Tags: PASS

S3OLV February 2012

by Jason Brimhall
Categories: News, Professional, SSC, SSSOLV
Tags: ,
Comments: No Comments
Published on: January 23, 2012

Do you recognize this person?

 

If you are from the Colorado Springs area, you probably do.  This is:

 

 

 

Troy Ketsdever (twitter)

Troy will be presenting to the Las Vegas SQL User Group on February 9, 2012 @ 6:30 Pacific.  Here is his bio:

Troy Ketsdever is a data architect with over 15 years of commercial software development experience, and has maintained a love/hate relationship with SQL Server since version 4.2. In addition to his “day job”, Troy enjoys writing articles and presenting at user groups on a variety of database design and implementation topics.

His main objective and vision is “making the right information available to the right people at the right time”.

The topic that Troy has chosen for this meeting is titled: Zero to “MERGE” in 60 minutes.  And here is the abstract for that presentation.

Description: SQL Server 2008 saw the introduction of the new MERGE DML statement. In this session, we’ll take a look at the basic syntax and capabilities of the command. Once we have reviewed some simple examples, we’ll dive into some of the more advanced uses (abuses?) of the command, reinforcing our understanding by looking at more complex examples.

Bring your questions.  Bring your ugly code.  If you are remote, bring your own PIZZA.  Yes, this meeting will be both virtual and in person.

Virtual Meeting Info

Attendee URL: https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/UserGroups/join?id=H3ZGRQ&role=attend

Meeting ID:  H3ZGRQ

Physical Meeting Info

M Staff Solutions & Training / 2620 Regatta Drive Suite 102 Las Vegas, NV 89128

S3OLV – Jan 2012 Meeting Recap

by Jason Brimhall
Categories: News, Professional, SSC, SSSOLV
Tags: ,
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Published on: January 20, 2012

Last week (Jan 12, 2012), we held the user group meeting for the SQL Server Society of Las Vegas (a.k.a S3OLV or SSSOLV).

Presenting at that meeting was Josh Lewis (Twitter).  Josh presented on a pretty tough topic in my opinion.  He chose to present to us the topic of XML for the DBA.  You can read his abstract here.

We got the meeting rolling a little bit late.  Traffic must have been a bear down in LV.  Nonetheless, it got rolling and was a good meeting.

During this meeting we had our second installment of “Crap Code.”  Unintentionally, the crap code was a perfect segue into the presentation.  The crap code demonstrated extracting elements from XML related to the blocked process report.

Josh did a great job on the topic.  We recorded the meeting and you can view that here.  Check it out.  Get a little free learning on a difficult topic (for some us like myself).

Stay tuned, the February announcement is coming soon.

 

S3OLV update and Reminder

by Jason Brimhall
Categories: News, Professional, SSC, SSSOLV
Tags: , , ,
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Published on: January 9, 2012

We are now just a few days away from our first meeting of 2012.  We have some good content lined up.  Check it out here.

I am looking forward to the presentation on XML and would really love to be able to bring Josh back to finish out the series.  Let’s show him a lot of support as he has put a lot of effort into making this presentation series.  I know because I have been hounding him about it.

In other news, we have received the PASS 2011 Summit DVDs.  There is a lot of cool content.  We plan on making these DVDs available to the group shortly.  These DVDs contain all of the main conference sessions.  They will prove to be an invaluable resource (much like every other year).

We have also talked in the past of getting a newsletter together.  As an interim step, we created the S3OLV Journal paper.li newsletter.  We are getting closer to having a mechanism in place to send out newsletters to the group.  Stay tuned – this should be happening in the near future.

Meme Monday January 2012

by Jason Brimhall
Categories: Meme Monday, News, Professional, SSC, SSSOLV
Tags: , ,
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Published on: January 9, 2012

Meme Monday was pushed back this month to the second Monday of the month.  That is a good thing or maybe a bad thing or maybe a non-discussion at all.  I guess it really depends on the person.  For me, I would have been rushing the post so I am fine with.  Oh wait, I sit here on the first Monday writing my post anyway.

Tom LaRock has asked us to write about what we plan to do for #sqlfamily in 2012.  I am somewhat prepared for this topic already.  I had been giving it some thought over the past couple of weeks.  I was even thinking of incorporating some of that into my Goals post for 2012 (assuming I get it done this year).

So, without further ado and without going to great detail, here is what I had been planning for the upcoming year and to describe in greater detail in my goals post.

1.  More SSRS and SSIS blog posts.  It seems that these have been somewhat popular in the past.  In addition, I have several posts lined up that I have been planning to write.  Some will be multi-part series, and others just a single post series.

2.  Present at least once per quarter throughout 2012.  I think this is attainable and I hope to add a few presentations to the bag.

3.  I really want to help organize an event.  This will take a lot more time and be a little more difficult based on event location relative to where I live – but I am hoping to get it done.

4.  I plan on maintaining the other activities such as UG help, forum help, twitter (when I can) help, articles, and blog posts.

 

That pretty much sums it up for what I hope to do for #sqlfamily in 2012.  What are you planning to do?

Thoughts on SSSOLV December Meeting

by Jason Brimhall
Categories: News, Professional, SSC, SSSOLV
Tags: , , ,
Comments: No Comments
Published on: December 30, 2011

This is very late – I know.  The meeting was held on December 8, 2011 and I haven’t yet shared my recap/thoughts about the meeting.

We hold the SQL Server Society of Las Vegas user group meeting on the second Thursday of every month.  We have decided to hold the meeting as both a physical and a virtual meeting.  This decision was made to try and encourage better attendance and to allow people like myself to attend and participate.  Since I moved back to Utah and am trying to continue to help the group thrive – it has been helpful to have the virtual meetings.

But let me share another reason that I like to do it virtually.  Having lived in Las Vegas, it seems that a lot of the membership end up working during the meeting.  I know there were several times that I had to work during the meeting.  I know several people have expressed that concern to me as well.  By having the virtual meeting, they can sometimes join the meeting while fulfilling work duties.

As the announcement for the December meeting showed, I had the opportunity to present a new topic that I have been working on a lot of late.  The topic was on getting better functionality out of SSRS reports for mere DBAs such as myself.  I talked on topics that I needed to figure out in order to meet business requirements.

Some of the items touched included dynamic sorting and dynamic grouping.  These dynamic abilities were setup in a fashion that multiple reports could use the same datasets and tables within a database.  Furthermore, changing the sort or group would be as simple as changing a value in a table rather than editing the rdl and uploading the changes into SSRS.  This was all included in the demos.

Unfortunately, I focused too much on getting demos done.  I still need to go back and flesh out the slide-deck.  Yeah, I did a no-no.  I gave the presentation without a slide-deck.  It is far better to have the deck available to help control the flow of the presentation.  I’ll get that fixed.  You can see the presentation (gaffs included) here.

In addition to this presentation, I have been planning on writing up a few articles/blogs to also detail the various topics covered during the presentation.  Those should be out soon.

January 2012 Las Vegas SQL UG

by Jason Brimhall
Categories: News, Professional, SSC, SSSOLV
Tags: , ,
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Published on: December 30, 2011

This month I am attempting to get a jump on things a bit.  I am hoping to get the info out in a more timely fashion throughout this new year for the User Group meetings for S3OLV.

Out with the old and in with the new.  Let’s ring in the New Year for the Las Vegas SQL User Group together and with a bang.

Helping us will be Joshua Lewis as he presents the first part in his three part series on XML.

XML for the DBA – A Series (part 1)

XML has been a feature available in SQL Server for a long time, but the capabilities were limited, and it was never very easy to use.  This was always a huge disappointment to me, because XML in itself should be any DBA’s best friend when it is used properly. What we typically see in applications is not the prettiest example of XML;  it is typically used by developers to accomplish things very quickly when it comes to data.

For the most part, XML is a heap of data that can get very large, doesn’t store well, and isn’t easily indexed.

But consider this:  What if a very data-centric person were the one dictating the XML (like a DBA)?  XML, when used properly, can be a very powerful tool in data storage and presentation.

About Josh

Joshua is a Database Professional, with over 10 years’ experience in Configuration / Administration of Data Infrastructures, Performance tuning, Development, and Business Intelligence Architecture, using Microsoft’s suite of SQL Server Products.

Over the years, and in varied industries, he has supported and optimized large DataCenters, developed multiple ETL platforms for handling client eligibility / enrollment / claims, and designed security policies and procedures to meet various industry security certifications (Sarbanes-Oxley, HIPAA, and CISP).

Currently, Joshua is expanding his knowledge and skills to .NET, building Value-Add interfaces and integrations to SQL Server and Integration Services through the use of SQL-CLR and Custom SSIS Components.

 

LiveMeeting Information:

Attendee URL: https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/UserGroups/join?id=GW2GD2&role=attend

Meeting ID:  GW2GD2

December Event Reminder

by Jason Brimhall
Categories: News, Professional, SSC
Tags: ,
Comments: No Comments
Published on: December 6, 2011

We are now only two days away from the biggest event of the week!!

 

More accurately though, it is the BIGGEST event for the Las Vegas chapter of PASS between 6:30Pm and 8:30PM Pacific.

The event is our Monthly meeting.  And this month we have a pretty good topic – SSRS.

Have a look at the S3OLV website, or my blog post to find out more about this excellent event.

 

What if you are not able to physically join us?

For this express purpose we are trying to make our meetings more available to the masses.  Every meeting can also be attended virtually.  You can find the LiveMeeting information from the linked blog post.  Please attend and show your support.

We have the presentation on tap, plus we have the “Ugly Code” segment that we will be trying.  In addition, we also have a need to get the ball rolling for SQLSaturday in Las Vegas (yay – more free training and networking).

December 2011 LV UG Meeting

by Jason Brimhall
Categories: News, Professional, SSC
Tags: ,
Comments: No Comments
Published on: November 30, 2011

The Holidays are upon us.  It is time to take a break from the hustle and bustle and come out to participate in the local User Group for SQL Server.

This month, Jason Brimhall will be presenting a new topic:

REPORTING SERVICES FOR MERE DBAS

As a DBA in the modern era, you may be required from time to time to do something outside of your comfort zone.  One of these things may be to become quickly acquainted with SSRS.  Even better is that you may be required to do things you have not considered in a standard report.  In this session, you will learn how to implement a framework to help provide a common ground for your reports.  This session will delve into fun topics such as dynamic grouping and dynamic sorting.  We are not talking about the interactive sorting that your accountant may use.  Attendees will also be introduced to a few quick methods of exporting Reports from the report server – this is from a DBA perspective after-all!

Jason’s Bio:

Jason Brimhall has 10+ yrs experience and has worked with SQL Server from 6.5 through SQL 2008 R2. He has experience in performance tuning, high transaction environments, as well as large environments. He is currently a DB Architect and an MCDBA. He is he VP of the Las Vegas User Group (SSSOLV).

LiveMeeting Information:

Attendee URL:  https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/UserGroups/join?id=FHKZS7&role=attend
Meeting ID:  FHKZS7

New Meeting Segment

We are going to be trying a new idea with the group at the meetings.  Each meeting, bring some of your ugly code.  We can look it over and help each other make better code.

VERY IMPORTANT

The meeting location has changed.  We will no longer be meeting at The Learning Center.  New meeting location is M Staff Solutions & Training / 2620 Regatta Drive Suite 102 Las Vegas, NV 89128.

 

 

SSSOLV November 2011 Meeting

by Jason Brimhall
Categories: News, Professional, SQLServerPedia Syndication, SSC
Tags: , ,
Comments: No Comments
Published on: November 7, 2011

Another month, another meeting.  Time really is flying.  And now with more Holidays fast approaching, I am sure that time will warp on us.

The Las Vegas user group is happy to announce that we have a new topic and new presenter (new to us anyway) for the month of November.  Norm Kelm is prepared to teach us a few things about his new hammer.

POWERSHELL, THE NEW SQL HAMMER

You’ve seen all the amazing scripts that use PowerShell, but writing your own is raising more questions. This session will help fill in the gaps by explaining all the moving parts of PowerShell 2.0, the integration with SQL Server and answer the following questions as well as others. Why is Invoke-Sqlcmd necessary? What is and why is there a Minishell for SQL Server? What makes the SQLSERVER: PS Drive so powerful? How does a remote SQL Server get added to the SQLSERVER: PS Drive?

Norms Bio

Norman Kelm is the owner of Gerasus Software, http://www.gerasus.com/, the maker of SSIS-DTS Package Search the only utility that can search SSIS and DTS packages. Norman has been working in IT for over 20 years. He worked as a FORTRAN and C developer for 8 years before making the jump to databases with Sybase. He then moved on to SQL Server working as a production and development DBA on SQL Server since version 6.5. He is also a founding member of the Tampa Bay SQL Server User Group.

We welcome all to attend (as we do every month).  Here is the online meeting information:

LiveMeeting Information:
 Attendee URL:  https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/UserGroups/join?id=2JK8TZ&role=attend
 Meeting ID:  2JK8TZ
In Person Attendees:
The meeting location has changed.  We will no longer be meeting at The Learning Center.  New meeting location is M Staff Solutions & Training / 2620 Regatta Drive Suite 102 Las Vegas, NV 89128.

October 2011 LV UG Meeting

by Jason Brimhall
Categories: News, Professional, SQLServerPedia Syndication, SSC, SSSOLV
Tags: , ,
Comments: No Comments
Published on: October 11, 2011

Boo!

OK, so it really isn’t that scary.  But it is that time of year and we happen to have something that could fix something that might be scary.

It is time once again for our S3OLV Group meeting.  And this month we have two presentations.

Before jumping into more details on that, here is the rest of what the invite would look like if you received it in email.

 

Guts N Grime

Presenting for us this month will be Charley Jones and Julie Rasnick.  (Not necessarily in that order.)

Julie is undertaking the ghoulish challenge of teaching us how to partition.  In our world of ever increasing data and requirements to continue to retain more and more data, partitioning could be a scary undertaking – yet very critical.

Charley is going to teach you everything you ever wanted to know about certificates and probably some things you didn’t want to know ;) .  Again, this is another one of those topics that should be of high value in this day and age of increased need for data security.

In case you can’t see it in the image, the meeting is 13 October from 6:30 PM Pacific.

Phantom Hauntings

Many of you will not be able to attend in person.  That is perfectly fine.  Many will be attending the valuable offerings of Summit 2011 – I get that.  Come haunt our meeting anyway.  We are making the meeting available via livemeeting (or would that be deadmeeting?) for any of you wishing to get that little bit of extra content/learning.  I would love to flood the livemeeting servers with 2-300 Summit attendees for the Las Vegas Chapter meeting.

You can join our meeting for free via the following link.

Attendee URL:  Click Me!!
Meeting ID:  9PWSCW

It’s alive!!

For any of you zombies out there that may not have heard, SQLSat Las Vegas is in the works.  We have reserved a date – March 10, 2012.  We have the venue as well.  Check out my other writeup on it here.  We want to make this event work and hope to see many of you there – spread the word.

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