T-SQL Tuesday #188:  Growing the younger data community and speakers

This month’s T-SQL Tuesday is being hosted by John Sterrett and asks a great question:  What can we do to grow the younger data community and speakers? 

I think the answer lies in a personal touch.

The SQL Server Community

This question is very dear to me because — just like John —I wouldn’t be where I am today without some awesome people who noticed me early on and encouraged me. 

I spent several years as a DBA thrashing around with just the knowledge available from SQL Server “Books Online” and a few things I could find here and there on SQLTeam.com with folks like Bill Graziano, Tara Kizer and many others.

When I got my first job with a team of DBAs, one of my co-workers introduced me to the local SQL User group. My boss encouraged me to volunteer with the group. My eyes were opened to this event called “The PASS Summit” where Scott Gleason noticed me being a wallflower and wasn’t going to let that stand. He pointed out notable and friendly people in the community and encouraged me to talk to them. This, along with my decision to sign up for a Twitter account back in the day, was a turning point for me in my career.

I ended up running my own SQL User Group, where I encouraged many people to speak, including one of the folks who would go on to help found the EightKB conference, Mark Wilkinson. Through my involvement in the community, the list of people who offered their help and advice for free would make this blog post much too long. 

Reaching Out, Paying it Forward

So how do we keep that ball rolling? How do we, the “finely aged” members of the community, pay it forward? I think we need to watch for those wallflowers, make them feel welcome and help them create the next generation of in-groups. By their nature, or because of past experience, many of these folks aren’t going to react to simple social media posts or videos. I’d certainly seen many of those before and during the Summit. It took someone personally introducing themselves and befriending this weirdo before I felt welcome enough to join the community as a contributor. 

So, here are some things I think we, the current community, can do:

• If you’re a SQL Saturday organizer, reach out to folks in your area personally — in person is best but texting or messaging on LinkedIn or other platforms may work. Remind them of a great conversation you had and encourage them to submit a topic to your local event.
• If you’re a local user group leader (there’s often a good bit of overlap there), do the same. Offer to help or even co-present with them to help build confidence in the ability to speak
• If you’re just a community member, follow the awesome advice from Ted Lasso:  “Be curious, not judgmental” about co-workers or other folks in your area and encourage them to flesh out an interesting thing that happened to them.
• When you’re attending an event, give the speaker your attention so you can offer feedback and encouragement at the end of the session. We’ve all fallen victim to the draw of our phones/laptops/etc., so make a decision to be present.
• Cultivate an inviting environment. The next generation is much less tolerant of inclusion policies buried in fine print but not enforced. They want to see that commitment front and center so they know they’re joining a safe environment and one that celebrates diversity. If you’re an event organizer, there’s no room for fence-straddling on this. If you’re not boldly in favor of an equitable, inclusive and diverse environment, people will assume you’re against it. 

Maintaining the Community

I’ve reaped substantial rewards from joining and contributing to this community, but there’s more to be done if we’re to attract younger speakers, organizers and volunteers who will want to keep building and maintaining this community.

I’d like to thank John for this T-SQL Tuesday topic. It made me do some deep thinking and reminiscing on “the good old days” when I first joined this wonderful community.