The PASS Summit 2013 call for speakers has come and gone and from the looks of things there were a TONNE of last minute abstract entries.

I am a first time abstract submitter for the Summit.  I’ve graduated from talking to myself, to speaking at PASS Chapters, to speaking at SQL Saturdays and Microsoft events so this felt like my next logical step in my speaking career.

I’ve been lucky enough to be “behind the scenes” in the Program Committee a couple times in the last few years so I know what happens now but if you’re a first time abstract submitter here is the scoop:

The first part of the process is the Speaker and Abstract Reviews.  (I believe) for the first time PASS is separating the speaker from the abstract which in my opinion has a bunch of pros and a bunch of cons.  A good reason for doing this is to not be “star struck” by an amazing speaker and automatically put them in, the flip side of that is that there is a reason you are “star struck” and that’s because they are an amazing speaker LOL.  My concern in this structure is that if an amazing speaker’s abstract doesn’t really POP (even though you know they always deliver) there is a chance they will not get in. There is obviously going to be differing opinions on this new change but it’s worth a shot and I’m going to try and keep an open mind about it.

(I’ve been on the Abstract Selection Team before and it’s no easy task and you potentially can take ALOT of abuse from speakers who are not chosen so please remember that everyone is a volunteer and no one single person makes a decision so be nice!!   )

This process takes us into late May / Early June-ish which is when the speakers find out if they’ve been selected and around mid June the presentations are revealed publicly.

From there everyone who is selected works on tweaking their presentations and PowerPoint decks so that the PowerPoint Review Team (which I am a co-leader for this Summit) can start reviewing the decks/demos around August up until the Summit to make sure there are no issues (not complete, not matching the abstract, identify spelling/grammatical errors, etc)

Hopefully this very high level view of the process helps the first time speakers / submitters know what to expect in the coming months leading up until the 2013 PASS Summit

Enjoy!! (Follow me on Twitter: @ColinStasiuk)

I’m happy to announce that I’ve been selected to the Program Committee for the PASS Summit in 2013!!

I’ll be taking on the role of Team Lead for the PPT Review Team.

I’ve served on the Program Committee before as a member of the Abstract Selection Team and it was a great experience and a way to help shape what the Summit looked like for that year.

I can’t wait to meet my team and get the schedule ahead of things to come.

SPEAKERS – April 3rd is the deadline for abstract submissions so get them in ASAP!! (and I’m talking to myself here as I’m still putting the finishing touches on my abstracts hahaha)

Enjoy!! (Follow me on Twitter: @ColinStasiuk)

Not sure how I haven’t seen this before but I’m hopefully not the only one out there.

The AdventureWorks2008R2 Books Online Random Workload Generator

The PowerShell script will take a random query (from the Books Online example SELECT statements) and run them with a configurable delay inside an infinite loop.

You can run as many of these PowerShell scripts as you want concurrently and BOOM you have random workloads.

SO AWESOME

I became a Jonathan Kehayias ( twitter | blog ) fan originally for his awesome Extended Events posts (as you can tell by the photoshopped pic below) but over the years his blog posts and presentations have always impressed.

Thanks Jonathan!!

Prior Winners:

• Mladen Prajdic – (post link | blog | @MladenPrajdic ) – Immediate Deadlock Notifications Without Changing Existing Code
• Lara Rubbelke – (post link | blog | @SQLGal) – Enterprise Policy Management Framework
• Tim Ford – (post link | blog | @SQLAgentMan) – Determine Free Space, Consumed Space, and Total Space Allocated for SQL Server databases

Enjoy!! (Follow me on Twitter: @ColinStasiuk)

WOW… that’s the only way to describe the past week.

I had the pleasure of speaking at my first SQLSaturday in Vancouver (which went really well I think) and I attended my first MVP Summit.

I can’t say enough about how Microsoft treated us last week and the level of information that was provided.  SO COOL.

Once again my #SQLFamily came through with flying colors and made me feel right at home as I was quite nervous to not seem like such a newbie and a dumbass   It very much reminded me of my first PASS Summit and that feeling initially of just not belonging or not being smart enough to be there.  Just like my first PASS Summit, Tom LaRock ( @SQLRockstar ) found me and immediately started introducing me around and was a solid “wingman” all week.

I had the pleasure of rooming with Jason Strate ( @StrateSQL ) and bounced ideas for presentations off of him and even was able to sit in and watch as he presented virtually for his company Pragmatic Works.

Much like the PASS Summit, the MVP Summit has a way of recharging your batteries and getting you excited about everything all over again.

It was a great week and I have 3 new presentations on the go so get ready #SQLPASS Chapters… I’ll be looking to bounce some new content off of you before the PASS Summit 2013 where I am officially throwing my hat in the ring and submitting to be a speaker.

Enjoy!! (Follow me on Twitter: @ColinStasiuk)

SQL Saturday 198 – Vancouver

This weekend I invade Vancouver BC for SQLSaturday 198 (enroute to the MVP Summit in Seattle the following week).

I can’t wait to hit one of the most beautiful cities in Canada.  Unfortunately I’m going to be there for less than 24 hours but hey, beggars can’t be choosy.

This is a cool time for me as this is my FIRST SQLSaturday (as an attendee as well as a presenter) and I look forward to seeing so many of my #SQLFamily who normally I only get the pleasure of seeing once a year (at the SQLPASS Summit).

I plan on trying to make it out to more of these events and also trying to get a SQLSaturday going in Edmonton.  I’ve had many friends already say they would present for me (which is awesome) so hopefully I can talk to PASS about getting the wheels in motion for hosting an event here in Edmonton.

Have a great week everyone!

Enjoy!! (Follow me on Twitter: @ColinStasiuk)

So I hate cats… but this describes me perfectly right now.

Error 3964 on CREATE INDEX on temporary table under SNAPSHOT ISOLATION LEVEL.

I understand the error but what I don’t understand is WHY on a # temporary table (that is tied directly to my SPID) this would be an issue?

I found this: CONNECT ITEM

and the reply from Microsoft was:

“Thanks for reporting it. Some DDL operations that are allowed inside snapshot isolation. For example, CREATE TABLE is ok because it did not exist. However, altering/creating index is not allowed. We are aware of this limitation and will look into it in the future release”

Sweet that was back in 2010 and now the connect item has been closed “As By Design”

I’d love to give you some magical code to get around this issue but unfortunately I can’t.  The most you can do with a # temp table is during the definition you can specify a primary key or a unique non-clustered index but that’s it.

Back to the drawing board

Happy Tuesday everyone!!

Enjoy!! (Follow me on Twitter: @ColinStasiuk)

I’m excited to officially say I’m “back in the game”

I’ve been wanting to get back into blogging for a LONG time now as it used to be a very rewarding and fun way to share some SQL goodness with whomever decided to check it out.

Trying to find a “comeback” topic is tricky as after a long absence you want something impressive but I decided to avoid trying to hit the homerun post and just get consistent again in my posts.

So if you’re still out there “Thanks for reading” and I look forward to the comments and questions.

Enjoy!! (Follow me on Twitter: @ColinStasiuk)

I just got back from the 2012 PASS Summit and I am exhausted.

One of the many great things I learned last week is that during the Summit they announced the release of SQL Server 2012 SP1.

I know historically companies have always waited for an SP1 release before really pushing forward with upgrading to a new version of SQL Server.  I’ve tried to encourage my customers (who hold this belief) to at least put 2012 in some of their development environments so that when the “safety net” of SP1 comes they will be ready to go and already getting used to the product and new features.

Here is the link to the SQL Server 2012 SP1 download site

Enjoy!! (Follow me on Twitter: @ColinStasiuk)

Next week at this time madness will ensue. That madness is the 2012 PASS Summit.

Now I mean madhouse is the bestest way possible as the Summit is the annual event where “SQL geeks” from around the world invade Seattle and drink from the firehouse of SQL goodness.

There have been numerous amazing posts on how to best prepare if it’s your first Summit experience so I’m not going to rehash the goodness that’s already out there.

For me I’m looking forward next week to catching up with the amazing #SQLFamily that I sadly don’t get to see as often as I would like being from Canada.

I have so many amazing memories of my previous 3 Summits and I can’t wait to see everyone.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

(My son and I did Mjolnir as he is Thor for Halloween and my wife and daughter did Ariel cause well…. they’re girls LOL)

Enjoy!! (Follow me on Twitter: @ColinStasiuk)

Talk about an absolute shocker opening up my email this morning and finding this:

This is an amazing feeling and I want to let you know how truly grateful and honored I am to receive this award for the first time.  The SQL Community is unlike any other technical community I’ve seen or been a part of and this award definitely gives me a shot in the arm to work even harder to contribute more.

It hasn’t been an easy year for me (being on IV for over a month straight definitely takes alot of you) so I hope to put that behind me and move forward better than ever!!

I received so many tweets and facebook messages this morning and am overwhelmed with the support and love.

HUGE thanks to everyone and a very special “thank you” goes out to one of my bestest SQL friends Jason Strate for nominating me!!

Enjoy!! (Follow me on Twitter: @ColinStasiuk)