7 Days of PASS – Day 5

Today is the first day proper of the Summit and I am scheduled to be on the Blogger table again which means an early start for me. I need some breakfast but am running out of time so for the first time ever (out of 6 years of Summit) I decide to drop by the Conference Center and check-out the breakfast offerings. The only thing that I really care about is Bacon and I am pleased to report that the dining hall has a bountiful supply! I grab some Egg, fruit and (of course) Bacon and wonder why I have never done this before??? Could have saved myself hundreds of Bucks.

I hastily rush my breakfast and arrive at the Blogger table. Shortly after Rob Farley (web|twitter) joins me and despite knowing Rob really well, I don’t anticipate what is in store for me. Rob is perhaps the most figity man I’ve ever sat next to and I spend the next hour being tapped on the shoulder :). It is perhaps the most entertaining Blogger table experience I’ve faced to date and it is over too quickly. Lots of great new features were discussed for SQL Server 2016, but I wished that more practical technical demo was given. Perhaps this was not the best place for this but I think the general audience were excited to hear about these things.

After the Blogger table I decide to check out the Expo hall and wander around for a while and talk to a couple of sponsors (or should I say that they talked to me). I even had a sponsor who was wanting to offer me a new position in the U.K. but I’m not really interested in that proposition so don’t show much interest and instead offer to help them find someone to fill their requirement. It is however a good example of how participating in technical and community events can boost your employment prospects and always flattering to get these approaches.

After an hour of walking around I bump into my friend AJ and we both head off for a bite to eat in the Sheraton Bar and Grill. It was great to catch up properly (having previously not seen each other since 2012 in Dallas!) but I know that I am not going to have a very pleasant afternoon because I have a lightning talk that needs a lot of work (and not to mention my main session). The afternoon and early evening then is spent trying to make some progress and nearly all of this is spent on the lightning talk.

By early evening I have now worked up an appetite and seriously need to get out of my room so I head of to the Convention Center again to see what is going on and see what food is on offer. The offerings aren’t half bad, so I grab some bites and use my beer token. I received several vendor private party invites but to be perfectly honest I don’t think I have ever really enjoyed them. There is always a selection of people you either want to avoid or have nothing in common with and this usually doesn’t lend itself to the most exciting of evenings. Beer usually cannot save the day their either, so I arrange to go for a quiet couple of catch up drinks with my good friends Ron Dameron (web|twitter) and Dmitri Korotkevitch (web|twitter). I’ve known both of these guys since 2010 and the last time I had a beer with Dmitri was (like AJ) in Dallas in 2012, so it is great to do this again. After not too long myself and Dmitri (a fellow MCM) start talking shop and SQL Server log internals, delayed durability and In-Memory OLTP are under discussion. Ron joking said that he had made mental notes for a couple of new sessions, so it would be funny if that does end up happening.

I call it a night after a few drinks since I seriously need to return back to

See also in this series:
7 Days of PASS – Day 4
7 Days of PASS – Day 3
7 Days of PASS – Day 2
7 Days of PASS – Day 1