This was one of more social events for me, as I have managed to speak with a lot of people including the likes of Karla Landrum, Jen Stirrup, Allan Mitchel, and of course Mark Broadbent and Lorraine. It was great to see a number of companies sponsoring this effort, as without their support a lot of such great initiatives shall be quite limited – so I did my best to talk to them all, in order to learn better about their products. If you are enjoying any event, you should really try to say it not only to organisers but to the sponsors as well.
I have managed to attend a couple of sessions, “Windows Azure from a Data Perspective” by Buck Woody which was a really great one and “Troubleshooting SQL Server with PowerShell” by James Boother, where once again I was serving as a session monitor. Both sessions were really enjoyable and for those looking to get an understanding of both technologies (Azure SQL Database & Powershell) they were really not to be missed.
This was one killer event, and every time I think about having courage of running a SQLSaturday, I really think of Mark who showed a great courage of risking loosing his own money in order to make this event happen. I really believe that people who attended it should show a token of great appreciation for all that he has done for the local English SQL Server community.
Once again I think that the effort of the organiser’s partner should be underlined, as Lorraine has sacrificed a lot of her personal time in order to support Mark with this whole idea of giving something good for the local community.
I have spent at least a half of Sunday visiting some of the amazing sightseeing that Cambridge and Ely offer, and there is no doubt that all the area around the first SQLSaturday in the UK is to be explored in the nearest future, hopefully this time with my family and with more time to explore all the cultural and historical treasures. I would recommend to anyone this event – you will get much more then you would expect – a great SQL Server learning, a lot of new personal connections and friendships and you might even stick for a couple of days because of the amazing environment.
I expect that in the year 2013 this story to be continued…