So my adventure continues…
One short week after a successful pair of sessions in Kansas City, Rick ( b | t ) and I found ourselves back on the road to East Iowa. This road trip was much shorter, and we were able to make (and find) the happy hour event at Back Pocket Brewing in Coralville, IA. If you happen to be in Coralville, I recommend the Double Bock or Slingshot both are pretty tasty. We met up with Ed Leighton-Dick ( b | t ) first, followed by Pat Phelan ( t ) and Eric Selje ( b | t ). Later Sheila Acker ( t ) and Larry Toothman ( t ) arrived. After a couple hours of great conversations, it was close to 8:00 PM and we all proceeded to the speakers dinner. Ed picked a great Italian restaurant called Monica’s. I was able to sit next to Karla Landrum ( b | t ) and Russell Fustino ( b | t ) and had great conversations about everything from SQL Server to family and friends.
One of my primary objectives in speaking at the SQL Saturdays is getting out and meeting new people in the SQL Family, and so far so good. But now it was time to get back to my hotel and review the session materials one more time…
The next morning we made our way to the SQL Saturday #161 event. One thing was very apparent, we were in Hawkeyes Territory. Now as a side note, I saw two kilts at the SQL Saturday #159 event in Kansas City, and now here in East Iowa I am seeing another kilt, maybe this is a new trend for all SQL Saturdays…
We presented Development Tips at 11:00 AM and Reporting on Reports at 3:45 PM. We received very positive feedback and had great dialog in both sessions. Thank you to all of you that came to the sessions. I was able to see Erin Stellato ( b | t ) present on statistics, she did an amazing job! Overall I thought the event was great, Ed and his team did an amazing job organizing the schedules and the event overall. After the event we stayed and mingled at the after party for about an hour before we made our way back home to Minnesota.
The drive home to Minnesota was nice, all the stress and worries were gone and I could finally relax. As I reflected on the past two weeks, I was rather amazed of our accomplishments and realized that I am hooked on presenting at these sessions. Now I am looking forward to SQL Saturday #149 in our home town…
BTW, I just found out yesterday that both of our sessions were selected. Hope to see you there as my adventure continues…
Dave it was great meeting you and Rick in Iowa City! Good luck in Mpls; I’m so sorry I had to bail on that but hopefully we can get together soon.
Eric it was great getting to meet you in Iowa, next time you are in MN, after this next time ;), first beer is on me! Both of our sessions were picked up for #149, its a bummer that you cant make it. I will send some great content your way from the event.