Look, I know I say this every week, but what a great week of presentations! I learned something from pretty much all of the presenters. There were 549 voters last week. The top 3 competitors based on votes were safe. The votes were distributed like this:
The judges had the option to save one or two of the bottom 3, and chose to save only one.
The contestants had 5 minutes to present this week, and had to present on the theme of a DB2 Success Story.
Ian Bjorhovde – Sweat the Small Stuff
Ian was not in top 3 based on votes. Ian’s presentation covered three topics on performance improvements or dis-improvements surrounding a 9.1 to 9.7 upgrade. I liked each of the topics individually, but the thread tying them together was a bit thin this week. I liked how he included both syntax and graphs of real world results. I happen to know that Ian is a bit of a last-minute preparer for these presentations, and I think that showed this week. I learned from his presentation, and he continues to be a solid contributor to the IBM DB2 Community.
Unfortunately, the judges chose not to save Ian for a record 3rd time in a row, so Ian is out of the competition at this point.
Ian’s Contact Info
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/ian-bjorhovde/0/99/246
Twitter: @idbjorh
Ian’s Blog Articles here on db2commerce.com
Ian’s Podcast: http://www.pkgcache.com/
Ken Shaffer – DB2 “Online” Upgrade
Ken had a good description of a very complicated upgrade process and included details on how he would do things differently after going through the process. It was highly technical without requiring any syntax. Nice to see something that is not performance related in this round.
Ken was not safe based on votes, but the judges chose to save him, and I think it was the right decision.
Ken’s Contact Info
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/kenshaffer
Twitter: @aerodata
Mariana – PureData for Transactions
This presentation did not show up well on a tiny screen. Admittedly, I watched it on a tiny phone screen on an airplane, which I don’t often do. This seemed like a bit of a rehash of presentations I’ve seen from IBM and I didn’t see the gem of experience that I like to see in these presentations. The presentation had a lot of GUI screen shots, which are also not my personal favorite. This presentation just missed the mark for me. That said, I still think Mariana shows real promise in presenting, and look forward to seeing more from her in the future.
Mariana was not safe based on votes, and was also not saved by the judges.
Mariana put her presentation on youTube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVDb8Zqizpprvh54flKfoTQ. I would recommend watching it from the DB2Night Show, though to get all the other great content of the show.
Saurabh Agrawal – Data Purge Algorithm
Saurabh made good use of humor. This presentation was logically presented, and included specific syntax. It was the kind of presentation that one goes back to when one has to go actually do the same thing.
It might be a bit complicated of a topic for this amount of time. Some slides were a bit text heavy, and some graphics were a bit on the small side. There was a really good description of how to deal with large set integrity, but it would miss tables with circular integrity. While circular integrity is rare, I have run into it and have had to script my set integrity scripts to handle it. A hint if anyone encounters the same situation – consider multiple tables in one set integrity statement.
Saurabh was safe based on votes, and is eligable for the final vote.
Saurabh’s Contact Information:
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/saurabh-agrawal/23/845/a8a
Twitter: @saurabhska
Blog: http://saurabhska.wordpress.com/
Prasad – Federated Database Performance – Success is Never Easy
Prasad’s tie into his previous presentation was nice. He started with how to do federation, then moved into how to set performance parameters. He showed specific syntax, and research behind it. Good details on controlling push-down for subqueries. Great presentation, though a bit text heavy. Got the duck, but such a great presentation. Have I said yet that I think this was about the ideal presentation in this format? Way to finish strong, Prasad.
Prasad was safe based on votes, and is eligible for the final vote.
Prasad’s Contact Info:
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/prasad-pande/24/292/a23
Twitter: @pandeprasad1
Blog: http://prasadspande.wordpress.com/
Michael Krafick – Sit, Stay! Good LOB. Domesticating Your LOB.
As usual, Michael made great use of humor in his presentation. He just published his first developerWorks article on this topic, and is presenting on this topic at IDUG in Phoenix. These are important topics to be aware of. The only reason I personally did not get a lot out of this presenation is because I’ve been talking with Michael about this topic for the last year or two. Several times I’ve interrogated him to get details I needed to work with some LOBs in my own environments. Michael is a top presenter in this year’s contest, so go vote for him. Or whoever you believe was at the top. But seriously, vote for Michael.
Michael was safe based on votes, and is eligable for the final vote.
Michael’s Contact Info
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelkrafick
Twitter: @MKrafick
Mike’s Blog Articles here on db2commerce.com
Summary
This was the final presentation show for this year’s contest. It was also the only one I did not manage to watch live. I really enjoy watching live, taking notes, and chatting with my DB2 friends about it while it is going on.
I highly recommend watching the show yourself, and then voting! The results show is in two weeks, on April 11. The winners are completely in the hands of the voters at this point, so no matter who you support, go vote!!
I also recommend attending the April 11th show – Scott’s tips for IDUG and guests are great if you are going to IDUG this year, and it’s just fun to listen to people winning, too.
