SQL Saturday Blogging (tags #sqlserver #sqlblog #sqltraining)
Originally published at Ramblings from the Flip Side (Site under construction). You can comment here or there.
Welcome to SQL Saturdays! I am going to make a concerted effort to post something Microsoft SQL Server related every Saturday, or at least every other Saturday.
Why pick Saturday as my blog’s SQL posting day?
The origin of the SQL Saturday name came from a free workshop hosted by Andy Warren and Brian Knight in Orlando, FL back on November 10, 2007. Andy and Brian have always been passionate about knowledge sharing and mentoring new members of the SQL Server community. They became aware of the lack of training options offered by employers and the lack of funds for employees to get their own training classes. After having created the SQLServerCentral.com forums many years earlier with Steve Jones (who still runs the place), they knew that other SQL Server professionals loved solving problems and helping others as much as they did.
So these two came up with a plan. They asked members of the Orlando and Jacksonville SQL Server groups to help them with a special day of free training classes. They chose Saturdays because not everyone could get off of work during the week for training, hence the name SQL Saturday.
They took applications for speakers, developed a class schedule based on various training needs, arranged for refreshments, lunch, and door prizes, and made the event free to all attendees. There are networking events both before and after, with a speaker’s dinner the night before and an all attendees get together on Saturday evening. Vendors of various SQL Server and computer products, as well as consulting firms looking for job seekers, sponsor the door prizes and hand out swag for the events.
SQL Saturday speakers come from all areas: business intelligence, database administration, programming and development. Some are new to SQL themselves, others are experts. As we train, we also learn. It’s a good way to give back to the community that helped us get a leg up.
In that spirit, I am making myself a promise to post something SQL Server related (and hopefully helpful) every Saturday to coincide with the free training that is available at SQL Server events across the world.
To learn more about SQL Saturday’s free training for Microsoft SQL Server, read about it at http://www.sqlsaturday.com. For SQL Server problem assistance, you can post on Twitter to the #sqlhelp hashtag for short questions or post on SQLServerCentral.com for long questions.
I look forward to seeing you around my blog. If you have specific topics you’d like me to address, please post a comment below and I’ll add them to my list of topics. I’m not an expert, but I will do my best to help. And if you find me making any mistakes, please help me understand where my assumptions went off the rails. I don’t want to lead anyone astray because I missed something.