SQLSoton (SQL Southampton) User Group dates..

Here are the User Group dates for the next few months:

• Feb 9th
• March 9th
• April 13th
• May 11th
• June 8th

Go to SQLServerFAQ.com to register.

See you there!!

Your User Group needs you.[Big pointy finger]

The SQL Server User Group in Southampton (@SQLSoton ) needs you!!

If you are an experienced speaker or just want to try presenting for the first time then get in contact with us! We are looking for presentation between 15 and 60 minutes.

Dont just sit there and think about it, send us an email and you could be presenting next month!

Cultural Learnings of User Group (dis)Organiser for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of SQL Server

WOW!!!

I think that about sums it up; WOW!!!

Before I get all gushy, I just want a quick Oscar moment - I would firstly like to thank every person that came, without your support there would be no User Group.

Secondly, I’d like to thank @AdaTheDev (Adrian) and @atlantis_uk (Matt) for organising and sorting out the Feng shui.

And of course @ChristianBolton, for being our crowd pulling speaker. I’m sure the turnout would not have been so high without him.

Come to User Group, It's Nice!

Be careful what you wish for as it just might happen. I was expecting a few more people to turn up this time, but based on previous experience I was expecting 9 or 10. I was not expecting to more than double the turnout; 15! Every chair in the room (which was bigger than last time) was taken…

So my learnings are – You have no idea how many people will turn up until 7.10pm.

 

I ordered the food based on the number of people I was expecting. Since all the food was gone, even the biscuits,… I don’t think there was enough! I’ve been tweeting @GavinPayneUK about the pizza to persons ratio.

So my learnings are – order more!

We were trying out a new room, so Matt, Adrian and I spent a while working out the best room configuration before the geeks the punters arrived, which worked well. Once Christian had finished his talk and I’d got back with my inadequate supply of pizza, people eat, chatted.  But as Matt pointed out we should have put the chairs away to free up space in the room.

So my learnings are – work out the best use of space in advance.

 

For the first UG, I created some feedback forms which never got used as there were so few of us. Okay, I’ll put my hands up and say I didn’t create the feedback form; @ctesta_oneill did. I just changed the name of the UG at the top! But I did click print… (Don’t think I even convinced myself). We really could have done with them. Even if it was just a way of keeping track of who turned up.

So my learnings are – Don’t throw away feedback forms.

 

Now I’m eagerly checking twitterverse and blogosphere to see what people thought….  If you were there, you too can improve the cultural learnings of User Group (dis)organiser for make benefit glorious nation of SQL Server [Please tweet or blog your thoughts…  I promise not to get offended!!]

See you all in Feb!!!

Confessions of the User Group (dis)Organiser

Yesterday was the first Southampton SQL Server User Group and I just wanted to share some of my thoughts on how to arrange a successful one...

1) DON'T RUSH - Whatever you do, don't sit at work one day and think; I know, I'll start a UG, then pick the phone up and book a venue. Take your time, have a couple of months lead-up. This gives you time to organise and think of EVERYTHING.

2) DON'T LOOK AT A PICTURE OF THE VENUE AND THINK; THAT ROOM LOOKS OKAY - Visit the room. The size and shape of a small room can dictate the kind of UG that you can have. Is there going to be enough room to get a decent projection onto a wall or white-board? Can you move the chairs around and not affect the function of the room (blocking-off an area of the room)?

3) DON'T PUT DIRECTIONS TO VENUE UP THE DAY BEFORE THE EVENT - Put up directions or special instructions on the internet well in advance.

4) BRING A 4-WAY - Who knows where the power points are? There is a good chance there will not be power where you need power.

5) BELIEVE IN MURPHYS' LAW - If you can bring spare kit, just in case something goes wrong, then do it. What's the worst that can happen? You don't use it.

6) ORGANISE THE FOOD IN ADVANCE - As Murphy's Law states; what can go wrong will go wrong... Including my phone stopping working and managing to block my debit card when ordering food in a rush.

7) DON'T EXPECT PEOPLE THAT SAID THEY WOULD DEFINITELY TURN UP TO TURN UP - Random stuff happens; people say they can come, but life gets in the way. Always expect less people to turn up. Perhaps even 1/3 to 1/2 less.

And even if you don't manage to follow all these steps, it is still possible to have a really successful UG!

For the next UG, I have promised myself that I won't make the same mistakes again. I'll make a whole load of new ones!

Parking to Southampton SQL Server User Group [Updated]

For those coming tomorrow, I'd thought I would just post up some details on where to park.

If you are driving towards Southampton down the Avenue, turn left onto Alma Road, then the next left. It should take you directly under my arrow.

SQL Southampton - SQL Server User Group in Southampton 8th December [Updated 24/11/2010]

This is the second draft of the agenda - Keep your eyes peeled on http://www.sqlserverfaq.com and http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=108621982541648 for updates.

This is the first SQL Southampton User Group (Hoping it’s not the last) – A great opportunity to get together with your peers and discuss all things SQL.

I’ve stolen the nugget idea from another user group!

8th December at Avenue St Andrew's Church Southampton (In the Lounge)

6.30pm – 7:00pm Registration and Networking.

Meet and greet.

7:00pm – 7:15pm Welcome and Introduction - Mark Pryce-Maher Blog: http://tsqltidy.blogspot.com/ Twit: http://twitter.com/tsqltidy/

Brief introduction to the evening.

7.15pm – 8:00pm SQL CLR Demystified – Matt Whitfield Blog: http://www.atlantis-interactive.co.uk/blog/ Twit: http://twitter.com/atlantis_uk

An introductory session on CLR integration within SQL Server, looking at what is required for implementation of CLR types, aggregates, triggers, stored procedures and functions.

A few practical examples will also be covered, including some performance-based CLR implementations, as well as maintenance based ones.

8:00pm – 8:15pm BREAK: Light refreshments.

More time to network and ask questions...

8:15pm – 8:30pm Quick Look at Denali - Mark Pryce-Maher

As many demos as I can manage to do in 15 minutes...

8:30pm – 9.00pm - Round Table discussion and Nuggets (Self-help) - ALL

Take stock and get the latest news in the SQL Server field. This is also a great opportunity to ask any burning questions you have.

9.00pm... The End - Network or just slope off home.

There may also be prizes, courtesy of Atlantis Interactive... and a chance to play with Denali!!

How to start a regional group and be part of the UK SQL Server User Community

Tony Rogerson posted this really guide on 'How to start a regional group and be part of the UK SQL Server User Community'

It's a "must read" for any one wanting to start a regional group.

SQLBits 8 Venues...

Zara has been busy today....

Some options of where to host SQLBITS.

Cambridge...

http://www.chilfordhall.co.uk/cgi-bin/ch/info.html?domain=info&name=Facilities&section=Conference%20and%20Events

Durham...

http://www.ramsidehallhotel.co.uk/location/default.aspx

Edinburgh...
http://www.ece.uk.com/

http://www.assemblyroomsedinburgh.co.uk/index.phtml

Southampton

http://www.devere.co.uk/our-locations/grand-harbour/business/layouts-and-dimensions.html

Are you trying to tell me something...

This was on the fridge when I got home...

I think my wife was trying to tell me something, but I've not worked it out yet.

Whoop!! Whoop!! Site Down!!!

Just checked tsqltidy.com and it's down!
Grrrrr....

*Amendment:

DOH! It was my fault, some dodgy coding around a twitter feed.

Oh well. Wont do that again (for a few months!).

Finding Non-SARGable queries

I was in Rob Farley's sessions at SQLBits when he was talking about: Understanding SARGability (to make your queries run faster)

It got me thinking....

Is there a way I can find out which SQL queries are doing table or index scans?

So I put some proof of concept code (POC) together.

SELECT top 10 text ,query_plan ,*

FROM sys.dm_exec_query_stats

CROSS APPLY sys.dm_exec_query_plan(sys.dm_exec_query_stats.plan_handle)

CROSS APPLY sys.dm_exec_sql_text (sql_handle)

WHERE

CONVERT(varchar(max), query_plan) like '<tablescan%'

OR

CONVERT(varchar(max), query_plan) like '<IndexScan%'

ORDER BY total_elapsed_time desc;

Its not a very sophisticated query (it only took a few minutes to write and yes, I agree, I should shred the xml instead of using a convert and like) but it shows the concept of querying the execution plans to get details of queries that has run (rather than the best way of getting the information).

It takes a while to run so don't go running it in LIVE, and might bring back some false positives - so please be careful with the results.

References:

http://msmvps.com/blogs/robfarley/archive/2010/01/22/sargable-functions-in-sql-server.aspx

http://sqlbits.com/Agenda/event7/Understanding_SARGability__to_make_your_queries_run_faster_/default.aspx

Gadget Show Top 5 Budget Mobile Phones

I've been trying to find this list all day and its nowhere on the Gadget Show website.

It's...

1) Samsung Genio Qwerty

2) LG KS365

3) Huawei U7510

4) INQ Mini 3g

5) Alcatel OT808