A less shameless plug : PASS sessions I've voted as "preferred"

Not that my preferences really mean a hill of beans to anyone else, but since I've asked for your vote on my sessions, I'd also like to share the list of sessions that I've marked as "preferred" so far. Now, since we have no idea what the schedule will be, we can pick and choose the sessions without any concern about who's up against who in the same time slot; we can leave that agony for the day the schedule is released. In the meantime, you can pick the sessions you'd like to see, in an ideal world with no conflicts!


Pre-cons

I doubt I will have the opportunity to attend any pre-cons, but if I did, here are the two that would most likely end in some arbitrary tie-breaker:

Future Diagnostic improvements in Denali [300]

Microsoft CSS Team (blog)

A Deep Dive into AlwaysOn: Failover Clustering and Availability Groups [400]

Allan Hirt (blog | twitter)

Regular sessions & spotlights

These are the top 10 that stood out to me, in no particular order. Some I chose because I really enjoy sessions by these people, others I chose because I am very interested in the topic or I feel the need for a refresher.

Everything You Didn't Know You Need to Know About Database Mirroring [300]

Robert Davis (blog | twitter)



Implementing SQL Server Denali Using Windows Server Core [400]

Allan Hirt  (blog | twitter)



Joins, SARGability and the Evils of Residualiciousness [300]

Rob Farley (blog | twitter)

100 Years of Transaction solitude [400]

Ami Levin (twitter)

Advanced SQL Server 2008 Troubleshooting [400]

Klaus Aschenbrenner (blog | twitter)

Undocumented Query Plans [400]

Paul White (blog | twitter)

Inside the SQL Server Query Optimizer [400]
Benjamin Nevarez (blog | twitter)

PDW Architecture and Internals [400]

Richard Waymire, Brian Walker

SQL Server Execution Plans – From Compilation To Caching To Reuse [400]

Maciej Pilecki (twitter)

Extended Events, Work Smarter Not Harder [300]

Jason Strate (blog | twitter)

 
If you want to mark sessions as preferences, please visit the PASS web site (login required).

 

Aaron Bertrand

I am a passionate technologist with industry experience dating back to Classic ASP and SQL Server 6.5. I am a long-time Microsoft MVP, write at SQLPerformance and MSSQLTips, and have had the honor of speaking at more conferences than I can remember. In non-tech life, I am a father of two, a huge hockey and football fan, and my pronouns are he/him. If I've helped you out, consider thanking me with a coffee. :-)