Well, I have to admit when I got the invite to speak during this event, I was honored (and still am for that matter). But I have to admit, I hope people don’t come in with any belief that I will be Celebrating SQL Server 2008 R2.  Most of what I will present could have been celebrated with SQL Server 6.5, as I will be doing my bread and butter Database Design Fundamentals session that I have done multiple times over the past few years.

Ironically, had the people that you and I work with/for been using proper design techniques back, lo those many years, more of us could celebrate SQL Server 2008 R2 here in 2010* because instead of fixing data, dealing with fragile structures, and fighting the SQL Server engine, we could be exploiting all of the new stuff that Microsoft has given us in all of the new versions with relative ease (hey, just the compression stuff in 2008 and even more in 2008 R2 would be super wonderful to have, regardless of any other feature!)

I will be presenting on the 20th at 6 AM Eastern time, which is actually 10:00 UTC, and even better time zones in Europe and more, so frankly I am pretty excited to have this opportunity to speak to the people I would rarely have the chance to, since I can imagine very few of the people I usually speak to will have the energy to listen to this stuff at 6AM on the east coast which is even worse as you travel west in North and South America. 

But hey, what is a bit of sleep, and since I am going to be on vacation with my wife at Disney World that day, this is actually a very good time slot, since the resort Internet should be screamingly fast at that point of the day. Bummer is that I won’t have time to attend any other sessions that day, but I will be consoling myself with the fact that when it is done I will head over to the happiest place on earth, possibly wearing these that I had the last time I was speaking in Orlando, though that was to live, in the room people, not a webcam:

The session is a very interactive one, so I hope to have polls, questions, and any kind of interaction that seems useful though the assistance of my wife (whom I will be dragging out of the comfy bed also at 5:30 am (hey, I served as photographer for a conference she put on for free!) or, if all else fails, I will have a small, but loyal audience that will be making the trip with me on their portable bleachers:

Their only problem is that they pretty much do whatever I tell them (except the LGM, he can get a little excitable at times) and while it is convenient for me that they only answer questions the way I want them to, they may not ask the questions that you want answered.

If you have ever been to one of my sessions I can only promise that every time is quite different, and I have really focused the session of late.  Doing it 5 times this year at several events including 4 SQL Saturdays, the Rocky Mountain Tech Trifecta, and a user group has really helped. In previous years, when the session was over (usually at PASS), my only concern was that it was over.  But knowing I was doing it again in a few weeks time, well, I want to take all feedback immediately from attendees and myself and keep progressing.

So, I hope to see you in the attendee list!

*(the big reason I hate using the year in the name of the product!)