Speaking Events
I love presenting and I love conversation. I learn immensely from both. I typically speak on topics including scalability, SQL Server, software engineering, and operations engineering.
If you see me present in person, please let me know what you think! I’d love it if you came up to say hi afterwards and let me know what you think in person.
If there’s not time or if you see me present online, I’d love to hear from you in session evaluation forms, comments on my blog, or by email. My contact info is here.
Upcoming Events
Speaking at SQL Saturday #61
November 9 – There’s Something About Nolock
Technology Triage Tuesday Webcast
The NOLOCK hint: we all use it sometimes, and some of us use it almost all the time. In this session Kendra Little shows three phenomena which will cause you to look differently at the NOLOCK hint. If you have two years of experience working with TSQL and database structures, this session is for you. Register for the free webcast.
Past Events
October 13 - No More Bad Dates: Best Practices for Working With Dates and Times
SQL PASS Summit 2011
Dates and times seem simple at first. Kendra Little will show you there’s more to it than you think. She’ll give you five best practices that will help you select the right temporal data type, avoid common issues, and use the most effective techniques to aggregate data. She’ll also explain painful problems with query performance and how to avoid them. Choose wisely: the correct types and high performing data access logic will scale well and save development and administrative time.
A recording of this will be available on the PASS Summit DVDs. Check out my resources page at http://BrentOzar.com/go/dates
October 8 - No More Bad Dates: Best Practices for Working With Dates and Times
SQLSaturday Oregon
Dates and times seem simple at first. Kendra Little will show you there’s more to it than you think. She’ll give you five best practices that will help you select the right temporal data type, avoid common issues, and use the most effective techniques to aggregate data. She’ll also explain painful problems with query performance and how to avoid them. Choose wisely: the correct types and high performing data access logic will scale well and save development and administrative time.
September 27 – Seven Strategic Discussions About Scale
SQL Saturday #84, Kalamazoo
Do you see problems in your databases daily, but it’s difficult to make real changes? DBAs naturally begin performance tuning in the relational database: find what’s performing poorly, then troubleshoot from the database layer outward. This leads to incremental, targeted requests for changes to the application layer. Kendra Little has been there and she’s figured out how to frame the big conversations. She’ll give you seven strategies to improve scale and change application architecture, and explain concepts from sharding to caching along the way. You’ll get a toolkit for each conversation: how to gather the right supporting data from the environment, who to talk to, and how to speak the right language to drive big changes.
September 22 – NOLOCK or YESFUN? The Right Approach to Transaction Isolation
Kendra Little, In Person at PDXSSUG
Do you live in the Portland area? Come on out to the Portland SQL Server user group (PDXSSUG) to meet Kendra and feed your inner geek.
Understanding transaction isolation is critical if you want to write highly concurrent software, administer databases like a pro, and impress your neighbors. We’ll discuss the benefits and problems of each isolation level in SQL Server. We’ll talk about practical changes you can make to provide the right level of concurrency for your users. We’ll focus on how to identify applications which are good candidates for optimistic locking, and how to plan, execute, and monitor changes in your default isolation level. A poster will be available for download to keep your knowledge fresh after the session.
September 20 – How to Design Smarter Indexes
Kendra Little, Tech Triage Tuesday
How do you know which indexes to create to improve your database performance?
Kendra Little shows you how to find a missing index, decide on the best index definition, and measure the usefulness of your new index. If you know the basics of what a database index does and want to learn the smart way to design indexes, this talk is for you. Register here!
August 30 -Tell Me Where It Hurts: Three Cures for the Common Slow
West Michigan SQL PASS Chapter (remotely)
Does your SQL Server sometimes just feel “slow”? Kendra Little knows how to quickly diagnose the ‘Common Slow’: long running queries, application timeouts, and maintenance jobs that get longer every week. Kendra shows how to find where it hurts and select the cure– and how to avoid killing the patient.
August 16 – Five Ways To Fight Blocking
Triage Tuesday Webcast - 9:30 AM Pacific / 11:30 AM Central / 12:30 PM Eastern
What do *you* do when your database has a problem with blocking? Most people reach for the “NOLOCK” hint. Bad news: that may introduce other problems, and it doesn’t truly resolve the root problem in your application code. In this webcast Kendra Little summarizes five big-picture application changes that fight blocking long term.
This 300 level talk is designed for developers and DBAs who understand table structures, index structures, and common query patterns. We’re going to keep things general: no demos, just concept discussions.
August 16 -Tell Me Where It Hurts: Three Cures for the Common Slow
Salem, Oregon SQL Server User Group (in Person) 5:30 PM Pacific
Does your SQL Server sometimes just feel “slow”? Kendra Little knows how to quickly diagnose the ‘Common Slow’: long running queries, application timeouts, and maintenance jobs that get longer every week. Kendra shows how to find where it hurts and select the cure– and how to avoid killing the patient.
August 9 – (NOLOCK) or YESFUN? The Right Approach to Transaction Isolation
PASS Application Development Virtual Chapter
Understanding transaction isolation is critical if you want to write highly concurrent software, administer databases like a pro, and impress your neighbors. We’ll discuss the benefits and problems of each isolation level in SQL Server. We’ll talk about practical changes you can make to provide the right level of concurrency for your users. We’ll focus on how to identify applications which are good candidates for optimistic locking, and how to plan, execute, and monitor changes in your default isolation level. A poster will be available for download to keep your knowledge fresh after the session.
July 26 – The Mystery of Query Timeouts
Brent Ozar PLF Tuesday Tech Triage, 9:30 AM Pacific / 11:30AM Central / Noon thirty Eastern
“People are complaining about query timeouts. I don’t see anything happening in SQL Server, but they always say the database is the problem. How can I tell what’s really going on?”
When your users keep hitting timeouts in their application, they naturally think the database is killing off helpless queries. In this webinar Kendra Little will tell you how to triage treacherous timeout situations and collect hard evidence about whether or not the problem is in the database. Do the right detective work and you can turn your frustrated users and irate developers into raving fans.
This session will be 200-level – you should have familiarity with OLTP concepts and understand what DMVs and Profiler are, but you don’t have to be an expert with them.
SQLCruise Alaska
May 21, 2011
I caught a transaction, and it was THIS BIG
I gave a deep-dive session on transaction isolation levels on SQLCruise Alaska, with new detailed demos of unexpected phenomena.
SQL Rally, Orlando, Florida
May 11-13 2011
I presented Table Partitioning at SQL Rally in Orlando Florida, on May 11-13. This was a diverse and strong event. Read more about my presentation here.
Adelaide SQL Server User Group
April 18, 2011
I presented “(NOLOCK) for YESFUN: Games with Isolation Levels” to the SQL Server user group in Adelaide, Australia.
SQLPeople, Richmond, Virginia
April 9, 2011
I spoke at the inaugural SQLPeople Event in Richmond, Virginia on April 9, 2011. This was a unique event with a different kind of talk. I spoke on “Defining ‘Vocation’: Individuals, corporations, and technology.” Check out SQLPeople.
24 Hours of PASS
March 15, 2011
I presented “No More Bad Dates: Best Practices for working with Temporal Values in SQL Server” for 24 HOP. It was a great event, and sessions can now be viewed online.
SQLSaturday #65, Vancouver, BC
February 26, 2011
I presented “No More Bad Dates: Temporal Values in SQL Server.” What a fun audience in Vancouver– thanks for all the great conversation.
SQLSaturday #60, Cleveland, OH
February 5, 2011
I presented “(NOLOCK) for YESFUN: Games with Isolation Levels” and “Big and Tall: Introduction to Table Partitioning.” Cleveland had a great showing on a snowy day and I loved all the Q&A about partitioning.
SQL Saturday #61, Washington DC / Northern Virginia
December 4, 2010
I presented “Big and Tall: Introduction to Table Partitioning” in Northern Virginia. This event was great fun and I enjoyed meeting everyone in the NoVA SQL community.
SQL PASS
November 2010
Quiz Bowl
My SQLPASS Quiz Bowl team won this year! Props to the raccoon hand puppet.
Chalk Talk
I gave a Chalk Talk at SQLPASS on Agile Database Operations.
Lightning Talk
I gave a lightning talk advocating peer-review based change management instead of approval based systems.
SQLSaturday #50, East Iowa
September 18, 2010
I presented sessions on the SQL Server Data Collector and Administering Databases in an Agile Environment. East Iowa is a great place to visit, and I had a great time at the conference and after the event as well.
SQLSaturday #51, Nashville, TN
August 21, 2010
I gave a talk about the SQL Server Data Collector in Nashville. This was a really dynamic SQL Saturday and I got to be on a trivia panel— and somehow remembered the code name of Reporting Services for SQL Server 2005.
CBUS Pass User Group
August 12, 2010
I presented to the Columbus SQLPASS User Group on how to be a DBA working in an Agile development environment.
