Gearing Up for PASS Summit: Keynotes, Redgate Fun, and the Magic AI-Ball
It’s that time of year again when data professionals from every corner of the world are gathering for PASS Data Community Summit and I’m already exhausted…and thrilled to go to Seattle. Between the keynotes, the sessions, and reconnecting with my Summit family, this week always feels like the ultimate data event that I must power through!
I start the long week with SQL Saturday Oregon, the weekend before PASS Summit, as I’ll be the keynote speaker at this event and then many of us will head off to Seattle on the SQL Train on Sunday to begin the week of learning and shenanigans. As we get ready to storm Seattle for another year of insights, inspiration, and a few too many hours each day, here’s a little look at what I’ve got planned, what you can expect, and a cheeky side project I’ve brought to life for this year’s event.
The Keynote Kickoff
PASS Summit keynotes have always set the tone for the week. All I’m going to say is that they let us drive the theme, the content and the scripts this year, so be forewarned: It’s going to be quite the event! Lots of demos, lots of humor and I hope it resonates with everyone.
I’ll be doing the keynote with Steve Jones and Laura Copeland this year and it’s going to have everything that previous attendance has asked us for in a keynote, so bring your caffeine and your curiosity; you’ll need both.
My Sessions & The Collectible Minifig
I’ll be presenting four sessions this year outside of the keynote, focused on Oracle for the SQL Server professional, Understanding multiplatform workloads and tools, and an AI panel. These sessions will teach how to build and manage database environments, no matter the platform, that scale for modern teams, no matter what your specialty is. I’ll be presenting three of them with one of my favorite people, Rene Antunez.
If you’re in my sessions, please connect with me or just come say hi! And yes, I’ll have my limited-edition Kellyn LEGO minifigs on hand. The previous year’s minifigs have become something of a collector’s item at events, and I can’t wait to hand out the one of me this year.
The Magic AI-Ball
Now for something fun and yet, educational. I’ve brought back the Magic 8 Ball, but made it AI-powered.
This year, I’ve published a PowerShell script called Magic8 Ball, available now on my GitHub.
This isn’t your average chatbot, but a sample script that offers insight in how you can start small and isolated with AI to:
- Become comfortable working with an LLM just using Powershell for the initial script.
- Run Ollama with an LLM on your laptop isolated and offline, so there’s no concern about unintentionally uploading PII to the world.
- As it’s running locally and offline with an open-source model, there’s no tokens or costly GPUs, (mine runs on a 16G laptop…seriously.)
The script is a playful offline simulation that uses a local large language model (LLM) running through Ollama (available for Windows 11). It’s powered by one of my favorite models, Qwen 2.5, and runs completely isolated and offline, which is perfect for demos, labs, or those who just like their AI self-contained. Take the code and make changes to the prompt to perform different tasks or build out new code as you get more comfortable with the set up.
Here’s what you’ll need:
- Ollama installed locally
- Qwen or any Ollama-compatible LLM (runs offline once downloaded in the current script)
- Windows 11 environment
The script acts as a cheeky, snarky Magic 8-Ball, while answering your burning questions with AI-infused wit. Think of it as “Outlook in the cloud… not so good” meets “As I see it, AI will fix it.”
Redgate Wednesday Night Event and Ask the AI-Ball!
On Wednesday night, Redgate is hosting an invite-only event where the Magic AI-Ball will make its public debut!
You’ll be able to ask it questions live, see its best sarcastic comebacks, and even compete to win one of 20 red Magic 8 Balls we’ll be giving away to the best-voted questions of the night.
Bring your imagination (and your sense of humor), the snarkier, the better.
Summit Is More Than Sessions
Beyond the slides and scripts, PASS Summit is about reconnecting with our people. The hallway conversations, the late-night debates about Copilot vs. Chatgpt or SQL Server or Postgres, (ok, not so much on the second one, but we’re getting there) and the moments that remind us why we love this community.
I’ll be hanging around with friends, technical peers, coworkers and community advocates throughout the week. If you see me, please do come say hi, share your favorite tech fail story, and maybe ask the Magic AI-Ball a question or two if you’re at the Wednesday event.
See You in Seattle!
Pack your laptops, bring your curiosity, and get ready to learn, laugh, and maybe even get a little snark from a Magic AI-Ball along the way. Follow the fun on LinkedIn and other social media platforms with the hashtags #PASSDataSummit, #Redgate, and #DBAKevlar.
