{"id":106800,"date":"2025-05-21T16:08:22","date_gmt":"2025-05-21T16:08:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.red-gate.com\/simple-talk\/?p=106800"},"modified":"2025-05-29T23:16:49","modified_gmt":"2025-05-29T23:16:49","slug":"sql-saturday-raleigh-2025-roundup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.red-gate.com\/simple-talk\/resources\/conferences\/sql-saturday-raleigh-2025-roundup\/","title":{"rendered":"SQL Saturday Raleigh 2025 Roundup"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Phew, this is the end of a run of events with little time between them. You know what though, despite the work to keep up, every event has been 100% worth it, for different reasons. It is interesting how, no matter the size, attendance, and\/or venue, almost every event has its own charm that makes it special.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SQL Saturday Raleigh<\/a> was having its first event since 2019, and I personally had not been to one of their events before at all. It was never about the event itself, anything that Kevin Feasel<\/a> is involved with is going to be excellent. If you don\u2019t know about Kevin, clicking on the link will take you to the podcast we did a while back, and will have more links, but his curatedsql.com<\/a> site is a great place to learn about the world of data. You may know some of the other organizers too, including Tracy Boggiano<\/a>, Mike Chrestenson from Duke Health, and not to forget Mala Mahadevan<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After my last event in Jacksonville<\/a>, where we were the highest level sponsors, had a table and the whole works, this time we were a lower level of sponsorship where we did not have a table at all. Kellyn Gorman<\/a> was here again, but it was a much more relaxed and social event without manning a sponsor table. Of course, we also didn\u2019t get a chance to talk as much directly about Redgate products or the Simple Talk site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Speakers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

One of the things about smaller events is that a few things often happen. Either you have a bunch of well-known speakers (that someone who has attended copious events will know them all), or you have only new speakers. Having been a session selector myself, it is hard to get that balance right (you hate to turn anyone down, seasoned speaker of first timer!), but they did a great job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were some well-known folks like Brent Ozar and Aaron Bertrand (I am not going to list them all, but these are two particularly special people to get at your SQL Saturday\u2026even if I have seen Brent at the last two events \u263a). But there were plenty of people I had never met before. You can see them listed on the schedule<\/a> because I don\u2019t want to list them all!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are a few pictures from the sessions I attended (and from the one I spoke at too):<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Okay, so my picture isn’t really from when I spoke, but the person in the picture was in the session and was happy to help me reenact the picture. I never remember to get the picture, even when I remind myself before the session starts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The People<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Even beyond the speakers, the people I interacted with were all very friendly. I did give a session, and all the attendees were gracious around the AV snafus we started out with. I had great conversations with people, made some connections, and did a bit of planning with Aaron Bertrand before he headed out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The leadership team headed by Kevin Feasel, but there were others that I don\u2019t remember their names exactly except for Mala Mahadevan<\/a>, whom I have known for probably longer than Kevin. (Forever, basically).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The last person I met was Charles Streeter<\/a>. We didn\u2019t really talk but for a second, and only because he won our sponsor raffle prize of the Hogwarts\u2019s Castle. But he is only my list of favorite winners ever because he wanted the pictures so he could post them on LinkedIn<\/a>!<\/p>\n\n\n

\n