Event Location:
Microsoft New York Metro District Office
11 Times Square
New York City, New York
Abstract:
You've just been told by HR that you are no longer a part of their organization. You've been kicked to the curb. You are now living in the no-man's land called unemployment. Unemployment is a scary situation. You're dealing with emotions and uncertainty. You don't know if you'll be out of work for days, weeks, or months. Fortunately, unemployment is survivable. In this session, I'll share my own experiences (and perhaps we'll talk about some of yours) with unemployment, and how I managed to get through the tough times. We'll discuss emotional impact, the job hunt, and things you can do to get yourself through this tough time. Hopefully, you'll land on your feet once again before long!
Speaker(s): Ray Kim,
Abstract:
Azure SQL Database offers a way quickly spin up new databases with minimal management requirements. However, the number of differences between on-premises SQL Server and Azure SQL Database can be overwhelming. Even worse, with DBaaS it’s not clear who is responsible for what anymore. In this session, we will cover all the basic steps of getting your first Azure SQL Database instance spun up. We’ll cover common gotchas, like firewall settings and resource locks. We’ll also dive into some more advanced options with templates, allowing you to make your processes reproducible. By the end of this presentation, you’ll understand if Azure SQL Database is the right choice for you and your needs. You’ll understand how it can simplify management and allow you to scale easily. Finally, you’ll have the confidence to go and create your own instance with ease.
Speaker(s): Jim Donahoe,
Abstract:
Most Microsoft BI developers are familiar with authoring DAX measures for SQL Server Analysis Services Tabular and Power BI projects. However, far fewer are experienced with writing DAX queries or integrating DAX queries into MSBI projects. This session includes three 20 minute segments as follows: A) DAX Query Structure and Functions B) Embedding DAX Queries into DAX Measures and C) Leveraging DAX Queries in SSRS Reports. Attendees will learn the essential concepts and functions of DAX as a query language, powerful DAX features including variables and set-based functions, and how to utilize DAX Studio to develop and test DAX queries. Each segment of this session will be supported by multiple example DAX queries and all queries will be made available for download following the event.
Speaker(s): Brett Powell,
Abstract:
Power BI is the latest and greatest data visualization and delivery service from Microsoft. Product adoption is growing rapidly. Making sure the right people see the right data is a big step in developing any Business Intelligence solution. This session will help you understand the concepts and DAX functions needed to create dynamic Power BI models for internal use for your own company, or for a multi-tenant deployment. Power BI Desktop models and Tabular models will be discussed, and we will look at some common business scenarios for securing your Power BI models.
Speaker(s): Todd Chittenden,
Abstract:
You've got the hang of writing queries and creating indexes, but once you hit F5 you have no idea what's going to happen. * Why did I get that plan? * Why didn't you use that index? * Why are you slow? In this session, we'll look a little deeper into query optimization, and why SQL Server makes the choices it does. This will be fast-paced, demo-heavy and slide-light.
Speaker(s): Erik Darling,
Abstract:
Code Generators are all the rage—BIML, JS frameworks, .NET scaffolding, even the humble templates provide by SSMS for views, stored procedures, functions. Table-driven applications allow one set of code to handle changing business needs. Metadata-driven code generation takes this a giant step further. If you can describe your code with an algorithm operating against a set of data, you can get a computer to produce the code. - Source to Target mapping documents can be used to generate the code to effect the mapping. - Service Broker activation stored procedures have a clearly defined structure. They can be mass-produced. - Standard CRUD stored procedures can be stamped out cookie-cutter fashion. - Business rules can be encoded in data and the code to implement them manufactured. Generated code has systematic errors. Fix the errors at the generator. All the code now works. If the code is so boring that a computer can produce it, why not spend your talent doing something interesting?
Speaker(s): Kevin Mackey,
Abstract:
The job of a data professional is evolving rapidly, driving many of us to platforms and technologies that were not on our radar screen a few months ago. I am certainly no exception to that trend. Most of us aren't just monitoring backups and tuning queries - we are collaborating with teams throughout the company to provide them data and insights that drive decisions. This presentation walks you through how a silly idea from a soccer podcast got me thinking about how Azure Logic Apps, sentiment analysis, and Azure SQL DB combine to provide potentially powerful insights to any company with a social media and sales presence. Join me as I walk you through building a solution that can impact your company's bottom line - and potentially yours too!
Speaker(s): Matt Gordon,
Abstract:
Constraining everything in development and testing is database size. Storage is a bottleneck, and while faster SSD/Flash is available, it is still too expensive due to the size of many databases, especially in DEV and TEST. More to the point, it takes a lot of time to push terabytes around, and time itself is expensive. The old joke about "good, fast, and cheap -- pick any two" is so true with data. Providing full databases for each developer or tester on each task of each project seems unrealistic, when each copy might require terabytes of storage, so for decades everyone has limited themselves to working in shared dev/test environments that are refreshed only every few months, where conflicts occur, quality suffers, and things move slowly. Come learn why data virtualization is the solution to a problem everyone knows. Good, fast, and cheap -- have all three with data virtualization. Be able to clone data quickly, and remove the biggest constraint to development and testing.
Speaker(s): Tim Gorman,
Abstract:
Reporting requests that are required ‘yesterday or sooner’, oft times necessitate working more efficiently and effectively. We have all been through this at one time or another. In this hands on presentation we shall be looking some of the more challenging techniques of extracting our data from our Multidimensional and Tabular Models, in addition to our Data Mining Models. We shall be utilizing concepts of ‘Openquery()’ and ‘linked servers’ as a means to extract data, in addition to looking at the way that these two concepts can help us extract our data utilizing MDX, DMX and DAX expressions; AND YET maintain the flexibility and the ability to utilize all those wonderful techniques that may be done with T-SQL.
Speaker(s): Steve Simon,
Abstract:
Welcome to SQL Saturday! If you're attending your first event, I hope you enjoy yourself! After I attended my first, I realized that I wanted to contribute -- but I didn't know how. In this presentation, I'll take you through my journey from attending my very first SQL Saturday to becoming a presenter on the SQL Saturday circuit. You can do it too -- even if you're not a SQL Server MVP!
Speaker(s): Ray Kim,
Abstract:
"I've got a locking problem", "I need to get rid of blocking," and "deadlocks are normal behavior" are all things heard way too many times. In this session targeted at the accidental or new DBA, we will walk through each of these items, what they are, what their causes are, which of them are normal behavior and which are not, and some common causes of deadlocks and excessive blocking.
Speaker(s): Randy Knight,
Abstract:
You need to deal with more security requirements in your role. How can SQL Server features help you comply? We will delve into Audit, Compliance, and Encryption. SQL 2016/2017 features like Always Encrypted will be detailed at the end.
Speaker(s): George Walters,
Abstract:
If you like being the surly IT geek who lives in a dark office and gets fed pizza under the door (i.e. a flat boxer) this session is NOT for you. However, if promotion, appreciation for what you do, and the adoration of your peers and management are appealing to you, you might want to participate in this one.
Speaker(s): Randy Knight,
Abstract:
Wonder how to get into "Power BI"? Architecture of Power BI confusing you? Listen to George Walters discuss the architecture of Power BI from rich desktop authoring, to dashboards in the cloud. We will finish with an interactive dashboard of data.
Speaker(s): George Walters,
Abstract:
While human-like deductive reasoning, inference, and decision-making by a computer is still a long time away. But, there have been remarkable gains in the application of AI techniques and associated algorithms when used to solve real-world problems. One such AI technique that can be leveraged effectively to solve problems is Deep Learning. Deep Learning is a subfield of machine learning that focuses on algorithms inspired by, and partially modeled on biological neural networks called artificial neural networks. The Microsoft Cognitive Toolkit (CNTK) is a free, easy-to-use, open-source, commercial-grade toolkit that trains deep learning algorithms to learn like the human brain. This session is meant to explain high level concepts of AI, deep learning, and neural networks using CNTK at a level that can be understood by most non-practitioners.
Speaker(s): Bhakthi Liyanage,
Abstract:
Most organizations are under pressure to speed up the software delivery cycle, whether that’s to respond more quickly to the needs of the business, the needs of your customers or just to keep up with the competition. Unfortunately the database is commonly considered a bottleneck. Without the right processes in place, database change management can slow things down, adding risk, uncertainty, and getting in the way of development and operations working together to deliver. Any organization that wants to fully benefit from a DevOps approach is going to have to overcome some specific challenges presented by the database. This session will teach you how to take DevOps principles and practices and apply them to SQL Server so that you can speed up the database delivery cycle at the same time you protect the information contained within.
Speaker(s): Grant Fritchey,
Abstract:
Moving your databases to the cloud by implementing Azure SQL Database and Azure SQL Data Warehouse can be challenging. These challenges are exacerbated by the fact that you simply don’t have as much tooling available to manage and maintain your databases. Enter Powershell. Through the use of Powershell you can much more easily maintain your Azure databases. Further, once you start using Powershell to maintain the databases, you’ll be able to automate a lot more processes within your Azure environment. This session will provide you with the core knowledge to create your own Powershell scripts and it will give you a set of foundation scripts from which you can build your own. You don’t have to feel limited on what you can do just because you’re on Azure. Powershell will empower you to get more done within your Azure database environment.
Speaker(s): Grant Fritchey,
Abstract:
The storage landscape has changed over the past few years. Whether you are still deploying physical servers, virtual machines, or using the public cloud, each has new ways to present storage for SQL Server deployments. Scale Out File Server, Storage Spaces Direct, VSAN, CSV, RDMA/InfiniBand, NVMe, and more are changing how things look on the backend, including network design. The way we approached deploying SQL Server on traditional storage solutions such as SANs often no longer applies. This session will get you caught up on what new storage options you can take advantage of and how to approach architecting your SQL Server solutions in this new, exciting world. Where possible, live demos will be shown.
Speaker(s): Allan Hirt,
Abstract:
Abstract: Most companies are faced with the ever-growing big data problem. How can IT professionals help business lines gather and process data from various sources? There have been two schools of thought when dealing with big data. Schema on write is represented by the traditional relational database. Raw data is ingested by an extract, transform and load (ETL) process. The data is stored in tables that enforce integrity and allow for quick retrieval. Only a small portion of the total data owned by the company resides in the database. Schema on read is represented by technologies such as Hadoop or PolyBase that assumed that data integrity was applied during the generation of the text files. The actual definition of the table is applied during the read operation. All the data owned by the company can reside in simple storage. Coverage: 1 - Saving files to blob storage. 2 - How to bulk insert data into Azure DB 3 - Using PolyBase to load an Azure DW 4 - Azure Automation
Speaker(s): John Miner,
Abstract:
If you're interested in Hadoop but don't know where to begin, this session will give you an idea of what you can do with the open-source platform. We will see an overview of the Hadoop architecture, becoming familiar with the overall platform and its solutions for warehousing, ETL, streaming data ingest, in-memory processing, and more. We will compare Hadoop to SQL Server to help gain an understanding of when to deploy which technology.
Speaker(s): Kevin Feasel,
Abstract:
Abstract: The process of classifying a company into an industry segment has been around since the 1950’s. Wikipedia has listed several popular taxonomies that are in current use. Some industries are more regulated and have stricter compliance regulations than others. As a database administrator, how can we provide an audit trail to a compliance officer when a security issue has occurred? Coverage: 1 – Azure Auditing using Blob Storage 2 - Table auditing using after triggers 3 - Using database triggers for object auditing 4 - Using custom stored procedures for fine grain audits
Speaker(s): John Miner,
Abstract:
The Query Store houses valuable information on performance of your queries as well as gives you great insights into your query workload and plan changes. This presentation will take a look at what’s new in the 2017 Query Store, the new adaptive query processing features and how to incorporate Query Store queries into the new SQL Operation Studio for monitoring slow running queries and analyzing waits. You will learn how to use the Query Store to quickly find plan changes, analyze performance issues and find the waits which caused them. Both DBAs and developers can increase their performance tuning skills by attending this session.
Speaker(s): Janis Griffin,
Abstract:
Times are certainly changing with Microsoft’s recent announcement to adopt the Linux operating system with the SQL Server 2017 release, and you should be prepared to support it. But, what is Linux? Why run your critical databases on an unfamiliar operating system? How do I do the basics, such as backing up to a network share or add additional drives for data, logs, and tempdb files? This introductory session will help seasoned SQL Server DBAs understand the basics of Linux and how it differs from Windows, all the way from basic management to performance monitoring. By the end of the session, you will be able to launch your own Linux-based SQL Server instance on a production ready VM.
Speaker(s): David Klee,
Abstract:
In this session I will be demonstrating how easy Power BI lets you ingest almost anything; from simple files to complex multi-file scenarios. The Power BI Desktop application lets you solve 80% of the challenges you have with data via the GUI, and the other 20% we will deal with using the Advanced Editor. We will spend time in both accordingly. In detail we will be looking at these topics: Straight up file (csv, xlsx) Scraping Web Page Data (html) Header/Footer issues Variable number of columns Multiple File Formats (think historical changes) Binding Multiple Imports into a single table Crude Error handling Attending this session you'll learn the basics of Power BI Desktop, as well as some neat tricks to get through the more complex scenarios. Additionally I will demonstrate how to deploy your home grown model into Azure Analysis Services
Speaker(s): Jens Vestergaard,
Abstract:
Do you like making things easy for yourself? Are you a database professional who has yet to feel comfortable with PowerShell? Then this session is for you. In this demo heavy session I will go over how a DBA can use PowerShell to make life easier when dealing with common, and not so common, issues and tasks. I will show you real world examples of how PowerShell and SQL Server work together, like peanut butter and jelly, to help you solve problems. We'll go on a magical journey from brief overview and simple scripts to advanced functions and modules. Leveraging the power of PowerShell we'll iterate over instances, audit servers, migrate instances, manipulate SSRS subscriptions and much more.
Speaker(s): Warren Estes,
Abstract:
As data has become increasingly vital to core businesses, it has also become more decentralized than ever. Integrating with disparate data presents its own set of challenges, with varying solutions dependent upon your environment and platform. A Linked Server is a feature of Microsoft SQL Server that allows users to execute federated queries that combine data stored in SQL Server with other linked data sources, whether that is remote SQL Server instances or other databases with ODBC connectivity. Such connections are typically configured using the OLE DB Provider. With the CData SQL Broker, users can create a Linked Server based on any of the 100+ CData ODBC Drivers and see improved performance, smarter complex query management, and more flexible installation options as compared to using the OLE DB Provider. In this talk, we will discuss the use of Linked Servers, compare the capabilities of Linked Servers created using the OLE DB Provider and CData SQL Broker, and demonstrate creati
Speaker(s): Jerod Johnson,
Abstract:
How outsource administrative tasks to your end user groups in a safe, secure, and repeatable pattern. Now you no longer have to pause and stop what you are doing to create that new login, and replicate it to your Disaster Recovery. You do not have to stop and perform a backup/restore to refresh the development environment. Empower your end users, let them do this on their own without compromising your security. There will be a demo!
Speaker(s): Stephen Mokszycki,
Abstract:
We will discuss all details of deploying SQL Server 2016 AlwasyOn on Google Cloud in real life. There are already white paper and google official document on creating AlwaysOn. However those are not ready for real production environment. I will show you all missing parts to deploy in real life on GCP
Speaker(s): Zhen Zhang,
Abstract:
Consistent and predictable performance is critical for any successful deployment of Microsoft SQL Server. All-Flash arrays have been available for years and sub-millisecond response times should be the expectation. Maximize the performance and agility of your environment and learn how to automate and leverage self-service for snapshots of your databases for protection and re-purposing. Test/dev infrastructures can be refreshed from production DBs in minutes rather than hours or days. Stop working harder and slower than you need to be, learn how you can leverage Dell EMC. Whether storage, servers, networking, data protection, converged or hyper-converged… we have you covered.
Speaker(s): Bryan Walsh,
Abstract:
SQL Server 2017 has great new additions and features for everybody. If you are a developer, you want to learn about new Graph tables, new M.O.T enhancements, and new functions. If you are a BI developer, you want to learn about how to run R and Python in SQL Server. If you are a DBA, you might want to learn about new features like Resumable Online Indexes, Automatic Query Optimization and how to monitor R and Python scripts. This session will have overall information about new features of SQL Server 2017
Speaker(s): Hasan Savran,
Abstract:
What do you want to be when you grow up? I want to be a DBA, a teacher, a blogger, and a world-traveler. I'm living my dream. In this session, we'll talk about how I got where I am, and how you can get to where you want to be. In addition to sharing my journey, I'll give some helpful tricks to getting your next job. You'll learn how to write a resume that gets you noticed, how to navigate interviews, and learn how to decide if a potential job and employer is right for you. Bring your own resume to this session, and I'll provide you some personal (and private) feedback on what I would do to help improve your resume so you can land your Dream Job.
Speaker(s): Andy Mallon,
Abstract:
You’ve read some of the content of well-known Data Warehousing books – now what? How do you take the structures and disciplines inside such books as the Ralph Kimball series and implement them? This session will take several of the key concepts in Data Warehousing and demonstrate some implementations using SQL Server Integration Services and Analysis Services. We’ll look at items such as Type 2 Changing Dimensions, Confirmed Dimensions, Dimension Outriggers, Role-Playing Relationships, Many-to-Many Bridge table relationships, Factless Fact tables, Handling of NULL foreign key values, ETL patterns, and more
Speaker(s): Kevin Goff,
Abstract:
Remember that first time you saw Service Broker and thought of all the great things you could do with it? Remember when you actually tried Service Broker and found all the limitations and pain points? Enter Apache Kafka. Apache Kafka is a distributed publish-subscribe messaging system which can scale out to handle millions of messages per second and support a distributed, microservices-oriented architecture. In this talk, we will cover the basics of this powerful system, including general architectural and design principles. We will also build a .NET project which uses Kafka to produce and consume messages quickly and efficiently.
Speaker(s): Kevin Feasel,
Abstract:
In this presentation, I’ll show over a dozen different SSRS topics, and allow attendees to select which topics to cover. Everything from sparklines to heat maps, from Tablix-drilldown reports to advanced charts, from performance gauges to subreport/drilldown reports to new page/group control features in R2….and even topics like data-driven subscriptions, reports against OLAP cubes, and deploying to SharePoint. There are even topics for integrating SSRS reports into ASP.NET pages, and launching SSRS reports using C#. Since no presentation can cover all the topics, I’ll let the majority of the audience decide which to cover.
Speaker(s): Kevin Goff,
Abstract:
There are compelling reasons to consider deploying In-Memory OLTP, vastly improved in SQL 2016 and SQL 2017, and now running on all editions. What are the use cases? What are the tradeoffs? We will lift the veil of confusion that surrounds this blazingly fast feature. By the end of the session, you will understand how In-Memory OLTP works and whether your workload is likely to see an increase in performance.
Speaker(s): Ned Otter,
Abstract:
There are many Data Platform offerings available on Azure and new ones are introduced regularly and evolved. In this session we will cover various offering and what scenarios are most suitable for. We will also discuss whether it makes sense to make use of this services or roll your own on-premise or hybrid solutions
Speaker(s): Sepand Gojgini,
Abstract:
When you think about backups in your environment, how many servers scripts do you have to manage? Or have you ever needed to get a table back from a large database and didn't want to argue with the storage admins about space for the restore? With Rubrik, we empower you to backup and restore your databases quickly and with ease. Come see how you can quickly protect hundreds of databases with just a few clicks or bring back a database in minutes to satisfy your most demanding executives. With Rubrik, it's not about backing up, it's about going forward!
Speaker(s): Chris Lumnah,
Abstract:
On-premises data warehouse solutions are typically a large up-front capital expense which expensive boundaries to expansion. This led my organization to look to the cloud. In this session, I cover the basics of Azure SQL Data Warehouse, its architecture, and why you should be interested in combining the flexibility and scalability of the cloud with a massively parallel processing data warehouse.
Speaker(s): Derik Hammer,
Abstract:
You're a DBA or a developer, and you know all about Wait, Queues, IO, In-Memory, etc for getting the most out of your SQL Server T-SQL Queries. But what do you know about performance tuning in Azure SQL DW? How do you identify the queries that can be optimized? Can you identify how to optimize those queries? What are the base performance considerations for your MPP environments?
Speaker(s): Simon Facer,
Abstract:
Are you a developer or analyst, creating Power BI reports that will be shared across teams or even your entire organization? Have you given the structure of your Power BI data model any thought, what the best way is to ingest the data or whether you should have more than one table/entity in your data model? In this session we will take a brief look at all of the considerations and best practices when developing Power BI models, reports and dashboards.
Speaker(s): Martin Schoombee,
Abstract:
This session will demonstrate how to leverage Biml Patterns, along with SQL Server Metadata, to rapidly build SSIS packages. The focus of this session will be on populating a data warehouse, however the concepts presented could be applied to most any ETL/ETL scenarios. The components used during this session: - Biml - BimlExpress - BimlSnap On-line are all available at no charge. In addition, attendees will receive: - A complete 'SQL Server Metadata Manager' solution (front and back end) - A fully functional SSIS Framework Attend to see how Biml can revolutionize your SSIS development!
Speaker(s): Jim Miller,
Abstract:
Ever wonder why SSIS runs so slow? Watch SSIS author Andy Leonard as he runs test loads using sample and real-world data and shows you how to tune SQL Server 2016 Integration Services (SSIS 2016) packages. We'll start by experimenting with SSIS design patterns to improve performance loading AdventureWorks data. We will implement different change detection patterns and compare execution performance for each. Then, we'll explain a Data Flow Task's bottleneck when loading binary large objects - or Blobs. Finally, we'll demonstrate a design pattern that uses a Script Component in a Data Flow to boost load performance to MySql, whether on-premises or in the cloud.
Speaker(s): Andy Leonard,
Abstract:
As of SQL 2016/SP1, Table Partitioning is available in all editions of SQL Server! In this entry-level session, we'll discuss the advantages and disadvantages of deploying this often misunderstood feature. Is it designed to improve performance, or to ease administration? Only one way to find out!
Speaker(s): Ned Otter,
Abstract:
Many organizations have hesitated to migrate on-prem databases to the Azure SQL Database platform because they still needed a server and license to run SSIS. But with the recent announcement of the preview of SSIS in Azure with Azure Data Factory (ADF) v2, Microsoft has cleared this portion of the migration path. Come to this session to learn how to set up SSIS in Azure, migrate your existing SSIS packages, and execute packages from the cloud.
Speaker(s): Bob Rubocki,
Abstract:
You, as a SQL SERVER DBA are used to troubleshooting Windows as a Master. Now we have a different OS flavor. Are you ready to add a few more tools to your DBA skill set? In this section let´s see how to perform the most common troubleshooting tasks, that we are already used to performing on Windows, now on Linux.
Speaker(s): Marcelo Adade,
Abstract:
This course will explain how statistics are created, how they are maintained, how they differ from SQL 2008, 2012, 2014 and discuss certain trace flags pertaining to statistics.
Speaker(s): Russell Etts,
Abstract:
SQL Server and Oracle. Differences and Similarities for the DBA
Speaker(s): Marcelo Adade,
Abstract:
More and more of our data is originating from or being moved to the cloud, but many of us are doing the same old ETL process with SSIS and other tools. In this session, we will compare a legacy SSIS package and show the process of building the same flow with the newly released Azure Data Factory v2
Speaker(s): Chris Seferlis,
Abstract:
You're stuck on a version of SQL Server that's old enough to be potty trained and get an allowance, and your boss who's so cheap he still has his first communion money is finally letting you upgrade. Should you play it safe and move to 2016, or face the brave new world of 2017? In this session, we'll look at some of the key new optimizer features in 2017 that will make your life as a performance tuner, or someone who wants to do a whole lot less performance tuning, much better.
Speaker(s): Erik Darling,
Abstract:
Shaving off Microseconds
Speaker(s): Thomas Grohser,
Abstract:
See how SQL 2017 Looks and feels while running under various LINUX and Container (Docker) platforms. Examine the various installation scenarios as well as the tools associated with the product. Co-Existence between the Windows and Linux environments will be shown and explored.
Speaker(s): Charles Hyman,
Abstract:
If you are familiar with SSIS , You will like Azure Data Factory. It is a managed cloud service that's built for these complex hybrid extract-transform-load (ETL), extract-load-transform (ELT), and data integration projects.
Speaker(s): Linda Zhang,
Abstract:
Power Query is a great tool for extracting, transforming, and loading data. It has an intuitive interface that allows you to create queries without having to worry about writing code. Under the covers Power Query is creating the M code that gets executed. In this session we will pull back the covers to reveal and understand the M code that is being created. This will give you greater insight into how to debug your queries. In addition, we will look at creating advance queries that go beyond what is available using the Power Query user interface.
Speaker(s): Dan Clark,
This is a list of speakers from the XML Guidebook records. The details and URLs were valid at the time of the event.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sqlhammer
Contact: http://www.sqlhammer.com
I am currently working as a Database Operations Team Lead with Subway World Headquarters. Server configuration, architecture, disaster recovery, high-availability, performance tuning, and maintenance automation form the bulk of my responsibilities. Almost all of my previous experience has resided firmly in the traditional / production DBA realm. I also spend as much time as I can spare attending SQL Server community functions. Currently chapter leader for FairfieldPASS.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pub/kevin-feasel/7/716/504
Contact: http://www.catallaxyservices.com
Kevin Feasel is a Microsoft Data Platform MVP and CTO at Envizage, where he specializes in data analytics with T-SQL and R, forcing Spark clusters to do his bidding, fighting with Kafka, and pulling rabbits out of hats on demand. He is the lead contributor to Curated SQL (https://curatedsql.com), president of the Triangle Area SQL Server Users Group (https://www.meetup.com/tripass), and author of PolyBase Revealed (https://www.apress.com/us/book/9781484254608). A resident of Durham, North Carolina, he can be found cycling the trails along the triangle whenever the weather's nice enough.
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/AndyLeonard
Contact: https://andyleonard.blog
Andy Leonard is founder and Chief Data Engineer at Enterprise Data Analytics, Microsoft Data Platform MVP, creator of the DILM (Data Integration Lifecycle Management) Suite, an SSIS trainer, consultant, developer, Business Intelligence Markup Language (Biml) developer and BimlHero, SQL Server database and data warehouse developer, community mentor, engineer, and farmer. He is a co-author of "The Biml Book and SQL Server Integration Services Design Patterns" and author of "Managing Geeks - A Journey of Leading by Doing", "Data Integration Lifecycle Management with SSIS", "Building Custom Tasks for SSIS", and the "Stairway to Integration Services". Andy blogs at andyleonard.blog where you can learn more on the About Andy page.
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/dxclark/
Contact: http://drclarkblog.wordpress.com/
Dan Clark is a senior data analytics consultant. He is focused on all things data analytics and training others how to get value from their data. Dan has published several books and numerous articles on .NET programming and data analytics. He is a regular speaker at various developer and database conferences and user group meetings and enjoys interacting with the Microsoft developer and database communities. His latest book Beginning Power BI published by Apress is a will get you up and running with self-service data analytics on the Power BI platform in no time.
Linda Zhang-Cloud Solution Architect at Microsoft. Founder of Central New Jersey SQL User Group. Over 10 years experiences in data platform management, architecture, engineering On-Premises and Cloud.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pub/kevin-feasel/7/716/504
Contact: http://www.catallaxyservices.com
Kevin Feasel is a Microsoft Data Platform MVP and CTO at Envizage, where he specializes in data analytics with T-SQL and R, forcing Spark clusters to do his bidding, fighting with Kafka, and pulling rabbits out of hats on demand. He is the lead contributor to Curated SQL (https://curatedsql.com), president of the Triangle Area SQL Server Users Group (https://www.meetup.com/tripass), and author of PolyBase Revealed (https://www.apress.com/us/book/9781484254608). A resident of Durham, North Carolina, he can be found cycling the trails along the triangle whenever the weather's nice enough.
I've been at Microsoft over 7 years, and worked with SQL Server since it was Sybase. For the last 4 years I've been increasingly focused on MPP data Warehouses - APS (Analytics Platform System) and Azure SQL Data Warehouse. I handle the day-today maintenance tasks, bit the fun stuff is the Performance Tuning. MPP Data Warehousing isnt your fathers SQL Server - we are less focused on IO and Waits, and much more focused on Data Distribution and Data Movement.
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/randyknight
Contact: http://www.sqlsolutionsgroup.com/blog
Randy Knight is a data professional who has worked with Microsoft technology for over 25 years, focusing on SQL Server since 1997. He has worked in a variety of settings, including 6 years as a database architect for match.com. In 2010, he founded SQL Server Solutions Group LLC, a boutique SQL Server consultancy. A Microsoft Certified Master (MCM) in SQL Server, he speaks often at events all over the country including the PASS Summit, SQLIntersections, and numerous SQL Saturday and User Groups.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lumnah
Chris Lumnah began working in the IT as a programmer in 1996. He ended up becoming a SQL DBA out of necessity 15 years ago. He has worked on SQL Server version 2000 thru 2017. He likes to continue to use his knowledge of programming to create more automated solutions to assist him and his team to be more proactive. Chris lives in Providence, RI and is currently a SQL Server Solutions Architect at Rubrik Inc.
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/amtwo
Contact: http://www.AM2.co
Andy is a Data Platform MVP and SQL Server DBA that has managed databases in the healthcare, finance, e-commerce, and non-profit sectors. He has been supporting high-volume, highly-available OLTP environments with demanding performance needs since 2003. Andy is the founder of the BostonSQL User Group, and previous co-organizer of SQL Saturday events in Boston. He blogs at am2.co. Andy lives just outside Boston, Massachusetts, USA with his husband and their two dogs.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hasansavran/
Contact: http://h-savran.blogspot.com/
Hasan Savran is a BI Architect at Progressive Insurance Company. He spends his days architecting cutting edge business solutions by using the latest Web and Database technologies. He is a Microsoft Data Platform MVP, Microsoft Certified Solutions Developer. Hasan has spoken at many SQL Saturdays, Code Camps and User groups. He is an active member of the HTML5 and WebAssembly W3C groups. He likes to write about SQL, CosmosDB, C#, and Front End development on his blog.
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/randyknight
Contact: http://www.sqlsolutionsgroup.com/blog
Randy Knight is a data professional who has worked with Microsoft technology for over 25 years, focusing on SQL Server since 1997. He has worked in a variety of settings, including 6 years as a database architect for match.com. In 2010, he founded SQL Server Solutions Group LLC, a boutique SQL Server consultancy. A Microsoft Certified Master (MCM) in SQL Server, he speaks often at events all over the country including the PASS Summit, SQLIntersections, and numerous SQL Saturday and User Groups.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jerod-johnson/
Contact: https://www.cdata.com/blog/
Jerod started his career as a teacher, teaching high school math and computer science for 6 years before transitioning to a career in the software industry. Originally hired as a member of the developer support team at CData Software, a leading provider of standards-based connectivity solutions for SaaS, Big Data and NoSQL sources (think ODBC, JDBC, ADO.NET, etc.). He spent some time as a developer, but eventually found himself in his current role as a Technology Evangelist, writing about, demo-ing, and presenting the same products he supported and developed. In the wild, you'll find Jerod at home with his wife and kids, climbing some rocks (or plastic holds), or gathered around a table with friends playing board games.
Contact: http://www.kevinsgoff.net
SQL Server/Data Platform MVP Microsoft MVP since 2005 Database Developer/Consultant/Writer/Speaker Regular columnist, CODE Magazine
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasgrohser/
Thomas Grohser has spent most of the past 26+ years exploring the deeper inner workings of SQL Server and its features while working for entertainment, pharmaceutical, and financial services industries. His primary focus is to architect, plan, build, and operate reliable, highly available, secure, and scalable infrastructures for SQL Server. Over the years he has managed thousands of SQL Server instances, processing trillions of rows, taking up petabytes of storage. Thomas has been a Microsoft Data Platform MVP for 9 years and has spoken regularly at conferences, SQLSaturdays, and user groups for 12 years.
I've spent the last 5 years working with SQL. I'd like to speak on Statistics and how to maintain them. Before that I was an Exchange admin.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brett-powell-61547819?trk=nav_responsive_tab_profile
Contact: https://insightsquest.com/
Brett is the author of the Microsoft Power BI Cookbook, Mastering Power BI, and an active technical blogger on Insight Quest (https://insightsquest.com). Brett also owns Frontline Analytics, LLC, a data and analytics consulting firm specializing in the Microsoft data platform. Brett has held multiple BI and analytics roles within corporate analytics functions, BI/IT organizations, and as a consultant for Microsoft BI Partner firms. Outside of work Brett contributes to the Power BI Community and the Boston Business Intelligence User Group.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinjmackey/
Contact: https://kjmackey.wordpress.com
Kevin a software architect with a track record of creative and effective delivery of results for organizations who want to translate data into information. With a background as a trainer Kevin can explain complex technologies and concepts in easy to understand language. By the same token, he can take complex business problems and express them in terms technology teams can use to derive solutions. Kevin has a focus on automation of data movement, analysis, information delivery, and of the code to accomplish this.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgewalters
Contact: https://georgewalters.wordpress.com/
Currently a partner technical strategist, George has been solving customer needs and issues. He can translate customer pain into potential solutions. A seasoned Microsoft SQL and Azure expert, with over 20 years of experience with Microsoft SQL Server, Sybase, Oracle, and other relational databases. Specialties: Partner strategy, PreSales Engineering, Cloud Architecture, Enterprise Scalability, SQL Server performance, Business Intelligence, High Availability, Scale. I volunteer and present relevant topics at SQL Saturday and internal Microsoft events
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/scarydba
Contact: http://scarydba.com
Grant Fritchey is a Data Platform MVP with over 20 years’ experience in IT, including time spent in support and development. He has worked with SQL Server since 6.0 back in 1995. He has also developed in VB, VB.NET, C#, and Java. Grant has written books for Apress and Simple-Talk. Grant presents at conferences and user groups, large and small, all over the world. He joined Redgate Software as a product evangelist in January 2011.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ned-otter-3627b712
Contact: http://www.nedotter.com
DBA with vast experience administering Microsoft SQL Server since version 4.21 to the present. Certifications: MCSE SQL Server 2012 Data Platform MCTS SQL Server 2008 Overall computer experience: 25 years SQL Server experience: 23 years Currently obsessed with In-Memory technology. Please see LinkedIn profile for more details.
Contact: http://www.kevinsgoff.net
SQL Server/Data Platform MVP Microsoft MVP since 2005 Database Developer/Consultant/Writer/Speaker Regular columnist, CODE Magazine
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/martinschoombee
Contact: http://www.martinschoombee.com
Martin is an independent Business Intelligence Analytics consultant, helping customers make sense of their data for more than 15 years.
LinkedIn: https://br.linkedin.com/in/marceloadade
Contact: http://www.dbbits.com.br
Marcelo is a Database Consultant at The Pythian Group. He has more than 10 years of experience in several Companies from different branches and sizes. Like financial companies, consultant shops, datacenters and e-commerce sites. Currently holds the MCSE, MCT and MCSA Microsoft Certifications and also the Oracle OCP. Loves technology and enjoys sharing his Database knowledge delivering presentations and official Microsoft Training Courses. Currently he is also the co-leader of the SQLMANIACS PASS User Group, based in Sao Paulo, Brazil
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pianorayk
Contact: https://pianorayk.wordpress.com/
Ray Kim is an advocate for documentation and technical communication. He is a co-founder of the Albany, NY SQL group (CASSUG), a member of the AlbanyUX user group, and has spoken at numerous SQLSaturdays and at PASS Summit. He has worked various positions in technology, including as a developer, webmaster, analyst, technical writer, and instructor. He holds an MS in technical communication from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a BS in computer science from Syracuse University. A musician in his spare time, Ray plays four different instruments. He also enjoys going to ball games and doing CrossFit, and is a two-time SQLServerCentral.com fantasy football champion. He lives in Troy, NY with his wife, Lianne, and their two cats.
LinkedIn: http://dk.linkedin.com/in/jvestergaard
Contact: http://www.t-sql.dk
Jens performs the traditional BI disciplines from imports in Integration Services through data consolidation in Analysis Services, to report in Power BI or Reporting Services. Jens has worked with The Stack since SQL 2000 and has a core competence in Integration Services and Analysis Services. Along with the certified skills in Microsoft SQL Server, Jens has also worked with Microsoft .Net platform for more than 15 years and currently manages a BI Platform in Azure for the CatMan Solution application(s).
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timgorman
Contact: http://evdbt.com
Tim Gorman is a senior technical consultant for Delphix who securely enables masked data virtualization to increase the agility of IT development and testing while ending decades of security risk in SDLC. Tim has co-authored six books on data warehousing and database administration, has performed technical review on eight more books, and has an author#39;s page on Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/Tim-Gorman/e/B00BKCTO5E).
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgewalters
Contact: https://georgewalters.wordpress.com/
Currently a partner technical strategist, George has been solving customer needs and issues. He can translate customer pain into potential solutions. A seasoned Microsoft SQL and Azure expert, with over 20 years of experience with Microsoft SQL Server, Sybase, Oracle, and other relational databases. Specialties: Partner strategy, PreSales Engineering, Cloud Architecture, Enterprise Scalability, SQL Server performance, Business Intelligence, High Availability, Scale. I volunteer and present relevant topics at SQL Saturday and internal Microsoft events
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenrsimon/
Contact: http://www.sqlservercentral.com/blogs/simon_says/
Steve Simon is a Database Solutions Architect with Business Knowledge Services Inc. He has been involved with database design and analysis for over 35 years. Steve has presented papers at numerous PASS Summits and PASS SQL Rallies. He is also regular presenter on the SQL Saturday circuit and he is a contributor on SQLShack.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pub/allan-hirt/1/b72/673
Contact: http://www.sqlha.com/blog
SQLHA, LLC founder, consultant, trainer, author, and business continuity, infrastructure, and virtualization expert Allan Hirt has been working with SQL Server since 1992 when it was still a Sybase product. He has also been clustering in Windows Server since the late 1990s when it was known as Wolfpack. Currently a dual Microsoft MVP (Data Platform; Cloud and Datacenter Management) as well as a VMware vExpert, Allan works with all sizes of customers, no matter if they are on premises or in the public cloud. He also delivers training and speaks at events over the world.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertrubocki
Contact: http://bobrubocki.wordpress.com
Bob is a Senior Consultant at Pragmatic Works and a Microsoft Certified Professional. He has spent most of his career working in Business Intelligence, Data Warehousing, and Data Integration, both in industry and as a consultant. He has implemented solutions in financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, retail, and consumer goods industries. Bob has spoken at SQL Saturday, user group events, and webinar sessions. He is fascinated by the variety of opportunities available in the cloud.
LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/sqlranger
Contact: http://sqlwarrior.wordpress.com
Expert on SQL Server storage engine internals. 15+ years of full time DBA on SQL SERVER and other DBMS platforms SQL Server High Availability Design and Implementation SQL Server Disaster Recovery Design and Implementation SQL Server Performance Tuning Amazon AWS Certified Solution Architect since 2014
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-mokszycki-272b264a
Stephen.Mokszycki@outlook.com DBA for ~4+years, IT Professional for 7.5 years. Currently I am a Data Architect Worked with SQL 2000/2005/2008/2012/2014 I’m currently working on a small environments: 5 instances, 60 databases, 1TB of data Previously I worked on a large environment: 300+ Instances, ~6000 databases, 10s TBs of data. Automation is my favorite tool.
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/cseferlis
Contact: http://blog.bizdataviz.com
Chris Seferlis is a Sr Cloud Solution Architect at Microsoft. He has 20+ years’ experience working in IT and solving technical challenges from a business perspective. Chris is a former CIO with an MBA from UMass, bringing a mix of business acumen and practical technology solutions, primarily focusing on Data and AI within the Microsoft Data Platform, including MCSA and MCT designations.
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidaklee
Contact: http://davidklee.net
David Klee is a Microsoft Data Platform MVP and VMware vExpert with a lifelong passion for technology. David spends his days focusing on the convergence of data and infrastructure as the Founder of Heraflux Technologies. His areas of expertise include cloud, virtualization, performance, and business continuity. David speaks at a number of national and regional technology related events, including PASS Summit, VMware VMworld, SQLBits, SQL Saturday events, and many SQL Server User Groups.
Contact: http://www.warrenestes.com
I am a database professional with over 15 years experience as a production DBA/Developer. I first started with SQL Server in 2000 (the year), using 7 (the version), and have worked with sybase, oracle and MSSQL. I also have experience with VB, C#, and love me some Powershell.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sqlatspeed
Contact: http://www.sqlatspeed.com
Matt is a Microsoft Data Platform MVP and has worked with SQL Server since 2000. He is the leader of the Lexington, KY PASS local group and a frequent domestic and international community speaker. He's an IDERA ACE alumnus and 2020 Friend of Redgate. His original data professional role was as a database developer, which quickly evolved into query tuning work that further evolved into being a full-fledged DBA in the healthcare realm. He has supported several critical systems utilizing SQL Server and managed dozens of 24/7/365 SQL Server implementations. He currently utilizes that real world experience as a data platform consultant helping clients design solutions that meet their ever-changing business needs.
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/scarydba
Contact: http://scarydba.com
Grant Fritchey is a Data Platform MVP with over 20 years’ experience in IT, including time spent in support and development. He has worked with SQL Server since 6.0 back in 1995. He has also developed in VB, VB.NET, C#, and Java. Grant has written books for Apress and Simple-Talk. Grant presents at conferences and user groups, large and small, all over the world. He joined Redgate Software as a product evangelist in January 2011.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ned-otter-3627b712
Contact: http://www.nedotter.com
DBA with vast experience administering Microsoft SQL Server since version 4.21 to the present. Certifications: MCSE SQL Server 2012 Data Platform MCTS SQL Server 2008 Overall computer experience: 25 years SQL Server experience: 23 years Currently obsessed with In-Memory technology. Please see LinkedIn profile for more details.
20 years into a career focused on Microsoft technologies and the impact of they make for companies across all industries and verticals. Started at EMC in 2006 and have held numerous leadership roles that champion Microsoft to our field, partners and customers. In my current role at XtremIO, my primary focus is SQL Server and how to unlock agility and end storage inefficiency.
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/toddchitt
Contact: http://blog.blumshapiro.com/blog/author/toddc/
Todd started working with Microsoft’s SSRS in 2004. When Microsoft released its rebuild of SQL Server in 2005, he quickly added the full BI Stack to his repertoire. He became a MCTS in SQL Server 2005. Today, Todd works for Blum Shapiro as a Business Intelligence Architect on various BI Projects across a wide range of company sizes and product combinations. He is a Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert in SQL Server Business Intelligence and a frequent speaker at local User Groups and SQL Saturday events. He Started working with Power BI in its early development time before General Availability in July of 2015.
Contact: https://erikdarlingdata.com/blog/
Erik Darling started using SQL Server after a dispute with Excel over a vlookup. He enjoys public arguments with the optimizer and wine photography.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bhakthi-liyanage/
Bhakthi Liyanage is a seasoned IT professional with many years of industry experience, a Microsoft MVP on AI, and is currently working as an AI Architect at one of the largest banks in the US where he leads projects to provide predictive analytics and AI solutions for complex business problems.
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/janis-griffin/0/914/aba
Janis Griffin has over 30 years of DBA/database experience including design, development and implementation of many critical database applications. Before coming to Quest Software, Janis primarily worked in the Telecom/Network Industry, working with both real-time network routing databases and OLTP business to business applications. Janis also held positions as a Principal Architect and Senior Manager, mentoring other DBAs on best practices in database performance tuning.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pianorayk
Contact: https://pianorayk.wordpress.com/
Ray Kim is an advocate for documentation and technical communication. He is a co-founder of the Albany, NY SQL group (CASSUG), a member of the AlbanyUX user group, and has spoken at numerous SQLSaturdays and at PASS Summit. He has worked various positions in technology, including as a developer, webmaster, analyst, technical writer, and instructor. He holds an MS in technical communication from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a BS in computer science from Syracuse University. A musician in his spare time, Ray plays four different instruments. He also enjoys going to ball games and doing CrossFit, and is a two-time SQLServerCentral.com fantasy football champion. He lives in Troy, NY with his wife, Lianne, and their two cats.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jmiller8
Contact: https://https://www.bitracks.com/blog
Jim has worked in various facets of the IT business for over 30 years, with a primary focus on data warehousing, reporting and analytics, business intelligence, data modeling (relational, multi-dimensional), ETL frameworks, database architecture, as well as database performance tuning. In previous engagements, Jim has fulfilled roles as Data Architect, DBA, IT Director, and Senior Consultant. He also has experience in account management, marketing/technical support, and software application training. Jim has also had some extraordinary opportunities to lead IT organizations, with multinational participants, on reconstruction projects based in Bosnia and Iraq.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/minerjohn/
Contact: https://www.mssqltips.com/sqlserverauthor/154/john-miner/
John Miner is currently a Data Architect at BlueMetal advising corporations on how to solve their business needs with data platform solutions. He has over twenty five years of data processing experience, and his architecture expertise encompasses all phases of the software project life cycle, including design, development, implementation, and maintenance of systems. He has an undergraduate and graduate degrees in Computer Science from the University of Rhode Island. Other credentials include an up to date MCSE certificate and currently taking the Data Science program from EDX. Before joining BlueMetal, John won the Data Platform MVP award in 2014 and 2015 for his outstanding contributions to the SQL Server community.
Contact: http://www.sqlflipflopsdba.com
Jim is a Premier Field Engineer for Microsoft in the Data/AI space. He lives in Pittsburgh in a small suburb. He loves working with all things Azure(ARM templates, DBaaS, SQL on IaaS). He is an avid collector of retro video games! He is a member of the Idera ACE program for 2018.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sgojgini/
Product Director at Datateam Services, 10+ years of experience designing data warehouse model and ETL engines used globally. Had a chance of working on world biggest relational Data Warehouse at Amazon managing 5+ PetaByte of data with growth 7+ TeraByte daily. Seeking to apply best software development practices to ETL development and streamlining development process.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/minerjohn/
Contact: https://www.mssqltips.com/sqlserverauthor/154/john-miner/
John Miner is currently a Data Architect at BlueMetal advising corporations on how to solve their business needs with data platform solutions. He has over twenty five years of data processing experience, and his architecture expertise encompasses all phases of the software project life cycle, including design, development, implementation, and maintenance of systems. He has an undergraduate and graduate degrees in Computer Science from the University of Rhode Island. Other credentials include an up to date MCSE certificate and currently taking the Data Science program from EDX. Before joining BlueMetal, John won the Data Platform MVP award in 2014 and 2015 for his outstanding contributions to the SQL Server community.
Mr. Hyman is an IT professional with over twenty years experience, currently specializing is Business Intelligence, Data Warehousing and Back-End Process IT systems. Mr Hyman currently splits his time, between consulting assignments, and mentoring/training assignments. Mr. Hyman is considered an Expert in the Microsoft SQL Server Products as well as the ETL and Reporting tools, BizTalk and SharePoint. Building Data Warehouses from disparate systems is his specialty
Contact: https://erikdarlingdata.com/blog/
Erik Darling started using SQL Server after a dispute with Excel over a vlookup. He enjoys public arguments with the optimizer and wine photography.
LinkedIn: https://br.linkedin.com/in/marceloadade
Contact: http://www.dbbits.com.br
Marcelo is a Database Consultant at The Pythian Group. He has more than 10 years of experience in several Companies from different branches and sizes. Like financial companies, consultant shops, datacenters and e-commerce sites. Currently holds the MCSE, MCT and MCSA Microsoft Certifications and also the Oracle OCP. Loves technology and enjoys sharing his Database knowledge delivering presentations and official Microsoft Training Courses. Currently he is also the co-leader of the SQLMANIACS PASS User Group, based in Sao Paulo, Brazil
The following is a list of sponsors that helped fund the event.