Monthly Archives: August 2009

Can SQLSaturday happen in Wheeling, WV?

I noticed a great event that is occurring down south.  Its called SQLSaturday and one of my short term goals is to see if it’s possible to bring this great event to Wheeling, WV. 

What is SQLSaturday?

SQLSaturday is a platform for free one day training events for SQL Server professionals. This event focuses on speakers, providing a good variety of topics, and making it all happen through the efforts of volunteers. Whether you’re attending one or thinking about hosting your own(this would be me), we think you’ll find it’s a great way to spend a Saturday.

Initial Goals:

  1. Bring technology professionals from Pittsburgh, Columbus and Morgantown to Wheeling.
  2. Have 50 to100 attendees attend this initial event.
  3. Provide great speakers to present topics about SQL Server and .NET
  4. Utilize sponsors to make the event 100% free to all who attend.
  5. Provide the opportunity for IT Professionals to network with their peers.
  6. Provide exposure for AITP and the Greater Wheeling Chapter of AITP 

Conclusion:

Will this event happen?  I sure hope so, but  I am still planning.  I hope to have an answer soon.  If we do go live I am targeting early 2010.

I will post my future action items and the decisions I make soon.  I hope that this series of posts are helpful for people who are contemplating if they should start a similar event in their area.

If you have any comments, thoughts or suggestions please share them.

Review of the August 2009 PGH.NET User Group

Tonight I made the trip from Wheeling to Pittsburgh to attend “Four Guys with Code.”  I thought David, Jeremy, John and Erick all presented good presentations.  The following are some afterthoughts from the event: 

Being a die-hard Pirates fan  I really liked the “Build a RESTful Data-Driven Application with jQuery” presentation.  David leveraged a baseball stats database while showcasing how easy it is to use jQuery.  I have now implemented jQuery on a few projects so its always good to see how others are using this great library. 

David mentioned that there will be a code-lab in September covering “Build WCF Data-Driven Applications with jQuery.  I will add more when I get details.

The following three presentations all gave me some good thoughts.  Being new to Silverlight John’s presentation opened my eyes toward things you must consider before you release a RIA application. Eric’s presentation gave me insight towards refactoring code and setting coding standards. Jermey’s presentation gave me a good introduction into dynamic C#.

Free SQL Server 2008 Training Kit

Are you looking for some free SQL Server training?  Are you looking to upgrade your SQL Skills to SQL Server 2008? If so, Microsoft has a download just for you.

Download SQL Server 2008 Developer Training Kit

The SQL Server 2008 Developer Training Kit includes presentations, sample code and labs that cover the following topics:

  • Spatial Support
  • FILESTREAM
  • CLR
  • Reporting Services
  • Date and Time
  • T-SQL enhancements including  Table Value Parameters, Merge, Row Constructors, Grouping Sets and more..