Hello!

SQLBits 2023 has been and gone, and what a lot of fun it was. I only attended two days there, however I learned a lot, and got to catchup with some people who I had not seen since 2019, when SQLBits was in Manchester. I got to Newport on the Tuesday evening, and spent Wednesday working and finishing off my presentation. I came prepared with snacks and Pepsi as I saw that the hotel/ICC was some way away from a shop.

Thursday morning rolled around and I was due on at 1130. However before that there was the keynote, which was very different and highly amusing. In order to help me concentrate better I have taken to sitting front and centre of talks. It also makes mse a little more self conscious about getting my phone out and checking the agenda for the rest of the day.

Though my talk was only a short one (20 minutes), I crammed a lot of content in it as I wanted to make the most of my time. I’d like to think that the session was as informative as I’d hoped.

One thing I love about SQLBits is the food; they always put on a good range of food and make sure that it’s easy enough to eat without having to sit down. No one wants to balance a knife and fork and a china plate whilst standing. Trust me I’ve been toe events that have done this type of catering. Not a good plan.

Evening came and we put in a decent account of ourselves in the quiz, but the curry was the main reason I was there and it was delicious. The naan breads in particular were tasty and I mopped up all the spare sauce with a couple of them.

Owing to the lateness of hte hotels being booked we ended up in a hotel in Cardiff. But the long cab journey there and back for Thursday evening/Friday morning was that bad at all, and as we had already registered I was able to make a direct line for the breakfast items.

I sat in some great talks until about half 3, and I really started to flag. I was at the station by half 6 and fianlly got home about 10PM.

I always feel rejuvinated after SQLBits, and happily this was no different. I particularly enjoyed both of Connor Cunningham’s talks about SQL Internals. I’ve already got a couple of thoughts about what talks I’ll submit next year, and hopefully I’ll have one or two of them accepted.