Day of Data - Jacksonville #1128 - May 2nd, 2026

Jacksonville's 18th Annual Data Conference Day of Data event includes paid pre-con tracks and one FREE day of training sessions for data professionals and those wanting to grow their Business Intelligence, Analytics, and SQL Server skills. This event is hosted by Jax Data, a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization.

Day of Data is a training event for data professionals who want to learn how to elevate their careers to the next level. This is the 18th year of Day of Data in Jacksonville, and it will be held on May 2, 2026. Admittance to this event is free; donations and sponsorship cover all costs. Please register soon, as seating is limited, and let friends and colleagues know about the event. Day of Data Jacksonville is hosted by Jax Data, a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization.

Why: It is a great opportunity to learn from Data Experts, Microsoft MVPs, SQL Server Authors, and Professionals who have been through and can relate to the obstacles you have day to day. This one-day training event is unlike any other, providing free food, training, and networking.

Main Campus
1 UNF Drive
Jacksonville, FL 32224.
Building 51 and Building 4.
Parking in Garage 38 near the baseball fields.

TBA

Register here: https://bit.ly/dayofdataprecon2026-1

SQL Server performance tuning looks big from a distance, but once you work with real examples, it becomes much easier. This workshop is fully hands on. You will learn tuning by fixing real problems step by step, the same way you would in real projects.

This is a workshop with zero (0) slides and 100% demos. Everything you learn happens directly in SQL Server, in real time. You will tune slow queries, build smarter indexes, understand locking behavior, read wait stats, and handle parallelism surprises right in front of your eyes. Every concept comes with an action that you will try yourself.

You will also hear a short and honest note about AI. The goal is to give you the skills that help you survive the AI transformation. We skip skills that AI can do for you. We focus only on the parts that are real and essential and will keep you valuable in any database team.

The workshop includes

• Four hours of fast paced demos with real scenarios

• Two hours of guided practice where you solve tasks

• Thirty minutes of AMA time for your burning questions

It is lively, engaging, and built to make you confident.

You will work on tasks such as

• Create the right index for a slow query

• Rewrite a poorly performing query

• Investigate blocking and reduce lock waits using GenAI

• Choose indexes that avoid unnecessary locks

• Read basic wait stats and spot the top bottleneck

• Understand simple parallelism issues and tune them

By the end, you will know how to find slow spots, tune common queries, and use core tools like execution plans, indexes, waits, and parallelism with confidence. You will also understand which skills matter most in a world where AI is becoming normal.

Goals

Learn the fundamentals of SQL Server performance tuning with real hands on tasks

Understand how indexing, query patterns, locking, waits, and parallelism affect performance

Build essential tuning skills that stay valuable even during the AI shift

Prerequisites

Participants should know basic SQL. No performance tuning experience is needed. Basic SQL Server knowledge helps but is not required.

Pinal Dave is a seasoned SQL Server Performance Tuning Expert and independent consultant. With over 22 years of hands-on experience, he has authored 14 books on SQL Server, created 92 Pluralsight courses, and published more than 5,800 articles on database technology on his blog, SQLAuthority. He also holds a Master of Science degree and multiple database certifications.

Stop building pipelines the slow way.

AI is transforming data engineering, and the gap between those who've adapted and those who haven't is growing every month. This full-day session puts you on the right side of that gap. Whether you're new to Microsoft Fabric Data Factory or you've been building pipelines for years, we meet you where you are. No prerequisites. We start from the ground up.

What we'll build together:

Working pipelines. You'll learn the core mechanics of Fabric Data Factory, the design patterns professional engineers actually use, and how Claude Code can turn days of development into hours. This is code you'll take home and put to work.

Who should attend:

Data engineers, BI developers, IT professionals, and software developers at any level. If you touch data and want to move faster, you belong here.

Who's teaching:

The Leonards are a father-son team with different strengths and one shared obsession: figuring out what actually works. Andy has written books on data engineering. Stephen became the youngest precon presenter in PASS Summit history. Between them, you get decades of hard-won experience and a fresh perspective on where the field is heading.

The promise:

One day. Real skills. Faster pipelines. Every artifact we create together is yours to use and adapt. By the end of this day, you'll see data engineering differently, and you'll work a whole lot faster.

Andy Leonard

Andy Leonard is a husband, dad, and grandfather; creator of – and Data Philosopher at – DILM (Data Integration Lifecycle Management) Suite; a blogger, founder and Chief Data Engineer at Enterprise Data & Analytics; an SSIS and Azure Data Factory trainer, consultant, and developer; a SQL Server database and data warehouse developer; an author, mentor, engineer, and farmer.

Stephen Leonard

With half a decade of experience in IT infrastructure and data management, Stephen specializes in bridging the gap between traditional systems and emerging AI-driven technologies. His expertise spans a broad range of platforms and tools, including Windows and Linux environments, cloud solutions (Azure AZ-900 certified), and enterprise-grade data systems. Stephen brings strong technical proficiency combined with hands-on experience in project management, client communication, and team collaboration.

We will have a room set up for you to ask our Data Experts for assistance with any current challenges you might be having. Look for this image posted at the door

Requirements:
1. Must have Parent Attending ALL DAY Day of Data Conference.
2. Must be in middle school, ages 11-14.
3. Must sign waiver
The day will include visits to five stations. Below is a description of each station. A lunch will be provided as well based on your selection.
3D Pens/3D Printing:
Students will be empowered to bring their ideas to life with 3D pens, whether it is creating artwork, developing prototypes, or exploring educational concepts.
Coding:
This is a fun hands-on learning experiment with LEGO Education. Students will build and program the LEGO robot using block coding.
Raspberry Pi:
Students will learn how to assemble and use a computing device.
Data Science in AG:
Students assemble a simple plant monitoring kit, consisting of a micro:bit equipped with a moisture sensor. A hands-on experience in precision agriculture.
Finger Sensor:
Students build robotic models to understand the anatomy and biomechanics of the human hand/finger.

If you are interested in speaking at Day of Data Jacksonville, please go here to submit your sessions: https://sessionize.com/dayofdatajax

By registering for this event, you agree to the following.

Day of Data events seek to create a respectful, friendly, patient, considerate, and inclusive event experience and an environment where all participants feel welcome.

We therefore ask all participants to honor this Code of Conduct. Any disruptive, intolerant, or inappropriate behavior will not be tolerated, and we reserve the right to remove participants who violate our Code of Conduct from the event.

We do not tolerate any harassment or discrimination. Although this list cannot be exhaustive, we explicitly honor diversity in age, gender, gender identity or expression, culture, ethnicity, language, national origin, profession, race, religion, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, physical and psychological ability, and technical ability.

The organizer of this event will prioritize marginalized people’s safety over privileged people’s comfort. Please report any concerns, harassing behavior, or suspicious or disruptive activity to the event organizer or staff.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

University of North Florida, 1 UNF Dr, Jacksonville, United States

Concerts, fests, parties, meetups - all the happenings, one place.

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