Episode 115
| October 31, 2017
| 44 minutes
The Companero Conference Retrospective
It was a beautiful idea. Gather together with a group of our podcast listeners in a conference type format and find ways for us to connect and help each grow. I had seen it down in other events; however, I wanted to add my own flavor. I wanted this to be different. While the event turned out great and we got good marks from the attendees, we didn’t have the response we were hoping for. In this episode of the podcast, we have our companero conference retrospective.
We try to give our honest feedback about what we did well, what could have been improved, and what the attendees reported. I can’t say enough about the help I got from our speakers–Jonathan Stewart, Kevin Feasel, Randolph West, Tracy Boggiano, and Doug Purnell. They were awesome and the event was much simpler because of them and their commitment. They are truly my companeros on the SQL trail.
WHAT SHOULD WE DO WITH OUR CONFERENCE?
We would like to send you a survey on what you think the future of the conference should be and whether we should keep it around. We look forward to hearing from you.
Episode Quotes
“I wanted a way that people could come together, could talk with each other, connect, build those relationships.”
“We felt like we were able to create that intimate environment where people could participate.”
“You’re not just a face in the crowd. You’re actually there participating and I think that’s the difference.”
“I think the pull of those bigger conferences was just too big and lot of people ended up going to either one of them.”
“I don’t really like the word conference… because we’re going for the unconference idea.”
“I think we learned a lot. I think I’m glad that we went through it and thanks obviously to those who attended and to the speakers.”
Listen to Learn
00:39 Companero Shoutouts
07:25 SQL Server in the News: Import Flat File Wizard
09:06 SQL Server in the News: Service Packs to Cumulative Updates (Pros and Cons)
13:45 Links of the show notes
13:57 The reason/objective of putting up the Companero Conference
17:59 Challenges that happened
20:57 Conference outcomes – Are the conference objectives met?
25:04 What are the big challenges?
36:23 Thoughts or changes for future events, to do it again or not in 2018?
45:30 What to look forward to? What’s next?
Meet the Hosts
Carlos Chacon
With more than 10 years of working with SQL Server, Carlos helps businesses ensure their SQL Server environments meet their users’ expectations. He can provide insights on performance, migrations, and disaster recovery. He is also active in the SQL Server community and regularly speaks at user group meetings and conferences. He helps support the free database monitoring tool found at databasehealth.com and provides training through SQL Trail events.
Eugene Meidinger
Eugene works as an independent BI consultant and Pluralsight author, specializing in Power BI and the Azure Data Platform. He has been working with data for over 8 years and speaks regularly at user groups and conferences. He also helps run the GroupBy online conference.
Kevin Feasel
Kevin is a Microsoft Data Platform MVP and proprietor of Catallaxy Services, LLC, where he specializes in T-SQL development, machine learning, and pulling rabbits out of hats on demand. He is the lead contributor to Curated SQL, president of the Triangle Area SQL Server Users Group, and author of the books PolyBase Revealed (Apress, 2020) and Finding Ghosts in Your Data: Anomaly Detection Techniques with Examples in Python (Apress, 2022). A resident of Durham, North Carolina, he can be found cycling the trails along the triangle whenever the weather's nice enough.
Want to Submit Some Feedback?
Did we miss something or not quite get it right? Want to be a guest or suggest a guest/topic for the podcast?