Network, learn, ask a question, meet other folk, get fed - these are all things that happen at user group events. These events are a really great opportunity to socialise in an informal learning experience - if you want your own exposure then come and do a 1 - 5 minute nugget in front of your peers.
Remember to tell your friends and the people you work with; make sure you register as soon as you can.
5.30pm – 6:00 Registration and networking + Tea/Coffee with biscuits.
Meet and greet.
6:00pm – 6:15pm Round Table discussion and Nuggets - ALL
Take stock and get the latest news in the SQL Server field. This is also a great opportunity to ask any burning questions you have, may be a problem at work.
It's also a great opportunity to share your knowledge and gain exposure in the industry by giving a short 1 - 6 minute "nugget" demo/tip.
6.15pm – 6:50 Introduction to NoSQL (Not Only SQL)
Gavin Payne
An introduction to the NoSQL concept, its technical principles, implementation of concept and some case studies.
6:50 - 7:10pm Reporting Services
Tim Leung
Tim will be giving a session on authoring reports using SQL Server Reporting Services.
The topics covered will include an overview of the Report Designer, using stored procedures as data sources and other useful tips for creating great reports.
7:10 - 7:30pm Introduction to Recency Frequency Analysis using SQL Server
Tony Rogerson
Recency Frequency is a very powerful Analytical methodology primarily used in Marketing but its a good general tool to use in your BI arsenal. In this introductory session Tony will talk about what the Recency Frequency methodology is and how to do it using SQL Server in TSQL.
7:30pm – 7:50 BREAK: Light refreshments
More time to network and ask questions...
7:50pm – 8.50pm TSQL Gotcha's and how to avoid them
Ashwani Roy http://ashwaniroy.spaces.live.com/
This session is aimed at exposing some common mistakes that as a developer we do. We expect some result and SQL Server gives us some other result.
Stuff like error handling and transactions which are very commonly dealt with in a T SQL program can give very unexpected results if not understood well.
Everything discussed in the meeting is at least applicable to any version of SQL Server from SQL 2005 onwards.