SQL Saturday #131 in Phoenix ended our three-in-a-row SQL Saturday tour de force! Stacia Misner and I both had three (3) sessions to present on our third (3rd) SQL Saturday. The first one was at 8:30am and oh my gosh, people are willing to get up super early on a Saturday to watch a couple of gals play around with Reporting Services! We presented our (Way Too Much) Fun with Reporting Services session and it was standing room only! I hope you guys enjoyed the session as much as we did putting it together. This is the last time we’ll be presenting the v1 version – next time we’ll have implemented some of the great ideas all our audiences gave us. It’ll be an evolving project, and we will have information up on this site as well as all the downloads so you can have way too much fun too!
I was in the same room all day so I figured I might as well camp out! Next up, I did a BRAND NEW SESSION on Dynamic MDX. The slides are available here, the MDX Queries here, and the reporting solution here. I was nervous about this one since I’d never presented it before, and being on the road all month means it had sort of slipped my mind. But I seemed to get a good response from every one and it went better than I had initially hoped (I am a worry-wort). I definitely have things to add and refine, but first time is always the hardest. The sessions grew out of Stacia’s blog post on Dynamic MDX, available here, as well as some real life tricksy reporting scenarios that inspired the third part of the session. It’s not something I use a lot, but it’s good having these tools in your back pocket as a report developer.
At lunch I was invited to speak on the Women In Technology panel along with my mom, Denise McInerny (twitter) and the dean of computer science at Chandler Gilbert Community College (her name escapes me and I can’t find it on any blogs halp!), moderated by Meredith Ryan ( blog|twitter). It was a great discussion. I feel very lucky to have had the support that I have had (being a third generation WIT, I’ve got role models built in!). I think it’s important to remind young girls that being in technology doesn’t just mean programming. We live in a technological world and it’s built into our daily lives like never before. I think it’s important to get the message out about all that technology truly is, and the vast array of career options available outside of the stereotypes.
I also presented my Think Outside The Group! session. Slides and queries were posted in my previous blog here. There’s also some stuff I want to add to this session, but I need some time to think on it. I’m not going to lie, I’m pooped! But it was a great experience participating in all the SQL Saturdays I went to and seeing other great speakers presentations. I got some great ideas on how to make inspiring slide decks from Mark Vaillancourt (blog | twitter) and Doug Lane (blog |twitter ). I personally hate PowerPoints, both sitting through them and presenting them (there’s a reason my sessions are mostly demos), but these guys really know how to make the most of them. Oh, and they had great content besides!
In fact, I don’t think I attended a single bad session. If you haven’t been to a SQL Saturday, they are a great way to meet some amazing people and learn some cool stuff. And it’s free! Get out there! Thanks to all the organizers of these great events, you do a lot of hard work and it shows. Go find your local SQL Saturday organizer and hug them! Or give them chocolate, whichever they prefer 
