Todd Robinson

Todays’ Agenda

Today there are pre-cons going on at the conference center and people coming in an registering for the conference which starts in earnest for most people on Wednesday. I managed to meet a few-first timers on my flight into Seattle yesterday and I managed to bring them over to the Sheraton via taxi unharmed. I let them know all the different routes they could take to the hotel, including the light rail, but we chose to do the taxi route simply because I could see that after that long flight, they just wanted to get in and settled. I made sure to let them know about Guidebook, so they could have an updated session schedule with them, as well as to make sure to have their twitter client open with the #SQLPASS hashtag to capture all of the goings on happening all around them. I will be heading out shortly to meet up with some folks I’ve known for quite some time, as well as hopefully some more first-timers. More updates to come…

I have been working with Windows Server AppFabric Cache here for the past six months getting an appreciation for what it can do to augment existing applications which use SQL Server as its relational back end. I have been working with Rama Ramani, the Senior Program Manager of the AppFabric team, whom I met at the 2009 PASS conference. The past few months I’ve been testing various scenarios in our environment and gathering a bunch of statistics that compare using AppFabric Cache versus using SQL Server to store the same key-value pair information. The session, SQLCAT: Optimizing application workload & performance by leveraging AppFabric Cache along with SQL Server, will be presented by Rama and I will get a chance to show some of the findings to everyone in the session. I’m excited about this opportunity and look forward to showing folks what AppFabric can do for you.

Thanks to the folks at Quest and Brent Ozar ( @BrentO ), posts on SQL Server development will now be shared with the world over on SQLServerPedia’s site. I think its important for me to start working on my professional development, and one of the best ways of doing that is sharing openly with the community at large. I’ve been involved with the SQL community in the background for years, working with PASS as a volunteer on the Program Committee, helping select the sessions that everyone gets to enjoy. I’ve met a lot of great people at PASS and I’ve been lucky to call a few of them my friends. Over the past few years I’ve witnessed a few folks in the community work just as hard on their personal development as they have on their technical skills and I can only say I’m amazed at the opportunities it has afforded them.

I only recently started blogging to the masses, mostly because Tom ( @SQLRockstar ) and Brent made me. Just kidding, but in a way its true. They have really taken the time and effort to bring their knowledge and special brand of humor out to the world, and in doing so, have elevated their status in the SQL community. Now its time for me to bring my efforts to the foreground. I hope that you’ll find my future posts informative and helpful and one day I too hope to be a Rockstar.

Quite a few of my SQL cohorts are milling around NOLA this week learning all sorts of things. Some of them might even be work related. And what can I say, I’m jealous. I’ve heard rumors that there is a nightly trololo choir on Bourbon Street similar to the SpectroMagic parade at Walt Disney World, complete with fiber optic lights and kilts. I suppose we’ll have to convene a trololo committee with Brent Ozar (@BrentO) leading it in order to organize that for November’s PASS conference.

In related news, I’m glad to hear that Tom LaRock (@SQLRockstar) has come out of the closet and told us where he will be hanging up his chaps. I’m happy to report that Tom has landed with Confio, makers of Ignite. He is an awesome addition to any company, but I do hope they have enough bacon on hand to keep him satisfied.