This was my first PASS also. Good recommendations, I seem to have followed most of them. Except maybe #16, but there were some vegetarian lunches left when I got there.

The SSC party was excellent; I am now the proud owner of a digital picture keychain. Thanks to Steve for the planning and execution of some great fun and for donating his PASS “finder’s fees” for the party and prizes.

Brian Knight’s pre-con on SSIS cleared up a lot of questions I had. Either teaching me the right way to do something or confirming that ‘that is how Microsoft designed it’.

Kimberly and Paul’s pre-con was good. They make a good teaching team.

One recommendation I would add:

Recommendation #20 – Bring your backpack/courier bag or whatever. No matter how many times you’ve seen your co-workers come home from PASS with a cool backpack etc., this may be the year they decide to give out an 89 cent shopping bag instead. I purposely left my backpack at home and relied on the fact that PASS has always given out a nice bag/backpack. As a result I had to carry this thing everywhere I went, envious of everyone who brought their own, sometimes almost tripping over it because the long handles put it right near my feet.