I made my previous blog post right before leaving for PASS 2009 Summit. I wanted to write a short summary of my experience at PASS ever since I was back, but a couple of critical work assignments kept me busy for the last few weeks.

Flight from New York to Seattle

I had a great flight from New York to Seattle. It was a non-stop 4.30 hours Delta flight which took me to Seattle around 12.30 PM on 1st November. During the flight, I read half of the book SQL Server 2008 Encryption written by my MVP friend Michael Coles and Forwarded by another MVP friend Pinal Dave. The other half I read during my flight back to NY :-). It is a great book and Michael has explained the encryption concepts right from its history, in such a way that experts as well as beginners will understand it alike.

 In Seattle, once again

This was my third visit to Seattle and I was pretty much familiar with the city and the transportation. I had a comfortable travel from airport to my hotel. I did not take many pictures of the city this time, except for a photograph of the electric bus (to show my 6 year old daughter)

Getting to the Washington State Convention Centre

Washington State Convention Centre was all prepared to receive all the attendees and the people at PASS Head Quarters did a great job making all the necessary arrangements. The registration process was hassle free.

The PASS Ribbons

One of the very interesting accessory that attendees receive as part of their welcome kit is the colorful ribbons issued to each attendee based on their achievement, involvement and responsibilities with PASS. And here is what I got.

Jacob Sebastian, Pinal Dave and Jean Rene Roy

My PASS 2009 Presentation – Creating and using XML Schema Collections

This was my second PASS Summit and the key excitement for me was my own presentation on Tuesday evening. My presentation was on XML Schema Collections which explained the basics of XML Schema collections and had a number of very interesting demos.

My presentation was based on my recent book The Art of XSD – SQL Server XML Schema Collections where I have explained SQL Server XML Schema Collections from basics to advanced levels in close to 500 pages.

The session was quite exciting and we had an interesting time doing the Q&A. What was more exciting for me was the presence of Michael Rys, the Lead Program Manager for XML at Microsoft SQL Server Product Team.

Taking Part in Book Signing

Another interesting experience was the Book Signing program organized by the PASS Program Committee. I could meet a number of people working with XML Schema collections and grabbed copies of my book. It was my pleasure talking to them and autograph the copies of my book that they bought at the PASS book store.

Book Signing - Jacob Sebastian and Steve Simon 

Book Signing – Jacob Sebastian and Craig Reitan

A glimpse at the First Version of SQL Server

I started my SQL Server career with SQL Server Version 6.5. During one of the key-note sessions, I got a chance to see the retail package of the first version of SQL Server. It was quite interesting and exciting.

The retail package of the first version of SQL Server

My Favorite Sessions at PASS Summit

I had a wonderful time attending a number of sessions at the PASS Summit. It was quite exciting to be in the sessions of my favorite speakers Michael Rys, Rushabh Mehta and Michelle Ufford.

Michael Rys presenting on SQL Server SPATIAL Indexes

Rushabh Mehta Presenting on SSIS Deployment Challenges

Michelle Ufford presenting on the Challenges in managing Very Large Databases

Experience Summary

My Experience at PASS Summit 2009 was great. Getting to Seattle from India usually takes around 36 hours which includes the flying time (around 21 hours) and the transfer/wait time at various airports (which obviously is not very easy). However, looking at what I gained from PASS Summit 2009, these difficulties are not even worth mentioning.

I learned quite a lot from the different technical sessions and the interactions I did with other industry experts. I had a chance to discuss a number of issues that I experienced in various assignments, with people having expertise in those specific areas.

I had a great time networking/meeting other industry experts. This was the first time I presented in a PASS Summit and that was a great experience too. The various events that the PASS HQ people organized, such as MVP Lunch (Birds of a feather lunch), Book Signing program, Microsoft Insiders sessions, meetings of volunteers, chapter leaders and regional mentors etc gave me a great experience and were very helpful in my growth as a member of SQL Server and PASS community.

Thank you PASS and thank you everyone for the time you spent to meet me and talk to me at PASS 2009 Summit.