Almost a year ago we had our last in-person meeting, and there were discussions on if we should even try having a meeting. At that time, the news, research, and general understanding of what was going on was pretty vague. We had our meeting, and the very next week the country when into a lockdown.
Since that time, we have lost friends, loved ones, and #SQLFamily members to Covid-19. We have had to change the way we live and where and how we work. Some of you are now providing your children with their education while juggling your own work and a household that needs fed three times a day. We know that this has been a very trying time for everyone; know that you are not going through this alone.
We hesitated to get started with meetings. During the summer our turnout is dismal at best during normal times—add a pandemic and who knows. We were uncertain if more online time is what everyone needed. When we finally came to the point where we felt ready to provide some content for the community, PASS stated that it was crumbling, and we were then stuck waiting on answers.
We now know a few things. First, if you did not hear the news, Redgate purchased the content and branding from PASS. The content previously available with the purchase of a PASS Pro account is now available for free. How #SQLSaturday transforms has yet to be determined. There are some #DataSaturday events currently happening online. Know that #SQLSatNash will be back in person as soon as we can!
We also know that Microsoft feels user groups are very important and that the data community needs to exist. We are proud to announce that both NashBI and NashSQL have joined the Microsoft Azure Data Community. They are offering valuable resources for user groups to continue. They have provided Meetup support and, in the future, will be providing Microsoft Teams.
NashBI moved from the PASS supplied website a few years back. We will be tweaking the site to support NashBI and NashSQL going forward. Special thanks to Denny Cherry and Associates for providing FREE web hosting to the SQL community.
In the coming days we will be scheduling a virtual Happy Hour/Ask the experts session. We look forward to seeing you!
