Heading home now from SQLSaturday Cleveland. I know I say all the SQLSaturdays are good but this one really was fantastic! I am a little amazed at how many passionate people are in that area that help with that event. I think a lot of that has to do with Mr. Allen White (Twitter|blog) and his constant encouragement of others in the community. It shows and is inspiring!

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So I head out from Indy on Friday with Warren (Twitter|blog) who graciously agreed to drive. Which thanks to that and technology, I was able to finish up work while on the way. He then drops me off at Harness Cycle spin studio. Real life Super Woman Erin Stellato (Twitter|blog) set up Joey (Twitter|blog) and I to do a spin class there that she instructed! Is there anything she can’t do!? 🙂 Thanks Erin for setting that up!  Was really nice to have a fitness activity that for a change that wasn’t running related.

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From there we head to Ironwood Café to the speaker dinner. They setup a feast! When the waitresses started bringing food, they didn’t stop! Well done there organizers, I was impressed. After that I head back and chat for a good long time with the dynamic duo Data Chix, Audrey (Twitter|blog) and Julie (Twitter|blog).

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Event day comes and I get myself over to Hyland Software at a reasonable time in the morning. I was lucky again and have a session right after lunch so wasn’t rushed. The Cleveland folks are lucky with that venue they have at Hyland. It’s a great facility! I am super jealous! After getting there I head to the speaker room which was setup with an amazing spread! Brewnuts (donuts with BEER in them!!), healthy options, and homemade goodies including caramels from Erin (see I told you…Super Woman!).

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I was able to sit in on Joey’s lunch session and show support to one of the great SQL community sponsors, SIOS.  After that I had my session which was on spatial data again. I really enjoy that one as it shows the potential analysis with floor plans and spatial data. I had several say they enjoyed it and even two who told me it was their favorite of the day!

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After my session was over I went to watch my homegirl, Julie’s session on SSIS. She was doing a decent amount of tweaking to it so was there for some morale support in addition to learning. She’s a pro and it was great. I know I have run into some of the same things she went over. SSIS can be, well let’s just say non-intuitive at times. She goes over many of these spots that can make folks bang their heads on their desk.

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Last session of the day I caught Michael J. Swart’s (Twitter|blog) Drawing Conclusions talk. He is such a great artist and he used his illustrations to convey some SQL Server lessons. Good stuff and glad I was able to catch that one. That and I got to listen to him say “about” (he’s Canadian).

Michael Swart caught a join this big 🙂

After the prize drawings we all went to Ambrosia to decompress and have some dinner. It was a Hungarian place. The food and company was great! And I found out I do like stuffed cabbage…who knew?! The staff seemed a bit overwhelmed but it happens. After that a few of us went over to Bar Louie for one more beverage and chatting.

The crowd at the end of the day for prize drawings.

Thank you Cleveland folks for having me speak again! Looking back on the weekend I really do feel blessed to be a part of this community. Good people, good times!