UKOUG

The 2007 UKOUG Conference and Exhibition is off to a great start. Not only is the content excellent and amongst the best I have ever seen, but the "networking" is first rate. Each year I meet "new" colleagues whom I have come to know over the years via email and oracle lists.

On Monday, I attended presentations by Riyaj Shamsudeen and Tom Kyte. Riyaj's method of using Powerpoint to very clearly illustrate Analytical SQL. He uses the software more as an explanation tool than a note-taking tool. I would love to see a presentation by Riyaj on how to develop technical presentations. Tom's presentation on 11g new features for DBAs gave me a great deal to think about.

Tuesday was the day for my own presentation on statspack and analytical sql. It was also the day to work a great deal on today's presentation on why we should not tune sql. This particular topic has been very thought provoking for the last couple of years and I had a real epiphany yesterday (look for a blog entry next week on wait events).

There has also been a bit of unpleasantness in regards to a presentation containing someone else's material. One of the dangers of publishing papers/presentations/work is that others can easily take your material and pass it off as their own. I never object to someone who asks for permission to use some of my work in their own and gives me credit for it. That is part of being a member of the community. As a reminder, UKOUG is one of the best conferences and it is not their responsibility (nor should it be) to check presentations for plagiarism.

Time to get ready for my presentation...all 8 slides (including 3 blank or near blank ones, 1 intro and 1 closing). Yes...8 slides for 45 minutes.