PASS Summit 2016 Speakers

I commend PASS, the PASS Board, and PASS leadership for all their hard work putting together this year’s PASS Summit. From the looks of the lineup of presenters and presentations the PASS Summit 2016 is going to be another awesome event!

Allen White (@SQLRunr) serves as PASS Programs Director. Although Allen has been actively engaged in PASS for years, this was his first year leading the PASS Summit speaker selection effort. Allen wrote a great blog post about the PASS Summit speaker selection process: Insights into the PASS Summit Speaker Selection Process. I recommend anyone who is interested in presenting at the PASS Summit read the post.

Some highlights:

• The PASS Summit 2016 has:
  • 112 community sessions
  • 10 full-day pre-conferences
  • 4 lightning talks
• There were:
  • 840 abstracts submitted
  • from 255 speakers potential speakers

And, my favorite statistic:

• 20% of those chosen to present at the PASS Summit 2016 are first-time speakers at the event!

That’s a fantastic number! I’ve long been a champion of increasing the number of first-time presenters at the PASS Summit so I am excited to see this number. I am not sure, but I believe 20% may be a new record for first-time speakers at the Summit (excluding, of course, the first Summit where everyone was a first-time speaker).

Stuff

Every year there’s “stuff” surrounding the PASS Summit speaker selection process. This year there was a lively conversation about changes to the Speaker Contract. A lot of people weighed in on the controversy. I wrote A Couple-Three Thoughts and Questions About Swag at Community Events and there were lots of comments.

We often refer to the SQL Server Community as #SQLFamily. I think that’s an accurate representation of our community. There is often love and warm fuzzies, but sometimes there are misunderstandings and hurt feelings. I think it’s all pretty normal.

The SQL Server Community is the envy of other technical communities. We regularly share knowledge and help each other. No one seems concerned with hoarding knowledge to make themselves look smarter than everyone else. That. is. awesome!

Why? Because I didn’t learn what I know in a vacuum. The SQL Server Community has helped me along the way. I shared this a few days ago and it is Just True:

I’ve blogged several times about why I love the PASS Summit and how attending has changed my life and career. Read those. Especially the first one. The key line in that first link (for me) is:

I know it sounds cheesy, but I entered that room as a guy learning databases and left it a database professional.

After that experience at the PASS Summit 2004, I was on-track to become a SQL Server MVP and author. Before that, I was the biggest imposter ever.

This Year…

For the first time in a long time, I will not be attending the PASS Summit this year. There are a couple-three reasons. Enterprise Data & Analytics is just getting going (we are still in our first year, can you believe that?). DILMSuite and Biml Academy are also in their infancy. It takes time and effort to shepherd new endeavors, and shepherding three at once is a lot of work.

I wasn’t selected to present. Now, some will read that and think harshly of me. I forgive you. There is definitely value for me in attending whether I present or not. It’s simply a matter of priorities, and – this year – attending the PASS Summit falls just beneath the dashed line between what I will do and what I will not do. I am really and truly sorry that this is so. I will miss seeing friends and #SQLFamily from all over the world.

At the same time, though, presenting at the PASS Summit is a zero-sum game and the fact that I am not presenting means that someone else has that opportunity – maybe for the first time.

Am I happy to not be presenting? Goodness no. I was disappointed when I read the email. Not being selected stung a little. I reacted poorly, actually, for about 10 minutes (I can produce a witness). But go back and read Allen’s blog post. The process is fair. My abstracts and speaker ratings data simply didn’t make the cut. As that initial 10 minutes drew to a close I remembered how it felt to be selected to present at the PASS Summit for the first time. I know many of the first-time presenters and I became so thrilled for them that this new thought completely overwhelmed the sting.

Conclusion

The PASS Summit 2016 is going to be an great event. I hope you will attend and engage with the awesomeness that is the SQL Server Community! Register now!

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