SQLAuthority News – MVP Summit 2009 – Day 3 – Party Day and SQL Celebrity Photos

Day 3 of MVP Summit 2009 gave me a dream meeting and plenty of SQL celebrity photos to share. I finally met Kalen Delaney, a legendary author of SQL Server books.

If I hadn’t met Kalen today, my trip to the USA wouldn’t have felt complete. I’m waiting for the release of the famous book Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Internals. I’ll be the first to buy it. I wish I could get an early copy, because I can’t wait.

I found out that Ross Mistry, the famous SQL author, reads my blog every day. In my Day 2 post I asked Ross for a signed review copy, and Ross has done it. I’m going to read the book and write my review. Ross told me all my earlier criticism was taken constructively and fixed in this edition.

Business Intelligence has always fascinated me, and I’ll take any chance to learn this important skill. Today I met two legendary SQL BI gurus. Jessica M Moss is an expert in BI, and I was fortunate to discuss my skills with Jessica. After talking, I realized I have a lot to learn.

Rushabh Mehta is a BI and SQL Quality Learning mentor, and a well-known personality in the SQL Server world. Meeting Rushabh was one of my most unforgettable experiences.

We had an in-depth discussion about PASS Chapters in India and worldwide. I realized how many activities PASS runs, with Rushabh as Executive Vice President. I’m fortunate to know both SQL BI gurus.

I’m also thankful to our MVP Lead Abhishek Kant. Abhishek keeps encouraging MVPs to take part in activities and bring out their own talent.

On the second day of the summit, Jacob Sebastian won an award for most comments on MSDN. I received an award for most contributing MVP of last year. The first photograph shows Jacob and me with our gifts, standing with Abhishek Kant.

Last but not least, we had an interesting party in the evening. This was the night the MVPs rocked. They sang nearly 30 different rock songs, and the whole place was full of music.

We visited the Music Museum and the Space Museum. Because of the NDA and copyright issues, I won’t write about the visit. If you’re in Seattle, visit the museums as well as the Space Needle.

I have more than 100 photos of our rock star party, but I can’t share many of them. They would violate the privacy of other MVPs.

MVPs from around the world stepped out of their serious professional shells and rocked the place with dance and songs. There are nearly 40 photos of our song and one video. I’m sharing only the most decent photo, to show how much fun we had.

Michael Coles, under the nickname DJ SQL, led our rock band. You can read about Michael in my Day 2 post. Allen White, Pinal Dave, Rick Heiges and our favorite Steve Jones were cheerSQL for Michael. The song was awesome, but the most interesting part was our cheering dance.

I have a funny and hilarious video of it, but it’s for private viewing only and won’t be shared. If you find a copy online, please notify me and I’ll act on it immediately.

Today was one of the most eventful days. We had great tech sessions in the morning, then meetings with some of the smartest BI people on the planet. The party rocked, with the museum visit, the networking and our cheering dance.

Tomorrow is the last day of my four-day MVP Summit, and I’m sad it’s about to end. I’ll have some good information to share tomorrow.

Here’s my travel itinerary so far:

• Feb 27, 2009: Departing Ahmedabad to Mumbai
• Feb 28, 2009: Departing Mumbai to Seattle Sheraton Hotel
• March 1, 2009: Day 1 at MVP Summit
• March 2, 2009: Day 2 at MVP Summit
• March 3, 2009: Day 3 at MVP Summit
• March 4, 2009: Day 4 at MVP Summit
• March 5, 2009: Departing Seattle to Toronto
• March 6, 2009: Tech User Group Meeting, Markham, Canada
• March 7, 2009: Departing Toronto to Mumbai
• March 8, 2009: Missing day due to crossing the International Date Line
• March 9, 2009: Arriving in Ahmedabad

More from MVP Summit 2009

• Announcement: MVP Global Summit 2009 in Seattle and Redmond
• The journey begins
• Database industry discussion from London Airport to Sheraton Seattle
• Day 0: About Pinal Dave
• Day 1: Summit welcome and keynotes
• Day 2: Most contributing MVP of the year
• Day 3: Party day and SQL celebrity photos (this post)
• Day 4: Keynote of Steve Ballmer
• South Asian MVPs at Global MVP Summit 2009
• Complete wrapup of the Microsoft MVP Summit 2009 trip
• Video interview published online

Published by Pinal Dave on SQLAuthority. More of my work at pinaldave.com.