SQL PASS is planning another 24 Hours of PASS (24HOP). It will be March 15-16, 2011. Since that is during Women’s History month all the speakers will be women. So if you’re a Woman in Tech (WIT) and know something about SQL or how Windows or storage affects SQL this is a great opportunity!
Email your abstract to 24hours@sqlpass.org by Jan 14, 2011. No more than 250 words for the abstract itself plus 125 words for your bio.
So what is 24HOP? The format has changed a bit over time, but currently it consists of 12 hours of back to back one hour sessions about SQL Server held two days in a row. Each session is delivered by a different speaker and the topics vary quite a bit but all relate to understanding SQL Server. This is all done over Live Meeting so you can attend from your desk, and the sessions are made available for viewing later if you can’t attend them all live. Ideally the sessions will have time at the end for questions, so you don’t need a full hour of slides and/or demos.
So why should you submit an abstract? Here are a few good reasons: Community involvement, including speaking, is one of the things that can help qualify you for nomination for SQL MVP. A speaking engagement is a great item to put on your review or resume. And by speaking at smaller events like 24HOP it becomes easier to get your abstracts selected at bigger, more competitive events such as SQL PASS.
I look forward to seeing all of you speaking at 24HOP, your local user groups, and SQL PASS!
More SQL Women and WIT discussions:
· Why So Few? http://www.aauw.org/learn/research/whysofew.cfm
· Data Chicks, We Need You! Call for Speakers http://blog.infoadvisors.com/index.php/2010/12/09/data-chicks-we-need-you-call-for-speakers-24hop/
· Trolling the #24HoP http://blog.infoadvisors.com/index.php/2010/12/10/trolling-the-24hop
· 24HOP Needs Women http://sqlserverpedia.com/blog/sql-server-bloggers/24hop-needs-women/
· I Need More Women http://thomaslarock.com/2010/12/i-need-more-women
· Women in Technology – Why Does it Matter? http://blogs.msdn.com/b/cindygross/archive/2010/12/09/women-in-technology-why-does-it-matter.aspx
· The Next 24 Hours of PASS Event: Announcement and Call for Presenters http://littlekendra.com/2010/12/02/the-next-24-hours-of-pass-event-announcement-and-call-for-presenters/
· The Next 24 Hours of PASS http://www.jasonstrate.com/2010/12/the-next-24-hours-of-pass/
Am I the only one who has a problem with this? I can see a 24HOP devoted to a specific topic area (e.g. BI), or language group (LATAM), but what if there was an event that was only open to Men? Would that be ok? Is there going to be a 24HOP just for black geeks during Black History Month?
There's some great commentary here: Trolling the #24HoP blog.infoadvisors.com/…/trolling-the-24hop
Here's another perspective. When I raced dirt bikes there weren't many women riding or racing. We formed a very informal group called "dirt chicks". We would do practice laps together, offer to practice with the newbies and things like that. One of the things we did for a while was go to the peewee track (5-12 year olds) and cheer on the girls. Sometimes we gave the girls popsicles on a hot day. The boys and some of the parents thought we should stop "favoring" the girls. My response was that boys could go to school with bruises from a race and be told it was cool, girls would be told they better be careful or they could end up with a scar. Boys would tell the girls at school they rode motorcycles and get twice as many dates. Girls would find the boys were suddenly scarce, either because the boys were embarassed at their own lack of skill, intimidated by a "strong female", or assumed only *** girls would ride bikes. Boys would get a lot of support from families, friends, and maybe even sponsors. Girls often had to fight to get to ride and got the leftovers/hand-me-down bikes and equipment. That means extra encouragement is needed to make up for the lack in other areas. So once those things are no longer true, things like the dirt chicks and a 24HOP with all female speakers won't be necessary (though they might still be fun). Until then, I'm supportive of supporting WIT.