Throughout October, SQL Relay 2014 is taking place in the UK. If you’re unfamiliar with SQL Relay, it is a series of 1 day events that are run throughout the UK. Each event is a single track (or more in the case of London) conference, with between 50 and 200 attendees and 6-8 hour long talks by SQL Server professionals, MVPs, authors, technical experts etc.

Thanks to the sponsors, this event is free to attend. And attending I shall be, as I will be going to both the Southampton and London events. Links and further info are available below.

If you do plan on going, but first you need clearance from your boss, do not let the fact that it is free be the first thing you say as a reason for going. It may be free for everyone, but a day out of the office costs the company all the same. Sure, use the fact it’s free as a bargaining chip. But look at the talks and find ones that really pique your interest and tell your boss about why you want to go. You’re more likely to get a “yes” than a “no” that way.

The address is: Holiday Inn Winchester Telegraph Way Hampshire SO21 1HZ United Kingdom

Winchester is on the same railway line as Southampton Central, so you can catch a train from London Waterloo or Clapham Junction and be there in a little over an hour. Other The services from Waterloo terminate at Portsmouth Harbour via Hedge End or Poole via Bournemouth. There are decent bus links from Winchester station to the hotel, or you can grab a cab, or you can walk…

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Cardinal Place 80-100 Victoria Street London SW1E 5JL

Obviously the Underground or National Rail are the best ways to get to the office. Currently the roads in this part of London are still being dug up from over a year ago (no doubt for some arbitrary reason) so the walking route from the station to the office shown below is probably not going to be the one you take.

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As far as local landmarks go, Westminster Cathedral is not far away from the Microsoft Offices.

I’ve been a few times (to the offices, not the cathedral!) and they are fantastic. There’s even a very old Microsoft Surface table in one of the rooms.

Hope to see you there!