Comments on: Seacoast SQL Server Users?

By: Seacoast SQL Server Users Group Is Alive! | SQL Server Blog - StraightPath Solutions

Wed, 31 Mar 2010 13:22:27 +0000

[...] users in the area described above. I happened to have the idea bouncing around for a few years as I posted last year. I enlisted the help of some great local SQL Server experts to help keep things honest and they and [...]

By: Craig

Craig — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:00:26 +0000

Mike, if you want to do alternate meetings in Portland, I believe that we could provide a space at our office... This sounds like a very cool idea and this could benefit people all around!

Craig B

By: Mike Walsh

Mike Walsh — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 06:15:19 +0000

@Anne - Thanks for the thoughtful comment. Your thought process makes complete sense to me. I will send you an e-mail and will look forward to hearing what kind of feedback you get on the Maine group. The whole reason I am even thinking of doing this is to give folks who may not want to do the drive to Waltham or Nashua (when they meet) a chance to get together. I currently try and make the drive to Waltham but that is about 1.5 hours after work and back so it is a bit much. I understand where you are coming from and I also know even the drive from Augusta to Portland (let alone Augusta to Portsmouth) would be a pain. If there is enough interest in an all Maine SQL group, don't let me stop you, I welcome you to either start up a Portland group or perhaps we look at getting proper setup (I will reach out to PASS this week for some pointers/guidance) and from one entity setup two user groups. I don't want to interfere with any initiatives you may already have and I would love to work with you if you wanted to. I am flexible here.

Please feel free to have folks use that hashtag, or perhaps #nnesql? (northern new england) and come here and comment with their interest level. Portsmouth is not as large as Portland but with Portsmouth, Newburyport, Peabody, Andover, Manchester, Concord, etc. there should be enough interest to keep a Portsmouth group alive without Portland. My main goal is to get a vibrant community alive and keep it alive.

@Ken - sounds great. Thanks for the feedback, that helps me know if I am tracking in the right direction.

By: Mike Walsh

Mike Walsh — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 02:20:16 +0000

Thanks @SQLAndy We would love to have you come up in the Summer. I will reach out to Blythe once she recovers from #sqlpass

By: Anne Hills

Anne Hills — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:52:40 +0000

Hi Mike,
Sounds like you are carefully going about creating a good group with ample support. I’m all for it! The only thing that worries me is the distance. I’m just not seeing people who live in the Portland Maine area or north of it (which is most of the SQL people I know up here) making the drive to Portsmouth. Although it’s only about 45 minutes from city to city, I’m afraid that 1.5 additional hours driving on a work night, plus more if you live north of town, in order to attend a user group meeting is not going to happen. And if the Portsmouth people don’t drive to Portland and vice versa, then it’s really two groups.

I’m going to the TechMaine event and will create some kind of handout for sql people to look up this blog post or tweet to #sqlpassmaine to see how much interest there is up here and what people think of a Portsmouth/Portland group or a Maine group. If there is enough interest in a Maine group and more than half of the people interested are located north of Portland, then it might work better for us to form a Maine group. In any case, we definitely need a sql group on the coast north of Massachusetts!

Anne
(schubash)

By: Ken Huling

Ken Huling — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:24:32 +0000

Hi Mike,

I’m currently in Newton/Boston, but will be settling up in Newburyport area in the next month or two. I would be interested in attending and possibly speaking at some point. I agree the Waltham commute is a bear, this would probably be much easier for me.

Regards,

Ken
http://www.linkedin.com/in/khuling
http://www.nesqlserv.com

By: Andy Warren

Andy Warren — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 21:12:10 +0000

Definitely talk to Blythe at PASS HQ about. I’d probably be willing to come up to visit, but only in the summer!

By: Mike Walsh

Mike Walsh — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:51:34 +0000

@Grant --> Great idea, I would love to try and get a SQL Saturday going in the area. I know there was the Code Camp up here but doing a SQL Saturday would be a lot of fun and it would be a great way to bring some top notch speakers and conference quality sessions to folks a quick drive away.

I will reach out to PASS as a next step and am looking to be a proper PASS chapter to have the benefits and help continue to see PASS grow.

@Michael -> I will definitely chat about my findings as this journey begins for me. Check out the link to Andy Leonard's blog and on Twitter. He gave a great PASS conference presentation on his experiences starting a group. I bet he would answer any questions (heck any chapter leader would likely be willing to help.. that's the great thing about this community)

By: Michael J Swart

Michael J Swart — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:36:17 +0000

Hi Mike, I also have dreams to start something near my neck of the woods (south-western Ontario). I’ll probably be picking your brain about your experiences at some point.

By: Grant Fritchey

Grant Fritchey — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:18:45 +0000

Good luck. Don’t forget about us people down "south" at the Southern New England SQL Server Users Group (www.snessug.com). If you get it yours running a bit maybe we should combine up for a SQL Saturday. Remember that PASS is very good about helping you get the group launched and they have quite a few resources that you can take advantage of.