Saturday, April 21, 2012 will be an historic occasion: the first SQL Saturday will take place on Wisconsin soil!
After attending many SQL Saturdays from Ohio to Portland over the past years, I decided we needed one in Wisconsin. We have a strong SQL community, with three user groups and many active professionals that want to learn and network. Madison, where “my” user group is based, seemed the perfect location – very central, and with great facilities. The planning began.
On Saturday, April 21, 2012, join me and 250 of your closest SQL friends at SQL Saturday #118 at the MATC Truax Campus. Registration will begin at 7:00 am. Sessions begin at 8:00 am and will go until 5:30 pm. We have 36 fantastic sessions scheduled, covering topics from new T-SQL tricks in SQL Server 2012 to MDX, Always On in 2012 to talks about The Cloud! It’s going to be a great opportunity to learn.
At lunch attendees will have two great activities to choose from – they will be able to attend sessions from our great sponsors Red Gate and Tushaus to learn more about their products and services, or grab a seat at one of our Birds of a Feather tables! Many of the speakers have volunteered to lead a discussion about the topic they are speaking about. I’m really looking forward to this unique opportunity!
If you haven’t registered yet, hurry! I’m floored to say that we have already filled to capacity and have a waitlist, going beyond my expectations for attendance. However, as spots become available, we are approving waitlisted registrations. (Also, if you’re reading this, you already registered, and now you realize you won’t be able to make it that day: please cancel your registration so another person can make it!)
Would you like to take your experience one step further? You can get even more out of a SQL Saturday by volunteering to help the day of! I know from experience – two years ago, I volunteered at SQL Saturday #31 Chicago for the first time. I met all the speakers, made some of the best friends I’ll ever have, and opened up a whole new range of community and career prospects for myself. We need people willing to work the registration station and be room monitors throughout the day. If you’re interested, please let me know!
And by the end of the day, if you haven’t had enough networking time yet, you’d like to socialize with all the new friends you’ve made, and you’re hungry – we’ll be hosting a gathering at Wilson’s Bar and Grill, just down the road. We’ll have some appetizers, kick back and relax, and maybe participate in the karaoke later in the evening!
I’ll see YOU at SQL Saturday #118 in Madison!
Jes Borland is a Premier Field Engineer - SQL Server for Microsoft, where she is a trusted technical adviser, deep technical support, and teacher for her customers. Her experience as a DBA, consultant, and 5-time Data Platform MVP allow her to help the business and the IT teams reach their goals. She has worked with SQL Server as a developer, report writer, DBA, and consultant. Her favorite topics are administration, automation, and performance. She frequently presents at user groups, SQL Saturdays, and other community events. She is also an avid runner and chef.
