MS Communities Code Camp / Tech Summit
Sunday,  August 29th, 2010
University of Auckland Business School

We know it can be a struggle to keep up with all of the new technologies that developers and IT professionals are expected to use. You can read blogs, books, articles, but the best solution is often the conversation you have with others. You ask a question and you get an answer. That's what makes a day like this so valuable.
 
You listen, you ask questions, you listen more and you get answers.

The MS Communities Code Camp & Technology Summit is a Free, non-commercial event, open to everybody with an interest in any of the technologies being discussed.
 
Development
This year we will be running two development streams for developers. We will be covering a range of development topics, such as ASP.NET web development, Windows Phone 7, Silverlight, Security, Building Quality Software and more!
Our aim is to have sessions on technologies that you use every day and may want to learn more about, as well as more advanced sessions on emerging technologies or techniques.
 
SQL
Don't miss your chance for a free day of SQL Server and BI technical education and business networking. Meet industry experts, professionals and fellow IT Professionals.
Learn about best practices, effective troubleshooting, how to prevent issues, save money, and build a better SQL Server environment for your company or clients.
 
SharePoint
The SharePoint track at Code-Camp is designed to build on your technical training and insight for SharePoint. Come and learn from your local community & SharePoint experts on how you can help your customers and partners envision solutions using the new capabilities SharePoint deliver.
 
Infrastructure
This stream will run several sessions focusing on the latest topics around core IT infrastructure systems. If you are an IT professional interested in or supporting; server platforms, systems monitoring and management, virtualization and other technologies, then this is the stream for you!
 

More information and registration can be found at www.codecamp.co.nz
 
Call for Speakers:
Are you interested in speaking in one of the streams above? 
Please visit the website and contact the relevant stream owner.

Last year, the SQL PASS association held the first “24 Hours of PASS”, 24 hours of webcast training/teaching.  It was a great success, with huge numbers attending many sessions.

It’s happening again, kicking off at 1200 (GMT) on May 19 and running for 24 hours. As with last year, the topics are wide and varied, but this year there is a special focus on the newly released SQL Server 2008 R2.  Here are some of the sessions:

1. PowerPivot
2. PerformancePoint
3. Utility Control Point
4. Parallel Data Warehouse
5. StreamInsight
6. Master Data Management
7. Multi-Server Management
8. Report Builder
9. Data Tier Applications

So, if your calendar doesn’t already look like this:

Then you seriously need to be clicking on this link

The AucklandSQL User Group is proud to present:  SQL Server Integration Services

Session
Ready to get started using SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS). Join Patrick LeBlanc, founder of the SQL Lunch in the session on how to use SSIS. Patrick will cover everything you need to get started with this powerful technology. You’ll learn how to utilize several key components of SSIS, while applying common business rules to your data.

Patrick LeBlanc is currently a Business Intelligence Architect for Pragmatic Works. He has worked as a SQL Server DBA for the past 9 years. His experience includes working in the Educational, Advertising, Mortgage, Medical and Financial Industries. He is also the founder of TSQLScripts.com, SQLLunch.com and the President of the Baton Rouge Area SQL Server User Group. Patrick is a regular speaker at various SQL Server community events, including SQL Saturday’s, User Groups and the SQL Lunch

Time
Tuesday, 27th April
Food & Drink from 5:30pm, Presentation starts at 6pm.

Location
Datacom Systems Ltd
210 Federal St
Auckland CBD

Registration: http://www.aucklandsql.com/Meetings/April2010.aspx

If you are unable to attend the session at Datacom, it will also be broadcast online at: https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/usergroups/join?id=FFG9R9&role=attend&pw=MzC4g%24B5n

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us.

The Microsoft MVP Award is an annual award that recognizes exceptional technology community leaders worldwide who actively share their high quality, real world expertise with users and Microsoft.

I knew about the program, and some people had asked / were surprised I wasn't already tapped given what I do in the SQL community.  I wasn't fussed about being recognised. 

Sure I joked about it with people that it seemed like people who (in my opinion) didn't seem to do anything were being rewarded, but I never expressed a desire to be tagged; I was (and still am) having fun and enjoying helping others.  Being able to help somebody solve a problem with SQL was my reward.  I mean it.  I can’t count the number of “clients” who I have helped by introducing them to generic scripts like index defrag or automated backups without charging them for my “consulting services”.

MVP award announcements come out at the beginning on January, April, July and October.

At 3:40am this morning, an email from the MVP program arrived in my inbox, and for some reason was classified as spam and thus wound up in the Junk Mail folder.

Dear Dave Dustin,

Congratulations! We are pleased to present you with the 2010 Microsoft® MVP Award! This award is given to exceptional technical community leaders who actively share their high quality, real world expertise with others. We appreciate your outstanding contributions in SQL Server technical communities during the past year.

Now I must admit when I checked my email on my phone at 6:30am I was a little disappointed to only see work related material sitting there, but it quickly passed.  It’s not a popularity contest.  If I’m helping people, that’s what’s important.

After spending the morning playing with my son I headed downstairs to my laptop where I could perform my regular checks and tasks.  One of those was checking the junk mail for false positives.  And the above email was there.  Remembering it was still April 1 in the US, I thought some of my friends might have been playing a trick. But no, the links actually lead to the Microsoft servers, and my MVP url was valid.

I knew that a couple of people on Twitter had nominated me throughout the year, and for that I am forever grateful, but it takes more than “give this guy the nod” emails.  So to everybody that backed up these statements, I am in your debt.

As I stated on twitter earlier today…

It’s an honour just to be nominated. I don’t have the words to actually describe being awarded.

Paul Randall (Blog | Twitter) summed it up really well in his renewal post:  “It's a privilege being recognized as a top contributor to the SQL Community, not a right.”

I’m not an eloquent man, so I will finish with this.

Thank you.  Very much.  Please don’t let me let you down.

Hi all,

I’d like to invite you all to the Auckland SQL Saturday, being held on the North Shore of Auckland, on Saturday, April 10th.
 
This is a FREE, full day of sessions covering real world scenarios and situations along with information relevant to current as well as future projects and positions.

• 10 things you didn't know about SSMS 
• 36 to 6 SQL Servers – Consolidation from the Trenches 
• Analysis Services - Introduction to Business Intelligence with SQL 2008 
• Common Misconceptions about Clustering 
• Comparing SQL in large vs small environments 
• Database Index investigation with DMVs 
• Solving the "Running Total" & "Ordinal Rank" Problems 
• SQL Server Integration Services 2008 
• Training for SQL Server 2008 certification, and why it's worth it 
• What is LINQ – and what the heck is it doing to my database?

Plus more...  A full schedule, including session times will be available after Easter.

This event runs from 8:30am -> 5pm, includes lunch and is FREE for all attendees.

Further information and registration can be found here:  http://www.aucklandsql.com/sqlsaturday

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

In conjunction with the AucklandSQL User Group, we present:

PowerShell for Data Professionals
Tuesday, February 23rd at noon (NZ time)

In this session we will learn to perform several everyday data tasks including user database backups, scripting table objects and evaluating disk space usage with PowerShell. For each task we will explore the benefits of using PowerShell over the standard method. Only a basic understanding of PowerShell or DOS is needed. This session should serve as a good introduction to PowerShell for database users. The goal is to help everyone get their feet wet using PowerShell.

Presenter:
Aaron Nelson is a Senior SQL Server Architect, Database Developer, DBA, and Business Intelligence Developer with over 10 years experience in architecture, development, maintenance, and performance tuning of SQL Server.

He has Experience managing enterprise-wide data needs in both a transactional and data warehouse environment.  He also holds certifications for  MCITP: Business Intelligence Developer, Database Administrator, Database Developer; as well as MCTS: Windows Server Virtualization, Configuration (meaning Hyper-V). Aaron blogs at SQLvariations

LiveMeeting link:
https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/usergroups/join?id=BJ5M5D&role=attend

If you're on the North Shore and would like to get together to watch this (and have some Pizza & drinks for lunch) drop me a note and I'll sort out a suitable location here.

SQL Server encompasses a wide variety of domains – administrative, development, and design.  But despite years of experience with relational databases, SQL Server practitioners frequently make the same mistakes over and over again.  Wouldn’t you like to learn about those mistakes before they ever happen?  This session will answer questions like:

• What’s the most common Transact-SQL programming mistake and how do I fix it?
• How do database designers cause problems for future generations of application developers and database administrators?
• Why do inexperienced database administrators make their own job more difficult and less efficient?

There are a short list of mistakes that, if you know of them in advance, will make your life much easier.  These mistakes are the “low hanging fruit” of application design, development, and administration.  Once you apply the lessons learned from this session, you’ll find yourself performing at a higher level of efficiency and effectiveness than before.

 
1 hour LiveMeeting session, starting at 8am on Thursday 11th February, 2010.  (NZ times)
 
http://www.sqlpass.org/Events/ctl/ViewEvent/mid/521.aspx?ID=291

A big party is being held to honor relational database systems & their impact on the modern society.  Outside the hotel, the host awaits the guests.

The first limousine arrives and out steps Oracle followed by 4 people

Host: Who have you brought along?
Oracle: I have 4 DBA's in tow. One to install me, one to design the databases, one to administer me and the other to justify the cost.

A second limo arrives and out steps DB2 followed by 40 people

Host: Who have you bought along?
DB2: I have 2 DBA's, 2 hardware specialist and 36 consultants.

A third limo arrives and out steps SQL Server all on his own.

Host: Why haven't you brought anyone?
SQL Server: I didn't bring anyone because I am easy to install and am basically self managing. But I did bring the #sqlhelp twitter hashtag for when the sh*t hits the fan.

20 minutes later, up rushes MySQL, unshaved, hair a mess.

Host: Where have you been MySQL
MySQL: Sorry, I thought it was February 31st

A SQL Query walks into a bar. Walks up to 2 tables and says, "May I join you?"

Brad M. McGehee is the Director of DBA Education for Red Gate Software; an accomplished Microsoft SQL Server MVP with over 14 years’ SQL Server experience, over 6 years’ training experience, and has been involved in the industry since 1982.
 
A well-respected and trusted name in SQL Server literature, Brad is the author or co-author of more than 14 technical books and over 100 published articles.
 
 
Auckland
Monday 19th
http://aucklandsql.com/Meetings/Brad-McGehee.aspx
 
DBA 101: Best Practices Every DBA Should Know
This session focuses on key fundamentals, such as: Installing & Upgrading SQL Server; SQL Server Configuration; User Data and Log File Management; Database Configuration Settings; Configuring Critical Maintenance Jobs; Setting Up Alerts for Critical Errors; Security Basics; Implementing a Backup Strategy; Creating a Disaster Recovery Plan; Testing; Monitoring; and Documentation

Wellington
Tuesday 20th
http://wellington.sqlpass.org/Home/tabid/1764/Default.aspx
 
How to Optimise tempdb Performance
DBAs often don’t spend a lot of time watching tempdb performance. They think of it as a black box that takes care of itself. What many DBAs don’t fully realize is how tempdb performance can affect SQL Server’s overall performance. In this session, we will cover how tempdb is used; tempdb internals; how to monitor tempdb; and how to optimize tempdb for best performance.

 
Christchurch
Wednesday 21st
http://www.dot.net.nz/Lists/Events%20Calendar/DispForm.aspx?ID=144
 
Want to become an exceptional DBA?
Becoming a DBA doesn’t have to be just a job; it can be a very rewarding career. While many DBAs are happy with just getting by, the Exceptional DBA is not only outstanding in their knowledge of SQL Server, they are consummate professionals who are in high demand, and command high salaries.
 

Dunedin
Thursday 22nd
http://www.dot.net.nz/Lists/Events%20Calendar/DispForm.aspx?ID=137
 
Best Practices Every SQL Server DBA Must Know 
With the continued popularity of SQL Server, more and more people are becoming SQL Server DBAs, whether they planned to or not. Many of these DBAs don’t have formal training, but are doing the best they can under the circumstances. Most of these DBAs want to do a good job, but just don’t know where to start. While Books Online is a great reference tools, it doesn’t tell someone what they need to know about commonly established best practices that experienced DBAs know by heart.
 

From tomorrow (September 2) at 12 pm (NZ Time) PASS (the Profession Association of SQL Server users) is kicking of their 24 hour SQL Server training marathon.

The speakers include many who will be presenting at the PASS Summit 2009 in November.  The list of speakers is a who’s who of the world of SQL Server including Tech Ed NZ favourites like Greg Low and Peter Ward as well as world renowned experts such as Kalen Delaney.

Take a look at the full schedule of speakers and topics and sign up for free to tune in.