Disappointment but hope

A few months ago I was thrilled to get approval from my boss to attend SQL PASS Summit in Seattle in November. It would have been my first opportunity to attend such a large and prestigious event, and I was so looking forward to the knowledge boost and renewed enthusiam it would have given me. In recent months I’ve been finding and following more SQL experts on Twitter and reading more blogs, and I couldn’t believe that I’d actually have the opportunity to meet some of my new heros.

Then along comes a recession to spoil my fun. I just found out this week that I would have to cancel my registration to PASS. Was I unhappy.  Fortunately, SQLServerPedia is promoting a contest to win a trip to PASS for first-timers. One of the ways to win is by blogging, so this was finally the incentive I needed to get a start on a blog. Do I think I have much chance of winning? Not really, but it beats not even making an attempt.

Otherwise, I may have to consider finding the money to go on my own (with flights via Aeroplan points). I know how important it is to invest in training to further a career. Had I known that I might be fishing the money out of my own pocket, I may have been more frugal on my summer vacation. So I may have to scale down my expections and just go for the three main days and leave the pre- and post-workshops for another time. I will also make best use of the suggestions for getting to PASS on the cheap!

Steve Jones made a presentation during 24 Hours of PASS on building a better blog, so I now have some kind of plan for what I will do with this blog. I’m learning a lot about SQL Server 2008 right now, as I’m in the middle of a migration from Oracle, so I should be able to document some of the new things I discover along the way.

Thanks for reading! Don’t be surprised if the look of the blog changes frequently for the first while, as I try to settle on a theme that I like.