Last Saturday (8/6/16) I had the pleasure of doing my first community presentation at SQL Saturday 531 in Louisville, KY. During a great speakers’ dinner Friday night at Brick House Tavern + Tap I had the opportunity to meet a few members of the #sqlfamily and get some solid advice for my rookie presentation the next day.

My presentation the next day went fairly smoothly despite a visit from the demo demons (courtesy of what seemed to be a flaky system hooked up to the projector) that deprived my session of some of the demos I intended to present. I genuinely appreciated each and every person that attended the session and I hope the Always On tips and tricks I shared are or will be a help to their organizations.

In short, if you’re not attending SQL Saturdays, why not? It’s tons of free training from experienced people and you’ll meet good people as well. And, if you’ve attended a few SQL Saturdays (as I have) and have tips and information to share, why not try your hand at presenting? It was a rewarding, invigorating experience and I can’t wait to present again in the near future.

If I still haven’t convinced you to involve yourself in SQL Saturdays, check out Chris Yates’ blog for a great breakdown of why SQL Saturdays can be one of the best investments you can make in your career.