So in just under 5 weeks we will have upon us a great event.
The combination of a SQLSaturday and a SharePoint Saturday all under the 1 roof at The Moller Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge.
This isn’t the first time an event like this has happened and it is unlikely to be the last time it happens either - but for me this is a first.
Its a first for a number of reasons - not only is it the first joint SQL & SharePoint event I’ve been to but it will be the first that I’m presenting at!
I will be writing some blog posts that cover the content for at the event and will post these after the event including links to any materials that I will be handing out.
Considering that I really only caught the presenting bug back in April of this year at my Local SharePoint User Group this along with SPSLondon is a big step up in the community events and I am really looking forward to the day and more so to get the response from the audience.
I intend to have a short survey for after the session as to allow me to gauge potential improvement areas - something that I’m very passionate about is giving and receiving feedback and with every event like this I believe that feedback of any type can be used to improve the following sessions.
There will be a lot of really great sessions there and its events like this where I look at the schedule and think “I need to clone myself for the day” so that I can attend all of the sessions that I’d enjoy attending.
For me that is the crux of events like this - its not just a simple divide between attendees and presenters. There is nothing stopping an attendee becoming a presenter and that is where the local user groups are a great starting ground and I would highly advise having a short chat with the organisers of your local user groups (be it SharePoint, SQL, Exchange, PowerShell etc) about giving a presentation to the group.
You may find that you enjoy being a presenter (like i have) and wish to continue down that path or you may find that its not for you. But what i do know is that the organisers of the User Groups will be accommodating of you if you choose to go down that route.
For more details on the SQL & SharePoint Saturday please visit the below links
I for one would like to see more of these joint events take place even if it is just one a year and a big shout out to Mark Broadbent @retracement for the organisation of this epic event and giving me the opportunity to give back to the community yet again this year.
So lastly if you see me at the event come and say Hi and tell me a little about your reasons for attending.
See you there!