What's it like to attend a community event like SQL Relay for the first time?

Following the recent SQL Relay event in Bristol, I had the opportunity to talk to a first time attendee, Claire, who has recently found herself in charge of the SQL Servers in her workplace. I asked her if she would mind sharing her thoughts on the event, so that others can get an insight into what it's like to attend for the first time.

What in the day did you most enjoy, and why?

Quite glad I got to see Alex Whittles' session [Using PowerPivot and DAX to Predict and Win Fantasy F1] because it was interesting to see how the power of Excel can be used, and seeing it applied in the way he did made it easier to understand.

So the real world example helped?

Yes, and quite a fun example too, and I do think it's something we could use as well.

Anything that didn't work in the event?
I don't know if it's because I arrived late to the start of the session [Claire had been speaking to a sponsor at the time, and had run into the start of the following session], but I found the BIML session quite hard to understand, as I felt I'd missed the introduction and found it quite hard to follow where he was going, but I can see it would be useful if you're trying to create multiple packages and don't want to run through and do the same thing again.

Had you come across BIML before?
No, although I had found something similar before, so I could recognise the concept, and it was nice to see you can build things in that way rather than just amending them.

Did you realise that was an intermediate session?
No, no I hadn't picked that up! I felt it was good, but I did feel a little behind.

There's often one session like that - particularly if it's not something you can use at work, and get familiar with, but it's good to introduce yourself to new concepts.

The NoSQL Session, Richard Munn's session - I was a bit confused by it I suppose,  because everything we do is entrenched in SQL, seeing outside that was hard; and then seeing the three different pieces of software he was demonstrating, I was trying to see how that could be of relevance to what we do, and if it would be better, but I found I couldn't clearly see.

So it's something you need a longer session to appreciate?
Yes, I think so, but it's great to see how the concepts work, and  it's good to see what else is out there.

Yes, it's just a taster, isn't it..

Yes. And his presentation style was funny, which helped - he did make me laugh!

And the last session, the "fun" one [Dave Morrison's SQL Fun Time Hour], I wasn't really sure what to expect, because it didn't really describe what it was about before I went, but it was really interesting, really good, and I was hanging on his every word. There was so much in there that was really useful.

So that's the one you'd like to see more of?

Yes, it was all real life, little bits of every day stuff you do all day and don't necessarily appreciate what issues it throws up in the background. I did really appreciate that one.

So would you go to more community events in the future?

Yes, oh yes - well, if I'm allowed to!

Some of the events are at weekends, or evenings - would you make it in your own time?

That's a different type of "Allowed To"!

It sounds like a positive experience then?

Yeah, oh yeah, I'd definitely try to go again.

It was just like a series of lectures, wasn't it, you just choose what you think might be most applicable and choose, and I like that, and it was friendly as well! I had thought it might be a bit more unfriendly, but it was fine.

Did that worry you - that it might be aimed at people who had been doing the job longer?

Yes, I know that some of the people I spoke to, the moment they spoke back to me I could only really smile as I didn't understand what they were saying, but I did also have conversations with people who I felt were in a similar position to me, which is good to know! And I was already expecting there would be less females there, so that wasn't a surprise.

I don't know if I feel strongly about gender mix, but didn't wan't to feel people were talking over my head just because I was female.

Did you find that?

No, I didn't get that at all.

I'm glad to hear that.

Yes, a good day, but now I just feel I could sleep for a year - It's a lot to take in, and reflect upon. I just hope I've got enough notes to convince my employer to send me to another one!

Thanks for your time, Claire, and I hope to see you at future events.

Why learn from Pluralsight?

A little while ago, I recorded my first course with Pluralsight, an online training provider.

When discussing this with others, some have expressed reticence to try it, as access to the courses is sold on a subscription basis. In this post I want to tell you why I author courses and blog posts for Pluralsight, and share with you some ways that you can experience this training before paying, so you can ensure you like this way of learning before committing.

I came across Pluralsight about a year ago, as a library of developer focussed learning. Since then, they've expanded and acquired other course libraries, covering the whole spectrum of IT learning, including Open Source and Cloud Computing, as well as commercial software. I still find them my go-to provider for the training I need (you should regard continuing learning in your field as a best practice). The on-line, modular model allows me to learn in the time I have - most courses have modules in 20-40 minute lengths, so they can be watched in a lunch break - and over several days you can cover a whole course. I find their approach to training to be conducive to learning, and the subscription model encourages you to learn and improve as much as you can, rather than each subject or area costing more money.

So how can you try Pluralsight training, and see my course as well as the other great courses in the library, if you can't get budget approval for a subscription immediately?

Well, firstly, you could sign up to a 10 day (200 minute) trial. This is free of charge, giving you time to cancel if you don't like it before it converts to a monthly subscription. But there are other ways to get this sort of training for free that you may want to explore.

Some courses are not charged for, and can therefore be accessed whether you have a subscription or not. For details of which, check these blog posts. There are some free courses for children. But you may find that you already have a subscription which can help you get access to the full Pluralsight training library - such as Microsoft's BizSpark, Dreamspark+ and WebsiteSpark, which each give you 90 days' access.

Of course Pluralsight courses are not the only method of continuing your learning, and I recommend that you attend community events such as SQL Saturdays for in person learning, as well as your local SQL Server User Group.

UPDATE: If you are a member of any of the following industry programmes, you can get a years' free Pluralsight training by filling in this form : Microsoft MVP, EMC Elect, Google Developers Expert, VMware vExpert, Citrix CTP, Salesforce MVP, ASPInsiders, Friends of Red Gate, JavaOne Rock Star, Cisco Champions.

I'm sure my procedure does what it should!

Last Saturday, the 9th March, was the day for SQL Saturday 194, held in Exeter in the UK. This event was organised by the SQL South West User PASS chapter.

From my perspective, the event seemed very well attended, and smoothly run. There were some nice touches too, like a beer and a pasty for every attendee with which to end the day, and people I spoke to had gotten a lot from the day. It was great to see so many people talking to sponsors and getting advice on their individual questions from the community. It's always amazing how much expertise there is available for free at SQL Community events!

The next SQL Saturday in the UK is in Edinburgh in June, but you can see the list of upcoming events here. There are other community events in the UK, including SQL Bits and SQL in the City. Why not come along to one? Many also run pre-con sessions, which is a cost-effective way of getting SQL Server training.

I'd like to thank those who attended my session, and also Red Gate who were kindly able to supply me with some licenses for their SQL Test product to give away. I hope that you get started unit testing your procedures and gain confidence that they do what they should, too!

My session on unit testing databases, "I'm sure what my procedure does what it should!" used the tSQLt framework to show how to write repeatable unit tests for your databases. If you would like my session slides and scripts, they are available for download here. Please do drop me a line (I'm @d_a_green on twitter) or post a comment below if you have any further questions.

Get your 'learn' on in 2013

Continuous personal development is an important part of most chartered professions - Doctors, Dentists, Architects, Engineers, etc., and I can't help thinking it's a good thing - the state of knowledge within most areas is constantly expanding and the more knowledge your Doctor has, the better treatment you can get. It's a good thing that Architects can learn new things - it means that we get better buildings.

The rate that the IT field is changing is also rapid. This means that we have to continuously improve our knowledge in order simply to stand still. It's something that some employers will help with, particularly if the topic is relevant to upcoming work, but if your employer doesn't feel able to pick up all of the cost, there are lots of ways to help persuade them that it's cheaper than they think - and your showing an interest will probably tip the balance; it could also help them perceive you as a more enthusiastic and valuable employee.

However, not all conferences need cost you lots of money, if you can get yourself there and make the time.

As you may know, I am a regular attendee at the SQL South West User Group, and the group organisers, FatherJack and Mrs_Fatherjack are putting on the latest SQL Saturday event in Exeter (UK) on the 8th and 9th of March. The Friday is a paid day of deep-dive sessions (with a discount of 19% if you register by 31st January) and Saturday the 9th is a day of 1 hour long sessions on a variety of topics. These are usually long enough to cover a subject, without being too detailed. That means they're suitable for a variety of levels of knowledge.

The SQL Bits team are again putting on a conference on the first weekend in May (a bank holiday weekend), this time in Nottingham. I've written about my experiences attending an earlier SQL Bits conference and I'd highly recommend it.

If you can't free up the weekend of a conference, your local user group can be a gentler introduction, and you will find a list of UK SQL learning opportunities here.You can also see recordings of past sessions from most conferences online at your convenience, but of course that does mean you miss the networking opportunities that attendance at the event brings.

If you've been to conferences in the past, why not contribute back to the community, and submit a session for a conference, or speak at a user group? SQL Saturday 194 is accepting sessions until Monday 8th January 2013, and SQL Bits session submission is also open. Both events welcome submissions from new speakers.

Wherever you are in your career, I hope that you embrace the challenge of learning something new this year.