Category: SQL Saturday

I’m speaking at NYC #SQLSaturday #SQLSatNYC

I found out over the weekend that I’ve been selected to speak at SQL Saturday NYC on May 6! This is one of my favorite events, and I try to attend every year. To the best of my memory, I’ve only missed one SQL Saturday, as either a speaker or an attendee, in NYC since they’ve been holding this event.

I will be doing two presentations:

  • Disaster Documents: The role of documentation in disaster recovery — Documentation is a critical part of disaster recovery. This became evident on September 11, 2001. At the time, I was working for a company that had an office in the World Trade Center. When the towers fell, documentation was a critical for our recovery. In this presentation, I tell my story of how documentation played a role in helping my organization recover from that fateful day.
  • Whacha just say? Talking technology to non technical people — The language of technology might as well be a foreign language to people who don’t understand technology. In this session, I talk about how non-technologists can be overwhelmed by this language, and offer tips as to what technical people can do to convey that language.

New York SQL Saturday is always a good time! I hope to see you there on May 6!

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Speakers Are Normal People

This is a great post by Steve Jones. I have made a lot of great friends through my association with SQL Saturday and PASS. I can tell you firsthand that #SQLFamily is real!

Voice of the DBA

The #SQLFamily is amazing, at least I think it is. Like many families, it’s welcoming, supportive, and comforting. It’s also maddening, frustrating, and exacerbating at times. Like most families, or at least the ones I know, it’s not perfect, but it’s what we have and at the end of the day, most of us get along with each other.

It’s also an open group of people. In general, we welcome people with open arms and smiles. Those of us that are more visible or prominent are willing to listen to, help, and support anyone. I was overjoyed during the recent PASS Data Community Summit, where I had the chance to see so many people that I haven’t seen in person in 2-3 years. I met many other interesting people for the first time and enjoyed the experience.

Not everyone feels the same way. I loved seeing Kimberly Tripp and Paul…

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Upcoming speaking engagements (as of 12/27/2022) #SQLSaturday #WELocal #SWELocal #STCSummit

With only four days left in 2022, I don’t have any more speaking engagements in 2022. I do, however, have a couple lined up for 2023! Besides, it’s been a while since I posted one of these updates…

I am confirmed to speak at the following events.

  • March 3-4, 2023, Hartford, CT: WE Local Conference: I will be speaking at a conference hosted by the Society of Women Engineers in early March. This will be my second time speaking at this conference; I also spoke at this same conference in Buffalo last year. For this conference, I will be giving not one but two presentations: “Tech Writing for Techies,” an introduction to technical writing to technical people who don’t get tech writing, and “I lost my job! Now what?!?,” my presentation about the job hunt and surviving an unemployment situation.

    My job hunt presentation seems to be pretty popular, because I will be giving this same presentation at…
  • May 16, 2023, Atlanta, GA: STC Summit: This is a large national conference that takes place May 14-17. I am scheduled to speak on the 16th! I am especially excited about this conference, because I have been involved with STC for a little while, I’ve been wanting to get more involved with them, and speaking at STC Summit has been on my bucket list. I can now check that off my list! I’m also excited because Atlanta is a brand-new city for me. I have never been to Atlanta (other than changing planes at the airport, which doesn’t count)!

There are also a couple of SQL Saturdays to which I intend to submit. As of right now, neither of them is open yet for submissions, but I plan to submit to them once they’re open.

  • May 6, 2023, New York, NY: SQL Saturday #1048, NYC: I pretty much attend NYC SQL Saturday every year (in fact, NYC was the first SQL Saturday I ever attended, way back in 2010), so I will likely be there, regardless of whether or not any of my presentations are selected.
  • October 14, 2023, Burlington, MA: SQL Saturday Boston: The site for this event isn’t up yet; right now, it’s only a “save-the-date” on the SQL Saturday website. Nevertheless, I’ve attended Boston SQL Saturday a number of times, and I’ve become close with the folks out in Boston, so I will definitely submit when this one opens. That said, October is a long way away, so I’m hoping I don’t have any conflicts with that date!

So that’s what I have on my presentation calendar for next year. Hopefully, I’ll see you at an event near you!

Upcoming speaking engagements (as of 7/12/2022) #PASSDataCommunitySummit #SQLSaturday #ProfessionalDevelopment #Networking #SQLFamily

As it turns out, I have a couple of confirmed upcoming speaking engagements! If you’re seeking employment or are looking to advance your career prospects, both of these presentations are for you.

  • Saturday, July 23 (a week from this Saturday as I write this): SQL Saturday #1027, New Jersey — This is the first (as far as I know) SQL Saturday being held in New Jersey, and my first live and in-person SQL Saturday since Rochester, just before the pandemic.

    I will be doing my presentation about surviving an unemployment situation titled, “I lost my job! Now what?!?” If you’re out of work, I’ll talk about coping with unemployment stress and emotions, the job hunt, and how to get through this tough time.

    I also talk about networking in this presentation. Speaking of which…

I also found out this week that there is a SQL Saturday scheduled for October 8 in Boston (well, actually, Burlington, MA). I’m on the fence as to whether or not to submit to it (mostly what’s making me hesitate is my busy schedule, but that said, that date is free on my calendar). I’m leaning towards submitting to it, but we’ll see how it goes.

So, that’s two confirmed speaking engagements, plus one that I might (okay, probably will) submit to. Now that things are opening back up, and virtual conferences aren’t necessarily the current norm, I’m looking forward to seeing people live and in-person again.

Hello, New Jersey — I’ll be there on July 23! #SQLSaturday #SQLSat1027 #Networking #SQLFamily

First, I’ll start with an apology to anyone who’s been looking for more ‘blog articles from me. My life’s been pretty hectic lately (in a good way!), and I haven’t had too many opportunities to sit down at my computer to write. But nevertheless, here I am.

That said, my first article in a while is a speaking engagement announcement! Next month, I will be speaking at my first live, in-person SQL Saturday since Feb. 29, 2020 — right before the pandemic!

I will be speaking at SQL Saturday New Jersey on July 23! It will be held at the Microsoft office in Iselin, NJ. Note: because of the small size of the venue, registration is limited to around 120 people, so if you’re interested in attending, make sure you register soon!

If you’re a job seeker, I will be doing my presentation about surviving an unemployment situation titled: “I lost my job! Now what?!?“

After spending a couple of years speaking at virtual conferences, it’s nice to be able to get back on the road and attend in-person again (although I did speak at another in-person event earlier this year)!

See you next month!

#PASSDataCommunitySummit, day 1 #SQLFamily

PASS Data Community Summit is here!

I spent my morning getting my online profile and schedules set up, and trying to figure out how this online portal thing works! I’m also working on building my schedule. There are several sessions that interest me, but I need to pick and choose, since some of them conflict.

I also need to make sure that my own session is on the schedule! I don’t want to miss my own presentation!

I’m multitasking as I go through this. I did not take time off from work for the virtual conference (I did block out time to do my own presentation), and I will likely have the Summit sessions on in the background as I work.

I will be floating around the various online community rooms, so if you see me online, feel free to chat me up! I’ve already spoken with Andy Levy and Grant Fritchey this morning, and Steve Jones posted that he would be in the SQL Saturday room, so I will make it a point to visit him as well!

It’s not too late to register, if you want to attend! Just use the above link!

See you around the Summit!

Upcoming speaking engagements (as of 10/4/2021) #ProfessionalDevelopment #TechCon21 #PASSDataCommunitySummit #DataSaturday #SQLSaturday #Networking #SQLFamily

I’ve had quite a bit of movement in my speaking engagements list in the past few months! Here are my scheduled speaking engagements that are coming up. And I’ll admit that I’m posting this as a reminder to myself as much as anything else!

Confirmed

I am confirmed to be speaking at the following events. Note: these are all virtual events, so I will not be traveling anywhere to do these talks, other than to my home office.

  • Wednesday, October 20 or Thursday, October 21 (exact date/time TBD): TechCon ’21: If you miss my talk at Data Saturday #13, you can catch it at TechCon ’21, as I am giving the same talk!

I’ve also asked about speaking at my own user group; it’s been a while since I’ve spoken there. Stay tuned!

I’m in for a busy couple of months. Hope to catch you at one of my sessions!

#DataSaturdays #13 Minnesota — I’m speaking! #SQLSaturday

My speaker train continues to roll! I was informed yesterday that I’ve been selected to speak at Data Saturday #13, Minnesota on October 16!

I’ll be doing my presentation about how to speak the language of technology to those who don’t understand it.

Again, this is a virtual event; I will not be traveling to Minnesota. Use the link above to register for this free online event. Hope to see you there!

Upcoming speaking engagements (as of 8/30/2021) #ProfessionalDevelopment #TechCon21 #PASSDataCommunitySummit #DataSaturday #SQLSaturday #Networking #SQLFamily

Now that I have a couple of confirmed speaking engagements, I figured that this was a good time to update my upcoming speaking schedule!

Confirmed

These engagements are confirmed. I don’t have exact dates or times for either of these (and I might not for a little while); all I know is that these events are confirmed, and I am definitely speaking at them!

Note: these are both virtual events. To the best of my knowledge, they are both free to attend (well, I know PASS Data Summit is, anyway), so check the links for more information and to register.

All my presentations (so far) are professional development sessions, so feel free to register for these, regardless of whether you’re a techie or not. Don’t let the “technology” conferences scare you!

Still waiting to hear

I’ve submitted to speak here, but as of right now, I don’t yet know whether or not I’ve been picked to speak.

So, that’s my speaking schedule so far. These are all virtual conferences; I don’t yet have any in-person ones scheduled. Hope to see you at a conference sometime soon!