Friday
Last week I left home, bound for Dublin, to attend and speak at the SQLSaturday event organized by Bob Duffy (b|l|t), Carmel Gunn (b|l|t), Ben Watt (l|t), Dan Galavan (b|l|t) and many others.
I arrived in Dublin on Friday, getting settled in at the hotel, then took a quick peek at the venue, which was right on the back of the Hotel.
Friday night, all speakers were invited to attend a dinner on Quay 16, which turned out to be a smashing meal and really awesome company. If you ever get the chance of sitting at the same table as Buck Woody (b|l|t), you’re in for a treat.
Saturday
Rise n’ Shine, up early, to attend the first session of the Day, by Matt Masson (b|l|t). Except, Matt hat lost his voice halfway through his pre-con on Friday, needless to say, his sessions were cancelled. So I began the Day with a tour of the exhibitors and got a chance to talk to some of them. Next I went to attend the key note by Mark Souza (l|t) – What an amazing story-teller! After that, it feels like: It’s Just Faster… It just is…
During the next session, I went to the speakers room, to prepare for my own presentation. I had been selected to deliver a Lightning Talk on Custom Assemblies in Analysis Services. A topic I have written a couple of blog posts on, here and here. My presentation went well, even though only a few hands came up to the question on who was working with BI and SSAS. I was sharing session with Ben Watt (l|t), Andre Melancia (b|l|t) and Andrew Pruski (b|l|t), who all delivered excellent talks on Power BI, Certifications and Partitioning (T-SQL).
When the session was over, I had plenty of time since lunch was up next, followed by sponsor sessions – I skipped those, to take a break and talk with lots of people who wanted to chat about SQL Server 2016.
Next up, for me, was Rob Sewell (b|l|t) – I hadn’t had a chance before to see his PowerShell expertise unfold, so I grabbed the chance while it presented itself. Rob shared a lot of best practice and good advise. If you get the chance, attend his session – PowerShell is here to stay!
Right now at #sqlsatDublin : @sqldbawithbeard on Making #PowerShell useful for your team, full room pic.twitter.com/Dteq2YphHq
— Jens Vestergaard (@vestergaardj) June 18, 2016
Final session of the Day, I selected to get an introduction to R in SQL Server 2016 by Marcin Szeliga (b|l|t). This session was also live streamed on Channel9, where you can still see it, for free, along with a selection of session from #SqlSat501.
Raffle time!
After finding the lucky winners, we all headed out in a court yard for some BBQ and beverages. A Perfect ending to a long day.
Sunday
Sunday was my day off, and I decided, based on numerous recommendations, to head out for the Guinness Storehouse. It was a good walk from the Hotel to the factory, and I didn’t mind the light rain on the way, but the view from the top floor was maybe not the one that goes into commercials. Still I think it was a nice trip and some great information about the beer, craftsmanship and history.
Dublins Finest #storehousestory #guinness #beer
Et billede slået op af Jens Vestergaard (@jens_vestergaard) den
Dublin is full of all kinds of wonderful sculptures, old as new and I was fortunate enough to pass by a lot of it on my tour through the city. City centre was currently undergoing heavy rebuild, as I understood the tram was to be rediscovered – I wish that would happen in Copenhagen as well.
Leaving from Quay 16 this stunning view was presented.
In the afternoon, I was bound for home, wife and kids. I did get to shop some gifts for them, a genuine rugby, a rugby shirt and some other Irish treats.
I really enjoyed my stay in Dublin, and cannot thank Bob, Carmen, Ben, Dan and the rest of the team enough for giving me the opportunity to speak at their event. I hope to be back!
