Neal Waterstreet

Google+ Hangouts

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The more I use google+, (which is not very much) the more I like it. I set up a meeting in a Hangout last week and I really think it went well. Much better than chatting or a conference call.

I usually don’t like social networking, but so good so far.

I’m going to be scheduling more meetings in the coming weeks for a project. Maybe we’ll use some of the additional features that i have not played around with yet. I’ll keep updating.

SQL Saturday 70: Columbia

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I made the (very) early morning drive to Columbia for the SQLSaturday there. There was a good crowd, but not overcrowded. I think I saw the total number was 200. I attended the following presentations. All of the speakers did a good job with the material.

  • DW-ETL: 10 Mistakes to Avoid by Rafael Salas
  • Designing an SSIS Framework by Andy Leonard
  • SQL Developer’s Intro to SSAS by Nathan Mourfield
  • Handling Advanced Data Warehouse Scenarios in SSIS by John Welch
  • Enterprise Data Mining for SQL Server Professionals by Mark Tabladillo
  • “I See a Control Flow Tab. Now What?” by Andy Leonard

A quick few notes about my experience:

  • I asked 3 people about OBIEE and none had heard of it. Since this is a Microsoft centric event that makes sense.
  • I’ll never get up and drive to another event that is not local. From not on I’ll drive the day before and spend the night. Lots and lots of caffeine.
  • I think Business Intelligence has grown dramatically in popularity over the last 12 to 24 months. All of the sessions I was in were well attended and there were a total of 3 BI tracks out of 8.
  • The event was well organized and in a nice facility. I’ll attend again next time if I can.
  • I learned a lot!