Presenting at Vancouver TechFest on Nov 21

I suppose I can't get enough of this stuff - but this presentation is a bigger step up from those I've done previously.  (Or so I'm leading myself to believe.)  On November 21st, the third annual Techfest will be held in Vancouver - at the BCIT campus in Burnaby, to be precise.  I'll be on stage at 2:30pm, and my topic is...
Business Intelligence and Data Warehousing Primer
You can see the site for the full abstract.  The short version is that I intend to talk to non-BI people about what BI and DW is, and how it's different from normal database work.  If you're a business professional, developer, or DBA who knows very little or nothing about this "new thing" called BI, you should definitely consider coming.
Why should BI be on your radar if you're one of those people?  All of the "analyst" groups (Gartner, Forrester, ...) have identified BI in the top three areas that businesses and/or CIOs are interested in for the last decade almost every time they do a survey.  Sure - sometimes virtualization or SaaS beats it, but it's consistently top of mind for business and tech leaders. 
In just over an hour, I'll let you know what you need to know.  I'll lead off with describing what BI is and what value it's supposed to provide.  Hopefully with metaphors that resonate with the audience.
If you're a Dev or DBA, the next part of the session will talk more directly to you about how you need to unlearn some database "rules" that have been (correctly) pounded into you over years and years of working with OLTP systems - you need to know this stuff so you don't kneecap your BI efforts with poor design.
To wrap up, I'll tell you what a BI project needs to succeed - something everybody there needs to know, regardless what specific group they belong to.
A Bigger Step
I bit off a big chunk when I requested a spot for this topic.  I'm a developer at heart, so it's relatively easy for me to talk about the technical stuff.  Trying to describe a topic that should also speak strongly to business people who are curious about tech, as well as geeks who need to know what their business counterparts are talking about is quite a deviation from that.  On top of that, Rich Baumet let me know last week that there are about 700 people registered for the event... and there's only four tracks.  That could mean (naively) that I could be talking to 175 people - quite a step up from a 50 person user group presentation.  The third thing I'm working towards making this a success is that I'm using all those people as a testing ground for a possible repeat of the presentation - to my own execs.  Sure, it will need some tweaking for the different audience - but I'm really hoping that the pressure for this will reduce the pressure for the second go-around.  And I'm really hoping for some feedback from the audience on what worked and what didn't!
As usual, I'll be posting my slides and a recap of the session after the event - hope to see you there!

PASS Summit 2009 Recap

The PASS Community Summit was an excellent experience for me - and I hope it also was for anyone else who was fortunate enough to attend this year.  Rushabh Mehta mentioned during his keynote on Wednesday that attendance this year was down only 9% - whereas conference attendance in general was down over 30% this year.  That certainly is proof of the value that I experienced - the PASS Summit is definitely the conference of the year for great SQL Server content.
Sessions
Most of the high points for me were actually outside of the excellent sessions - but I'll start with them.  There were way too many sessions for a single person, of course - I didn't get to see all of the ones I wanted to.  On top of that, I volunteered some time which took away from that traditional brain-expanding pursuit.  However, of those that I did get to attend, two stick out from the excellent pack as exceptional.
Paul Randal's session on transaction logs (and crash recovery) was simply superb - although I'm sure it's "old hat" to those of you who are real DBAs.  (I am most certainly NOT.)  It described the complete life and purpose of a transaction log in fine detail while remaining completely clear and focused.  In any technical topic, one of the difficulties is the spiderweb of relationships that need to be explained in a linear fashion - and Paul did that without problem.
Marco Russo and Alberto Ferrari's presentation was also top-notch.  Two Italians playing "good cop"/"bad cop" with Inmon vs. Kimball data warehousing methodologies in "spaghetti English" was simply gut-busting.  I don't know if they intended to be that funny - but they definitely were.  On top of a great overview of both of those architectures, the SQBI.EU pair presented their "hybrid" approach that certainly appears to blend the better parts of both into a very practical industrial-strength, quick-to-delivery methodology.  I recommend that you investigate their ideas and download their whitepaper - I definitely will.
MVP Birds of a Feather Lunch
Many thanks to Mike Walsh for coordinating this event, and the efforts of many PASS volunteers for pulling it all together.  I had a great time, and was very pleasantly surprised that there was more than one person (me) wanting to talk about scripting and custom objects in Integration Services.  I know I learned some things - and got other points reinforced.  I will definitely take advantage of that opportunity, should it happen again.
Meeting Other SQL Addicts
I'm talking mostly about the other Twitter SQL geeks - but there were plenty of non-twits I got to meet as well.
Meeting up with Joy Mundy
I'm a fan of the Kimball group for many reasons - Ralph is a visionary in data warehousing, and he's got a great team of teachers and practitioners assembled there.  I first met Joy at a Kimball course, and I'd last seen her at the MS BI conference in 2008, where I'm sure I was a little overbearing - I just had to give her a demo of the Kimball SCD component I made to address what I saw as the problems in the SCD Wizard.  She certainly seemed receptive and took it all in - but I didn't happen to hear from her after that.  My obnoxious self couldn't not try again this year - so I snuck in to the end of her session and said hi.  This is what I recall from the conversation:
Me: "Hi Joy, I'm Todd McDermid - we met last year at the MS BI conference."
Joy: "Yes, I remember.  You know that part of our course where we spend half a day talking about how to do slowly changing dimensions?  We've cut that out now, and just tell them to use your component."
Wow.

SSIS Community Tasks and Components Site - One Year Later

As far as I'm concerned, the Community Tasks and Components Site on Codeplex is a great success in just one year.  Back last November, I told you how John Welch and I had taken it upon ourselves to catalog the extensions available for SQL Server Integration Services, since there didn't seem to be any good way of finding the amazing things people had contributed - most free to use, with source.
Today, the catalog has over 150 extensions listed, and has been visited over 12,000 times (40,000 page views)!  I caught up with John at the PASS Summit, where we talked about the project with other SQL MVPs and the Integration Services dev team.  With respect to the project, there are a few items on Connect that I'm interested in having addressed to make custom objects cooler, and a little easier to code, and install.
Look forward to year 2 of the Community Tasks and Components project - there are some good things in store!

PASS Summit 2009: MVP Birds of a Feather Lunch

The PASS Summit next week has a very compelling event on Tuesday at lunch.  They asked the SQL Server MVPs attending the summit to host a lunch table on the topic of their choice.  This isn't a one-way presentation - it's a round table - an opportunity for you to talk to an MVP and other attendees about a topic they (and you) are passionate about, want to find out more, or that you simply have a question or two about.  The topics are varied and the hosts are very prominent MVPs (your truly excepted).
I took advantage of the opportunity - and I'm glad I did so quickly, because the tables were swiftly picked up, to the point of a significant waiting list.  For me, it's bittersweet - I won't get to go sit down at the other tables.  But you can jump around as much as you want!
Why I Chose "SSIS Scripting and Custom Objects"
Simple answer - I like to do this stuff, and it's my table.  I mean, seriously - if you've read my blog at all, this is a no-brainer.
Long answer - First, I think that the scripting capabilities and custom extensibility in Integration Services set it apart from other solutions in the market, and give Microsoft a distinct advantage in the ETL game.  Some say that it simply exposes what holes there are in an immature product.  There is truth to that, definitely - it gets used as duct tape frequently.  However, it certainly provides a way to get anything done in SSIS.  And I mean anything.
Second, I believe that for some package designers, it's become an overused crutch.  If you've comfortable using C#/VB.Net, you can begin to solve every problem with a Script - even when you could use standard parts.  If you do that, I think you risk short term gain for long term benefit.  Microsoft can't make your Script run any differently in SQL 11, 12, or 13.  But they can (and will) improve the standard parts.  Using Scripts can lock you out of that benefit.  Anyone tried to upgrade a DTS ActiveX script to SSIS?
And third, for those that tend to overuse scripting and have gotten themselves into a cut-and-paste maintenance nightmare - I say "go big or go home".  Convert your scripts into custom objects, for pete's sake.  You already know how to code in C#/VB.Net - take the next step to build a reusable and easily configurable custom object - it's really not that much further, honest!
What I Plan To Talk About
They asked the "hosts" to prep a little something to talk about to get people in the spirit of the table.  I say "asked" because it's really about the discussion, not another presentation - and it's perfectly acceptable for everyone (except the hosts) to bounce around tables and participate in more than one group.
If those people that happen to sit down at my table at the opening bell want to hear something (and please, let there be somebody!), I'll tell them about all the different parts of Integration Services that you can mould, automate, and customize to your will - and why that can be a very useful thing indeed.
What I'd Like You To Talk About
It would be great to hear from fellow SQL pros (yes - that's you!) about:

• The times you have "had to" use a Script to get something done.  Why did you do it?  Is it something you think (reasonably) should have been an out-of-the-box capability of SSIS?
• Your experiences using Scripting in SSIS.  Was it hard or easy?  If it was hard or confusing, what made it that way?
• How repetitive are your Scripts?  Do you have the same ones in every package?
• Have you made any custom objects?  Have you used any third party ones?  Why did you chose to do that?  Did it work out?  Do you want to share your custom-built object or relate the usability and value of the third party one with other DB pros?

Resources I'll Talk About
If you drop by and join the discussion, you'll probably want to know more about how to use Scripts and how to build Custom Objects for use in SSIS.  Here are some of the resources I'm sure to mention.  I'll likely be adding more over time as I stumble across them again, or if you ask a specific question at the table!

• Scripting in SSIS
• Extending Packages With Scripting
• Comparing the Script Task with the Script Component
• Script Task (Control Flow)
• Script Task
• Extending the Package with the Script Task
• Script Task Examples
• Using Variables in the Script Task
• Script Component (Data Flow)
• Script Component
• Extending the Data Flow with the Script Component
• Developing Specific Types of Script Components
• Script Component Examples
• Coding and Debugging the Script Component
• Using Variables in the Script Component
• Creating an Asynchronous Transformation
• Referencing Other Assemblies in Scripting Solutions
• Custom Objects in SSIS
• Comparing Scripting Solutions and Custom Objects
• Extending Packages with Custom Objects
• Developing
• Custom Tasks
• Custom Connection Managers
• Custom Log Providers
• Custom Foreach Enumerators
• Custom Data Flow Components
• Converting your Script into a Custom Task
• Part 1: Why?
• Part 2: How?
• Part 3: Adding a GUI
• Developing and Debugging
• Building, Deploying, and Debugging Custom Objects
• My Post-Build Command Line for Custom Objects
• Directory of Custom Objects: SSIS Community Tasks and Components project on CodePlex, specifically some of my projects:
• Kimball Method SCD Component
• Pause Task
• File Properties Task
• Send HTML Mail Task

PASS Summit 2009 - Next Week!

I'll be in Seattle filling my brain with all things SQL Server next week.  I can hardly contain myself - because for me, this is no ordinary conference!
It will be my first conference participating as an MVP.  This is pretty significant, as I'll be getting to meet with lots of other MVPs - icons in the field as far as I'm concerned.  I'll also get to have really interesting conversations with the Integration Services dev team, and get some gory details as to what they're working on.
It will also be the first time I've volunteered at a conference.  My awareness of this came from being an MVP - but there's nothing stopping non-MVPs from volunteering - so please do!  (You might get a free pass.)  I'll be assisting in the Hands-on Labs on Monday morning and Friday afternoon.  I'll also be at the Birds of a Feather MVP lunch, hosting a table on (of course) using scripts and custom objects in Integration Services.
But as interesting as all that will be, I might just be most interested in what happens by being a square in Quest Software's Twitter Bingo.  It's an opportunity to win prizes from Quest Software and SQLServerPedia, and meet people that you've only ever heard of or talked to online.
And of course - there will be too many sessions to attend.  I still haven't nailed down what I'm going to see - and I usually have that all figured out a day or two after the schedule is released.
Take part in the fun if you're going to be at PASS Summit 2009 - don't sit alone at lunch, and don't sit in your hotel room in the evening.  Say hi to somebody during the day, and ask if they have any plans.  There's thousands of us there - there just aren't enough restaurant tables in Seattle for us all to sit alone!
You can follow what I'm up to on Twitter, as I'm being encouraged to tweet about where I am and what's going on for the Bingo game.  It's a great opportunity to talk to experts in the field that are literally begging you to come talk to them.  I certainly will be taking advantage and trying to black out my card.  Come say hi, and learn my code word (which unfortunately isn't as creative as I hear other "squares" words are) for your chance to win prizes.