I have recently been informed that several of my submissions have been accepted for presentation at theSoutheastern Oracle Users Conference and for Collaborate 2009 (IOUG).  As such, my 2009 conference schedule will include attendance and presentation of the following:

• The Life of a Query (DBA/Developer Track)
  – Southeastern Oracle Users Conference–February 25-26, 2009
  – IOUG Collaborate 2009 (Session #399)–May 7, 2009
  Have you ever wondered what happens when you execute a query?  In this session, we’ll take a walk through the Life of an Oracle Query from beginning to end.  Not only does this help you better understand the various steps in the execution of your query, but it will also give you a good appreciation for the architecture of the Oracle Database server and, in particular, of the query optimizer.  You will gain valuable information that will allow you to solve performance issues and write more efficient queries going forward.  Additionally, I will share some of my insights into the Oracle optimizer as we move through this discussion.  This discussion is also a great refresher for those of you familiar with Oracle concepts and architecture.
• Database Benchmarking: Methodologies, Tools, and Techniques (DBA/Developer Track)
  – Southeastern Oracle Users Conference–February 25-26, 2009
  – IOUG Collaborate 2009 (Session #107)–May 4, 2009
  While we’re all familiar with the term benchmarketing, how do you tell fact from fiction? Planning and performing a proper, accurate, and scientific database benchmark isn’t always easy. And, while database benchmarks are performed for many different reasons, this session would cover the proper techniques, methodologies, and tools for performing the most common database benchmarking scenarios: hardware configuration comparison, database release comparison, and internal application benchmarking. Tools covered will include the Oracle Linux Test Suite (OLT), Real Application Testing, and Quest Software’s Benchmark Factory.
• Introducing the Oracle Call Interface (Developer Track)
  – IOUG Collaborate 2009 (Session #537)–May 6, 2009
  Often overlooked, the Oracle Call Interface (OCI) has long-since been a high performance, low-level data access API for Oracle. Unfortunately, many people shy away from using OCI simply because of its perceived complexity. However, this session will illustrate that anyone with a little knowledge of C can harness the power of OCI in their own applications. It will also demonstrate two of the most popular OCI wrapper libraries for those who just want to get their feet wet.

I’m also submitting several presentations to New York Oracle Users Group’s Spring General Meeting, and will hopefully be seeing some of you there again.