SQL PASS 2006, Day 2

Greetings from the last break of the second day of preconference seminars from SQL PASS 2006. Since my primary goal in attending this week is to get up to speed on BI issues, today I'm attending a seminar called, "Enterprise ETL with Integration Services", presented by Erik Veerman of Solid Quality Learning.

This has been a great session, chock-full of just the sorts of insights needed by an SSIS noob like me. Yesterday's presentation took on more and more of a marketing hue as the day went on, which was not exactly what I expected. In contrast, this seminar has been delightfully free of attempts to stoke my interest in the Next Big Thing, and has instead concentrated entirely on How To Do Things Now.

If this trend line continues, the general sessions should be outstanding. I will of course keep you posted as the week progresses.

I've met all sorts of folks from all over the world since I've been here; I've even passed out a couple of business cards (which of course include the blog URL). Everyone I've met has been passionate about their use of SQL Server and very eager to get into the meat of the conference. When I've mentioned CSMO's best practice, community building, and CritSit reduction efforts, the reaction has typically been along the lines of, "I need Microsoft to take a leadership role in this space." This strikes me as very good news for our team.

At any rate, if you're at SQL PASS 2006 and you're reading this entry, please leave a comment and be sure to look me up before the end of the week at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center! If you're here because you found the URL on the business card I gave you, please leave a comment!

As always, thanks for visiting..

     -wp