My OOW2K6SF agenda

I've been really impressed with the schedule for Open World this year. I know some people regard the conference as a marketing exercise on Oracle's part. And indeed it is. But it's so much more than that. It's chock full of interesting presentations. In particular Oracle have really made an effort to provide talks of interest to the developer community. So I think the presentations on offer more than justify all the keynotes. And anyway Collaborate didn't offer free tickets to the ACEs.

A couple of other people have posted their schedules, so here is mine. It is my blog and it is all about me.

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Sunday, 22 October 2006

2:00 PM - "Scaling to Infinity: Partitioning Data Warehouses in Oracle"

Frankly I can't think of a better cure for jetlag than listening to Tim Gorman talk about database partitioning ...

3:30 PM - "Inside Oracle Business Intelligence Analytics Server"

... unless it's listening to an equally jetlagged Mark Rittman talk on some BI technology about which I know nothing whatsoever.

In the evening it's the Editor's Choice and ACEs dinner. I get two invites for this but I won't be claiming two dinners.

Monday, 23 October 2006

11:00 AM - "The Future of Database Technology, from Oracle Development"

If Mark is correct this will be something to do with 11g beta. Rather annoyingly it clashes with Bryn Llewellyn's talk on enhancements to PL/SQL in 11g. I guess this is a deliberate piece of scheduling but still rather annoying.

12:30 PM - "Developing PL/SQL Programs, Using Automated Unit Testing"

I suppose I really ought to turn up for this one.

3:15 PM - "Database Worst Practices"

Tom Kyte should give everybody a checklist on entry so we can tick off our sins as he enumerates them.

4:15 PM - "10 Things You Should NEVER Do in PL/SQL"

And that goes for Steven Feuerstein too. I expect I'll have to attend the OTN Night wearing a hair shirt and dragging round a large candle.

Tuesday, 24 October 2006

10:45 AM - "Using Oracle Advanced Queues to Facilitate Near-Real-Time Integration"

By the time I get to SF I will already have had a crack at this task but I'm hoping to pick up a few tips from Robert Corfman which I can bring back.

1:15 PM - "Bringing Open Source Software Development Practices and Principles Into Your Company"

Brian Behlendorf was one of the founders of Apache, so he should know what he's talking about here.

2:30 PM - "Developing Solutions to Real-World Problems with Oracle Content Database"

I'm all in favour of tackling real-world problems. I hope somebody from Metalink attends to discover how to properly tag documents with metadata to help searching ;)

In the evening it's the Bloggers' dinner. Once again Mark Rittman is organising this and he's settled on the Thirsty Bear Brewing Co, which is a block down from the Moscone Centre.

Wednesday, 25 October 2006

11:30 AM - "Oracle Forensics: Collecting Evidence After an Attack"

Another annoying schedule clash, as this is on at the same time as Vipin Samar's talk on securing our assets. In the end I have opted to find out how to discover whether anybody has hacked into my system rather than trying to keep the intruders out in the first place. Perhaps this is a bad call.

2:30 PM - "Data Design Reviews: Using Extreme Humiliation to Ensure Quality Data Models"

Kent Graziano wins my vote for the best presentation title of the conference. Fortunately Kent has the chops to produce insights to go with the smartarse titles.

4:00 PM - "Dynamic SQL in a Dynamic World"

As an old skool programmer I tend to distrust dynamic programming in anything except unusual circumstances: too unreliable, too slow, too risky. So I'm looking forward to hearing a different point of view from Dulcian's Michael Rosenblum.

Thursday, 26 October 2006

9:30 AM - "Don't Let It Happen to You: Encrypt Sensitive Information in Your Oracle Database"
More on security. An area I went to learn much more about.

10:30 AM - "Meet The Experts Panel w/ Tom Kyte"

I'm joining the inestimable Mr Kyte on the OTN sofa. Possibly an enormous act of hubris on my part.

11:00 AM - ""Best Practices for Upgrading to Oracle Database 10g Release 2"

Hoping for a few tips as this is an upcoming task which I'm facing at the end of this year.

And after that I'll be leaving on a jet plane.

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As I have observed previously last year's attendance made OOW2K5 quite intense at times. This year I think the additional twelve thousand attendees will turn the Moscone Centre into a veritable pressure cooker. So at some point I shall slope off for an hour to check out SFMOMA. This is slapbang next to the Moscone Centre and is an ideal place to consider issues of process and design from a different perspective.