Rick Heiges

As usual, my scheduled was packed which left me little time for blogging. 

At PASS on Thursday -

Steve Ballmer was the keynote speaker for Thursday.  He was interesting, but not as animated as I had heard about.  At the end of the session, he brought Paul Flessner out again on stage to answer questions from the audience.  The first question was about Linux (Netware) and MSFT.  There are some articles about this response in cyberspace.  He left the audience with a "DBAs Rock!!!".  On another note, I noticed that Paul Flessner was starting to get chocked up at the end of the Wednesday keynote.

At PASS on Friday -

Dave Campbell had a great keynote with some really cool demos.  The final sessios of the day were still well attended and an additional session by Ken Henderson was PACKED!  Chuck Boyce was interviewing people and it was sad to say goodbye to friends that I may not see until the next PASS.  There are many experiences that I plan to blog about in the future, but I wanted to get this summary out.  BTW - you can register for a super early bird rate before Dec 31, 2006.  There is a PDF for download at www.sqlpass.org.

At PASS 2006 on Tuesday -

The PSS Team continued their 2 day pre-con which was very well received.  I spoke to several attendees who went to Kalen's pre-con; they said that it was great.  Other pre-cons went well too, but there was one that was not well received by several attendees.  The Welcome Reception went very well with the SIG Bowl and a special appearance by "SQL Server Gal".  Of course, the big news of the day was repeated by Brian Knight at the SQL Server Central party; that news is that red-gate bought sqlservercentral.com.  There will be changes to SSC, but I hope that it does not lose the community drive. 

At PASS 2006 on Wednesday -

Paul Flessner was the keynote speaker. As you may have heard, he is stepping down from his post at the end of 2006.  This is something that he has been planning for about 3 years.  There were some demos during the keynote, but there was no real big news other than the announcement that "SQL Server Everywhere" is not the official name of a product anymore; it is now SQL Server Compact Edition.  So in other words, we are back to calling it CE, but MSFT doesn't want to hear those initials.  The Exhibit Hall was filled with Attendees and good SWAG in the evening with yet another appearance by SQL Server Gal.  After the Exhibit Hall Reception, I attended the Party for PASS Volunteers.  It was a fun night that lasted longer thanI wanted it to - I had to get up because I do not want to misss Steve Ballmer this AM.

Well, I spent most of my day in meetings, but I was able to sneak up to the pre-conferences going on today to see a few folks.  Andy Kelley had a great turnout and the reviews that I heard about his session were VERY GOOD.

I also saw the guys from the PSS Boot Camp in the morning.  Their session was also very packed.  Although I haven't seen Kalen yet, I am pretty sure that she has a pre-con tomorrow.  Zach Nichter (he blogs on sqljunkies too) was around today as well as Allen White (anothe junkie). 

I can't wait for tomorrow as I know that I will see even more friends and hope to make new ones.  If you have not attended a PASS Summit, the education is just the beginning.  The friends and contacts that you make are priceless.  Next year, PASS will be in Denver in September. 

The biggest annual SQL Server only gathering starts next week!  There is lots of excitement with Steve ballmer keynoting on Thursday!

I will be arriving in Seattle on Sunday for some meetings before the fun starts.  My goal is to blog everyday from PASS so that you will get a feel of what is transpiring if you cannot make it there. 

We are also expecting members of the "Source Force" featuring SQL Server Gal to be around the conference as well!  We have the SQL Lounge and the Microsft Interactive Lounge to meet SQL Developers and get your burning questions answered.  PSS will have some Labs too.  There is a lot going on.  If you attend, please say "Hello".

See you there!