A few weeks ago, I did something insane. I wrote and presented a new presentation at Day of Data Richmond 2026. More on that in a minute.

This was my second year in a row in Richmond and this year hit a bit differently, and also exactly the same. Jamie Wick was not completely in charge and it was Wayne Sheffield’s last time in charge. This year Jamie threw a great conference, and it felt like home.

As is often true, the hallway/speaker room/lunch track was pretty awesome and I saw plenty of familiar faces and had a few nice sessions (and one that gave me a few exciting ideas for when I got back to my desk. So many that I didn’t get around to publishing this fast enough!

My session

This was the first time I did my “SQL Techniques You Should Know” session, and it was a 2 hour time slot, and I hit that time right on the nose. I think I did a bit too much on Window functions for my (and perhaps a few attendee’s liking), but I did cover an array of items. I will be doing this session again on May 17 in Raleigh as a 1 hour session, so I will cut back on the Window function demos considerably (and hopefully will have started writing posts on them to link to by then.

And for the first time in a very long time, I remembered to take a picture before I started!

I look forward to coming back to Richmond next year, along with my little friend the Redgate Hypno Slug. I don’t know why I love it so much, but it is mesmerizing!

The Scenic Route

This trip back was one of my worst ever in terms of finding something interesting. I tried several things along the way, and they were closed or cost too much to park just to hang out for 15 minutes or so. (Looking at you Virginia State Park) Really the only interesting thing I saw worth mentioning was at this antique mall called Snoopers in Wytheville, VA.

I have stopped at there for 20+ years on my way to Virginia Beach and Richmond to stretch my legs, and I have found some neat things there, but this haunts my dreams, and now it can haunt yours.

I didn’t buy it, nor was I tempted to, but I snapped a picture so the memory would always be available.