Configuring BIDS 2008 / 2008 R2 and Visual Studio 2008 to work with Database & Business Intelligence Projects and Team Foundation Server (TFS)

Working with the SSIS, SSAS, and SSRS Business Intelligence projects along with Database projects in the same Visual Studio 2008 development environment can be challenging as there is no clear documentation how to enable both set of projects.  Database projects are supported by Visual Studio 2008 Developer, Professional and Team System Database Editions. The  SSIS, SSAS, and SSRS Business Intelligence projects are supported by the Visual Studio 2008 shell that comes with SQL Server 2008 / 2008 R2.

If you have BIDS 2008 / 2008 R2 installed by itlself and you try to open a database project you get an error saying that this type of project is not supported. You get the same error if you have Visual Studio 2008 installed by itself and try to open one of the Business Intelligence projects. The reason behind these errors is that BIDS 2008 / 2008 R2 does not come with the database project template and Visual Studio 2008 does not come with the SSIS, SSAS, and SSRS Business Intelligence project templates.

So how do you get both set of templates in a single development environment?

In order to get both set of templates in the same development environment, you need to install both Visual Studio 2008 and BIDS in the right order as described in the following steps:

1. Uninstall all of these if you already have them installed in your environment:
   – Visual Studio 2008
   – BIDS 2008 / 2008 R2
   – Team Explorer 2008
2. Install Visual Studio 2008
3. Install Visual Studio 2008 Service Pack 1
   http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=10986
4. Install BIDS from your SQL Server 2008 / 2008 R2 installation media

At this point should have a working Visual Studio environment with both set of projects.  A quick way to verify that the installation was successful, is to take a look at the Visual Studio version in the Help|About page. It will show as Version 9.0.30729.4462 QFE as shown in the picture below. QFE stands for Quick Fix Engineering.

When you launch Visual Studio 2008 or BIDS 2008 / 2008 R2 you will be prompted to select the default environment settings. Since I work with the Business Intelligence projects most of the time, I select the Business Intelligence environment. This is an option presented only the first time you open Visual Studio. To change this setting, use the Import and Export Settings wizard, which is available on the Tools menu. For more information on choosing and changing the environment settings go to http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/6k364a7k(v=vs.90).aspx.

Connecting to TFS 2005 and 2008

To connect to TFS 2005 and 2008 you will need to download and install Team Explorer 2008 from http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=16338.

If your end goal is to be able to work with database projects, business intelligence projects and connect to TFS 2005 or TFS 20008 the complete steps are as follows:

1. Uninstall all of these if you already have them installed in your environment:
   – Visual Studio 2008
   – BIDS 2008 / 2008 R2
   – Team Explorer 2008
2. Install Visual Studio 2008
3. Install Visual Studio 2008 Service Pack 1
   http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=10986
4. Install BIDS from your SQL Server 2008 / 2008 R2 installation media
5.  Install Team Explorer 2008
   http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=16338.

Connecting to TFS 2010

In some cases, the solutions & projects are 2008 / 2008 R2 projects but the repository is TFS 2010 or TFS 2012. Even if you installed Team Explorer 2008 you will get an error when trying to connect to a TFS 2010 or TFS 2012 server. The reason for this is due to the fact that Team Explorer 2008 does not support full URL paths (i.e. https://myservername/mytfs/mycollection) in the TFS server name section.

To fix this issue you will need to download and install the Forward Compatibility Update Team Explorer 2008 SP1 for Team Foundation Server 2010 (http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=10834).

Notice that this update can only be applied to Team Explorer 2008 SP1 (Service Pack 1). The curve ball here is that there is no Team Explorer 2008 SP1 available  as a download. In order to turn Team Explorer 2008 into Team Explorer 2008 SP1 is to apply the Visual Studio 2008 SP1 to it. This means that if you followed steps 1 to 4 above, you will need to repeat Step 3 (Re-install Visual Studio 2008 SP1).

If your end goal is to be able to work with database projects, business intelligence projects and connect to TFS 2010 the complete steps are as follows:

1. Uninstall all of these if you already have them installed in your environment:
   – Visual Studio 2008
   – BIDS 2008 / 2008 R2
   – Team Explorer 2008
2. Install Visual Studio 2008
3. Install Visual Studio 2008 Service Pack 1
   http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=10986
4. Install BIDS from your SQL Server 2008 / 2008 R2 installation media
5. Install Team Explorer 2008
   http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=16338
6. Re-install Visual Studio 2008 SP1
7. Install the forward compatibility update for Team Explorer 2008 SP1 for Team Foundation Server 2010
   http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=10834

Connecting to TFS 2012

To connect to TFS 2012 the following update is required :

Visual Studio 2008 SP1 Compatibility GDR for Visual Studio 2012 Team Foundation Server and Team Foundation Service Preview (http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=29983).

If your end goal is to be able to work with database projects, business intelligence projects and connect to TFS 2012 the complete steps are as follows:

1. Uninstall all of these if you already have them installed in your environment:
   – Visual Studio 2008
   – BIDS 2008 / 2008 R2
   – Team Explorer 2008
2. Install Visual Studio 2008
3. Install Visual Studio 2008 Service Pack 1
   http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=10986
4. Install BIDS from your SQL Server 2008 / 2008 R2 installation media
5. Install Team Explorer 2008
   http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=16338
6. Re-install Visual Studio 2008 SP1
7. Install Visual Studio 2008 SP1 Compatibility GDR for Visual Studio 2012 Team Foundation Server and Team Foundation Service Preview
   (http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=29983

Hopefully this post helps you get your environment all squared away.

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The affordable self-service BI revolution has started.

I am officially announcing that I have now become an independent consultant and business owner. Becoming independent has always been my dream and I have now decided to follow that dream. I believe it is the right time to do it for my family and myself. It’s time to soar!

Why did I leave Pragmatic Works?

Simple. I wanted to follow my career goals and carve my own path. It was a hard decision to leave Pragmatic Works as I really enjoyed the work environment and had great relationship with the top brass Brian Knight, Adam Jorgensen, and Sam Washburn as well as my co-workers. The folks at Pragmatic Works gave me a lot of opportunities to learn and grow for which I am forever grateful. It is a great company to work for and highly recommend working for them. I would return to work for them in a heartbeat.

What are my plans?

First of all, I have created a corporation, called Agile Bay, Inc. (http://www.agilebay.com) through which I will be providing Business Intelligence consulting services, Software Development, Training and Staffing services. I will also be doing contract work and hiring BI and Software developers to take on some of these jobs.

My plan is to focus on self-service Business Intelligence solutions using the Microsoft toolset, including:

• SQL Server Database Services
• Analysis Services
• Reporting Services
• Master Data Services
• Data Quality Services
• SharePoint
• Performance Point
• PowerPivot
• PowerView
• & more…

I will continue leading, volunteering and sharing my knowledge in the SQL Server and Business Intelligence community and in PASS.

Enter the affordable self-service BI revolution

The new release of SQL Server 2012 will bring a lot to offer in the BI space. I truly believe it will be a game changer and many companies will embark in new Data Warehouse, Business Intelligence and Master Data Management projects. Some of these projects may have been put on hold due to licensing and development costs. This is where SQL Server 2012 will shine as it introduces lower BI licensing costs with the new SQL Server Business Intelligence Edition. Organizations will no longer require Enterprise Edition to do all the cool things Microsoft has to offer with their BI suite.

Additionally, the shift to the BI Semantic Model and the focus on self-service BI will open a lot of doors to consulting firms with lower overhead like mine. Enter the affordable self-service BI revolution!

Hitting the ground running

I am very grateful to the fact that the word has spread out among my immediate professional network and have already been booked for projects and contract work several months ahead.

I have tried not to market myself or my company too much during this initial phase as I want to manage my growth more organically. I am in the process of hiring BI developers at all levels, so if you are interested feel free to contact me via http://www.agilebay.com/#!contact.

 Mission

My mission is to empower individuals and organizations through the Microsoft Business Intelligence Toolset.

Vision

My vision is to be the catalyst and leader of the affordable self-service Business Intelligence revolution.

Value proposition

There are many alternatives available when chosing a consulting firm to help you achieve a succesful Business Intelligence, Data Warehouse and Master Data Management implementation.  My value proposition is to achieve this same success at an affordable budget and by providing you with the knowledge transfer and mentoring needed to continue your own development efforts.

The sales pitch

 You need an experienced and expert professional to help you with your design and development efforts.  I have experience and expertise. Let’s talk.

You may contact me through my company’s website at http://www.agilebay.com/#!contact or through email: info@agilebay.com. 

I’m also available for any quick help through email at jchinchilla@sqljoe.com. Make sure to check out my blog at http://www.sqljoe.com as well.

SQL Server Codename “Denali” CTP3 Resources

SQL Server codename “Denali” CTP3 has been released to the public after much anticipation. You may ask yourself, “What happened to CTP2?” The answer is simple. It was a private build for MVPs and some Microsoft partners. By private, I mean it was not released to the general public. The good news is that you did not miss much in CTP2. A lot of areas were incomplete or not working. But that is to be expected as it is a work in progress.

This blog post will serve as a means to gather resources such as links and blog posts regarding SQL Server “Denali” CTP3. Check back soon as I will be adding new resources. If you have a blog post about SQL Server Denali CTP3 please pingback or email me to add it to the list.

Downloads:

SQL Server DENALI CTP3 Demo VHD
http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=27253

A HyperV image of SQL Server Denali CTP3 in action, including fully configured services and integration with SharePoint 2010 and Office 2010
The following software is configured on the virtual machine:

• SQL Server “Denali” CTP3
• SharePoint 2010
• Office 2010

SQL Server codename “Denali” Community Technology Preview 3 CTP3
https://www.microsoft.com/betaexperience/pd/SQLDCTP3CTA/enus/default.aspx

SQL Server code name “Denali” Express Core Community Technology Preview 3 (CTP 3)
http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=26784

SQL Server code name ‘Denali’ Community Technology Preview 3 (CTP 3) Feature Pack
http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=26726

The SQL Server  code name “Denali” CTP 3 Feature Pack is a collection of stand-alone packages which provide additional value for Microsoft® SQL Server® code name ‘Denali’ CTP 3. It includes the latest versions of  tool and components an add-on providers.

Includes:

• SQL Servercode name “Denali” Master Data Service Add-in for Excel CTP 3
• SQL Servercode name “Denali” Semantic Language Statistics CTP 3
• SQL ServerReport Builder for SQL Servercode name “Denali” CTP 3
• SQL Servercode name “Denali” PowerPivot for  Excel CTP 3
• SQL Servercode name “Denali” Reporting Services Add-in for  SharePoin Technologies
• SQL Servercode name “Denali” Data-Tier Application Framework CTP 3
• SQL Servercode name “Denali” Transact-SQL Language Service CTP 3
• SQL Servercode name “Denali” Transact-SQL ScriptDom CTP 3
• SQL Servercode name “Denali” Transact-SQL Compiler Service CTP 3
• SQL ServerCompact 4.0
• SQL ServerCompact 4.0 Books On-line
• SQL ServerJDBC Driver 4.0 Community Technology 2 (CTP 2)
• Connector 1.1 for SAP BW for SQL Server code name “Denali” CTP 3
• System CLR Types for SQL Server code name “Denali” CTP 3
• SQL Servercode name “Denali” Remote Blob Store CTP 3
• SQL Servercode name “Denali” Books On-line CTP 3
• SQL Servercode name “Denali” Upgrade Advisor CTP 3
• SQL Servercode name “Denali” Native Client CTP 3
• OLEDB Provider for DB2 v4.0 for SQL Server code name “Denali” CTP 3
• SQL Servercode name “Denali” Command Line Utilities CTP 3
• SQL ServerService Broker External Activator for SQL Server code name “Denali” CTP 3
• Windows PowerShell Extensions for SQL Server code name “Denali” CTP 3
• SQL Servercode name “Denali” Shared Management Objects CTP 3
• SQL Servercode name “Denali” ADOMD.NET CTP 3
• Analysis Services OLE DB Provider for SQL Servercode name “Denali” CTP 3
• SQL Servercode name “Denali” Analysis Management Objects CTP 3
• SQL ServerDriver for PHP 2.0
• SQL ServerMigration Assistant

1. Microsoft SQL Server Migration Assistant for Access
2. Microsoft SQL Server Migration Assistant for MySQL
3. Microsoft SQL Server Migration Assistant for Oracle
4. Microsoft SQL Server Migration Assistant for Sybase
5.  Microsoft SQL Server Migration Assistant 2008 for Sybase PowerBuilder Applications

• SQL ServerStreamInsight v1.2

Adventure Works sample databases for SQL Server codename Denali CTP3
http://msftdbprodsamples.codeplex.com/releases/view/55330

Denali CTP3 Adventure Works Sample Databases Readme
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/sql-server-samples-readme.aspx

Includes:

• AdventureWorks2008R2 Data File
• AdventureWorksDWDenali Data File
• SSAS Multidimensional Model Projects Denali CTP3
• SSAS Tabular Model Projects Denali CTP3
• SSAS AMO2Tabular Denali CTP3

Don’t forget to read the sample databases readme file:
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/sql-server-samples-readme.aspx

Tutorials

Tutorials for SQL Server “Denali”
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh231699(v=sql.110).aspx

Includes:

• Multidimensional Modeling (Adventure Works Tutorial)
• Tabular Modeling (Adventure Works Tutorial)
• Tutorial for Project Crescent

Blogs / Wikis:

Microsoft SQL Server Code-Named “Denali” CTP3 Release Notes
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/3711.aspx

SQL Server Team: SQL Server Code Name “Denali” CTP3 and SQL Server 2008 R2 SP1 are HERE!
http://blogs.technet.com/b/dataplatforminsider/archive/2011/07/11/sql-server-code-name-denali-ctp3-is-here.aspx

SSIS Team Blog: Matt Mason – What’s new in SQL Server Denali?
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/mattm/archive/2011/07/12/ssis-what-s-new-in-sql-server-denali.aspx

SQL Server Reporting Services Team Blog: Thierry Dhers – SQL Server codename “Denali” CTP3, including Project “Crescent” is now publically available
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/sqlrsteamblog/archive/2011/07/12/sql-server-codename-quot-denali-quot-ctp3-including-project-quot-crescent-quot-is-now-publically-available.aspx

What’s New in Master Data Services (MDS) in Denali CTP3
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/3714.aspx

Marco Russo: Installing Analysis Services ssas #Denali CTP3 and PowerPivot Denali CTP3
http://sqlblog.com/blogs/marco_russo/archive/2011/07/13/installing-analysis-services-ssas-denali-ctp3-and-powerpivot-denali-ctp3.aspx

Brent Ozar: CTP3 is Here! Five Things to Know About the Next Version of SQL Server
http://www.brentozar.com/archive/2011/07/five-things-sql-server-denali-ctp3/

Jamie Thompson: SSIS enhancements in Denali CTP3
http://www2.sqlblog.com/blogs/jamie_thomson/archive/2011/07/12/ssis-enhancements-in-denali-ctp3.aspx

MSDN SQL Server (Pre-release) forum threads
http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/category/sqlserverprerelease

SQL Server “Deanali” Books Online (BOL)
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms130214(SQL.110).aspx

Technet Wiki: Project Crescent Overview
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/project-crescent-overview.aspx

Update Log:
7/26/2011 Added Denali CTP3 Adventure Works Sample Databases Readme link

9/25/2011 Added SQL Server DENALI CTP3 Demo VHD download link and description and Technet Wiki Project Crescent overview.

SSRS Error: Report Preview displays Access to the path ‘…\bin\Debug\Report.rdl’ is denied

While working on Reporting Services at a client site I came across this error when trying to preview a report in BIDS:

The report preview failed because the report could not be built. Read the errors, warnings and messages in the Error List window for specific build failures.

An error was raised in the Error List window below with the following message:

Access to the path ‘C:\Users\Jose\Documents\Visual Studio 2008\Projects\Report Project\bin\Debug\Report.rdl’ is denied

The root cause why this happens is unclear to me, but it seems that the Debug folder’s permissions get changed to Read Only for no apparent reason as can be seen on the screenshot below:

The workaround is to uncheck the Read-only attribute checkbox for the entire Debug folder or simply delete the Debug folder. BIDS will recreate this folder when you click on the Preview tab. If I come up with the root cause of this issue I will update this post.

The development environment is:
– VMWare virtual machine
– Windows Server 2008-R2 64-bit
– SQL Server Reporting Services 2008-R2 64-bit

SSRS errors: (rsReportServerDatabaseUnavailable) The report server cannot open a connection to the report server database.

Sometimes you may get this error when trying to launch your report server webpage:

The report server cannot open a connection to the report server database. A connection to the database is required for all requests and processing. (rsReportServerDatabaseUnavailable)

While the error is descriptive enough to let you know that Reporting Services could not find the report server database, it may be a challenge to some who have no idea where this database is and what is it used for. To your surprise, there is more than one database involved.

Reporting Services requires two databases to run:

• ReportServer
• ReportServerTempDB

In short, the Report Server database is needed to store report definitions, report history and snapshots, report models, shared data sources, resources, scheduling and delivery information, metadata and several other objects. ReportServerTempDB is where Reporting Services stores session and execution data, cached reports, and work tables that are generated by the report server. For more information about Reporting Services database visit: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms156016.aspx.

To solve the error mentioned above you need the following information:

1. What is the SQL Server Reporting Services instance you are trying to reach?
2. Where are the SQL Server Reporting Services databases hosted?

Assuming you have the right permissions, you will need to run the Reporting Services Configuration Manager and point to the Reporting Services instance as seen on the image below. You would normally find  Reporting Services Configuration Manager under Start->Programs->Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2->Configuration Tools

Once you connect to your Reporting Services instance through Reporting Services Configuration Manager, go to the  Database tab located on the left pane to view the name of the SQL Server instance where the ReportServer database is being hosted and the name of the ReportServer database as seen in the image below.

Keep in mind that in some environments the ReportServer database may be hosted in a separate SQL Server database instance and the ReportServer database may have been renamed to other than the default “ReportServer” database name. You will usually find this type of configuration in a scale-out architecture. For more information on scale-out architecture visit: http://sqlcat.com/technicalnotes/archive/2008/06/05/reporting-services-scale-out-architecture.aspx.

Once you located the SQL Server database instance where the ReportServer and ReportServerTempDB database are hosted you need to follow this checklist:

1. Is the SQL Server database instance running? Is the SQL Server service started?
2. Can you verify connectivity to the SQL Server database instance?
3. Are the ReportServer and ReportServerTempDB databases attached and online?
4. Does the Reporting Services service account have read/write access to the ReportServer and ReportServerTempDB databases?

Once all of this is verified to be true and issues have been fixed, than the last step would be to restart the Reporting Services instance. If everything is right you should be able to access your reports. It is highly recommended to frequently backup both the ReportServer and ReportServerTempDB databases. If you lose you ReportServer database you may re-deploy reports, data sources and datasets, but you will lose all subscriptions, schedules and report parts that users may have created.

Also, keep in mind that the ReportServerTempDB database does not behave like the SQL Server TempDB. Per MSDN Books on Line:

“Reporting Services does not re-create the temporary database if it is missing, nor does it repair missing or modified tables. Although the temporary database does not contain persistent data, you should back up a copy of the database anyway so that you can avoid having to re-create it as part of a failure recovery operation.” For more details visit: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms156016.aspx

 

I have been Knighted

As I announced on my 2000-2010 a Decade in Retrospect blog post I have joined the ranks at Pragmatic Works and started my first day today. I’m excited to join such a great professional team, full of experts in the SQL Server and Business Intelligence field. There is no waste of time here. Lots of engagements from the get go. Less than an hour at work, I got in my first brainstorming session. An hour later I have been assigned to two client engagements I will be involved with during the next few weeks. I will also be involved with the Virtual Mentoring services. If you have purchased Virtual Mentoring hours from us, I might be giving you a call soon! 

 The atmosphere here at the new offices is laid-back and you can feel a sense of teamwork from all of the guys. If you are looking to make a career move, Pragmatic Works is your best choice. Lots of expansion going on, great carer opportunities and lots of expertise in-house to tap into.

 

Top 10 reasons to attend SQL Saturday #62 Tampa

We will jumpstart 2011 with the first SQL Saturday event of the year in Tampa, FL on January 15th, 2011. SQLSaturday #62 is a joint effort between the Tampa Bay SQL Server User Group along with the  Tampa Bay Business Intelligence User Group, its volunteers, members, speakers and sponsors.

I’m fortunate of co-organizing the event with one of the most experienced User Group leaders and SQL Saturday organizers, Pam Shaw (Twitter | Blog). It is great to have a mentor such as Pam and learn from her past experience organizing this type of events.

This will be the 4th SQL Saturday organized in Tampa. It will be held in an area of Tampa known as Ybor City (wiki) with a lot of Spanish, Cuban and Italian influence. As with previous years, we will be providing awesome Spanish food for lunch. This year we will also have two paid pre-conferences for the SQL Server/DBA track and Business Intelligence track the day before SQL Saturday on Friday, Jan 14th.

So why not come down to Tampa? SQL Saturday #62 has so many great speakers and sessions. We had over 45 different speakers who submitted more than 75 different sessions. The list was narrowed down to fit the number of rooms and time slots available, giving opportunity to new speakers as well as seasoned speakers and MVPs.

These among many other reasons make up the Top 10 reasons why you should attend SQL Saturday #62 Tampa, FL:

1) Preconferences

SQL Saturday #62 Tampa, FL will have its free sessions on Saturday Jan 15th as well as two paid pre-conferences on Friday Jan 14th. Yes, you read correctly, two all-day pre-conferences the day before SQL Saturday. The pre-conferences have a registration cost of $99. Price includes course materials, coffee, donuts, lunch, water and sodas. You can register for the paid all-day training events at:  http://sqlsaturday62.eventbrite.com/

The two pre-conferences scheduled are:

Pre-con A: Storage and Virtualization for the DBA
Presenter: Denny Cherry
Abstract: This session will be a two part session in which we will be focusing on two of the biggest topics in the DBA field, how to properly design your storage and virtualization solutions.

 Pre-con B: End-to-End Business Intelligence
Presenter: Stacia Misner
Abstract: This session will cover the basics of ETL using SSIS, a deeper focus on mutl-dimensional cube design using SSAS, effective report design using SSRS and an introduction to PowerPivot ad-hoc analysis.

If the pre-conferences (Reason #1) are not reason enough to come to SQL Saturday #62, these are additional reasons to attend;

2) Learn for free : 

Yes, free! No strings attached. All expenses for Saturday sessions are covered by event sponsors and volunteer time and effort by speakers, organizers and user group members.

3) Quality sessions by world class speakers:

And did I mention free sessions on Saturday? Learn from the best in the industry, SQL Server Most Valued Professonals (MVPs), book authors, bloggers, and certified professionals. Take a look at the MVP speaker line-up for SQL Saturday in Tampa, FL: 

MVPs                            

Adam Jorgensen
David Dye
Denny Cherry
Geoff Hiten
John Welch  
Jonathan Kehayias
Kevin Boles
Plamen Ratchev
Rodney Landrum

4) Networking opportunities

At SQL Saturday you have the opportunity to create new friendships, establish professional relationships with other professionals, meet your rockstars and if you are on Twitter, get to meet the source of some of those odd and funny tweets! You have a full day to hunt down and stalk your rockstars, enjoy a casual over lunch conversation or have more deep conversations over a drink at the after party!

5)  Talk to industry leader vendors and explore their products and services

Advaiya
Confio
CozyRoc
Enterprise Software Solutions
Enterprise Software Solutions
Fusion-IO
Gerasus Software
KForce
Melissa Data
Microsoft
Pragmatic Works
Professional Assosciation of SQL Server (PASS)
Redgate
SQL Server Magazine
Tavolacci & Associates / YouCanLearn
Confio
Fusion-IO
Enterprise Software Solutions
Pragmatic Works
Tavolacci & Associates / YouCanLearn

6) SQL Karaoke – SQL Saturday Edition
Show off your talent at the SQLSaturday after party. SQL Karaoke is a must-do event for everyone. Sing along with some of the SQL Server professionals for good’ol fun. We will have our after party at Rock-N-Sports Bar & Bistro at Centro Ybor.

7) Great food
We will be providing free lunch and back by popular demand we will be delighting you with Spanish/Cuban cuisine!

8 ) Enjoy warm and sunny weather
Escape from the cold weather and come down to Tampa. Enjoy a weekend in Ybor City, visit Busch Gardens, or take a trip to the beach.

9) Job opportunities
Looking for a job or planning a career move? Kforce representatives will be on site to talk about several job openings in the area and nationwide. Make sure to visit their booth.

10) Get your Swag on!
As an attendee you will receive a bag full of free swag from our sponsors and raffle tickets for a chance to win netbooks & other electronics, software licenses, training vouchers, books, etc.

Afterthoughts: SQL Saturday #48 Columbia, SC

More than 1,000 miles later and almost 20 hours behind the wheel, I can only express how much I enjoyed each and every moment at SQL  Saturday #48 hosted in West Columbia, S.C. Let me get started by saying that it was a succesfull and well planned event. It had good attendance rate and had a great speaker line-up.

I have to recognize my wife for doing most of the driving. She volunteered behind the wheel while I sat back and and helped out keeping the girls entertained and busy munching on some veggie sticks.

The Highlights
I can not possibly start without pointing out that I walked away with the most valuable treasure of all: friendships. I was blessed to meet Brian Kelley (Blog | Linkedin | Twitter) and his family and be able to interact with their kids. Our two daughters Fae and Sofia had a great time together in the after party. It was very fulfilling to me to be able not just to meet a talented and well-respected guy such as Brian Kelley in a professional setting but also in a more personal way. I really hope this is the start of a long-lasting friendship.

I want to recognize Brian’s wife for manning the book  and prizes table while pregnant. Not many pregnant women would volunteer to be standing up and doing physical work for a whole Saturday. It really shows the type of committment Brian and his wife have to the SQL community.

More Networking
I also had the opportunity to meet and establish friendships with some amazing professionals, in particular funny guy Bobby Dimmick (Linkedin | Twitter). Some of the new connections and personal interactions for the firs time include:

• Brian Kelley (Blog | Linkedin | Twitter) – AgFirst Farm Credit Bank (AFFCB)
• Bobby Dimmick (Linkedin | Twitter) – VC3
• Mark Tabladillo (Blog | Twitter) – Solid Quality Mentors  
• Bob Langley (Linkedin) – Forsyth County BOC
• Chris Skorlinski (Blog | Linkedin) – Microsoft SQL Server Escalation Team
• Jessica Moss (Blog | Linkedin | Twitter) – Iron Works Consulting
• Rafael Salas (Blog | Linkedin | Twitter) – Quaero
• Geoff Hiten (Blog | Linkedin | Twitter) -Intellinet
• Stuart Ainsworth (Blog | Linkedin | Twitter) – Jack Henry & Associates
• Julie Smith (Blog | Linkedin | Twitter) – Key2 Consulting (and her upcoming SQL professional mom)
• Andy Leonard (Blog | Linkedin | Twitter) – Unysis
• Alex Tocitu (Blog | Linkedin | Twitter) – Gwinnett County Clerk of Courts
• William Pearson (Blog | Linkedin | Twitter) – Island Technologies, Inc
• Tim Radney (Blog | Linkedin | Twitter) – Synovus Financial Corp

I also got to see some of my friends and tweeps such as:

• Andy Warren (Blog | Linkedin | Twitter) – SQLShare.com
• David Taylor (Blog | Linkedin | Twitter) – Techsonic Industries, Inc
• Aaron Nelson (Blog | Linkedin | Twitter) – Intellinet
• Eric Humphrey (Blog | Linkedin | Twitter) – A/P Recovery, Inc

 I would like to give thanks to  the organizers and sponsors for such a great event. I also want to give a big thanks to the attendees to both my sessions, Get Cert! Get Cred! and Business Intelligence: Decaffeinated Please! I got great feedback and participation from them. I want to recognize some of my attendees for doing some constructive observations about my presentation style and visuals.  I value all comments that help me become a better speaker and presenter.

What I learned
In my third SQL Saturday I learned several things as an attendee and as a speaker.

First of all, SQL Saturday is a great opportunity to spend quality time with your family and to plan a mini-vacation, especially if traveling to a city or area you have not visited before. Also, if you are fortunate like I was, you may end up getting to know other professionals and their families. Next SQL Saturday bring your family along, especially to our Tampa SQL Saturday to be scheduled between January and February, 2011. I would love to meet you and your families.

Second as a SQL Server and Business Intelligence professional you get no better chance to meet your rockstars and be able to have an opportunity to interact. You also meet great professionals in the area with which you establish not only professional connections but also friendships. Friends with which if you can go out to lunch with if you are in their hometown or get good recommendations where to stay or what to do. Also, they can serve as a lifeline.

Third, I learned that you have to balance your presentation between what I consider the two main presentation styles: those who base their presentation on the slides content and those who base their presentation on the slide visuals primarily. The reason you have to balance these two main styles is because of your audience. Some audience members expect for you to follow your slide deck and stick to the text and content on them as much as possible (slide followers). Other audience members don’t like it when you repeat what is on your slide and want to hear what you have to say (content cravers). In this SQL Saturday I had the opportunity to experiment with both these styles. In Get Cert! Get Cred! I played with Guy Kawasaki’s style, while in Business Intelligence: Decaffeinated Please! I was a little more conservative. I got great feedback on both presentations ranging from As Expected and Better than Expected ratings with an overall average of 4.5 out of 5 rating. If you attended any of my sessions, I want to say thank you once more and keep commenting on ways to improve as a speaker.

Fourth, as SQL PASS Chapter leader it is a great opportunity to learn from the organization and management perspective of a SQL Saturday event. I learned what works and got some great pointers for our upcoming SQLSaturday in Tampa, FL early 2011. Also, I was able to connect with potential speakers for our user group and SQL Saturday event.

Fifth but not least, I had the opportunity to attend great sessions such as:

• William Pearson’s “Attribute Discretization in Analysis Service”
  Learned a native way of grouping dimension attributes into buckets.
• Mark Tabladillo’s “Data Mining with PowerPivot 2010” 
  Learned the reason behind the need for so many data mining models and more insight on PowerPivot.
• Andy Warren’s “Building a Professional Development Plan”
  Learned that you have to consider yourself as a “business of one” and make a plan for your goals as such.
  Also, learned that when you blog do it for yourself primarily even if you repeat what others have already blogged. Unless you are blogging as a business, don’t wory about duplication of content, keeping in mind not to plagiarize.
• Julie Smith’s “Cool Tricks to Pull from your SSIS Hat”
  Learned how to skip an SSIS container without using precedence constraints.

I hope I didn’t leave anyone or anything out. It is not my intention to exclude anyone. These are just some of  my afterthoughts. Please comment on anything or anyone I left out.