It’s been with great anticipation that I’m happy to announce PASSDC, the official PASS chapter for Washington, DC. PASSDC is founded by three community members: Me, Paul Rizza of Microsoft, and Matt Velic. Together we’re aiming to bring greater SQL Server community and support to the DC Metro area.
But wait a minute! There are already two user groups in The DC area already! This is true. But the clue above is in that we’re focused on the DC Metro area. After SQL Saturday last year and discussions with PASS I was asked to help head up a chapter in the District proper. I reached out to Paul Rizza of Microsoft, and Matt Velic to see if they were interested in helping out, and they agreed! We teamed up with CPCUG to get non-profit status and we are focusing on helping professionals & other users of SQL Server who live in the District and directly surrounding suburbs. People who might not have easy access to a car and rely on Metro for their transportation needs as well. While the NOVA and Columbia groups have been serving Northern Virginia and Baltimore very well (respectively), they aren’t always that convenient for folks living in DC proper or more East towards Annapolis.
Matt, Paul & I are striving to be able to provide better learning opportunities and content for SQL users in our nation’s capitol.
Our First Meeting
PASSDC’s first meeting is coming up next Thursday, April 11th! That’s right: we’re heading in full bore and not wasting time. This first meeting will feature Paul as our speaker, and he’s planned a session on building SSIS packages using an open source API library. We are also going to take some time to discuss some of the ideas and dreams we have for our group and how it can help the local community. Primarily we want to hear from you about how the group can better support the DC SQL community.
As a bonus for our meeting we will be providing dinner and even managed to wrangle up some swag to give at the conclusion of our first meeting! Even though it is kind of short notice, we hope you will come visit us and help launch this new group!
About PASSDC
View Larger Map Event Map
General information about the group:
- First Meeting: April 11th at 6:30pm!
- Regular Schedule: Second Thursday of each month at 6:30pm
- Location: Microsoft Technology Center
5404 Wisconsin Ave, Suite 700
Chevy Chase, MD 20815 - Travel Options:
- Metro: Friendship Heights station on the Red Line. Microsoft is directly above the station, next to Whole Foods.
- Driving: Parking is available at the Mazza Gallery garage, or directly below the building in the Whole Foods parking garage.
- Assorted Contact Info:
- Website: http://passdc.sqlpass.org
- Email: [email protected]
- Facebook: Like our Page
- Twitter: Tune in for Updates
- LinkedIn: Join our group
I hope you’re as excited as we are about the group: it definitely been a long time coming for the DC Metro area.
Again, we hope that you’ll be able to make it out next Thursday, make some introductions, and help us grow the community.
See you there!