February CASSUG Monthly Meeting @CASSUG_Albany #SQLUserGroup #SQLFamily

Greetings, data enthusiasts!

Our next CASSUG monthly meeting is on Monday, February 10!

Our February speaker is Taiob Ali! He will present his topic titled “New features in Management Studio — Performance Troubleshooting made easier.” For additional information and to RSVP, go to our Meetup event page at https://www.meetup.com/Capital-Area-SQL-Server-User-Group/events/267111330/

Additionally, Greg Moore will present a lightning talk about PowerShell!

Thanks to our sponsors, Datto, Capital Tech Search, and CommerceHub, for making this event possible!

Hope to see you there!

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July 20 — SQL Saturday, Albany, NY

On Saturday, July 20 (one week from tomorrow), the Capital Area SQL Server User Group (CASSUG) will host SQL Saturday for the sixth time in Albany, NY!

For those of you who are not regular readers of my ‘blog, SQL Saturday is a daylong conference centered mostly (but not entirely) around data topics related to SQL Server. It’s also a great networking event, and an opportunity to hook up with a number of data professionals! Check out the schedule to see what sessions interest you!

And yes, I am presenting, too! I will do a brand-new presentation about ‘blogging, as well as a lightning talk about business cards! I always look forward to doing presentations in my own backyard!

Additionally, there are three pre-con sessions on Friday, July 19. Unlike SQL Saturday, these sessions are not free, but they provide quality daylong training for specific topics at a decent price. Information about these pre-cons can also be found on the web site!

For more information and to register for the event, visit our website! Upstate New York is a great place to visit during the summertime! Hope to see you there!

SQL Saturday #855 Albany announced!

The Capital Area SQL Server User Group (CASSUG) is pleased to announce that, for the sixth time, we will host SQL Saturday #855, Albany on July 20!

For additional information, to register for the event, or to submit a presentation, click the link above!

I’ve already submitted presentations, but I will be there, regardless of whether or not I’m picked to speak!

Hope to see you there!

My favorite PowerShell references

One thing I’ve been doing to improve my skill set is teach myself PowerShell.  For those of you who don’t know what that is, here’s my description in a nutshell: it’s the command prompt on steroids.

So far, I’ve come across some references, some good, some not so good, to guide me in this endeavor.  For my own reference (and maybe yours!), listed below are some of my favorite PowerShell references.

• PowerShell.com
  Within this site, I found an eBook that, so far, has been my favorite reference.
• SQLServerCentral.com
  This site is one of my main go-to sites for SQL and other technical references.  Within that site, I came across the following:
  • PowerShell basics
  • Stairway to SQL PowerShell
  • PowerShell Tool Time: Building Help
  • Pretty much anything with a “PowerShell” tag
• Questions About PowerShell Basics That You Were Too Shy To Ask
  A PowerShell FAQ
• How To Document Your PowerShell Library
  In the very first sentence, author Michael Sorens writes, “I am passionate about documentation.” He’s not the only one.
• Break Your Batch Habit and Move to PowerShell
  There are a lot of dissenting opinions in the comments for this article, but I nevertheless thought this was interesting.
• How to Use a Batch File to Make PowerShell Scripts Easier to Run
  The title is self-explanatory, but I thought it was also a good explanation of some of PowerShell’s idiosyncrasies.

This is only a partial list, and I fully expect it to change.  As I find more references that I like, I’ll update the above list!