FABCON/SQLCON Keynotes

This is the first SQLCON. Dang, does this mean I need a new streak? My PASS Data Community Summit streak isn’t getting restarted this year due to scheduling issues, but being in Atlanta again next year makes SQLCON tempting.

Over 8000 people. Second largest Microsoft Conference!

Keynote notes

There was a note about making AI agents as good as your best employees? So basically the question is how to make AI better than all but your best employee? Then why do you need any of us here? This is one of the weird vibes here. A lot of talk about AI like it can do the work of a 1000 people.

There was a product mentioned called Work IQ that sounds a bit terrifying for people, especially knowledge workers that don’t really do stuff for 8 hours a day, while being watched, not to mention providing more value without a digital trail. Can AI determine the complexity of work that a human works on and outputs something that looks simple? Thinking takes time, maybe more, maybe less than figuring out what AI did.

Release of Fabric every week. That is kind of wild (hopefully no breaking changes!)

Yay, Erin Stellato was on stage talking Management Studio! Grouping by schema in SSMS and demo of Copilot doing query tuning. Convincing for sure since Erin said it could tune as fast as as good as her (will ask her directly about that last piece some day when I remember) How likely is Copilot to get it wrong I wonder? Not that it can’t be better than a lot of people tuning the data platform. That will obviously be the weirdest part of AI, not comparing it to your top employees, but your average and below. At least AI can admit when it is wrong.

Comments about FABCON/SQLCON

I really couldn’t feel a difference between the two conference areas (it wasn’t like themed areas of Disney Word or anything), though I was mostly into SQL Sessions other than a pre-con. The buildings were huge, like monster huge. A bit grey as conference centers are getting flashier and flashier, but overall a great location. I know some of the people who run the conference of course, and I know a lot of the speakers from Microsoft and the community, but it was definitely ran wonderfully.

I will say this, I absolutely loved that they had bus transportation from the conference hotel to the venue. It made the conference feel better sized. I did realize there was a Hilton that was connected the venue, so maybe I stay there next year!

There is one trend I am not terribly keen on. Video demos. Two reasons, and only one of them is a big deal.

• The speaker doesn’t really pay attention to the code like when it is live. So they don’t have to use brain cycles to make sure the code runs
• It feels fake. I can get over this for most things, but when the demo is non-deterministic like with AI, it doesn’t always feel feasible.

The second of these isn’t a big deal, especially when demoing something from the cloud. WiFi can be a pain, and services an be down. The best versions of this are demos you can see were recorded in one messy take.

Either way, I am very much trying to find a way to get back to FABCON/SQLCON next year, same location,

Favorite experiences

Getting to proctor a precon by Matt Gordon and Joey D’Antoni on SQL Server 2025.

Going to sessions with Erin Stellato, Ed Pollack, and so many others. Seeing a few friends I hadn’t seen for years!

My first Power Hour (and perhaps my last? It was fun, but a lot 🙂

Thankfully Bob Ward is not actually retiring…ever.

Seeing some of my Redgate friends again in person was quite nice!

And finally, having a latte created by a robot (assisted by a human, and way slower than the baristas at the coffee cart and coffee shop were.)

SQL Saturday Atlanta BI

After a week of sessions im a huge building, it was nice to be in a school that is still huge for a private high school but small compared to the Georgia World Congress Center.

This conference turned into a bit of a hallway track thing for me. I spent the first hour hanging out with Steve Jones and talking about so many things, but the most important. Why give away a slug?

Mind you, this slug is now my travel companion, so it may have just been a genius move! Be sure to say hi to Hypno Slug if you see me carrying him around!.

I did hit a few sessions, one from Steve about life balance (which I had to go to just to see how he does it. My bet was he had a twin, but I did learn some really good ideas. The other session I went to was the magnificent Bob Ward showing off Hyperscale (which is not just for huge loads I learned!)

Then I gave my presentation on Relational and Dimensional Design, which seemed to turn out well enough.

And so many people it was great to see again! Just a few pictured here!

Damu and team always have a great event and I am really glad I was able to be there this year!

The Scenic Route

This trip’s first scenic route wasn’t on the drive so much as it was when I was getting back to the hotel and I decided to hoof it over the the Atlanta SkyWheel. This was my third of these Ferris wheels and my second favorite. The one in Pigeon Forge is ok, but not much to look at really. The one in Orlando is a bit better as you can see Universal, but not all that well. I also just missed sunset, which would have been quite nice.

My father worked on part of the Summer Olympics and passed before they occurred, and the fact that you could see Olympic Park was interesting to me,

Bonus Scenic Route

When I get in my car to drive back, I look for something interesting to do that won’t take a ton of time as I was ready to get home. I saw on the map, a “Cleveland, GA”. Being from Cleveland, TN, this clearly interested me.

When I get there, it is just a small town, but when I called my wife, she said “there used to be the hospital where Cabbage Patch Kits came from.” I looked it up, it is still there. And the place is petty weird.

From the celebrity photos (including Hugh Hefner?) To the psychedelic cabbage patches, it was a wild experience.

You know, next time, I guess I will go back on i-75 so I can get some Buc-ee’s nuggets. You know a place is wild when Buc-ee’s seems normal in comparison!

In conclusion

Better late than never I think, and I really hope I can be there next year!