More information about the session can be found on the presentation’s web page, including:

• The session’s abstract and goals
• The current release of the session materials, along with all past versions
• A list of past deliveries of the presentation

See you this afternoon!

This year, the session selection committee is trying something new and has requested input on the submitted abstracts. I strongly encourage you to take a few minutes and vote for abstracts that appeal to you in the PASS Summit 2011 Session Preference Survey. You can vote even if you might not be able to attend the conference… all that you need is an account on the SQLPASS.org web site. If you don’t already have one, registration is easy and free.

If you have attended any of my presentations and enjoyed them/learned from them, I would greatly appreciate the support of voting for some of my sessions. I submitted the maximum of four abstracts, but I would prefer to deliver either of my “cookbook” presentations:

• A PowerShell Cookbook for DBAs
  • I have been delivering this presentation since SQLSaturday #22 on 2010-06-05
  • As a production/escalation DBA, I use PowerShell more than any other single program, especially when interacting with SQL Server
  • My goal is to convince fellow DBAs to try PowerShell by showing a variety of ways that PowerShell makes our jobs easier and by providing attendees with a collection of ready-to-use scripts for getting started
• An XQuery Cookbook for DBAs
  • This is a new presentation that is under development. I will probably deliver it for the first time at the July meeting of the Fort Worth SQL Server Users Group
  • A lot of valuable diagnostic data is exposed as XML these days
  • I have written many T-SQL/XQuery scripts to analyze and manipulate the data, but I would not describe the experience as being pleasant
  • I would like to give other DBAs these scripts, along with a little bit of background understanding, so that they can access this very powerful meta data without the many hours of frustration in developing the scripts
  • Some of the “recipes” included in the presentation will work with the following data sets:
    • DDL trigger event data
    • Deadlock graphs
    • Extended Events payloads
    • Output from the Performance Analysis of Logs (PAL) Tool
    • The [sys].[dm_os_ring_buffers] DMV’s contents
    • Windows event logs
    • XML statistics profiles (query plans)

Note: The deadline for voting is tomorrow, so please do so as soon as possible!

At last year's North American PASS Summit, I was still developing the content for my presentation at the last minute, nearly pulling an all-nighter. The code being demonstrated was barely sufficient for the talk and not nearly robust enough for release, especially to people just introduced to the technology. After delivering my presentation, I was so exhausted and sleep deprived that I decided to enjoy the conference and deferred posting my code until returning home. Unfortunately, life never slowed down and I had trouble finishing and uploading the scripts. My progress was also hindered by feature/scope creep as well as my tendency toward perfectionism.

Since getting into technical speaking, one of my aspirations has been to provide comprehensive and valuable presentation materials (slides, handouts, files, and code). I want my audience members to be able to immediately put their new knowledge to use. In a classic case of perverse unintended consequences, I was achieving the opposite. Instead of being known for providing great presentation materials, I've probably earned notoriety for empty promises to post the materials.

With the start of the new year, I resolved to focus on the project. I withdrew from many activities with the following rationale:

• It seemed like I should be using any free time to finish working on my presentation materials
• I didn't want to face the people that I was letting down
• The pressure that I was placing on myself was leading to burnout

Here are some of the activities that I've consciously limited, or opportunities that I've postponed:

• I started missing most of the local user group meetings
• I dropped off of Twitter… the last time that I recall opening a Twitter client was on 2010-01-14
• I've been invited to write several articles
• I was asked to present to PASS Virtual Chapter meetings
• I stopped penning blog posts as well as keeping current on other people's blogs

The really sad thing is that keeping my nose to the grindstone didn't help me to produce the deliverables—it just left me isolated and demoralized!

I realized that my problems were due to lack of effective process. I will definitely write more on this topic, but I adopted new tools and methodologies that include:

• I design my presentations using the Presentation Zen philosophy now
• I committed not to submit abstracts for presentations that are vaporware
• I decided to avoid creating new presentations around specific tools/scripts that I'd developed for myself
• I imposed a constraint on myself: if code isn't ready to be posted, it shouldn't be demonstrated in a session
• I added my presentation materials to source control
• I designed a version number scheme, facilitating "an incremental servicing model" of my own
• I created scripts (using MSBuild and PowerShell) to automatically compile my presentation materials for being posted
• I started using Amazon's S3 service for hosting my presentation materials (since WordPress.com doesn't allow Zip files)

Perhaps most importantly, I finally implemented Getting Things Done. I will provide more details in future blog posts.

Deliverables for my presentations were posted for the first time on October 27th. Yesterday's presentation represented a huge milestone for me: it was the first time that materials were uploaded when I got up to speak. I have some modifications already, but that's the point of the incremental servicing model. Waiting until everything was ready led to nothing ever getting released.

It's time to rejoin the SQL Server community and I can think of no better place to do it than the PASS Summit. If I have failed to respond to you in the past, I apologize. I'm working through the backlog of blog comments and email messages. However, feel free to contact me again. Going forward, I am going to make sure to be responsive.

By the way, Michael Swart has implicitly forgiven me, so I feel better already!

The download contains the slide deck, a handout full of links to resources, demonstration code, and a few sample files. I plan to upload some revisions as soon as I get home from the Summit (this weekend).

See you in an hour!

Based on the great feedback that I received from my several public presentations and rehearsals, I made major changes to the talk over the last few days. I removed most of the material from the introduction and troubleshooting methodology sections, so that I could get to the demonstrations (and eye-candy) as quickly as possible. The edits made a big difference; I didn’t bore or overwhelm the audience with too much conceptual material, plus I didn’t have to race through the case study and demonstrations.

Here are a few highlights or observations:

• Prior to the start of the session, my friend Tim Mitchell (blog, Twitter) made a special point to come encourage me and offer any assistance that might be needed… even though he had another session to attend!
• I also appreciated the support of my friend Patrick LeBlanc (blog, Twitter), who was in the audience
• There was a very good turnout, far larger than I expected. I printed out fifty copies of each handout but there were not enough to go around. I didn’t have a chance to get an exact count, but I would estimate that about seventy-five people were present!
• I had a problem with one of the demonstrations (creating a SQL Server Agent alert for launching SQLDiag). I developed it against a default instance but was demonstrating it against a named instance, so the performance object name was wrong. Fortunately the audience was helpful in fixing the problem
• I was actually working on addressing this problem on the flights to Seattle (by retrieving the appropriate name from the [sys].[dm_os_performance_counters] DMV), but I neglected to finish it after getting here. It will be fixed before I post the code
• My other gaffe was that, early on, I decided to walk down and in front of the dais to be closer to the audience. I got over to the stairs before realizing that this just wasn’t a good idea and turned back. I’m sure that it looked awkward (and amusing)
• Because of the restructuring, I was able to stop and solicit questions at several key points, which helped to draw the audience into the talk
• I got to use "it depends" to answer one of the questions!
• Tim Mitchell also slipped in at one point to snap a picture of me talking. I brought my camera to the session, but forgot to ask for a volunteer to use it, so I was pleasantly surprised by his thoughtfulness
• I didn’t end up having time to cover the "’Strategies’ to Avoid" slide. I’ll write a blog post that explains the terms
• I only had time to cover a fraction of the original material… I could teach a full-day on this topic! It’s going to be important to publish quite a few blog posts to supplement the material
• Still, my main goal was realized: I managed to introduce many people to these invaluable, free tools that Microsoft’s engineers have developed (specifically PSSDiag, SQLDiag, PAL, SQL Nexus, and the RML Utilities)
• I hope to hear from many audience members as they have a chance to start experimenting with these tools and leveraging them at work
• There was a really good group that stayed around after the talk to ask questions
• While answering those questions, the lamp in the projector blew out. I was very fortunate that it waited until after my presentation ended!
• Tim Benninghoff (blog, Twitter) came up and introduced himself. We have interacted a bit on Twitter and I helped him with a PowerShell script back in May. This was great, since he was on my list of people that I was hoping to meet at the PASS conference!
• Only one person was playing #SQLBingo, which was a little disappointing!
• I have spoken to both Colin Stasiuk (blog, Twitter) and Greg Larsen (blog, Twitter) about delivering the talk as a webcast for their user groups (the Edmonton and Database Administration virtual chapters, respectively)

]]> http://sqlserversleuth.com/2009/11/05/looking-back-on-my-pass-presentation/feed/ 4 tnbarkhouse http://sqlserversleuth.com/2009/10/31/im-a-bingo-square-too/ http://sqlserversleuth.com/2009/10/31/im-a-bingo-square-too/#comments Sat, 31 Oct 2009 18:22:30 +0000 tnbarkhouse http://sqlserversleuth.com/?p=178 Continue reading →]]> Stuart Ainsworth (blog, Twitter) came up with a great idea: using a bingo game to facilitate networking at the 2009 PASS Community Summit. The idea is to encourage conference attendees to find and meet each other. As I’ve mentioned before, getting more involved in the SQL Server community has been a goal of mine, so this seemed like a great opportunity. Stuart also encouraged me to participate when I met him at SQLSaturday #25.

Stuart teamed up with Brent Ozar (blog, Twitter) to bring the idea to fruition. Brent marshaled the full resources of Quest Software and SQLServerPedia, sparing no expense, and came up with the bingo cards and prizes!

To play, print out three bingo cards. Then at the conference, track down and meet the people that have agreed to be squares (we’re shown by our Twitter name and profile picture… mine can be found over to the right*). They will provide you with a passphrase and you can mark them off. Complete individual lines or the entire card to win.

I chose a geeky RDBMS term for my passphrase, which I hope will generate some discussion. I don’t have any swag to give away, but I will recognize (on this blog) the first person to catch the reference.

I’m also printing out stickers with my Twitter name and profile picture to be affixed to my conference badge.

I look forward to meeting you!

Here are a few other posts about the game:

• PASS Summit 2009 – Twitter Bingo Players
• SQL PASS Twitter Bingo: The rules so far…
• SQLBingo: a few more things to consider…
• #SQLBingo: Meet nice people and learn their safewords.
• I’m a Bingo Square!
• There was a rancher who had a DBA…. (Getting prepped for PASS)
• I’m a square.

* The sidebar may not be visible if you are viewing a single post. Go to the main page to see it.


]]> http://sqlserversleuth.com/2009/10/31/im-a-bingo-square-too/feed/ 0 tnbarkhouse http://sqlserversleuth.com/2009/10/31/a-successful-rehearsal-and-upcoming-improvements-to-the-presentation/ http://sqlserversleuth.com/2009/10/31/a-successful-rehearsal-and-upcoming-improvements-to-the-presentation/#comments Sat, 31 Oct 2009 06:02:44 +0000 tnbarkhouse http://sqlserversleuth.com/?p=172 Continue reading →]]> My rehearsal this morning went really well. Not in terms of my delivery, but rather in the great feedback that I received and my own ideas for improvement that it generated.

I want to thank Patrick LeBlanc (blog, Twitter) again for helping me to pull off the rehearsal on such short notice! I look forward to returning as a SQL Lunch presenter in the not-too-distant future.

When I gave the SQLDiag presentation on the 21st, there was good response to the recently added case study and it was suggested that I increase its role in the talk. Mike McKinney also made a great observation: I’m spending too much time describing the configuration of SQLDiag (overall, but especially before showing the end result of using it). In other words, I need to firmly establish the value of these tools before delving into the mechanics of their usage. His point made so much sense and I’m grateful for the insight.

I made a lot of changes based on those suggestions, which were put into play for the first time this morning. They made a huge difference, but it did lead to some continuity issues and glitches.

Another friend from the user group, David Stein (blog, Twitter), provided some very detailed and helpful constructive criticism. I also received emails with good ideas from Steve Jones (blog, Twitter), Tim Mitchell (blog, Twitter), and Vic Prabhu (Twitter). The following points, which ring true, were raised by one or more of them:

• I need to work on my demeanor. Apparently it takes five to ten minutes for me to warm up and start to seem comfortable and confident
• I should significantly cut back the introduction section
• I’m switching between windows too often, giving a choppy feel to the talk
• I need to speed up/cut back on the content. I’m still running out of time long before I cover everything
• I’m spending too long on the troubleshooting methodology at the expense of demonstrating the tools and techniques
• I need more practice

I have blocked out at least an hour for each of the next three days for solo rehearsals. I am also making the following adjustments (some based on audience feedback, others based on my own evaluation):

• I’m reducing the introduction section considerably. People can read the slides and check out this blog to learn more about me. Also, my credibility will be established by the presentation’s content (I don’t need to sell myself based on the number of instances I help support in Terremark’s Highly Managed Hosting environment). Besides, when somebody chooses to attend my session it is because they already have the presumption that my information is reliable and will hold value for them
• I’m trimming down the coverage on troubleshooting methodology quite a bit. I did classify this session as being at the "intermediate" skill level—the audience members should already understand the importance of having a formal process and it will take less for them to adapt mine to their needs
• The PAL demonstration will now precede working with SQL Nexus. It will flow better, plus this is actually the order I follow when applying these techniques in the field
• I will work the demonstration of the RML Utilities back in and explain the way that this tool and SQL Nexus complement each other
• I plan to move the "’Strategies’ to Avoid" slide to the end of the presentation. If I run out of time, it is the best material to sacrifice
• I have several improvements for the case study
• I am considering printing out (and distributing to the audience before the session) the three Microsoft Word documents: "Troubleshooting Methodologies," "Troubleshooting Checklist," and "Case Study"

I feel really good about giving this at PASS!


]]> http://sqlserversleuth.com/2009/10/31/a-successful-rehearsal-and-upcoming-improvements-to-the-presentation/feed/ 0 tnbarkhouse http://sqlserversleuth.com/2009/10/31/the-presentations-wont-be-posted-until-after-the-pass-summit/ http://sqlserversleuth.com/2009/10/31/the-presentations-wont-be-posted-until-after-the-pass-summit/#comments Sat, 31 Oct 2009 05:10:45 +0000 tnbarkhouse http://sqlserversleuth.com/?p=167 Continue reading →]]> I’ve decided that the posting of my presentation materials (PowerPoint slide decks and sample code) will have to wait until I return from the 2009 PASS Community Summit. I apologize again for the delay.

As I mentioned previously, I’ve been adding to and improving the demonstrations for the SQLDiag presentation. I was satisfied with the code (in terms of functionality, it still needed polishing and testing) until last week, when I got an escalation call about end-user complaints of poor performance with a customer’s application. This type of case calls for the techniques covered in my presentation. I then realized that October has been a bit of a dry spell in terms of complex issues that merited these techniques.

I ended up seeing a number of opportunities to further automate the process, pleased with the dual benefit of 1.) helping to solve the issue for the customer and 2.) having more to share with my audiences. For example, I finally created a PowerShell script that automatically extracts a single SQLDiag data set from a 7-Zip archive and loads it into PAL and SQL Nexus. This saves an immense amount of time! The downside is that I added a significant set of new scripts that have to be refined and tested (but they are absolutely worth it!).

I have been putting the release of the presentation materials above many other tasks (including blogging, participating on forums, and many responsibilities in my personal life), which has really added to my stress level. It’s time to reprioritize… I need to enjoy some down-time with my wife, tie up a few loose ends at work, and prepare for the PASS conference. I’m sorry to postpone further, but on the other hand, the quality and quantity of deliverables will be much greater this way. I’m sure that you’ll find it worth the wait!

Expect the presentation materials the week of November 9th.


]]> http://sqlserversleuth.com/2009/10/31/the-presentations-wont-be-posted-until-after-the-pass-summit/feed/ 0 tnbarkhouse http://sqlserversleuth.com/2009/10/29/last-minute-rehearsal/ http://sqlserversleuth.com/2009/10/29/last-minute-rehearsal/#comments Fri, 30 Oct 2009 03:57:13 +0000 tnbarkhouse http://sqlserversleuth.com/?p=162 Continue reading →]]> My friend Patrick LeBlanc (blog, Twitter), host of SQL Lunch, has graciously agreed to help me have one last rehearsal of my "Leveraging PSSDiag/SQLDiag for Efficient Troubleshooting” presentation before delivering it at the 2009 PASS Community Summit next week. I know that this is last minute notice, but if you’re available, please join me for the Live Meeting webcast at 9:30 a.m. (CDT) tomorrow, October 30th.

NOTE: The Live Meeting is set up from 9:00 a.m. through 11:30 a.m. (CDT), however the presentation is actually from 9:30 a.m. through 10:45 a.m. From 9:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., I will be working with Patrick to work out any webcast related issues. I won’t be allowing participants in until 9:30 a.m. Please do not attempt to join the meeting until 2009-10-30T09:30:00.000-05:00!

I plan on recording the meeting, to review it and improve the presentation, but I won’t make it publicly available.

If you have trouble with the direct hyperlink, you can also start from the Microsoft Office Live Meeting 2007 client on your computer:

• Meeting ID: HD8QCW
• Location: https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/usergroups

]]> http://sqlserversleuth.com/2009/10/29/last-minute-rehearsal/feed/ 0 tnbarkhouse http://sqlserversleuth.com/2009/10/21/the-delay-continues/ http://sqlserversleuth.com/2009/10/21/the-delay-continues/#comments Wed, 21 Oct 2009 20:36:19 +0000 tnbarkhouse http://sqlserversleuth.com/?p=158 Continue reading →]]> I made more progress on my presentations yesterday (on my day off), but they’re not ready to be posted yet. I apologize for the delay. I’m now targeting this coming weekend for their release.

One reason is that the demonstrations for my SQLDiag presentation are still being actively developed and tested. They’ve come a long way so far (at SQLSaturday #25 they didn’t work and at the October NTSSUG meeting they were merely adequate). Last night I decided to add scripts for creating a SQL Server Agent job and alert pair that will launch SQLDiag. I’ve mentioned this technique each time that I’ve given the presentation so I thought that it was time to include the code for doing so. It’s an important addition, but it did take a bit of time to churn out instruction-quality code.

I briefly considered posting the PowerPoint slide decks for the presentations, without the accompanying sample code, but I would hate for somebody to neglect to return and get the updates. I put a lot into the sample code and I hope that it provides great value to the audience members.

Last night, I also had to upload the final revision of my PowerPoint slide deck for the PASS Community Summit 2009. I spent quite a while tweaking the content with ideas that I’ve gotten from the last few deliveries of the material.

Finally, there are a few remaining preparations for tonight, my last scheduled presentation (before the Summit).

I’m working diligently to get everything ready for you… there’s just a great deal to do. I even passed on going to the first meeting of the DFW IT Professionals users group, despite my strong desire to attend. I decided that my commitment to those of you that have attended my presentations trumped my own enjoyment (in this case).


]]> http://sqlserversleuth.com/2009/10/21/the-delay-continues/feed/ 0 tnbarkhouse