Welcome to 2015: SQL Saturday, MVP Community Camp and more...

Hi everyone - Happy New Year!!

To kick off the year, I wanted to share some exciting upcoming events around the country.

SQL Saturday is returning to Melbourne in February. After a hugely successful 2014 event, it will be back bigger and better than before with 30 technical sessions from local and international presenters covering all aspects of the SQL Server family. In 2014 there was around 240 attendees (top 10 globally for the SQL Saturday brand). This time the organisers are hoping to top the 300 mark and have secured presenters from 5 countries outside Australia.

SQL Saturday is a one day free conference (there is a nominal charge of $15 to help with catering costs for the day) hosted by the local SQL Server Community. It will be held on Saturday, 7 Feb 2015 at Monash University’s Caulfield Campus. To encourage new speakers, there will be a “speaker idol” competition. This will involve a 10 minute Lightning Talk style session in front of a panel who will give feedback and mark the session. There will be prizes for the winner!! In addition, there are 3 Pre-Con full day sessions on Friday, 6 Feb 2015 also at Monash Uni. These are deep dive sessions hosted by top experts in their fields and cost $315. All details are on the SQL Saturday Melbourne homepage above.

The Australian MVP Community Camps are being held again in late January and early February. These half day sessions will provide insight into Microsoft’s new vision, new technologies, new services, and useful tips and technical advice for all Microsoft product users and communities. They are visiting Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane and Sydney. As these sessions are led by our Most Valuable Professionals (MVPs), it is always good to get in early and network with the presenters and other attendees. There is also lunch and a gift included for every attendee!!

Register now to secure your spot!! (The link is for Melbourne, however links to all other cities can be found at the bottom of the page)

The Azure IaaS for IT Pros week-long virtual event was held late 2014. The session recordings are now available as full courses on MVA. This is your chance to take a deep dive with Microsoft Azure experts! If you’re an IT Implementer or if you’re preparing for Exam 70-533: Implementing Microsoft Azure Infrastructure Solutions, be sure to check out these courses. Get technical insights and helpful tips from the pros who know!

Microsoft Virtual Academy continues to grow, so be sure to check back for new courses regularly.

Cheers,

P@