This month the host is Steve Hughes/Data on Wheels. His topic idea is “to tell us about one or more things you learned at ANY conference you have attended that has impacted you or how you work.”

Here is the link:

This is a really great invite and it really made be (continue) to ponder the big question of “Why go to conferences and sessions?” And usually the reason is “I learn something.”

Something I have thought about recently

Over the past few conferences I have been to in March/April I have been to good sessions and some not so good sessions. I have been to sessions I was interested in, and some I just wandered into. One of the most impactful of these sessions was one that really wasn’t that good overall. But there was something said in this session that really stuck in my mind and got me going.

So I had started to think about sessions I had been to over the years that had an effect on me. One of the most impactful was actually a seminar by a wonderful teacher named Dr David Rozenshtein, that gave me my really first great lessons in writing set based queries. It incited my love of graph processing in SQL. His book The Essence of SQL was one of my biggest influences.

But that wasn’t a conference. I have a couple of other examples that were also really huge.

CA World (1999 I think), Normalization Quote

I was at a Computer Associates conference, as a speaker on using the macro capabilities of the data modeling tool ERwin. I went to another session about using the tool and this was where there were a couple of simple concepts about database design that stuck with me:

• People say we shouldn’t argue about semantics. In fact one of the most important things we need to argue about is semantics. If we are using different words to mean the same things or the same words to mean different things, we are going to end up confused.
• Third normal form is often taught as the ultimate normal form, but fourth normal form violations are actually far more troublesome to deal with.

This really got me thinking about proper database design, which then led me to seek out books on database design that eventually ended up with me writing a book.

The SQL Server Launch Conference for 7.0

Prior to 7.0, I was pretty good with SQL Server internals, but certainly not great. I had been to PASS conferences and had read plenty on the subject (including, like any good developer did back in the day, read the documentation cover to cover.Yes, it was an actual book.)

Since Microsoft was completely rewriting the platform, they were doing everything they could to teach people about the internals. I don’t remember the exact session, and I have been to many internals sections since then, but I remember seeing diagrams of internal structures on that screen and it changed my understanding of the internals of the SQL Server.

Why I still go to sessions

Because I learn things that I don’t know. Sometimes it is deep, interesting things that change me. Sometimes it is things that don’t mean anything big, but stick with me. Sometimes it is something that helps me professionally.

While I love the hallway track as much as anyone, I definitely like to go to sessions!