If you haven’t heard of SQL Relay and you live in the UK then shame on you. SQL Relay is an annual community run series of SQL Server training events across the UK. Our aim is to enhance the existing SQL Server community in the UK by bringing free world class training to your region. There really is no excuse not to attend!
Recently each SQL Relay has spanned 2 weeks, running 1-day conferences in a number of regions throughout the UK. With speakers from Microsoft, global IT companies and a host of MVPs, and covering topics from DBA, business intelligence and development, you can’t afford to miss the next event in your area!
For me, SQL Relay holds a special place in my heart. The inaugural meeting of my own SQL Server user group coincided with the first ever SQL Relay event and the organisers helped me to have an MCM (remember them?) as my first ever speaker! With professionals of that calibre speaking at these events it is a must for anyone who is looking to learn and network within the SQL Server community.
If you’re interested to see how the Relay has progressed from it’s humble beginnings then why not check out some of my previous posts from my SQL Relay Tag Cloud?
What’s happening next week?
Next week is the second half of the Relay event (remember this is all free to attend), in which you can expect another five events packed full of all kinds of SQL Server and Cloud OS goodness.
These free one day events are being held in:
- Newcastle
- Manchester
- Norwich
- Bristol
- London
Event Agendas
NEWCASTLE – Monday 25th November 2013
SQL Relay will be heading to Newcastle for the first time. I’ve never been to Newcastle, so I’m really looking forward to it.
It will feature top quality SQL Server content from nationally and internationally renowned speakers including experts from Microsoft.
Registration is open now – register your place now! Register for the Cloud OS tracks!.
Location:
Newcastle United FC
St. James’ Park
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 4ST
There will be two tracks of content; SQL Server and CloudOS. You will be able to switch between the tracks at any time during the day.
| Provisional Schedule | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| From | To | SQL Server Track | |
| 08:30 | 09:15 | Registration | |
| 09:15 | 09:20 | Welcome & Introduction | |
| 09:20 | 09:50 | Microsoft Keynote and Q&A Anthony Saxby | |
| 09:55 | 10:55 | Dave Morrison (Query Plans Deep Dive) | |
| 10:55 | 11:15 | Break | |
| 11:15 | 12:15 | Alex Whittles (Data Modeling for Analysis Services Cubes) | |
| 12:20 | 12:50 | Sponsor Session: Monitoring SQL Server with System Centre | |
| 12:50 | 13:50 | Lunch | |
| 13:50 | 14:50 | Eric Lawson (Transitioning from “Reporting” to Decision Support Solutions) | |
| 14:55 | 15:55 | Richard Douglas (@SQLRich) (Natural Born Killers, performance issues to avoid) | |
| 15:55 | 16:15 | Break | |
| 16:15 | 17:15 | Neil Hambly (Effective Index Partitioning & Compression Strategies) | |
| 17:15 | 17:30 | Prize Draw and Close | |
With 10 sessions to choose from, and presented by world-class speakers, what more could you ask for?!
MANCHESTER – Tuesday 26th November 2013
By popular demand, SQL Relay will be heading back to Manchester for the first time since the 2012 Relay! Earlier this year we alternated between Manchester and Leeds. Leeds was great last year, unfortunately I’m going to have to miss the Manchester leg this year.
It will feature top quality SQL Server content from nationally and internationally renowned speakers including experts from Microsoft.
Registration is open now – register your place now! Register for the Cloud OS tracks.
Location:
Mechanics Conference Centre
Princess Street
Manchester
M1 6DD
There will be two tracks of content; SQL Server and CloudOS. You will be able to switch between the tracks at any time during the day.
| Provisional Schedule | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| From | To | SQL Server Track | |
| 09:00 | 09:30 | Registration | |
| 09:30 | 09:35 | Welcome & Introduction | |
| 09:35 | 10:00 | Microsoft Keynote and Q&A | |
| 10:05 | 11:05 | James Skipworth SQL Server 2014 In-Memory OLTP: Could you? Would you? Why the Fudge Should you? | |
| 11:05 | 11:25 | Break | |
| 11:25 | 12:25 | Chris McGowan Little Data – In a world that seems obsessed with big data this session will focus on OLTP data | |
| 12:30 | 13:30 | Jen Stirrup From Data Source to Secret Sauce: Powering and Visualising your Big Data with Power BI | |
| 13:30 | 14:30 | Lunch | |
| 14:30 | 15:30 | Christian Bolton SQL Server 2014 – Core engine enhancements | |
| 15:30 | 15:50 | Break | |
| 15:50 | 16:50 | Andrew Whettam Enforcing Workflow Through Relational Integrity | |
| 17:00 | 17:05 | Prize draw & close | |
With 10 sessions to choose from (between the SQL and CloudOS tracks), and presented by world-class speakers, what more could you ask for?!
NORWICH – Wednesday 27th November 2013
SQL Relay is be heading back to Norwich for the second time in 2013, it’ll also be the second time for myself too! Norwich marks the last of my two talks in this years SQLRelay.
It will feature top quality SQL Server content from nationally and internationally renowned speakers including experts from Microsoft.
Registration is open now – register your place now! Register for the Cloud OS tracks.
Location:
The King’s Centre
King Street
Norwich
NR1 1PH
There will be two tracks of content; SQL Server and CloudOS. You will be able to switch between the tracks at any time during the day.
| Provisional Schedule | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| From | To | SQL Server Track | |
| 09:00 | 09:30 | Registration | |
| 09:30 | 10:00 | Microsoft – Anthony Saxby Keynote and Q&A | |
| 10:05 | 11:00 | Neil Hambly – 2012-2014 SQL Server Memory | |
| 11:00 | 11:20 | Break | |
| 11:20 | 12:15 | MVP Klaus Aschenbrenner – Let’s learn Greek – Hekaton | |
| 12:15 | 13:00 | Lunch | |
| 13:00 | 13:30 | Sponsor Session | |
| 13:35 | 14:40 | Stuart Moore - Automating Backups, Restores and Verifications with PowerShell | |
| 14:40 | 15:00 | Break | |
| 15:00 | 15:55 | Richard Douglas – Understanding Query Execution Plans | |
| 16:00 | 16:55 | Neil Hambly – Load Testing with SQL Server Tools | |
| 17:00 | 17:30 | Prizes and Closing slides | |
With 10 sessions to choose from, and presented by world-class speakers, what more could you ask for?!
BRISTOL – Thursday 28th November 2013
SQL Relay is be heading back to Bristol, back by popular demand after our last visit there in the 2012 Relay!
It will feature top quality SQL Server content from nationally and internationally renowned speakers including experts from Microsoft.
Registration is open now – register your place now! Register for the Cloud OS tracks.
Location:
The Grand
Broad Street
Bristol
BS1 2EL
There will be two tracks of content; SQL Server and CloudOS. You will be able to switch between the tracks at any time during the day.
| Provisional Schedule | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| From | To | SQL Server Track | |
| 09:00 | 09:30 | Registration | |
| 09:30 | 10:00 | KEYNOTE – Anthony Saxby – Microsoft UK, SQL Server Product Manager | |
| 10:00 | 10:30 | Sponsor Session | |
| 10:30 | 10:50 | Break | |
| 10:50 | 11:45 | Neil Hambly – Partitioning and Compression | |
| 11:45 | 12:05 | Break | |
| 12:05 | 13:00 | Steph Locke – Fiddly SSRS | |
| 13:00 | 13:45 | Lunch | |
| 13:45 | 14:40 | MVP Klaus Aschenbrenner – Let’s learn Greek – Hekaton | |
| 14:40 | 15:00 | Break | |
| 15:00 | 15:55 | Jonathan Allen – Extended Events – Easier than you Think | |
| 15:55 | 16:15 | Break | |
| 16:15 | 17:05 | Annette Allen – Introducing SSIS | |
| 17:05 | 17:30 | Prize Draw and Close | |
With 10 sessions to choose from, and presented by world-class speakers, what more could you ask for?!
LONDON
Friday 29th November 2013
Once again SQL Relay will be heading back to the Microsoft offices in London for the finale of the 2013r2 Relay!
It will feature top quality SQL Server content from nationally and internationally renowned speakers including experts from Microsoft.
Registration is open now – register your place now! Register for the Cloud OS tracks.
Location:
Microsoft
Cardinal Place
Victoria
London
| Provisional Schedule | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| From | To | BI Track | SQL Engine Track | CloudOS Track |
| 08:30 | 09:00 | Registration | ||
| 09:00 | 09:30 | Welcome, Keynote and Q&A | ||
| 09:30 | 10:00 | Sponsor Session
| ||
| 10:00 | 10:15 | Break | ||
| 10:15 | 11:15 | Kagan Arca Microsoft SSIS With hadoop | Ewan Fairweather Microsoft CAT: Azure SQL DB Premium Offering – Deep Dive and Mythbuster | TBA |
| 11:15 | 11:30 | Break | ||
| 11:30 | 12:30 | James Rowland-Jones Big Bang Data MINDOP: Parallelism all the time, every time with PDW | Klaus Aschenbrenner SQLPassion ColumnStore Indexes v2.0 | TBA |
| 12:45 | 13:30 | Lunch | ||
| 13:30 | 14:30 | Chris Webb Technitrain Feed your data | David Williams Microsoft Hekaton | TBC |
| 14:30 | 14:45 | Break | ||
| 14:45 | 15:45 | Jen Stirrup – From Data Source to Secret Sauce – Powering and Visualising your Data with Power BI | Peter Larsson Fix your EAV data model with a new EAV design | TBC |
| 15:45 | 16:00 | Break | ||
| 16:00 | 17:00 | Mark Needham Neo Technologies In a League of their Own: Neo4j and Premiership Football | Sameer Parve Microsoft Always ON and field experience | TBC |
| 17:00 | Prize draw, wrap-up, done. Go Home | |||
With more than 10 sessions to choose from, and presented by world-class speakers, what more could you ask for?!
Do you want to know more about SQL Relay? Why not join with us on the following social media and networking channels?
