2012 is here and it promises to be a big year for the SQL Server community – yes, that’s right, SQL Server Social is back and ready for its first full year of events.

Our normal slot for this month unfortunately clashes with Australia Day so we have decided to push it back by 1 week and it will now be held on Wednesday, 1st February.   I think we’re still going to count this as a January event so keep an eye out for further announcements.

This month we are also trialling a new venue, the Bull and Bear at 347 Flinders Lane, Melbourne.   The downstairs Tavern Bar is ours for the evening and is equipped with 2 pool tables (which will be on free-play for most of the evening), a pinball machine, darts and a guest appearance of a Wii console!

We’ll be there from around 5:30pm right through until 10pm (or later if you feel like it).

As usual the generous sponsorship of BizData and LobsterPot will be providing for some food and drinks specials.

Look out for the invitation via Eventbrite hitting your in-boxes in the next couple of days and we’ll see you there.

Martin

We had over 40 registrations, but apparently a number of you got lost on your way to the Sherlock Holmes Inn. We had just over 20 attendees for the evening, which I suppose isn’t too bad considering the proximity to Christmas and the Melbourne SQL Server User Group the evening before.

The theme for the evening was ‘Festive’ and only Martin Cairney and I participated. We were lucky enough to have a self-appointed photographer to hand, and Mai Bing took some great shots, all of which appear in the album below (and on our Facebook page, and our Google+ page). Please feel free to tag yourselves in the photos on Facebook and Google+.

		SQL Server Social – Christmas Edition VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

The evening was thoroughly enjoyed all thanks to our sponsors who paid for the drinks and eats at the Sherlock Holmes Inn. A big thank you goes out to BizData and LobsterPot Solutions for their ongoing support.

It was great to meet a number of new people and to catch up with old friends. Personally, I had a number of great conversations including:

• Discussing the Oracle BI offering and how SQL Server 2012 stacks up
• Power View and setting up a sandbox environment – I’ll be blogging a series on this.
• The outlook for Mobile BI in 2012 and who will be adopting it.
• Vacancies and potential hires.
• Learning about the different companies/industries that attendees work for/in.
• Planning the next event.

Martin and I were the last to leave, at around 11pm. I feel hugely satisfied by this month’s event, as even though there were fewer people than expected, the conversations that I had were informative and I made a number of new acquaintances.

Next month we are planning a games night. A night of pool (snooker/billiards/etc), darts, Wii & Xbox, among other things. We should also have a room all to ourselves! So stay tuned for the announcements and be sure to check your spam filter for emails from Eventbrite.

Thank you to everyone who attended. SQL Server Social wishes you a very Happy New Year and great start to 2012!

See you in January.

- luke

Don’t forget that we have Special Guest Peter Myers attending the event. Peter would have given his talk on Developing a Tabular BI Semantic Model at the Melbourne SQL Server User Group the previous evening, so this would be a great opportunity to chat to him in a casual setting.

It’s also a sponsored event; BizData and LobsterPot Solutions have generously donated to our cause and we will be providing food and drinks during the evening. So come hungry and thirsty!

As it stands we are up to 27 Attendees and I’m hoping we get a few more in when the remainder of the mail shots go out. And if you are attending, bring a friend and let others know about it! You can use the share links at the bottom of this post to do so.

Here’s a list of the current attendees (& twitter names):

• Luke Hayler (organiser – @lukehayler)
• Martin Cairney (organiser)
• Peter Myers (special guest)
• Ali Farahani
• Amir Fekri
• Ananth Samudrala (@RAAMU)
• Angus Bell
• Anup Pokhrel
• Bimal Fernando
• Dave Johnson (@djdba)
• Gopal Ganwani (@gganwani)
• James Wang
• Ming Bai
• Rainier Bryce (@Rainierb)
• Sean Kearns
• Sia Alavian
• Tejas Shah
• Vince Antonellie
• Vivek Pradhan (@viv3k)
• + 8 Others who declined to be mentioned here…

It’s going to be a great night!!!

Peter will be speaking about Developing an Analysis Services Tabular Project BI Semantic Model at the User Group event, so I expect that the BI contingent will be there in force. Why not extend the opportunity to come and meet him in a casual setting that’s ripe for discussion.

About Peter

Peter Myers has 13 years’ solid experience working in OLTP database design and development, DBA support and Data Warehousing/Business Intelligence with SQL Server.

Specializing in Microsoft Business Intelligence, Peter provides mentoring, technical training and course content authoring for SQL Server and Office. Specifically he works with Integration Services, Analysis Services (cubes and data mining), Reporting Services, Excel, PowerPivot and PerformancePoint Services.

He has a broad business background supported by a bachelor degree in applied economics, and he extends this with current MCITP and MCT certifications. He has been an MVP since 2006.
Peter is an established presenter and enjoys sharing his enthusiasm for Microsoft technologies by presenting at user group meetings, technical events and conferences.

Registration

So if you are keen to get a chance to chat with Peter and find out more about Tabular projects and SQL Server Analysis Services in SQL Server 2012, head on over to the registration page for SQL Server Social and sign up. The event is being sponsored by two great companies;

• BizData 
• LobsterPot Solutions 

Thanks to these sponsors we will be able to provide food and drink at the event. There will also be a prize for the Best Festive Outfit!

And if you really don’t want to talk to Peter, then come along anyway, there will be lots of other SQL Server folks in attendance who you can network with and get to know a little better. Who knows, perhaps you’ll find someone who can help you out with that technical issue you have been having at work.

Remember:

Relationships formed between people are more important than relationships formed between tables.

Peter Myers around the web

• SQL Server User Group Event
• MSDN Channel 9 SSAS Instruction videos
• SSAS Info website

From the LobsterPot website:

LobsterPot Solutions is a company that is fully dedicated to supporting the SQL Server community. Its owner, Rob Farley, has supported conferences such as SQLBits and PASS, and has had significant involvement in local user groups, including running the Adelaide SQL Server User Group for over six years. He has even been appointed as an advisor to the PASS Board of Directors, and is currently running for election to become a director. This mindset is common in all LobsterPot staff, who are all recognised faces at conferences both around Australia and in the rest of the world.

With this in mind, LobsterPot Solutions is proud to be the first sponsor of the SQL Server Social events in Melbourne, and to help coordinate the events. The SQL Server community is one of the strongest technical communities around the world, and events such as SQL Server Social help strengthen it even further. If you haven’t been to one, please make a point of adding it to your diary and getting to know more of your fellow database professionals.

SQL Server Social Christmas Edition is just a couple of weeks away. So clear your calendars and make a note to attend. Then head over to registration and sign up for what promises to be our biggest event yet.

BizData is an expert Business Intelligence services provider with a focus on enabling clients to leverage their data for better business decision making. BizData prides itself on delivering robust Business Intelligence solutions, having delivered over 200 projects to clients in the Financial Services, Manufacturing, Utilities, Health and Services industries, and provided solutions for Finance, HR, Operations, Sales, Marketing and IT departments – please see the Case Studies page for more information

BizData is a leading Microsoft Implementation Partner and has been one of the first companies in Australia to attain Gold level specializations in Business Intelligence and Portals & Collaboration.

BizData maintains a specialisation in business and technical competencies across:

• Financial Governance and Planning
• Data Integration and Management
• Reporting and Analytics
• Portals, Collaboration & Workflow
• Application Integration

For more information, please visit www.bizdata.com.au

SQL Server Social Christmas Edition is just a couple of weeks away. So clear your calendars and make a note to attend. Then head over to registration and sign up for what promises to be our biggest event yet.

SQL Server Social – Christmas Edition will be held in the week leading up to the Christmas break. So I hope that you all will still be around to join us for another great event. Here are some details:

SQL Server Social: Australia’s Premier SQL Server Networking event!

When           Wednesday 21st December 2011 5:30pm onwards
Where          The Sherlock Holmes Inn, 415 Collins Street, Melbourne
Registration  Free!
Duration       Till late!

Ready to join us? If so, head over to registration and get yourself signed up

If you are still not sure, you should know that we now have TWO sponsors on board! BizData & Lobsterpot Solutions, both MS SQL Server centric consultancies, have seen the potential of this event and have agreed to sponsor it. This means that food, and some drink, will be provided. A great BIG THANK YOU to both of these community driven companies!

And remember, this is social, so make sure you leave your feedback/comments/rants/whatever and let’s make this as interactive as possible.

- LH