Top 3 Questions Before Submitting to a SQL Saturday

Hello Dear Reader!  We are coming up upon the 9th SQL Saturday for Orlando.  Orlando is where SQL Saturday began, and the home to some pretty amazing speakers.

We, the SQL Saturday Orlando Team, are hard at work getting ready for the event.  Our Call for Speakers ends on July 10th, just 15 days from now.  

So hurry up and get those submissions in!

"So Balls", you say, "How do I deal with the rejection if I don't get selected?  How do I submit a Presentation? Why would I want to submit to be a Speaker?"

Great questions Dear Reader.  As always you are on top of your game!  Let's dive right in!


1. HOW DO I DEAL WITH THE REJECTION IF I DON'T GET SELECTED?

Simple answer, in Orlando you don't.  SQL Saturday was invented and founded by SQL MVP & SQL Saturday Orlando Committee member Andy Warren(@SQLAndy | Blog).  The main thought behind it was to grow the next generation of SQL Server Speakers.  In 2007 Andy saw the need to grow the pool of professionals that spoke at SQL Server events.  He knew the value of expanding the community.

My first SQL Saturday was #49 in Orlando as an attendee.  Since then I've been on the Speaker Selection Committee since 2011.  When I started I asked my friend, and one half of my future law firm of Biguns & Balls, Jack Corbett (@UncleBiguns | Blog) what do I need to know about this position?  How do I pick who makes it and who doesn't?  His answer (and I'm paraphrasing, it was 4 years ago).

"You make room for everyone.  This is about growing the community.  You, Kendal, Andy, none of you speak unless there is room.  Everybody who submits get's a spot.  We encourage new Speakers, friends we haven't seen present in a while, MVP's, people from Microsoft, we cast a net and we give the community a place to gather and share."

And we do.

I'm proud to say that my co-partner in crime on the Speaker Committee SQL MVP Rodney Landrum (@SQLBeat | Blog)  and I have never rejected anyone.  We've helped tweak abstracts, had experience speakers sit with new speakers, and provide direct feedback after their presentation.  We've done what we needed to in order to help them give them a spot.  In all that time we've never rejected anyone and we are not about to start now.

2. HOW DO I SUBMIT A PRESENTATION

Don't worry, it's easy.  I'll give you some quick advice, but I walk through this in a lot of detail in a blog that I had written for SQL Saturday 85, click here to review.

First write an abstract, NOT a presentation.  Why you may ask?  Because it takes  a lot of time to write your presentation.  It takes a couple minutes to an hour to write an Abstract.

What's an Abstract?  It is the description of your presentation.  Here are a couple sample abstracts below that I had previously written about.  By the way, I never used these, I never developed a presentation on them so you could have at them Dear Reader.

The Top 10 Things Your Developers Should Know

It’s not easy being a DBA, heck it’s not easy being a Developer.  Too often DBA’s and Developers are put at odds, are we two different species, are they from Venus and we’re from Mars, Why wasn't the Green Lantern the movie more successful?  There are a lot of questions and you want Answers!  Come and find out the top 10 things you Developers should know about SQL Server and a friendly way you can present them.

So there we go, we start off with the statement, “It’s not easy being a DBA, heck it’s not easy being a developer.”  We don’t want to alienate anybody you get just as many developers, managers, and other folks at a SQL Saturday as you do DBA’s.  And then the Question Why wasn't the Green Lantern Movie more successful Why do we have such a hard time communicating?  Then present the solution, and suggest a Take-Away-Item that people will get by attending your presentation. “There are a lot of questions and you want Answers! Come and find out the top 10 things you Developers should know about SQL Server and a friendly way you can present them.”  

Notice I made a couple light hearted jokes in the abstract, you don’t have to do that. That's more my thing.  So let’s do one more that is a little more serious.

Surrogate Keys vs. Natural Keys – The Great Debate

An essential part of Database Design is looking at the keys that you’ll have in your tables, You want to make sure that you’ve got a Primary key right?  But do you want that key to be Natural or Surrogate? What is the difference between Natural and Surrogate Keys, What is the Sort order on a Page, and How can they affect performance?  What do I want for an OLTP system vs. an OLAP system?  Come find out as we take a step by step process that will build and compare each!

No jokes this time Dear Reader, kind of like an anti-mullet, no Party in the back and all business up front.   

Once your abstract get's selected THEN you write the presentation.  In order to do that you have to submit.

You do NOT need to be on Twitter, LinkedIn, or have a blog.  Those are optional, but they do help with your personal branding.  Long term you should consider those things.  But you have time to do that!

Submit to SQL Saturday 442 Orlando by Clicking Here.


3. WHY WOULD I WANT TO BE A SPEAKER?

If you liked his presentation,
go buy Simon's book

It's important to start with Why.  I cannot tell you your why.  I can't.  It is for you to decide.  I can tell you my Why.  That's mine not your's, and I would encourage you to listen to Simon Sinek's great presentation on that.  It's only 18 minutes, and it has the potential to change your perspective and by proxy your life.  Go ahead and watch.  I'll wait.

Okay did you go listen?  Seriously!  After I said the whole change your life and perspective thing!  Really!?!  Go watch, click here.

Okay, if you still didn't do it I'm not going to turn into The Monster at The End Of This Book.

My Why.  I love empowering myself and people with knowledge.  I do this by trying to make complex concepts simple and relatable.  I just happen to do this through presenting, writing, and consulting.  Would you like to come to my presentation?  If you watched the video, you see exactly what I did there.

If you don't know your Why, finding it is half the fun.  Being a speaker can help you along that path as well.

Networking and opportunities are certainly a part of the package, but they are a result of What you do not Why you do it.  Look at your Why and if it leads you here we'd love to have you!

You don't have to speak.  You can be an attendee, a volunteer, or just come for the coffee, donuts, and conversations.  After all this is all about community!

WRAP IT UP

What are you doing still reading this blog!  Go submit, and if Orlando is not close to you head over to SQLSaturday.com and find a SQL Saturday near you, I'm sure they'd love to have you speak as well!


As always, Thanks for stopping by.

Thanks,

Brad