PASS Summit 2009: Sunday Recap

I rolled out ealry Sunday morning (3:00 AM EST, after 3 hours of sleep) to catch a flight from Richmond to Atlanta, then to Seattle. I was up late polishing my Applied SSIS Design Patterns presentation scheduled for Wednesday. I’m happier with the flow and intensity of this presentation.

I dropped off the grid upon arrival in Seattle to spend a few hours catching up with a relative. We ate way too much and had a great time. After that, the networking started!

If you’re never been to a PASS Summit, it’s hard to describe the value proposition of networking with other database professionals.  Most of us work in relative isolation. Spending a day with a group of like-minded individuals is refreshing all by itself; spending the better part of a week with hundreds is incredible.

For example, no one looks at you weird if you describe an issue and mention Venn diagrams – even if it’s over a beer. Ok, Tom LaRock (Blog/Twitter) looks at me weird a lot, but I think it’s because he’s still shocked I have most of my teeth. But I digress…

I met up with Andy Warren and a slew of SQL Server folks at the Pike Place Bar and Grill for some lively conversation and (even more) food. There were many conversations around the tables – one highligt was warning Jason Massie about the dangers of being a dad of daughters when they start dating.

A group of two dozen or more database pros descended on Zig Zag Cafe around 9:00 PM. Great conversations and a good time was had by all. I got to meet and talk to Tim Mitchell (Web/Blog/Twitter) and Mike Walsh (Web/Blog/Twitter). I also met @Wendy_Dance@BenchmarkIT, and a bunch of other people (sorry, I’m to old to remember everyone!).

After staying nearly 24 hours, I collapsed.

:{> Andy

 

Andy Leonard

andyleonard.blog

Christian, husband, dad, grandpa, Data Philosopher, Data Engineer, Azure Data Factory, SSIS guy, and farmer. I was cloud before cloud was cool. :{>

4 thoughts on “PASS Summit 2009: Sunday Recap

  1. No worries 🙂
    It was great to finally meet you.  I look forward to more such encounters in the future.

  2. No worries about it either, I just didn’t want to steal Tim’s traffic. Thanks for adding me anyway. It was really great meeting you.
    Have me pumped up to do more for the local community, maybe even start something on the Seacoast in NH for the northern MA/Southern Maine/NH area.
    Inspiration to the SQL community, you are.

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