Certification Offers at PASS

Are you going to be at the PASS Community Summit 2008 conference next month in Seattle? I am, and you should be too. Why? Well, if the opportunity to attend amazing sessions and rub shoulders with members of the SQL Server product group and SQL Server MVPs wasn't enough, Microsoft Learning is offering a variety of certification-related offers to help PASS attendees get certified on SQL Server 2005 or SQL Server 2008.

First of all, there are two discounts offers available.

1. If you're among the first 100 to register for an exam, you get the exam for free. This offer has been published for a while, so act now for a chance to get this 100% discount.
2. If you're not among the first 100, you still get a 25% discount on any exams you want to take during the conference - just register and go.

Next, Microsoft Learning is also offering a set of exam prep sessions for PASS attendees who want an extra edge when taking a certification exam. Here's the tentative schedule (it's really unlikely that this is going to change, but you know how conferences are - you should always check the schedule on site once the event begins) for the exam prep sessions:

• Tuesday, November 18                           
• 10:15am - 70 432 TS: Microsoft SQL Server 2008, Installation and Maintenance
• 1:00pm - 70 431 TS: Microsoft SQL Server 2005 - Implementation and Maintenance
• 2:45pm - 70-447  UPGRADE: MCDBA Skills to MCITP DBA by Using Microsoft SQL Server 2005
• Wednesday, November 19
• 10:15am - 70 448 TS: Microsoft SQL Server 2008, Business Intelligence Development and Maintenance
• 1:30pm - 70 445 TS: Microsoft SQL Server 2005 - Business Intelligence
• 3:00pm - 70 455  Upgrade: Transition your MCITP Business Intelligence Developer Skills to MCITP Business Intelligence Developer 2008
• 4:30pm - Cert 101
• Thursday, November 20
• 10:15am - 70 432 TS: Microsoft SQL Server 2008, Installation and Maintenance  (repeat)
• 1:30pm - 70 450 PRO: Designing, Optimizing and Maintaining a Database Server Infrastructure using Microsoft SQL Server 2008          
• 3:00pm - 70 453 Upgrade: Transition your MCITP Database Administrator Skills to MCITP Database Administrator 2008

As you can probably guess, I'm going to be presenting the three BI exam sessions on Wednesday. They asked me "can you do two?" and I said "no, but I can do three!" The other exam prep sessions are going to be delivered by veteran MCTs Telmo Sampaio and Rob Boek, and the Cert 101 session is going to be delivered by none other than Microsoft Learning's own Gerry O'Brien. What's not to love?

So - if you're going to be at PASS and are thinking about getting certified on SQL Sever, don't miss these offers. And be sure to look me up during the conference. I'll be in the certification area on Wednesday, and will probably be hanging out in the Ask The Experts Lounge at least some of the time (I have so many questions! ;-) and who knows where else I'll be the rest of the time - just keep your eyes open and be sure to say hello.