The work and wait is almost over

SQL Saturday in Chicago is only days away now and the excitement is building. I feel an explanation is in order for my lack of contributions to the SQL community the last few weeks. SQL Saturday has taken a lot time to work on coupled with the normal daily work schedule. Last minute preparations are going well and I think all of the attendees, speakers and sponsors will be very happy with how the event will come together.

## LessThanDot the sponsor! Over the last year I started seeing many other communities mention the LTD community as a well respected site for information and assistance. LTD has become a site that prides itself on the blogs published and the help we all strive to provide between the Wiki and forum communities. Denis Gobo has truly formed the SQL Wiki sections into a vast index of real-life experiences in the form of scripts and catches in the SQL Server programming and administrative tasks. I find myself relying on the Wiki during my daily tasks myself. I've shared my own common scripts and experiences over the years and will be pushing myself to do more in the month to come.

George created a new project that he shared with the LTD named, SQLCop. I am excited about this project and can’t wait to jump in when the upcoming events free some time to devote to the group working on SQLCop. The tool will analyze SQL Server instances for best practices. I hope to add all of my knowledge in the administrative side of SQL Server to SQLCop. I will leave most of the details out on the project while it is in development but highly recommend checking back for the release to the community.

With all of the other contributors devoting their time to LTD, the site and community has become a great foundation to the developer and database communities. When Wendy and Aaron presented me with the opportunity to help work on organizing SQL Saturday in Chicago, I thought this was a good way for LTD to make the next step in the community by requesting to be a sponsor of the event. This has given me the chance to let more people in the SQL community know about the resources on LTD.

LTD has also contributed to the raffle prizes that attendees will win in the closing hours of SQL Saturday. The prizes include a copy of SQL Server Deep Dives and 2 30GB SSD drives.

I have to admit that when the SSD drives arrived I was tempted to order another one for myself. One of my goals in the early part of this year is to play with SSD drive technology and SQL Server performance. I have set that for late June lab testing. Let’s hope the funds for the drives exist then to keep that goal alive. Most of my direction on IO in general always comes from Kendal Van Dyke. If you are a SQL Server DBA that wants to know more on IO, Kendal is the person I always recommend following. I’ve also read SQL Server Deep Dives and have been pushing this recommendation ever since. The MVPs truly did a remarkable job on this book and should be in any database professionals’ library.

Eli (Tarwn) of LTD is also flying out to promote the site and also volunteer his time to helping during the event. It’s always a great time when friends can visit. I can’t wait to tell him he’s been nominated to babysit the kids while my beautiful wife Michelle and I go have some time alone. 😉

To everyone traveling to SQL Saturday in Chicago, I wish a safe trip. Don’t forget to stop by and introduce yourself and learn more about LTD and where it will be going in the future.