This year PASS Data Community Summit is a free virtual event, and I encourage you to register even if you are interested in just a handful of sessions. One of the Learning Pathways might be just what you are looking for, from Query Basics to Power BI to DevOps.
What I’m most excited about this year are the pre-cons. Because they are virtual, there are no costs for session rooms, lunch, etc. The price for each is a low $200. It’s a ton of work building an all-day class, so I’m thrilled that the speakers will get all the proceeds.
Whether you are starting your career, switching to a new one, or building advanced skills that can help you today, there is something for everyone.
As a trainer of quite a few new DBAs over the years, I am really excited about Denny Cherry’s Database Administration for the Non Database Administrator. So many of us – myself included – started out as “accidental” DBAs. No one knows more about getting the most out of SQL Server than Denny, so this should be a wonderful session for new DBAs or anyone who wants to be a DBA.
If you can attend both days, some pre-cons go together nicely. Bob Ward and Ajay Jagannathan from Microsoft are giving Migrate SQL Server to Azure. Bob and Ajay have the inside story about what tools to use and the best way to migrate. The next day, Tracy Boggiano is presenting Azure SQL Fundamentals. Tracy has real-world experience migrating to Azure. She knows what can go wrong and how to avoid the issues. These sessions complement each other well, and you will gain all the tools you need to migrate to Azure after attending these two days!
Suppose you have already migrated but have some issues with deployments. In that case, Rob Sewell has the answers for you in his Control your Cloud Data Deployments - Deploy your Azure Data Solutions with Bicep and Azure DevOps session.
Monica Rathbun’s SQL Server Performance Tuning and Optimization pre-con will take you from identifying performance problems to how to solve them. The next day, Erin Stellato’s Finding Problems and Stabilizing Performance with Query Store will take your skills to the next level as you learn how to take advantage of tools and features that are part of SQL Server like Query Store and Intelligent Query Processing.
On Monday, Itzik Ben-Gan is presenting Advanced T-SQL Querying and Query Tuning. Itzik will cover the many T-SQL features added over the past few versions that have made querying easier and perform better. On Tuesday, Kimberly L. Tripp will give Solving Query Performance Problems with Statistics. This is an excellent session for anyone with query performance issues that are difficult to figure out!
If you are interested in analytics, there are several pre-cons from which to choose:
- Ginger Grant is presenting Developing Data Solutions with Python and Apache Spark in Azure Synapse Analytics
- Steph Locke is giving The Latest Data Science Workflow in Azure
- Learn Power BI with Angela Henry’s Zero To Dashboard
There’s one more that I’d like to mention. Blythe Morrow will give Master Communication and Influencing Skills. We can all benefit from this pre-con from better emails, getting your ideas heard in meetings, and negotiating a pay raise.
There is something for everyone at PASS Data Community Summit. Register today, and be sure to find the pre-con that is right for you!