SQLSaturday #234 - Baton Rouge 2013

Event Date: 08/03/2013 00:00:00

Event Location:

  • Louisiana State University - Business Education Complex
  • Nicholson Drive Ext
  • Baton Rouge, Louisiana

PDF of Schedule

This event has completed. All data shown below is from the historical XML public data available.

If there are any data quality issues or corrections needed, please contact the webmaster for this site or submit a pull request for the appropriate file(s).


Sessions

This is a list of sessions from the event, based on the schedule in the XML files.


Title: Get a Lever and Pick Any Turtle: Lifting with Metadata

Abstract: Get a Lever and Pick Any Turtle: Lifting with Metadata

Ever wondered how to do operations on a list of tables? Get a list of all the columns over a certain length? Automate tedious writing of repetitive code if only there was a way to tell the query to just do this for all VARCHAR columns?

Integrated metadata is a required element of all RDBMSs. In addition to ANSI INFORMATION_SCHEMA and metadata on implementation-specific features like indexes, SQL Server also offers a very powerful extended properties feature. In this talk, I cover using the basic metadata combined with extended properties and demonstrate some practical usages to organize and document a system’s design and monitor the health of a system’s compliance with design rules, but there are many uses of the system metadata for code generation and automating maintenance.

Basic knowledge of T-SQL and relational database principles is assumed.

Speaker(s):

  • Cade Roux

Track and Room: SQL Dev - N/A


Title: SQL 2012 OLAP vs Tabular Modeling

Abstract: The Highway Safety Research Group at Louisiana State University, funded by the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (LA DOTD), collects and analyzes traffic crash data for the state of Louisiana. Over the past few years, a major focus was placed on decreasing the time it takes to report crash data to the state. With the success of data collection efforts, the HSRG is now focusing on providing tools and resources to help agencies at all levels throughout the state better understand and utilize their crash data.

In 2011, the HSRG developed an OLAP cube for ‘slicing and dicing’ crash, DWI, and Roadway data to improve traffic safety. In 2013, the HSRG, utilizing the same data warehouse, built a very similar tool utilizing the new BISM Tabular Model in SQL 2012. This session will show the two models, discuss advantages disadvantages of each model, and present data reporting options (Reporting Services, Tableau, and Power View).

Speaker(s):

  • Cory Hutchinson

Track and Room: Business Intelligence Foundations - N/A


Title: Configuring SharePoint Search for an optimal document management experience

Abstract: Search in SharePoint 2013 has many new features to deliver an excellent document management experience. In this talk, we’ll learn how to take advantage of the hard work you have invested in classifying your documents with rich metadata. Administrators will learn step-by-step how to map crawled properties to managed properties allowing you to query and refine on the data in your site columns. We’ll look in depth at managed property options such as queryable, retrievable, and refinable. Once we demonstrate the intricacies of property mapping, attendees will learn how to take advantage of them in the Search Center. We’ll create custom result types to display custom data from site columns and we’ll configure the refinement panel to allow users to drill down results in ways never before possible. Finally, we’ll show you how to use entity extraction to infer values of metadata allowing you to do refinement.

Speaker(s):

  • Corey Roth

Track and Room: SharePoint - N/A


Title: Power of Patterns: Refactoring to (or away from) Patterns

Abstract: What is a design pattern? Why should you care? What it the power of design patterns? How do design patterns tie into object oriented programming? If I’m using objects in my code, isn’t that object oriented programming? (The answer is not necessarily!) When should I use them?

Design Patterns are great but the temptation is to use Design Patterns as a golden hammer. This can lead to unnecessarily complicated, over-engineered code in an effort to be flexible and ready for the future. That sounds reasonable - if you happen to be a psychic. More commonly, you will refactor to a pattern when the code (that you’ve written simply and minimally) demands it.

We’ll talk about why you should know common design patterns, why they are powerful, how they relate to object oriented principles, different composite refactorings that will move you to (and sometimes away) from patterns and the smells that help you know when to apply them.

Speaker(s):

  • Mike Clement

Track and Room: Dev .NET/ALM - N/A


Title: Windows Azure IaaS and You

Abstract: Cloud computing is emerging as a promising IT service delivery vehicle. But is the question “To cloud or not to cloud”? For IT professionals and your IT organizations, it is crucial to recognize the opportunities and play a key role in the transformation from existing infrastructure-focused IT into a service-oriented, user-centric, and IT-as-a-Service (IaaS) environment. Are you ready for the challenge to lead and transform your IT organization?

This session will clarify the myths and provide pertinent information on cloud computing from a business and IT professional’s viewpoint. We will review the architectures and examine the service delivery models of cloud computing while stepping through business scenarios and operations of employing public cloud and private cloud.

Speaker(s):

  • Matt Hester

Track and Room: Windows Server Infrastructure - N/A


Title: PowerShell Fundamentals for Beginners

Abstract: PowerShell IS where Microsoft is going for the administration of its products. If you’re not actively trying to learn PowerShell today, you’re soon going to be well behind the learning curve of the average IT pro. This session will start from zero and cover the basic fundamentals of PowerShell that will get you started on the right track to becoming a PowerShell Hero. During this session we’ll cover the three basic cmdlets; Get-Help, Get-Command, and Get-Member which are the building blocks to learning what commands exist, how to use those commands, and what properties methods exist | foreach command. We’ll also cover some of the common beginner related issues such as execution policy and why you need to run PowerShell as an administrator

Speaker(s):

  • Mike Robbins

Track and Room: PowerShell - N/A


Title: Analytics 101 : Big data, business intelligence, and predictive analytics for decision makers

Abstract: Business analytics is the hottest ticket in the IT world these days. The trouble is, the industry doesn’t seem to agree on what “it” might be. Is analytics jazzed up reporting and slick dashboards? Is it statistical modeling? Is it Hadoop? Is it SAS? Is it PowerView? What’s a poor technical manager to do when the C-Suite demands it? Business analytics is the art and science of data driven decision making. Analytics projects span corporate performance management, reporting, dashboarding, statistical analysis, predictive modeling, a/b experimentation, and a host of other techniques all designed to help organizations make fact based decisions using business data.
Rusty Frioux from DataClear will sort out truth from hype and give some practical guidance for anyone tasked with starting an analytics initiative.

Speaker(s):

  • Rusty Frioux

Track and Room: Business Intelligence Foundations - N/A


Title: Unit Tests in Action – an exercise in updating legacy code, and how unit tests play a critical role

Abstract: This session will attempt to show how to use unit tests to confidently make changes to existing production code, reducing the risk of introducing bugs. It will do so in a “hands on presentation” sort of manner, as most of the time will be spent in code rather than in slides. The intent is to demonstrate (by using a real-world example, not slides and theory) the importance of having/creating well written unit tests before updating production code, and will be targeted to persuade the developer who is not yet sold on writing a solid suite of unit tests. During the session, we will take an production existing framework and make changes to it using the following techniques:

1) Use unit tests to ensure existing functionality does not break 2) Use Code Digger to ensure that we test all possible code paths 3) Use Fakes (including both Stubs and Shims) to isolate code paths and create targeted unit tests

Speaker(s):

  • Steve Schaneville

Track and Room: Dev App Support - N/A


Title: StreamInsight in action: Monitoring website performance in real time

Abstract: You may have heard of StreamInsight but what can it be used for? While there are a wide variety of use cases, we will look at one in particular … how to monitor your website in real time with StreamInsight. In this session, we’ll hook into the ASP.NET pipeline to send information to StreamInsight and integrate diagnostic information from Windows into a single dashboard of your website’s performance as it is running. We’ll see how StreamInsight can provide valuable analytics that allow you to gain valuable information … not from web or event logs after the fact … but while your site is running and you can respond to potential issues before they become visible to your users.

Speaker(s):

  • J Sawyer

Track and Room: Dev App Support - N/A


Title: Data Access 0-120 : Because 60 just won’t do

Abstract: In this session we will be diving into the data access architecture of modern applications and how we can make these more reusable and testable. We will leverage several open source frameworks to make this much quicker to build and deploy.

Speaker(s):

  • Devlin Liles

Track and Room: Dev .NET Foundations - N/A


Title: Understanding Storage Systems and SQL Server

Abstract: The most important part of your SQL Server is also the slowest, Storage. This talk will take you through the fundamentals of your server’s Disk I/O System. From how hard drives work, through RAID configurations, and how to configure the file system. This session should give you a solid foundation over storage systems and help you understand why they are slow and how to overcome some of their limitations.

Speaker(s):

  • Wesley Brown

Track and Room: SQL DBA Foundations - N/A


Title: Troubleshoot ConfigMgr 2012 like a pro

Abstract: When those issues arise having the right tools available to troubleshoot and knowing how to use them is key to successful resolution. This session will review key logs, tools, approaches to using them and specific troubleshooting scenarios.

Speaker(s):

  • Steven Rachui

Track and Room: Windows Server Infrastructure - N/A


Title: Get your feet wet with Hadoop on Azure

Abstract: Using Hadoop to process large amounts of data doesn’t get easier than using Hive and Pig in Azure. In this session I will demonstrate just how easy it can be to unleash distributed processing on your data.

Speaker(s):

  • Daniel Hillis

Track and Room: SQL Dev - N/A


Title: Attributes Hierarchies in Analysis Services 2012

Abstract: The session explains Attributes and Hierarchies in Analysis Services 2012 Semantic Model. They are used to slice (filter) and dice (group) measures and dimensions used to view analytical data. The slicing and dicing of data involves fields, columns, or whatever you want to labeled them. But, in SQL Server Semantic model these are called Attributes and Hierarchies. The configuration of these slicers and dicers are important in SQL Server Analysis Services. This session will demonstrate the difference between an attribute and columns in a hierarchy in the dimension as well as the configuration of these for best performance and viewing.

Speaker(s):

  • Thomas LeBlanc

Track and Room: Business Intelligence Advanced - N/A


Title: Improving Performance, Backups, and the Development Lifecycle with Centralized Storage

Abstract: Nimble Storage arrays provide I/O optimization and protection features that greatly benefit SQL Server implementations. It is important to first understand some of the internal I/O processes that SQL Server uses to store data on disk. Then you can use this fundamental understanding to implement best practices for provisioning a database storage design that will optimize performance and eliminate database backup windows. Using these best practices can also dramatically reduce recovery time objectives for full databases as well as individual database objects and data after user error and system failures.

Speaker(s):

  • Chris Wolfley

Track and Room: SQL DBA Foundations - N/A


Title: Back to Basics: .NET Essentials You May have Forgotten

Abstract: Now that the .NET Framework has been out for 10 years and so many tools are available to make things easier, many developers seem to have forgotten some of the core principles of .NET. In this presentation, I’ll review the fundamentals of the .NET Framework and what makes all of that magic happen. From the CLR to IL to memory management and garbage collection, we’ll touch on these core concepts that every developer should know.

Speaker(s):

  • J Sawyer

Track and Room: Dev .NET Foundations - N/A


Title: Configuring and Managing FILESTREAM and FileTable

Abstract: FILESTREAM and FileTable offer attractive solutions for applications that need to store large binary data (BLOBs) alongside relational data. With the benefit of the SQL Server storage engine managing the BLOB data but without the downsides of VARBINARY(MAX), FILESTREAM and FileTable have advantages that no other solution offers. This session will demonstrate how to design and create databases with these features. Because the paradigm is different than relational storage, the management aspect of FILESTREAM will also be examined, including transactional integrity, the garbage collector and backup and restore.

Speaker(s):

  • Sven Aelterman

Track and Room: SQL Dev - N/A


Title: Multiplatform Development with Unity 3D and C#

Abstract: An introduction to the Unity 3D video game engine, a state of the art tool for game and application development. I will demonstrate the ease at which you can develop games across PC, web, and mobile platforms, all for free.

Speaker(s):

  • Jason Tate

Track and Room: Dev Web/Mobile - N/A


Title: Getting Started with Analysis Services 2012 Tabular

Abstract: The Analysis Services 2012 Business Intelligence Semantic Model (BISM) unifies Multidimensional (OLAP) and Tabular (relational) options for organizational BI. In this session, BI Architect, SQL Server MVP and Analysis Services Maestro Bill Pearson introduces Microsoft Business Intelligence 2012 and the Business Intelligence Semantic Model (“BISM”). He then overviews the Tabular model, beginning with the creation of a project with SQL Server Data Tools (“SSDT”), and continuing from the data import steps to the creation and management of calculations, measures and Key Performance Indicators (“KPIs”). Finally, he provides insight to the creation and maintenance of perspectives and hierarchies, as well as other considerations involved in working with Tabular.

Speaker(s):

  • William E Pearson III

Track and Room: Business Intelligence Advanced - N/A


Title: Moving to XAML

Abstract: XAML has been around for several years now, but most developers haven’t had to use it yet. As Microsoft pushes Windows Store applications and Windows Phone, that is going to change.

We’ll cover: Differences between Windows Forms and XAML Basic layout of a XAML UI Binding in XAML Very basics of MVVM

This presentation will introduce intermediate+ C# developers to XAML.

Speaker(s):

  • Jeremy Beckham

Track and Room: Dev .NET Foundations - N/A


Title: Practical Self-Service BI with Excel 2013

Abstract: SQL Server MVP and Business Intelligence Architect Bill Pearson leads an introduction to using Excel 2013 to deliver self-service business intelligence. The focus of this session is to help those unfamiliar with the BI features that debut in Excel 2013 to become familiar with the assembly of data from diverse sources into models that deliver BI upon demand. We’ll discuss accessing and relating data, and employing the Data Analysis Expressions (DAX) language, to construct and share PowerPivot applications that support analysis and reporting throughout the enterprise. Moreover, we will overview other BI-related features, including Data Mining and the exciting new Power View reporting capabilities.

Speaker(s):

  • William E Pearson III

Track and Room: Business Intelligence Foundations - N/A


Title: Application Instrumentation

Abstract: In this session, we’ll explore the key issues involved in instrumenting .NET applications to proactively drive production excellence using runtime information and supporting artifacts. We will cover development through post-deployment challenges and discuss requirement and implementation differences for both high and low volume application scenarios. As part of the process, we will work through a small framework with some of the concepts as a take away.

Speaker(s):

  • Stephen Fulcher

Track and Room: Dev App Support - N/A


Title: AlwaysOn Live Deployment

Abstract: This session is 90% live demonstrations. I’ll walk you through a complete AlwaysOn deployment. You will see firsthand how to install and configure an AlwaysOn Failover Cluster. I’ll also show you how to bring AlwaysOn Availability Groups into the picture. I’ll finish up by showing how you can use a readable secondary for read-only routing.

Speaker(s):

  • Ryan Adams

Track and Room: SQL DBA Foundations - N/A


Title: Beginning Powershell for DBAs 1.0

Abstract: The time has come where DBAs can no longer afford to ignore powershell. Not only has it become an integral part of SQL Server, but we’re being asked to do things on a much grander scale than ever before; things that can only be done with powershell. This session will take you from nothing and explain what powershell is all about. I’m going to show you how the more things change the more they stay the same and if you master the basics of powershell in this session, you’ll be able to work with powershell not only in SQL Server, but also at the file system level, in Exchange, IIS, Windows, and anything else. So in this session I’m going to show you the basics you need to get your powershell career started.

Speaker(s):

  • Sean McCown

Track and Room: PowerShell - N/A


Title: PowerShell Not Your Father’s Command Line 10 things you need to know

Abstract: Are you scared of PowerShell or do you think PowerShell is just another command line prompt? Have you used PowerShell? Do you even know how to start with PowerShell? You will learn the basics of PowerShell and what it can do for you!. You will learn how PowerShell combined with your applications can help save you time and money.

Speaker(s):

  • Matt Hester

Track and Room: PowerShell - N/A


Title: Getting Started with C#

Abstract: In this session we will cover some of the basics of the .NET framework, C#, and Visual Studio. This session is just right for those learning .NET or those who need a refresher. We will cover constructs and concepts including types, operators, flow control, configuration, comments, application types, and others.

Speaker(s):

  • Mike Huguet

Track and Room: Dev .NET Foundations - N/A


Title: Let’s Learn Knockout

Abstract: KnockoutJs is a simple tool for a simple yet pervasive task - modelbinding. Yet it, like anything on the web, comes with its own set of traps and gotchas. Come learn about making incredibly dynamic applications with knockout from someone that’s been using, extending, and cursing it for the better part of a year.

Speaker(s):

  • George Mauer

Track and Room: Dev Web/Mobile - N/A


Title: How to Prepare Conduct Technical Presentations

Abstract: Iiiustrating how/what to do to in preparing information for and conducting/presenting an Technical Presentation..

Speaker(s):

  • David Reid

Track and Room: Career Development - N/A


Title: Change Tracking: A Near Bullet-Proof ETL Synchronization Control

Abstract: Change Tracking came out with SQL Server 2008, but SS2012 almost eclipsed it with Change Data Capture. Change Tracking is now the red-headed step child, but in many cases may be a better solution for data ETL movement from an OLTP database to a data warehouse database. This session will provide a review of change tracking syntax and implementation with detailed demos. It will then dive into an actual ETL subset implementation from the AdventureWorks database to a data warehouse solution (modified AdventureWorksDW) with detailed code discussion and demos.

Speaker(s):

  • Mike Byrd

Track and Room: Business Intelligence Advanced - N/A


Title: Agile Games: Games with Cards and Dice

Abstract: Play is a powerful method to learn! Come and play some simple agile games to explore the different values that are at the foundation of Agile and Lean development practices.

Speaker(s):

  • Mike Clement

Track and Room: Dev .NET/ALM - N/A


Title: iPhone Apps in C#

Abstract: Mobile development has traditionally been having to learn a new language for that platform and new ways of doing the same ‘ole thing. Cross-platform development has been especially burdensome since that means multiple code-bases in different languages that have to be kept in sync. Mono aims to make cross-platform mobile development easier by leveraging your existing .NET skills. You no longer need to spend your time re-learning the wheel and hopefully you can save even more time by sharing the majority of your code across all of the platforms. In this session, we will be looking specifically into the iOS platform and how to get started writing iPhone apps in C# and hopefully Visual Studio.

Speaker(s):

  • Seth Valdetero

Track and Room: Dev Web/Mobile - N/A


Title: What’s it like to Work for Microsoft?

Abstract: The number of Microsoft employees in Louisiana has increased quite a bit over the past couple of years. In this lunch session several Microsoft employees will discuss some of their experiences as a Microsoft “blue” badge (employee).

Speaker(s):

  • Mike Huguet

Track and Room: Dev App Support - N/A


Title: SQL 2012 AlwaysOn Quickstart

Abstract: In this presentation I’ll explain what the new SQL 2012 AlwaysOn high availability and disaster recovery solution is all about. I’ll talk about the different levels of protection it provides through Windows Clustering, SQL Clustering, and Availability Groups. We’ll discuss how these three things come together to protect your databases. We’ll finish with a dive into availability group configuration and the new capabilities it gives us.

Speaker(s):

  • Ryan Adams

Track and Room: SQL DBA Foundations - N/A


Title: Who Moved My SharePoint (to 2013)?

Abstract: Change can be a difficult obstacle in any organization. As an IT pro, how do you promote executive and/or business user adoption of SharePoint 2013? As an executive, power or business user, what should you expect? In this interactive session, we will build a SharePoint 2013 training and transition plan that promotes collaboration between the organization’s SharePoint users and IT professionals for a successful migration. Topics include improved efficiencies, enhanced search functionality, making social features useful for business purposes, what’s new for site administrators, and changes to the world of workflows.

Speaker(s):

  • Theresa Eller

Track and Room: SharePoint - N/A


Title: Building Resilient Workflows in SharePoint 2013

Abstract: SharePoint Designer workflows have made a huge leap forward in the newest version of SharePoint. After discussing some of the key improvements with SharePoint 2013 Workflows, we will take a look at ways to create workflows that are scalable, resilient to errors and flexible to changes.

Speaker(s):

  • Jameson Bozeman

Track and Room: SharePoint - N/A


Title: High Traffic Web Services

Abstract: In the enterprise context today, applications require a variety of services to create a seamless and optimized customer experience. Among others, they need integrated user tracking, state management and instrumentation that enable request tracing all the way through into asynchronous processes. Implementation demands are compounded by the high volume and distributed processing. In this session, we’ll detail the different kinds of application components required to implement a solid, next generation high traffic web application on the Microsoft stack.

Speaker(s):

  • Stephen Fulcher

Track and Room: Dev App Support - N/A


Title: Visual Studio Productivity Tips and Tricks

Abstract: Development in Visual Studio can either be slow as a rock, or fast as a cheetah. In this speech, I hope to be able to give some efficiency tips that have come to help me. I will touch base on some Visual Studio Extensions that are useful, Keyword usage, web.config transforms, deployment techniques – with a side step into a Windows Azure deployment concern. This speech will be geared more towards introductory to intermediate developers, but I hope to be able to give everyone a couple of helpful tips they might not have known before.

Speaker(s):

  • James Sampson

Track and Room: Dev .NET Foundations - N/A


Title: Beginning Powershell for DBAs 1.5

Abstract: If you were in the 1.0 session you’ll love this one. In this session we’re going to pick up where we left off and really get into some real SQL Server admin tasks. We’ll start with some more advanced basics to enhance your knowledge of powershell, and then apply them directly to SQL Server. By the end of this session you won’t be an expert, but my goal is to make you competent enough to be able to understand blogs and articles about powershell.

Speaker(s):

  • Sean McCown

Track and Room: PowerShell - N/A


Title: Execution Plan Basics - Beginners

Abstract: This will be a Beginners session highlighting the starting point for using the execution plans from SQL Server to assist in query tuning. Briefly, we will look at the history to get an idea of how Microsoft has improved the display through Graphical Plans and Missing Index suggestion. What is the difference between a Table and Clustered Index Scan? What is a Lookup? How do you improve performance of Lookups? What are the different types of Loops? How to get more information from the Plan with the properties window?

Speaker(s):

  • Thomas LeBlanc

Track and Room: SQL Dev - N/A


Title: Intro PowerShell for Technologists

Abstract: There is nothing which will empower technologists more than truly understanding and using a powerful command line. On the Windows platform, this is PowerShell, and it can do some AMAZING things if you spend just a little bit of time learning it. Come to this hands-on session where we’ll walk you from Zero to Competent in just 1 hour.

Speaker(s):

  • Tim Rayburn

Track and Room: PowerShell - N/A


Title: SQL Licensing White Board Session

Abstract: SQL Licensing? How boring. What if we told you that one of the most significant changes in SQL Server 2012 is around licensing. Yes, software licensing can be dreadful, but one misstep could cost your company thousands of dollars! During this presentation we will NOT show a single PowerPoint slide … instead we will whiteboard the SQL 2012 licensing changes, illustrate ways you can save money by understanding how to take advantage of virtualization rights, and we will also make sure you do NOT over license. Yes, that is correct, we will show you how to ensure you do NOT over license.

Speaker(s):

  • Jaisson Mailloux

Track and Room: SQL DBA Foundations - N/A


Title: SCCM 2012 High Availability

Abstract: Information on making your System Center Configuration Manager environment highly available

Speaker(s):

  • Nicholas Jones

Track and Room: Windows Server Infrastructure - N/A


Title: Install-Package Your.Architecture

Abstract: Come and learn how to use NuGet, Highway.OnRamper, and your own good sense to quickly create templated projects in Visual Studio 2012 that can codify your company’s architecture. It’s File … New Project on Steroids.

Speaker(s):

  • Tim Rayburn

Track and Room: Dev .NET/ALM - N/A


Title: Data cleaning with SSIS - SQL 2012

Abstract: Having clean data is a critical component in data warehousing and business intelligence systems. With the release of SQL Server 2012 Microsoft has provided a powerful tool to help organizations in tackling their data quality issues. We will look at this new Data Quality Services tool, its strengths and weaknesses. We will also looks at some customizations that can be built to handle some tasks better, such as pattern matching. The focus will be on how SSIS can help clean the data that will eventually end up in your warehouse.

Speaker(s):

  • Mark Verret

Track and Room: Business Intelligence Foundations - N/A


Title: Using Team Foundation 2012 for Agile Project Management

Abstract: Using Team Foundation 2012 and Visual Studio 2012 for Agile or regular Project Management. Focuses on the tools offered by Team Foundation 2012 including the web interface and tools in Visual Studio 2012 to manage tasks and bugs. Will also look at Microsoft Test Manager and how it connects with TFS. Knowledge of Agile Developer is a plus to understand some terminology for this session but is not necessary.

Speaker(s):

  • Jeremy Cronan

Track and Room: Dev .NET/ALM - N/A


Title: Managing the SQL Server 2012 SSIS catalog (SSISDB)

Abstract: In SQL Server 2012, the new package deployment model also provides benefits for managing and monitoring your SSIS solutions. This session delves into the SSISDB, the database where your packages and their execution details and results are stored. You’ll learn about the schema of the SSISDB and how to use the provided stored procedures and views to manage your SSIS catalog.

Speaker(s):

  • Sven Aelterman

Track and Room: Business Intelligence Advanced - N/A


Title: Building an English-Based Rules Engine using the Dynamic Language Runtime and IronRuby

Abstract: In this session we will explore writing an English-based rules engine that allows developers to create domain-specific rules for an application that can be easily understood by anyone. We will use a combination of C# and the DLR (dynamic language runtime) with IronRuby on the .NET platform to create a way to write, manage, and process rules for an application.

Speaker(s):

  • Keith Elder

Track and Room: Dev .NET/ALM - N/A


Title: Toastmasters Demo Meeting

Abstract: A demonstration of the tools, techniques, and benefits of Toastmasters International program. We will present a Toastmaster meeting that will allow the participants to see, hear, and experience the effects of communication and leadership development.

Speaker(s):

  • Stacy Vicknair

Track and Room: Career Development - N/A


Title: Bringing Business Intelligence to SharePoint Users

Abstract: In this session we will have a high level discussion of some of the different Business Intelligence Integration Points available to SharePoint 2010 Enabled Organizations.

Speaker(s):

  • Bill Watters

Track and Room: SharePoint - N/A


Title: Beginning T-SQL

Abstract: If you’d like to become a database professional - or if you already work with SQL Server at all - you need to know Transact-SQL, the SQL Server programming language. During this session, we’ll design and create our own table to demonstrate key concepts, query syntax, and more. If you’ve been meaning to learn T-SQL, here’s your chance!

Speaker(s):

  • Jennifer McCown

Track and Room: SQL Dev - N/A


Title: Who Could Ask for More with LESS CSS?

Abstract: In this session, I will cover getting started with an ASP.NET MVC4 site, and using the LESS CSS engine instead of plain-old-CSS. Using LESS CSS, you can turbo charge your design, layout, and branding of a site, increasing the amount of time that you have to work on other requirements.

Speaker(s):

  • James Sampson

Track and Room: Dev Web/Mobile - N/A


Title: Web Sites on Windows Azure

Abstract: Windows Azure Web Sites is a simple and powerful hosting platform that allows developers to easily build and rapidly deploy web applications on Windows Azure using their favorite languages, frameworks, and tools.

Speaker(s):

  • Ryan Duclos

Track and Room: Dev Web/Mobile - N/A


Title: Advanced Performance Tuning Tips with Ignite

Abstract: Are you struggling with performance issues and your current tools are not providing answers? Confio’s flagship product, Ignite, may be your answer. This presentation outlines a method for determining the best approach for tuning SQL statements by utilizing response time analysis. The speaker will use real-life case studies to demonstrate the techniques.

Speaker(s):

  • Neil Hambly

Track and Room: Dev Web/Mobile - N/A


Title: Building an Intranet SharePoint 2013 Style

Abstract: One of the most popular platforms for building a company intranet is SharePoint. In the past, a challenge faced by many organizations was aggregating, reusing, and formatting information from various areas in SharePoint. SharePoint 2013 includes several new features that change the approach of aggregating and formatting data for employees. This session will dive into these new features such as the content by search web part, display templates, and jslink. If you are building or plan on building an intranet on the SharePoint 2013 platform, this session is a must see!

Speaker(s):

  • Cody Gros

Track and Room: SharePoint - N/A


Title: Introduction to SQL Spatial Analysis and Reporting

Abstract: Most all data captured today is tied in some way to spatial elements. SQL Server has powerful functionality that will allow you to leverage this information to get deeper insights and make better decisions. We will walk through demonstrations of basic reporting and analysis involving place data. We will use “in house” analytical/spatial data along with openly available spatial data. Demos will show the various spatial functions for data analysis along with reporting using reporting services, powerview, and geoflow.

Speaker(s):

  • Mark Verret

Track and Room: Business Intelligence Advanced - N/A


Title: Mastering your Resume Interview: Tips to Get Hired

Abstract: Looking for a job? Learn trade secrets from a Recruiter! Resume blunders and interview tips, this session will focus on ten most important things you can do to get hired.

Speaker(s):

  • Christine Assaf

Track and Room: Career Development - N/A


Title: The ABCs of SSIS

Abstract: This presentation shows the basics of SSIS to help with automating database tasks, such as maintenance, importing and exporting data, or ETL transactions. The discussion will start with an understanding of when SSIS should be used vs. when a database object, such as a view or stored procedure, should be used. You will also see how to create a basic package, and how to use the built-in logging and configurations. Lastly, we will talk about the different ways SSIS is used, based on the role of the person using it and the importance of organizing the overall SSIS structure.

Speaker(s):

  • Glenda Gable

Track and Room: Business Intelligence Foundations - N/A


Title: Interview Tips for Managers

Abstract: If you are a Manager needing some interviewing education - this is your course! This session focuses on basic interviewing guidelines, including: preliminary interviews, types of testing, secondary or follow-up interviews, while keeping in mind EEO guidelines and best practices. Learn tips and tricks of the trade from an HR guru who is “in the trenches.”

Speaker(s):

  • Christine Assaf

Track and Room: CIO/CTO/IT Manager - N/A


Title: ConfigMgr 2012 - Whats the big deal?

Abstract: This session will provide an overview discussion of key features and components of ConfigMgr 2012. This session is suitable for those new to product and those migrating from a previous version of ConfigMgr. Discussion will focus on hierarchy considerations and application deployment and, as time permits, discuss other interesting changes.

Speaker(s):

  • Steven Rachui

Track and Room: Windows Server Infrastructure - N/A


Title: When Things Go Wrong in My Code

Abstract: Over the past year I have spent a lot of time reviewing source code for .NET applications written by medium and large sized Enterprise customers. Most of these applications could use some help when it comes to handling situations in code where a problem could or does happen. In this session we’ll cover some strategies for avoiding exceptions and provide guidance for improving exception handling code.

Speaker(s):

  • Mike Huguet

Track and Room: Dev App Support - N/A


Speakers

This is a list of speakers from the XML Guidebook records. The details and URLs were valid at the time of the event.

Jaisson Mailloux

Contact: http://www.softwareone.com

Jaisson Mailloux is a Technical Evangelist for SoftwareONE, and was previously a Support Escalation Engineer at Microsoft for more than 13 years. He has extensive knowledge on Microsoft, VMware, Citrix and Symantec, and helps clients across the South Central region define various technology solutions. As a Technical Evangelist, Jaisson’s primary role is to provide unbiased technical guidance, while helping customers achieve compliant, cost-effective solutions.

William E Pearson III

Twitter: - @Bill_Pearson

LinkedIn: William E Pearson III

Contact: https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile=02C5CD07-7511-4151-A678-3A4A3451F85E

Bill Pearson created Island Technologies Inc. in 1997, and has developed a large and diverse customer base since. Bill#39;s background as a CPA, Internal Auditor, Management Accountant, and SQL Server MVP (BI) enables him to provide value to clients as a liaison between Accounting / Finance and Information Services. Bill has implemented enterprise business intelligence systems over the years for many Fortune 500 companies and focuses his practice upon the integrated Microsoft Business Intelligence

Sven Aelterman

Twitter: - @svenaelterman

LinkedIn: Sven Aelterman

Contact: https://svenaelterman.wordpress.com

Sven Aelterman is the Director of IT for the Sorrell College of Business at Troy University; a role with a global scope. He is also a lecturer in Information Systems and teaches courses in data warehousing and information security. He continues consulting work through Adduxis, where he assists customers with various Microsoft technology implementations. Co-author of The Art of SQL Server FILESTREAM, published by Red Gate; and SQL Server 2017 Administration Inside Out, published by Microsoft Press. Cloud Software Architect at Sorrell Solutions, L.L.C. developing a Microsoft Azure-hosted Electronic Health Record system.

James Sampson

Contact: http://tostringtheory.com

James Sampson works for Sparkhound as a developer on their Application Support team. He spends his free time developing non-sensical applications for Windows Phone and Windows Azure.

Cade Roux

Twitter: - caderoux

LinkedIn: Cade Roux

Contact: http://www.caderoux.com/

Cade Roux, is the founder of Rose Crescent, a software and systems consultancy in New Orleans. He has been a professional programmer since 1992, and a user of SQL Server since 1997, managing IT operations at all levels of organizations. He has broad experience in several lines of business, including Route Accounting, Medical and Banking and technical exposure ranging from C/C++ to T-SQL, from the Windows API to Data Warehousing. He loves building great systems and great teams.

Stacy Vicknair

Twitter: - https://twitter.com/svickn

LinkedIn: Stacy Vicknair

Contact: http://www.stacyvicknair.com

As the Software Engineering Manager at Netchex, Stacy focuses on two main things: people and process. In both responsibilities Stacy believes that he acts in service to those he works with throughout the organization and hopes that he helps shape an environment that his team members are proud to be a part of.

Stacy is certified as a Professional Scrum Master (PSM-I), Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM) and has numerous Microsoft certifications for software development and application life cycle management. Stacy was also awarded the Microsoft MVP award six years in a row from 2009 to 2015 based on his contributions to the tech community both locally and online.

William E Pearson III

Twitter: - @Bill_Pearson

LinkedIn: William E Pearson III

Contact: https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile=02C5CD07-7511-4151-A678-3A4A3451F85E

Bill Pearson created Island Technologies Inc. in 1997, and has developed a large and diverse customer base since. Bill#39;s background as a CPA, Internal Auditor, Management Accountant, and SQL Server MVP (BI) enables him to provide value to clients as a liaison between Accounting / Finance and Information Services. Bill has implemented enterprise business intelligence systems over the years for many Fortune 500 companies and focuses his practice upon the integrated Microsoft Business Intelligence

Steven Rachui

Contact: http://blogs.msdn.com/steverac

Steven has supported System Center products at Microsoft for 16 years and currently works in the premier field engineering group. He hosts a popular System Center blog, has served as an author and technical editor for several System Center books and has been an active participant and speaker at MMS for the past several years. He has also traveled extensively within the US and Internationally helping customers learn and better make use of System Center technology.

Mike Huguet

Contact: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/pfedev

Mike Huguet is a Developer Premier Field Engineer for Microsoft. He is an active member of the IT community as the President of the Baton Rouge .NET User Group, a founding member of the Baton Rouge SQLSaturday event, and an avid speaker at all day conferences and user groups. He has a software development background and has been delivering solutions with .NET since Beta 1 and SharePoint since 2006.

Neil Hambly

Contact: http://www.confio.com

Neil Hambly is a 14-year SQL Server veteran, with expertise in SQL Server from version 6.5 to the latest 2012 edition. He’s held database roles at major organizations, including the BBC, ABN AMRO, and Accenture, as well as at a number of market-leading companies. Currently a senior DBA at Confio Software, he’s worked as a DBA, developer, and architect. Leader of the PASS London Chapter, Neil can frequently be found speaking at UK and international events.

Matt Hester

Contact: http://aka.ms/matthester

Matt Hester is a Senior Information Technology Professional Evangelist for Microsoft. Matt has been involved in the IT Pro community for over 20 years. Matt is a skilled and experienced evangelist presenting to audiences nationally and internationally.
In his role at Microsoft Matt has presented to audiences in excess of 5000 and as small as 10. Matt has written 4 articles for TechNet magazine. In addition Matt has published 3 books.

Christine Assaf

Twitter: - https://twitter.com/HRTact

LinkedIn: Christine Assaf

Contact: https://www.hrtact.com

Christine Assaf is an experienced HR pro who is passionate about the mental health of employees, leadership, and organizations. She is a leadership development professional with over 15 years experience in human resources and 20 years in business management. She holds a BS in Business Management, received her HRM certification at LSU, and is finishing up her master’s degree at Colorado State University in Industrial and Organizational Psychology. She is a certified DDI Trainer, experienced public speaker, and is dedicated to teaching others about ways to support a culture of “expressiveness” in the workplace that creates connectivity.

Bill Watters

Contact: http://www.gcrincorporated.com/technologies/sharepoint-development/

I am an IT professional with over 15 years of experience in both the private and public sector. I have been working with SharePoint for over 10 years. I currently work as a SharePoint Developer at GCR Incorporated. We provide, among other things, SharePoint, SQL, and Web Applications for a variety of public and private sector entities.

Jeremy Beckham

Twitter: - jbeckh2

LinkedIn: Jeremy Beckham

I am an IT leader that started as in operations, moved into development, then architecture, and finally management. I received my Executive MBA from Southeastern Louisiana University to help me make the jump from individual contributor into management. I’ve led multiple teams of developers utilizing technologies ranging from C# to BizTalk to Informatica. Today, I lead the teams at BCBSLA that are responsible for Reporting, EDI, and Integrations.

Steven Rachui

Contact: http://blogs.msdn.com/steverac

Steven has supported System Center products at Microsoft for 16 years and currently works in the premier field engineering group. He hosts a popular System Center blog, has served as an author and technical editor for several System Center books and has been an active participant and speaker at MMS for the past several years. He has also traveled extensively within the US and Internationally helping customers learn and better make use of System Center technology.

James Sampson

Contact: http://tostringtheory.com

James Sampson works for Sparkhound as a developer on their Application Support team. He spends his free time developing non-sensical applications for Windows Phone and Windows Azure.

George Mauer

Twitter: - @togakangaroo

Contact: https://github.com/togakangaroo/Blog

George Mauer is a software developer, speaker, teacher, writer, and comedian with an interest in the various techniques that can make software simple, extensible, and communicative. He is the owner of Humble Pi Software and currently a senior developer with Surge Consulting. He speaks regularly on Javascript, C#, Agile and other subjects, at usergroups, and to his cat.

Sven Aelterman

Twitter: - @svenaelterman

LinkedIn: Sven Aelterman

Contact: https://svenaelterman.wordpress.com

Sven Aelterman is the Director of IT for the Sorrell College of Business at Troy University; a role with a global scope. He is also a lecturer in Information Systems and teaches courses in data warehousing and information security. He continues consulting work through Adduxis, where he assists customers with various Microsoft technology implementations. Co-author of The Art of SQL Server FILESTREAM, published by Red Gate; and SQL Server 2017 Administration Inside Out, published by Microsoft Press. Cloud Software Architect at Sorrell Solutions, L.L.C. developing a Microsoft Azure-hosted Electronic Health Record system.

Jason Tate

Contact: http://www.pixeldashstudios.com

Jason is co-founder and lead engineer at Pixel Dash Studios. Jason began developing professional software in 2005 in a number of different fields including video games, military, and healthcare. Jason is an experienced architect and leader on large scale enterprise, entertainment, and mobile application projects. Jason is a Louisiana native and cum laude graduate of Louisiana State University with a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering and a M.S. degree in Systems Science.

Nicholas Jones

Microsoft Premier Field Engineer specializing in System Center Configuration Manager

Ryan Duclos

Contact: http://about.me/rduclos

Ryan Duclos is a Lead Technical Consultant for Perficient, Inc. (PRFT), where he is passionate about Microsoft development utilizing the .Net Framework, SQL Server, and Windows Azure technologies. He lives and works in LA (Lower Alabama!) and loves spending time with his family, as well as being a community influencer for Microsoft. Ryan recently became a Microsoft Azure MVP.

Glenda Gable

Contact: http://sql313.com

Glenda has worked with databases in some form or another for 13 years, and loves working with data. She has worked in the healthcare, state park, construction licensing, and not-for-profit industries. Glenda has worked with all facets of Business Intelligence, from software installation and maintenance to report/cube development and deployment, and the ETL transactions in between. She now focuses on planning and optimizing the full ETL process, and learning more about database administration.

Jameson Bozeman

Jameson is a SharePoint consultant for Sparkhound who focuses on designing and providing effective business solutions by using SharePoint#39;s out of the box features to their highest potential. He has worked with global and fortune 500 companies specializing in Client Side development, SharePoint Administration, and business automation.

Mike Byrd

Twitter: - ByrdNest_TX

LinkedIn: Mike Byrd

Contact: http://logicalread.solarwinds.com/?s=byrd, www.TSQLMentoring.com and SQLServerCentral.com

Former rocket scientist and USAF Fighter Pilot – now a SQL Server geek (24 years)! Past opportunities include free-lance technical writer for PC Magazine, Senior Software Manager for government sponsored munitions effectiveness committee, and insurance company CTO. Currently senior database engineer consultant for several Austin companies.

Presenter at many SQLSaturdays over last 6 years in United States, Europe, and Australia.

Specialize in SQL Server performance tuning; database (OLTP OLAP) architecture; trouble-shooting; teaching TSQL (Basic through Advanced).

Video presentations (for local SQL Server user groups or SQLSaturdays) can be found at http://usergroup.tv/videos/category/speaker/mike-byrd

Christine Assaf

Twitter: - https://twitter.com/HRTact

LinkedIn: Christine Assaf

Contact: https://www.hrtact.com

Christine Assaf is an experienced HR pro who is passionate about the mental health of employees, leadership, and organizations. She is a leadership development professional with over 15 years experience in human resources and 20 years in business management. She holds a BS in Business Management, received her HRM certification at LSU, and is finishing up her master’s degree at Colorado State University in Industrial and Organizational Psychology. She is a certified DDI Trainer, experienced public speaker, and is dedicated to teaching others about ways to support a culture of “expressiveness” in the workplace that creates connectivity.

Stephen Fulcher

Twitter: - https://twitter.com/crocdigital

LinkedIn: Stephen Fulcher

Contact: http://www.crocodiledigital.net/blog/

Stephen Fulcher is a serial entrepreneur focused on delivering technology products and services that transform business strategies. After working with Microsoft as a Principal Engineer and Regional Director, Stephen founded Crocodile Digital to bring game-changing technology to businesses. Along the way, he has been a speaker at numerous technology conferences, developer meetings and product launches. He can be reached at sf@crocodiledigital.net.

J Sawyer

Contact: http://www.devbiker.net

J is a Senior Architect for Hitachi Consulting based in Houston, TX who absolutely loves to write code and build cool, innovative solutions to hard problems. He#39;s also the President of the Houston .NET User#39;s Group

Ryan Adams

Twitter: - @ryanjadams

LinkedIn: Ryan Adams

Contact: http://www.ryanjadams.com

Ryan Adams is a Senior Premier Field Engineer for Microsoft. He works directly with customers to help them realize their business potential and accelerate their digital transformation on premises and in the cloud.

Previously, Ryan was a Microsoft Data Platform MVP and spent 19 years working for a fortune 100 company. His passion is the SQL Server Engine, High Availability, and Disaster Recovery. He also served on the Board of Directors for the North Texas SQL Server User Group, was President of the PASS Performance Virtual Chapter, was a PASS Regional Mentor, and served as a Director for the PASS organization.

Theresa Eller

Twitter: - https://twitter.com/SharePointMadam

LinkedIn: Theresa Eller

Contact: http://www.techresa.com

Theresa Eller is a SharePoint and Office 365 Administrator with a passion for customer success. Her diverse background includes degrees in Public Relations and Teaching and Learning with Technology, as well as 20 years of experience providing technical support, training, and project leadership. Theresa is a leader, speaker, and blogger in the SharePoint and Office 365 Community.

Stephen Fulcher

Twitter: - https://twitter.com/crocdigital

LinkedIn: Stephen Fulcher

Contact: http://www.crocodiledigital.net/blog/

Stephen Fulcher is a serial entrepreneur focused on delivering technology products and services that transform business strategies. After working with Microsoft as a Principal Engineer and Regional Director, Stephen founded Crocodile Digital to bring game-changing technology to businesses. Along the way, he has been a speaker at numerous technology conferences, developer meetings and product launches. He can be reached at sf@crocodiledigital.net.

Cory Hutchinson

Contact: http://hsrg.lsu.edu

Cory Hutchinson currently serves as the Associate Director for the Highway Safety Research Group (HSRG) at Louisiana State University. He earned a MS in Quantitative Business Analysis and a MBA from LSU and is currently working on his doctorate degree in Human Resource Education and Workforce Development. Within the HSRG, Cory oversees all IT related projects including business analytics, web site design, data quality analysis, data reporting, business intelligence, and crash data integration

Mike Huguet

Contact: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/pfedev

Mike Huguet is a Developer Premier Field Engineer for Microsoft. He is an active member of the IT community as the President of the Baton Rouge .NET User Group, a founding member of the Baton Rouge SQLSaturday event, and an avid speaker at all day conferences and user groups. He has a software development background and has been delivering solutions with .NET since Beta 1 and SharePoint since 2006.

Sean McCown

Twitter: - @KenpoDBA

Contact: http://www.midnightdba.com/dbarant

Sean McCown is a Certified Master with 23 years of experience in databases. He is also founder and co-owner of the MidnightDBA.com website, where he records free SQL Server training videos. He also writes the popular Minion Maintenance suite, the most configurable maintenance solution on the planet.

Corey Roth

Contact: http://www.dotnetmafia.com

Corey Roth is an applications architect at Infusion specializing in SharePoint solutions in the Oil Gas Industry. Corey is a three-time recipient of the Microsoft MVP award in SharePoint Server. Corey has always focused on rapid adoption of new Microsoft technologies including SharePoint 2013, Visual Studio 2012, and .NET Framework 4.5.

Rusty Frioux

Contact: http://www.datacleargroup.com

Rusty Frioux knows business data. A 15 year veteran of systems integration and business intelligence consulting, Rusty has implemented analytics systems for clients of all sizes, both public and private. He holds a M.S. in business analytics from Louisiana State University, a B.S. in psychology from Tulane University, and a CBIP credential from the Data Warehouse Institute. He current owns and manages DataClear, a business intelligence and predictive analytics firm.

Devlin Liles

Twitter: - @devlinliles

LinkedIn: Devlin Liles

Contact: http://www.devlinliles.com

As Vice President of Consulting of Improving Enterprises Houston, Devlin Liles assists in leading the technology strategy and direction for the business as well as all aspects of consultant engagement. In an industry that is constantly innovating, Devlin believes as a passionate technologist it is his responsibility to maintain the cutting edge on his clients’ behalf. He prides himself on staying a generalist, but his passion in development is data and its interactions.

Mike Clement

Contact: http://blog.softwareontheside.com/

I’m a husband, father of four and currently a Senior Software Craftsman at Pluralsight. I’ve worked at Ancestry.com, Microsoft, Caselle and a few other small companies. I am one of the founding organizers of the Utah Software Craftsmanship group (http://utahsc.org).

Thomas LeBlanc

Twitter: - TheSmilingDBA

LinkedIn: Thomas LeBlanc

Contact: http://Thomas-LeBlanc.com

Thomas LeBlanc (Microsoft Data Platform MVP) is a Data Warehouse Architect in Baton Rouge, and uses his 30+ years in IT to develop OLTP systems with normalized databases for high-performing T-SQL and dimensional data marts. Development is done in SSIS, SSAS, SSRS, Power BI, and Excel. As a PASS volunteer, he is past chair of Excel BI and Data Arch VCs and is active in the Baton Rouge Analytics and SQL Server User groups, as well as SQLSaturday in Baton Rouge. You can find his blog at TheSmilingDBA.BlogSpot.com and website at Thomas-LeBlanc.com

Sean McCown

Twitter: - @KenpoDBA

Contact: http://www.midnightdba.com/dbarant

Sean McCown is a Certified Master with 23 years of experience in databases. He is also founder and co-owner of the MidnightDBA.com website, where he records free SQL Server training videos. He also writes the popular Minion Maintenance suite, the most configurable maintenance solution on the planet.

Cody Gros

Twitter: - @codygros

Contact: http://www.sparkhound.com/Pages/Blogs.aspx

Cody Gros joined Sparkhound in 2011 as a SharePoint Solutions Architect. He has been involved in many SharePoint implementations including Intranet Sites, Enterprise Content Management, Extranet Sites, as well as building custom applications on the SharePoint platform. Heavily involved in the SharePoint community, he’s a leader of the Baton Rouge SharePoint User Group (BRSPUG) and speaks at various user groups and SharePoint Saturdays around the region.

Mike Huguet

Twitter: - https://twitter.com/mhuguet

LinkedIn: Mike Huguet

Mike Huguet is a Senior Software Engineering Manager at Microsoft focusing on features that aid customers and partners in improving the quality of their PowerApps and customizations to their Common Data Services and Dynamics 365 CE solutions. He has been a software professional for nearly twenty years.

Chris Wolfley

Contact: http://www.nimblestorage.com

Chris Wolfley has spent the last 14 years in the technology field focusing on Server and Storage architectures as a Pre-Sales System Consultant and Complex Solution Architect working for a Fortune 50 Technology Company in their Server/Storage Analyst Lab. He has spent time working with customers and partners on designing enterprise solutions focused on effective data management and virtualization. Currently, he is a System Engineer for Nimble Storage supporting the Houston Louisiana Region.

Seth Valdetero

Twitter: - @valdetero

LinkedIn: Seth Valdetero

Seth Valdetero is a Senior Developer at Sparkhound. He has been in the mobile app space for several years. He is the president of the Baton Rouge .NET User Group. You can usually hear him speak at user groups or conferences about Xamarin and mobile app development.

J Sawyer

Contact: http://www.devbiker.net

J is a Senior Architect for Hitachi Consulting based in Houston, TX who absolutely loves to write code and build cool, innovative solutions to hard problems. He#39;s also the President of the Houston .NET User#39;s Group

Thomas LeBlanc

Twitter: - TheSmilingDBA

LinkedIn: Thomas LeBlanc

Contact: http://Thomas-LeBlanc.com

Thomas LeBlanc (Microsoft Data Platform MVP) is a Data Warehouse Architect in Baton Rouge, and uses his 30+ years in IT to develop OLTP systems with normalized databases for high-performing T-SQL and dimensional data marts. Development is done in SSIS, SSAS, SSRS, Power BI, and Excel. As a PASS volunteer, he is past chair of Excel BI and Data Arch VCs and is active in the Baton Rouge Analytics and SQL Server User groups, as well as SQLSaturday in Baton Rouge. You can find his blog at TheSmilingDBA.BlogSpot.com and website at Thomas-LeBlanc.com

Tim Rayburn

Contact: http://TimRayburn.net

Tim Rayburn is a Principal Consultant with Improving Enterprises, a software and project management consulting company in Dallas, TX. Since 2007 he has been annually awarded the Microsoft MVP for Connected Systems Development in recognition of his expertise and community leadership. He is the author of “Entity Framework 4.1: Expert’s Cookbook”, with Devlin Liles, and can be found speaking across the nation of agile process, distributed architecture, and data access technologies.

Daniel Hillis

Contact: http://www.maxadsystems.com/

Daniel Hillis is a husband, father, and Senior Software Engineer for Max Systems. Daniel has been developing IT solutions for clients for 15 years. His most recent role has him using distributed processing with a rapidly increasing set of data to build analytics solutions for his clients.

Jeremy Cronan

I have been a developer for over 10 years. I am currently the Application Developer at the Alliance Safety Council. I am proficient in ASP.NET using VB.NET and C#.

Mike Clement

Contact: http://blog.softwareontheside.com/

I’m a husband, father of four and currently a Senior Software Craftsman at Pluralsight. I’ve worked at Ancestry.com, Microsoft, Caselle and a few other small companies. I am one of the founding organizers of the Utah Software Craftsmanship group (http://utahsc.org).

Steve Schaneville

Steve Schaneville started his development career as a worker (not a student) at a German University in 1998. He learned C++ and German, and eventually wound up in Baton Rouge using C++ daily and German never. In 2003 he jumped on the .NET wagon and never looked back. Today he is working as the lead architect at Amedisys, Inc., and is currently working on a large project to upgrade/improve the internal legacy health care application to .NET.

Tim Rayburn

Contact: http://TimRayburn.net

Tim Rayburn is a Principal Consultant with Improving Enterprises, a software and project management consulting company in Dallas, TX. Since 2007 he has been annually awarded the Microsoft MVP for Connected Systems Development in recognition of his expertise and community leadership. He is the author of “Entity Framework 4.1: Expert’s Cookbook”, with Devlin Liles, and can be found speaking across the nation of agile process, distributed architecture, and data access technologies.

Ryan Adams

Twitter: - @ryanjadams

LinkedIn: Ryan Adams

Contact: http://www.ryanjadams.com

Ryan Adams is a Senior Premier Field Engineer for Microsoft. He works directly with customers to help them realize their business potential and accelerate their digital transformation on premises and in the cloud.

Previously, Ryan was a Microsoft Data Platform MVP and spent 19 years working for a fortune 100 company. His passion is the SQL Server Engine, High Availability, and Disaster Recovery. He also served on the Board of Directors for the North Texas SQL Server User Group, was President of the PASS Performance Virtual Chapter, was a PASS Regional Mentor, and served as a Director for the PASS organization.

David Reid

LinkedIn: David Reid

Biography of: Dave Reid, M.S, PHR, SHRM-CP, DTM, SSGB Management Instructor at The University of Louisiana at Lafayette, HR Professional, Distinguished Toastmaster Former District Leader. Expertise - Zenger-Miller leadership development modules, and Six Sigma Green Belt . Education - Bachelor and Master degrees from The University of Maryland and Indiana Wesleyan University respectively, majoring in Management Science. Prior to his HR career in Corporate America, he was a professional soldier leading globally in the U.S. Army, and Gulf War. His awards include: Toastmasters Area Governor of The Year and Excellence in Training and Education and as Outstanding Professional - Indiana Wesleyan University.

Mark Verret

Mark Verret is the IT Manager for the LSU Highway Safety Research Group. He has over 20 years experience in the IT field. He has worked with SQL Server for the past 12 years implementing Business Intelligence and data warehousing related projects.

Keith Elder

Contact: http://keithelder.net

Keith Elder is the co-host of the popular online technology podcast Deep Fried Bytes. He is also a Director of Software Engineering at Quicken Loans, the nation’s largest online mortgage lender based in Detroit, MI, is the founder of the Hattiesburg, MS .Net User Group called Hub City NUG and a Microsoft MVP. Keith is an experienced technologist, systems administrator, software engineer, speaker, trainer and all around geek.

Mark Verret

Mark Verret is the IT Manager for the LSU Highway Safety Research Group. He has over 20 years experience in the IT field. He has worked with SQL Server for the past 12 years implementing Business Intelligence and data warehousing related projects.

Matt Hester

Contact: http://aka.ms/matthester

Matt Hester is a Senior Information Technology Professional Evangelist for Microsoft. Matt has been involved in the IT Pro community for over 20 years. Matt is a skilled and experienced evangelist presenting to audiences nationally and internationally.
In his role at Microsoft Matt has presented to audiences in excess of 5000 and as small as 10. Matt has written 4 articles for TechNet magazine. In addition Matt has published 3 books.

Jennifer McCown

Twitter: - https://twitter.com/MidnightDBA

Contact: http://www.MidnightDBA.com/Jen

Jen McCown is CEO of MinionWare, LLC; a Microsoft Certified Master for SQL Server; and an independent consultant. She is Senior Editor at MidnightDBA.com, where she creates training videos, the DBAs at Midnight webshow, blogs, reviews, and podcasts. Jen is a member, volunteer, and speaker in PASS, and the PASS Women in Technology Virtual Group.

Mike Robbins

Twitter: - @mikefrobbins

LinkedIn: Mike Robbins

Contact: http://mikefrobbins.com/

Mike F Robbins is a Microsoft MVP on Windows PowerShell and a SAPIEN Technologies MVP. He is a co-author of Windows PowerShell TFM 4th Edition and is a contributing author of a chapter in the PowerShell Deep Dives book. Mike has written guest blog articles for the Hey, Scripting Guy! Blog, PowerShell Magazine, and PowerShell.org. He is the winner of the advanced category in the 2013 PowerShell Scripting Games. Mike is also the leader and co-founder of the Mississippi PowerShell User Group. He blogs at mikefrobbins.com and can be found on twitter @mikefrobbins.

Wesley Brown

Twitter: - @sqlserverio

LinkedIn: Wesley Brown

Contact: http://www.sqlserverio.com

Wesley Brown is a former SQL Server MVP and PASS Chapter Leader who loves to teach others about SQL Server.He maintains his technical blog at http://www.sqlserverio.com. Wes specializes in high availability, disaster recovery, and large-scale database performance tuning.

Sponsors

The following is a list of sponsors that helped fund the event:

Back to the SQLSaturday Event List

Back to the home page