T-SQL That Doesn’t Suck: I’m Running a Pre-Con at PASS Summit East
On Thursday, May 7th, I’ll be in Chicago at PASS Data Community Summit East, running a full-day pre-con called T-SQL That Doesn’t Suck: Solving Performance and Concurrency Problems.
The pitch is simple: you already know how to write T-SQL that runs. It compiles, it returns rows, nobody’s filed an incident yet. The problem is “runs” and “runs well at scale” are different conversations, and production tends to be the one asking the hard questions.
All attendees get free access to Learn T-SQL With Erik.
What we’re covering
The day splits roughly in half.
First half is the performance problems that don’t show up until you actually have data and traffic behind them:
– Implicit conversions that quietly kill your seeks
– Non-sargable predicates hiding behind innocent-looking WHERE clauses
– Parameter sniffing traps — when it helps, when it hurts, what to do about it
– Joins that look fine in the plan right up until they aren’t
– Temp tables vs. table variables, and when each one actually wins
– CTEs that help vs. CTEs that just make the query feel organized
– Window functions that don’t spill to tempdb
Second half is concurrency — the stuff that turns a Tuesday afternoon into a war room:
– Blocking chains, and how to actually read them
– Isolation level surprises
– DML that holds locks like it’s paying rent
– Patterns that let readers and writers coexist without fist-fighting
We’ll also put AI-generated T-SQL on the table. Not to pile on — it’s showing up in pull requests whether you like it or not — but to talk honestly about where it falls apart and where it actually saves you time.
Details
– When:** Thursday, May 7, 2026, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
– Where:** Hyatt Regency McCormick Place, Chicago — Jackson Park B
– Level:** 300 (if you’re past “what is a clustered index,” you’re in the right room)
– Register:** Here
The hotel discount at the Hyatt cuts off **April 22**, so if you need a room at the conference venue, book this week.
Chicago in May. T-SQL all day. Come write queries you’d be proud to put your name on.
Going Further
If this is the kind of SQL Server stuff you love learning about, you’ll love my training. Blog readers get 25% off the Everything Bundle — over 100 hours of performance tuning content. Need hands-on help? I offer consulting engagements from targeted investigations to ongoing retainers. Want a quick sanity check before committing to a full engagement? Schedule a call — no commitment required.