SQLSaturday Baton Rouge 2016!

Free SQL Server, SharePoint and .NET training

SQLSaturday is a global event to bring Information Technology speakers and professionals together for a community-driven, community-attended free day of technical training. The Baton Rouge SQLSaturday event is sponsored by the Baton Rouge SQL Server and .NET User Groups, and will be our annual event on campus at LSU. We expect 600+ regional IT professionals and national speakers to join us. This free conference is open to the public and is perfect for students, CIO's, database administrators, developers, IT managers, server admins and job-seekers. 

REGISTER HERE

Then...

VOLUNTEER HERE

What: 

An all day FREE training event with SQL Server, Development and SharePoint related sessions spread out over multiple tracks of Business Intelligence, Database Administration, SQL Development, SharePoint, IT Pro and .NET development. 

Who Attends SQLSaturday? 

Folks with the following skillsets are drawn to SQL Saturday Baton Rouge because of the professional networking, free training, and giveaways:

• SQL Server Administrators
• Business Intelligence Developers
• Data Analysts
• ETL Developers
• C#/VB.NET Developers
• Mobile Developers
• Windows Server Admins
• SharePoint Architects
• SharePoint Developers
• Network Administrators
• Quality Assurance Analysts
• IT Managers
• Students
• Project Managers
• Hiring Managers
• Jobseekers of all levels of experience
• Students
• CIO's
• CEO's

At the end of 2015, we polled our user group membership and got this amazing feedback on SQLSaturday Baton Rouge #423 in August of 2015:

"As a former speaker and attendee at Sql Saturday, I must say you guys knock the ball out of the park with SQL Saturday. You guys put on a top notch event for both presenters and attendees."

"SQL Saturday is always top-notch!"

"SQL Saturday is always on point. Love this event and always promote it to other groups."

"I am happy that the talks are open to more topics than just .Net and MSSQL"

When:

Saturday, August 6, 2016. Online registration is now open, but it is filling up fast so reserve your spot now. Attendee check-in will begin at 8:00 AM first sessions beginning at 9:15 AM. A full list of session tracks and schedule is available.

[UPDATED] Training To-Do List for New DBA

Are you an entry-level DBA, or looking to make the career switch? Feel like you are looking up from the bottom of a very tall ladder? Don't have much of a budget for training?

Here's a list of resources I'd recommend [updated in July 2023], in no particular order. Each of these are action-oriented tasks that I would (and have) assigned to a new-to-the-job junior DBA on my team.

• Find and join an Azure Data Tech User Group near you. 
• What happened to PASS? After financial collapse, PASS folded and was reorganized as an annual conference operated by RedGate. Many local in-person user groups have remained and need your help re-growing after the pandemic, so join in whatever capacity you can!
• See also:
• Data Weekender
• Azure Tech Groups
• Microsoft Reactors
• Data Toboggan
• Data Driven
• Register for the next SQLSaturday Baton Rouge (usually in July or August), or the nearest SQLSaturday or DataSaturday. Free Saturday conferences are a great way to jumpstart your learning, grow your local network, and even get started as a technical speaker. 
• Somewhere in the world, a free Saturday community event is held almost every week.
• Register to volunteer too! Great for networking.
• Look for all-day pre-cons on the Friday before - they are usually a bargain for the quality and quantity of training.
• Check out all the self-guided labs and walkthroughs for SQL Server on Microsoft Learn, including these learning paths, each with many modules, such as:
• Azure SQL fundamentals
• Get Started Querying with Transact-SQL
• Understand data concepts
• Watch Azure SQL for Beginners content:
• Special Edition: Performance Troubleshooting
• Programming Databases with T-SQL for Beginners
• Microsoft Cert DP-900 is a fundamentals-level exam designed for newcomers, students, and learners working in Azure SQL platforms (such as Azure SQL Database or Azure SQL Managed Instance). DP-900 can be taken remotely via virtual proctor or in-person and is a great first goal to aim for.
• Learn more about DP-900: Microsoft Certified: Azure Data Fundamentals and all the free prep content available, including:
• The free 50-question practice test from Microsoft.
• Free learning paths on Microsoft Learn, and lots more information and prep material.
• If you're going to be working in Azure, consider AZ-900 too, a great fundamentals-level exam about Azure in general.
• Register at SQL Server Central and look into some of the "Stairways". Pay special attention to:
• Stairway to SQL Server Security: http://www.sqlservercentral.com/stairway/110890/
• Stairway to SQL Server Indexes: http://www.sqlservercentral.com/stairway/72399/
• Stairway to Transaction Logs: http://www.sqlservercentral.com/stairway/73776/
• Stairway to Integration Services: http://www.sqlservercentral.com/stairway/72494/
• Codecademy.com free online learning labs for various languages including non-vendor specific tutorials on the SQL language standard:
• Learn SQL
• How to Analyze Business Metrics with SQL
• How to Transform Tables with SQL
• Codecademy also has tutorials on other languages including python, very useful in data science
• Pluralsight.com contains many hours of high quality instructional videos for many, many technical platforms.
• edX is a platform with tons of self-paced learning content, just check out all the stuff they have for the keyword SQL.
• edX offers a Microsoft-partnered, self-paced, 5-6 week Querying Data course.
• There are inexpensive training classes at LinkedIn Learning (formerly Lynda.com), for example Microsoft SQL Server 2022 Essential Training.
• Free video training content:
• Watch Data Exposed, produced by the Azure SQL product teams, for the latest 
• Check out SQL Server's content on YouTube and Azure SQL's YouTube channel
• UserGroup.TV recordings of SQLSaturday and usergroups sessions.
• There are a ton of books out there for SQL Server (though not as many as there used to be) and the goal of this blog post isn't to do a book review any in particular. 
• Here's an incomplete, not-exhaustive list to check out first. If you want, please add some to this list in the comments of this blog post. Special emphasis on free here.
• Yep, I was the lead author on this exhaustive look at SQL administration with SQL Server 2022 Administration Inside out by Microsoft Press, available anywhere that sells books. It isn't entry-level but is a good reference for any part of your career. I recommend it with the full caveat that I receive a small royalty on it.
• Learn dbatools in a Month of Lunches (also not free, but highly recommended)
• Azure Architects Connect: SQL on Azure (2022) (free PDF)
• SQL Sentry eBooks series: High Performance Techniques for SQL Server (free)
• SQL Server PDF's from Red-Gate (free)
• SQL Server Execution Plans (PDF) by Grant Fritchey (free)
• Brad’s Sure Guide to SQL Server Maintenance Plans (free)
• Build your local sandbox:
• Install the querying tools: SSMS or Azure Data Studio
• Download SQL Server developer edition, free install on Windows (for non-production use)
• Or get SQL Server running in Docker on Windows
• Keep learning:
• Follow the SQL Server blog
• Follow the fast-moving Azure SQL techcommunity blog
• Follow the Azure SQL Devs' Corner
• What's New in Azure SQL?

Got additions and suggestions? Please add them to the comments in this blog post.

UPDATE: 9/30/2019 - new bit to replace MVA, add PASStv

UPDATE: 7/30/2023 - refreshed sources and links