SQLBits and Events in Dublin, Koln, and Malmo

MVP Rob Farley Channeling the Inner Viking at SQLBits, Oct 2010

SQLBITS

One of the top highlights of my year is when I get to visit the great cities of Europe and meet with the great IT professionals there.  Last October, I was able to visit several cities in Europe, including my first ever stop in Stockholm and Malmo, Sweden.  Last year’s SQLBits event was in the lovely city of York, England.

The Level of Attendees Has Come Up a Notch. See?

This spring, in fact the next two weeks, I’ll be on a whirlwind junket.  In just a few hours, I fly out to London and then drive down to Brighton for a couple days of SQLBits.  SQLBits has a great lineup of speakers and content this spring.

I’m looking forward to many of the sessions going on as well as the innovative CIO-oriented event that will include facetime with Fusion-IO executive and industry legend, Steve Wozniak.

This Crew Is Crazy!

Our lunch time sessions on Friday and Saturday are ALL ABOUT FUN! If you attended last year, you’ll know to get there as early as you can because it will be standing room only.  Bring a good horror story to tell about your experiences in IT because we’ll have some fun prizes to hand out as well.

Of course, the biggest fun for me is time spent with other SQL Server people.  Lots of great speakers and Microsoft SQLCAT team members will be on hand, too numerous to name them all, in fact. And of course, I always enjoy a visit with my colleagues at Quest, such as Iain Kick (at left).

We were so inspired by winning a Trivia Pub Quiz that we decided to do one at SQLBits!

DUBLIN

After SQLBits, I head out for a day long session in Dublin on Monday, April 11th with my old friend Niall Flanagan at the Microsoft European Development Centre, South County Business Park, County Dublin starting at 09:30 am.  If you’re in old Eire, I hope to see you there! Registration details are HERE.

COLOGNE (KOLN)

At the conclusion of the Irish event, I head directly to the airport for a flight to Cologne, Germany.  The next day, on April 12th starting at 09:30, we’ll do another day with the expert.  The agenda is a bit different, but all the details including registration are available HERE.

MALMO

My final stop before heading home is on Wednesday, April 13 in Malmo, Sweden.  The user group in that area is lead by the very talented Johan Ahlen, whose blog is located HERE.  I especially enjoyed his posts about FileStream late last year.  I’m looking forward to more good sessions and, again, to learning as much from the attendees as they do from me.  Be sure to register for the event HERE.