SQLBits2023: An Excellent Conference for Learning and Networking

I recently attended the SQLBits2023 conference, held at the ICC Wales in Newport, and it was an excellent experience. The range of speakers was impressive, including leading experts in the field, as well as those who are looking to advance their careers. The agenda was really good, with something for everyone, including sessions on business intelligence and the Microsoft stack, as well as Power BI.

One thing that stood out to me was the passion that the Microsoft teams had for their product and subject areas. They truly showcased as much as possible in their sessions.

Additionally, the pre-con consisted of two deep dive full days in subjects of your choice, and I chose Alberto Ferrari's coverage of the depths of DAX on Tuesday and Adam Saxton and Patrick Le Blanc's coverage of Synapse Analytics and Power BI on Wednesday.

Several thousand people attended the conference, and it was very well-organized. The daily breakfast rolls and lunches were also very tasty. Although I traveled daily, there were plenty of extracurricular fun and wellness activities to partake in. The SQLBits "Buddies" were very friendly, making an effort to talk to me and others, rather than just being there if needed.

Overall, SQLBits2023 was an excellent conference for learning and networking. I highly recommend attending it.

ChatGPT was inevitably mentioned several times a day, including in the keynote speech. Many attendees may have been wondering if it would take over their jobs. However, several speakers referenced how it can't yet write "good" DAX, and I agree from my own experience. That said, I don't think we actually want ChatGPT to write DAX on request, hoping that it delivers exactly the right expressions with limited knowledge of our model. Instead, it would be better to point ChatGPT at our OLTP or Warehouse databases and say: "Customers are in the tblCustomer table, Sales are in the tblSales table, now simply tell me in what regions sales are poor…" and let it get the data it needs and choose a suitable visual to convey the message.

As a final surprise, the reader may be surprised to know that ChatGPT wrote this blog.