SQL Rally, PASS Summit, and More

It’s been a busy couple of weeks for SQL Server community and PASS related news.

First and probably most importantly is that the location for SQL Rally 2012 has been chosen, and we are happy to announce that it’ll be right here in Dallas. After several months of research and evaluation, PASS awarded next year’s event to this area based largely on the capacity and pricing of local convention centers. Our local group, the North Texas SQL Server User Group, is honored to have Dallas chosen as the host city, and we’ve got dozens of volunteers at the ready to help make this an exceptional event.

We’ve also learned that the PASS Summit will be moved out of Seattle in 2013, and will be hosted in Charlotte, North Carolina. Congratulations to Peter Shire and the rest of the cast and crew at the Charlotte user group. Dallas was also in the running to host this event, and we’re still hopeful that we’ll get the opportunity to again host the Summit (it was last held in this area in 2005) sometime soon.

On a personal note, I learned a few weeks ago that I’ll be delivering a preconference session at the PASS Summit in October. Along with Andy Leonard and Matt Masson, I’ll spend a day talking about SSIS in the Enterprise, covering in detail my favorite BI-related topic. If you’re not already planning to take in a precon at the Summit this year, we’d love to have you join us for a day in the life of SSIS. There might even be bacon.

Along the same lines, I received notification yesterday that one of my PASS program sessions was selected, and I’ll be doing a regular session in addition to the Monday precon. I’ll be discussing some of the advanced transformations in SSIS that I don’t normally get the opportunity to show. This is my first time to present a regular session at the Summit, so I’m very much looking forward to this opportunity.