SQL Saturday Syracuse 2024 Recap

First Things First

Thanks to every who came to my session, Asnwering the Auditor’s Call with Automation. Slides and scripts are posted to my Github.

The Event!

This was Syracuse’s first SQL Saturday was held at the Onondaga County Public Library’s Central Library location, right downtown. This made it a bit of a “homecoming” for me. My first job out of college was across the street from this building and my colleagues and I used to eat lunch in the (no longer there) food court. I haven’t been to this part of downtown Syracuse since 2005, and downtown Syracuse at all since 2019. A lot has changed!

I was asked by the lead organizer to say a few words at the event kickoff. I rambled a bit, but talked about the community, the importance of networking at SQL Saturdays, and the upcoming SQL Saturday Boston and PASS Data Community Summit.

Attendance was good for for a first SQL Saturday without a corresponding user group in the city. It was the first SQL Saturday for almost every attendee, which is great! I saw a lot of people talking and making connections, which is what these events are all about. Much of the day for me was spent meeting new folks and catching up with others I hadn’t seen in a while. Even spent some time brainstorming a couple dbatools challenges one attendee was facing.

After things wrapped up, a few of us walked over to Salt City Market to grab some dinner. This is fairly new to the city, and I wish it was around when I was working there. They have a great variety of international restaurants and I had a hard time deciding what to get.

Looking Forward

Talking with the organizers and volunteers, I’m optimistic that this won’t be a one-time event and I’m looking forward to what comes next. I’d love to come back and present again at the next SQL Saturday, or even a user group meeting if that gets started up.