.com and subscribed to their newsletter. Because of their site I learned about PASS, and when I finally was able to attend PASS for the first time three years ago here in Seattle, things started to change for me, having found a great community doing the same kinds of things I was doing. Because of PASS I've made great business contacts and friends, and on Wednesday I'll be one of the speakers delivering content to others like me. Brian, Steve and Andy were the catalyst for making that happen and will always be thankful to them for that.

Allen