Yes I see there is a pattern here but I couldn’t think of a better term to describe it.  The event itself was really impressive.  You could tell it was very well organized and seemed to go off without a hitch.  Kudos to those who helped put that together…well done!

My presentation on spatial data…well did not go off without a hitch.  I had technical difficulties with the projector.  As much as I hated to I skipped the session prior to my presentation so I could prepare.  I had everything laid out perfectly…SSMS was opened and had my scripts up and ready to go.  I had all programs opened and was like a tiger ready to pounce on that audience.  Get into the room, plug in the cord for the overhead and then see nothing but blue…*insert expletive*!  So then had to reboot my machine to get things going on overhead.  My face was starting to get that catch on fire feeling but finally my machine was up on the overhead but wasn’t showing on my laptop though.  Afraid to tempt fate or make the audience wait any longer I winged it trying to lean way right to see what was on the screen while typing.  There is a function key stroke that I am going to get very familiar with for the next presentation I can tell you that!  Other than that things went well.  I had some really great feedback from folks I admire in the community who sat in on my presentation so I was very excited about that.  Thank you very much Glenn Berry and Allen White!

My favorite part of the whole event though was the networking.  There was a pre-event BBQ hosted by Kevin Klein that was fantastic!  I was so excited to meet folks I have been following forever and put faces to twitter handles.  Thank you again for the hospitality Kevin!  Hopefully your wife is still talking to you after all that.  Then there was an after event party on the strip in Nashville.  I ate up every minute of talking to everyone at both events!  I really am amazed at how encouraging and helpful folks are within the SQL Server community.  I am very new to presenting at events and each time talking to the other presenters/peers gets me even more amp-ed up to continue doing this.  I always had doubtful voice inside saying “who wants to hear what I have to say when they have the big dawgs out there”.  But all the encouragement has helped me squash that wallflower attitude and each time it does get easier.  So any others out there thinking about getting up and trying to present…do it!  You won’t regret it!

One other thing I had to mention in here was the ladies representing at the event.  There were 3 women presenting at Nashville (Jessica Moss, Kendra Little, and me the doubting wallflower).  How cool is that?!

Here is my slide deck