Pictures from SQLSaturday #21

We ended up not having an “official” photographer, but here are some pics from my phone, in no particular order:

 

Lunch on the grass!

Not quite big enough for our supplies…

Patrick Leblanc and Jack Corbett helping get the truck

 

One “pre dented” truck

Speaker party…I know it’s dark!

Main hallway at the event, the donuts are half way down, where the congestion is!

 

Happy attendees and speakers

 

Sponsor area, Dean Richards from Confio in the back right

 

Check in table, that’s Karla in the white shirt on the left, volunteering!

Another lunch shot

SQLSaturday #21 Event Evaluation Results

Overall Event Ratings:

• No vote: 8
• Score of 3: 1
• Score of 4: 25
• Score of 5: 46

Best Speaker Nominations:

• Scott Klein – 4
• Ken Simmons – 2
• Kevin Boles – 2
• Joe Webb – 4
• Kathy Malone – 3
• Joe Celko – 9
• Jim Blizzard – 4
• Buck Woody – 8
• Jon Kehayias – 2
• Jeff Garbus – 7
• Mike Davis – 4
• Eric Wisdahl – 1
• Andy Warren – 3
• Kevin Kline – 3
• Brian Knight – 4
• Dean Richards - 1
• Patrick Thompson – 2
• Kendal Van Dyke – 1
• Devin Knight – 3
• Brandie Tarvin – 3
• Mike Antonovich – 2
• Jack Corbett – 1
• Michael Stark – 1
• Wes Dumey – 1
• Rodney Landrum

Which makes Joe Celko the official best speaker of SQLSaturday #21!

In general the comments we received where positive, here’s a summary:

• Put signs out earlier, or even the night before (my note: this would help volunteers find the place too!)
• Paying for lunch was ok
• Quality was better than expected (is that really a compliment??!)
• Requests for an open discussion session/Q&A
• More coffee
• Boxes in rooms to collect evals (we did this last year, tried central collection this year)
• Lots of complaints about the room changes (sorry, they changed Fri morning, beyond our control – but we could have done better)
• Some asked for a notepad in the bag

And Jack is working the detailed speaker scores as I write this!

SQLSaturday #21 Shirt Snafu!

Thought I’d share a funny story. Way back before SQLSaturday #1 my friend Shawn recommended a local shirt/embroidery vendor, I went over to meet them, and it’s the proverbial one person shop. Great work, great prices, never failed me yet. The kind of place you call if you need an immediate answer, email gets answered once a day. I went over yesterday to pick up the shirts for the event this weekend and we chatted for a couple minutes, she was excited I went with something besides white for the t-shirts (ash gray if you’re curious). Chat done, load up the stuff and head back to the office.

Open up the box to pull out the shirt for Andy Leonard and the first shirt was embroidered “Bob”, for one of my volunteers/speakers, Bob Blaydes. Looks good. Look at the second shirt, guess was embroidered? Blaydes! Little mixup in the communication there, so the first time speakers will get a first name shirt and a last name shirt!

A Miscellaneous Comment on Sponsors & People

I get a lot of email, most of it work related, some related to SQLSaturday, and some of that related to sponsorship for events in Orlando, and occasionally just about sponsorship in general. Sponsors are looking to make good decisions with their limited marketing funds, understanding there are no guarantees in the free event arena. Those running SQLSaturday in other cities get the same email, same conversations.

I get that. Makes sense. Have to talk the details.

But…I was reminded, again, that it’s easy to get so busy doing business that you forget that it’s driven by volunteers that get paid nothing. They do it for karma, to give back, to learn more, to network – whatever the reason, they invest time.

So what reminded me this time? A short email from Annabel at Red Gate wishing us a successful event and hoping we’ll post some great photos. Yes, Annabel negotiates to get the best deal she can for Red Gate, but at the end, she remembered that there are people behind it.

Everything is about people. Easy to under estimate the power of a thank you or an encouraging email.

Minor Tweaks to SQLSaturday #21

We’ve made two small but I hope consequential changes to our plan this year:

• We’ve moved lunch to 1230 instead of 1130. This gives us and Jason’s Deli more time to react to last minute changes in headcount
• We’re holding the raffle until about 30 minutes after the last session. In the past everyone has been rushing out of the last session and sometimes shortchanging the speaker in the process, and we need a little time to get organized and get the rooms cleaned up. During the gap we’re going to try to promote some more networking.

Should be interesting, and it’s the value of doing events multiple times, we get to see what works, what doesn’t, and at least come up with ideas to try to fix the things that could be better.

More Notes on SQLSaturday #25

Here’s a post from event lead Stu Ainsworth and some related links: http://codegumbo.com/index.php/2009/10/13/sql-saturday-25-reflections/

My Top 10 SQL Saturday Tips

From Patrick LeBlanc at SQLDownSouth:

Top 10 SQL Saturday Coordination Tips

1. First and probably the most important thing is to assemble a very responsible and dependable group of people to assist in coordinating the event. These individuals must share the same level of commitment as the Primary Coordinator. This I think is the most difficult task, but will prove to me the most vital component.

2. I recommend using a College campus as the venue for your event. If possible, make sure that something is taking place in the building you are using. This is to ensure that the facilities personnel and tech support is available.

3. Always obtain a tech support phone number for the facilities.

4. Arrive at the facilities as early as possible. If you can, attempt to gain access to the facilities the day prior to your event. Also, if you live in a very warm and humid area of the country, ask if the air conditioner can remain on overnight or can someone turn it on hours before your event.

5. Begin contacting sponsors and speakers as soon as you have secured a venue. Be willing to accept SWAG in the place of money.

6. If you are offering a free lunch, order about 70% of the number of registered attendees. It is also a good idea to make arrangement with the business to be on call. If you have more attendees than lunches you can call them around 9 or 10 am and make a request for the additional lunches.

7. Never schedule a speaker for more than 3 sessions. Always have back up speakers, a minimum of one backups per track.

8. Be sure to have really good directional signs strategically place on and around campus. Especially if you are on a large college campus.

9. Prior to the start of each session, have someone visit each classroom to do a check. Checking to make sure that everything is working properly and offering the speaker something to drink and any other assistance he or she may need.

10. Provide a very simple and self-contained lunch. Something like a box lunch from your local Subway or sandwich shop. A box that includes a sandwich, chips and cookie. Don’t forget to order some Veggie sandwiches.

Talk to you soon

Patrick LeBlanc, founder TSQLScripts.com and SQL Lunch

SQL Down South

A Comment on SQLSaturday #25

Caught this via Google alert, a nice write up on the event with pictures: http://dyfhid.blogspot.com/2009/10/sql-saturday-25-and-epiphany.html. Looks like Stu and team did a great job!

When are you coming to xxx?

I saw a comment recently on an announcement I made about SQL Saturday events that asked when we were coming to the North East US and holding an event.

It made me realize that the marketing isn't quite there and while it's becoming a well known franchise, people aren't seeing it that way. I think they have the impression that it's Andy, Brian, and I setting up these events and traveling all around the country.

That would be nice, but we're not quite that good at fundraising.

SQL Saturday is a franchise, but it's really a framework. We've set up a template that allows you to easily run your own event. Our support is in terms of the knowledge, and the bits on the website that help you deal with registration, signage, charging for lunch, etc. We've given you the things most people have to learn on their own, each time they do an event. However there's one thing we don't provide.

Work.

It's up to the individuals at the local event to decide to have one and then market it, do the actual labor, find speakers, raise money, etc. We make it easier, but it's a local event, and the people running the events, like Andy in Orlando, Patrick in Baton Rouge, Karla in Pensacola, along with their friends and volunteers, that deserve the credit.

So if you want an event in your area, make it happen. Motivate some people to help you and then make it happen. It's your event, and you deserve the credit when it does happen.

And in line with credit, when I say "we", I really mean Andy. This is his baby, and while Brian and I help and support him, it's really his vision that's built this.