St. Louis SQL Server and Business Intelligence User Group

Teams Meeting: Soon
Meeting Sponsor: CGI

Topic: How I Built It: Fabric Task Flow Assistant
Microsoft Fabric is incredibly powerful - but going from a business problem to a deployed solution can still feel overwhelming. In this session, I’ll walk through how I built the Fabric task flow Assistant, an AI‑assisted approach that turns plain‑English problem descriptions into fully mapped, CI/CD‑ready Microsoft Fabric solutions.

We’ll cover the design decisions behind the assistant and what worked (and didn’t) along the way with GitHub Copilot. You’ll see how task flows can become more than documentation - they become the backbone for solution design, automation, and shared understanding.

If you’re curious about combining AI with real‑world problems - or want ideas, you can adapt for your own workflow - this session is for you.

GitHub: https://github.com/microsoft/fabric-task-flows

Speaker: Alex Powers
From financial services to felines, the world wide web to professional wrestling - Alex Powers has an affinity for the conventional and unconventional when it comes to information. A self-proclaimed Microsoft data & AI evangelist, he enjoys contributing to online forums, in-person training, and sharing his passion for empowering others using Microsoft technologies.

Alex is currently a Senior Program Manager in Azure Data

Meeting Sponsor: CGI

Topic: Leveraging Query Store for Improved Performance
Query Store has become an indispensable feature for SQL Server performance monitoring and tuning. This session offers a Level 200 introduction and practical walkthrough of Query Store, focusing on its ability to capture, store, and analyze query performance metrics. We'll explore why Query Store was introduced, what data it provides, and how it empowers database administrators to identify regressions, enforce plan stability, and leverage Intelligent Query Processing features such as Memory Grant Feedback and DOP Feedback.

In addition to understanding how Query Store helps detect and fix performance issues, attendees will learn how to configure it effectively, including important settings like capture modes, cleanup policies, and custom capture thresholds. We’ll also cover features in SQL Server 2022 that enhance Query Store’s capabilities, such as query hints without code changes and persisted feedback.

To wrap up, we’ll highlight powerful community tools and scripts that help extract value from Query Store data and support real-world troubleshooting scenarios.
Whether you're new to Query Store or looking to deepen your understanding, this session will equip you to begin unlocking performance improvements in your SQL Server environment.

Speaker: Lee Markum
Lee Markum is a SQL Server Database Administrator who got his start with SQL Server back in 2009. Back in the day, he earned an MCTS certification on SQL Server 2008. That was followed up in 2020 with the AZ-900 Azure Fundamentals and DP-900 Microsoft Azure Data Fundamentals certifications. He has officially been a DBA since 2014. Lee has worked for small companies under 100 people to large enterprises of thousands of employees and used databases of all sizes.

He has presented at SQL Server Meetups, New Stars of Data, SQL Saturdays, was an online speaker for the RedGate PASS Data Community Summit 2022, and spoke at Saint Louis DevUp in 2024 and 2025.

Lee blogs at LeeMarkum.com and he loves finding and experimenting with new features in SQL Server. High availability and disaster recovery as well as performance monitoring and troubleshooting are of special interest to Lee.

Meeting Sponsor: CGI

Topic: TBD

Speaker: Sharon Reid
Before the commencement of her reign as the "Database Security Czarina of NISA," Sharon Reid was an adjunct English professor. After taking a LaunchCode class on SQL, she was asked to be a teaching assistant and then took over as lead mentor for the SQL cohort for LaunchCode Women+. Currently, she is on the St. Louis SQL Server and BI user group advisory board. Sharon enjoys sharing her passion for database security and is determined to make it fun, practical and implemented.

Register through Event Brite: Day of Data Registration
Day of Data Event Page
Day of Data St. Louis Sponsorship Plans Available

Day of Data St. Louis
We’re excited to bring the St. Louis data community together again for Day of Data St. Louis, a full day of learning, networking, and great conversations. This is a free, in‑person event for data professionals, technologists, and students, hosted at the Microsoft Innovation Hub on October 24 — and this year, we’re going even bigger with expanded sessions, speakers, and opportunities to connect. Day of Data builds on the long‑standing SQL Saturday and PASS community tradition, now grown to include modern data platforms, analytics, AI, and more.
Space is limited, so we encourage you to register early and strongly recommend purchasing a priority attendance ticket that includes lunch during registration to guarantee your spot.

Priority Attendance (Securing Your Spot)
Last year’s event reached registration capacity, and we expect this year to do the same based on the excitement we’ve seen from the community. To ensure admission and attendance, we strongly recommend purchasing a lunch ticket during registration to guarantee your spot at the event. This purchase includes priority check‑in and catered lunch on site.
Important: If you choose not to purchase a lunch ticket, entry will be space‑available only and cannot be guaranteed day of the event.

Who Should Attend
Day of Data St. Louis is for anyone who works with, manages, or makes decisions based on data — from analysts, developers, and architects to data and IT leaders focused on strategy and business outcomes. We also welcome students and early‑career professionals looking to grow their skills. If data and AI is part of your world, there’s a session here for you.

Session Tracks
This year’s event features dedicated tracks across some of the most in‑demand areas with each track led by experienced speakers and focused on practical, real‑world content you can put to work right away.

• Microsoft Fabric — Dive into Microsoft’s unified data and AI platform, from lakehouses and data pipelines to real‑time intelligence and integrated experiences across the data lifecycle.
• Power BI — Explore reporting, visualization, and self‑service analytics. Whether you’re building your first dashboard or optimizing enterprise‑scale models, there’s something here for you.
• SQL Server — The backbone of countless data platforms. Sessions cover performance tuning, administration, architecture, and what’s new in the latest releases.
• Data Engineering & Data Science — From designing data architectures to building modern pipelines, warehouses, and machine learning models, these sessions bridge the gap between raw data and real insight.
• Copilot & Artificial Intelligence — See how AI is reshaping the way we work with data, from integrating Copilot and large language models into your workflows to building intelligent data solutions.
• Professional Development — Step into the Microsoft Innovation Hub’s immersive Envisioning Center, with its wraparound displays, for sessions focused on career growth, leadership, and building the skills that set you apart beyond the technical.
• Community Spotlight — An intimate track designed to help local, or user group speakers take the next step onto the conference stage. If you’ve been presenting and are ready to level up, this is your opportunity.

Sponsorships are available - if your organization is interested please contact Michelle Work at mwork@mailctp.com.