Fibonacci-Spirals and 21 Ways to Contribute to Postgres | PGConf EU 2019 | Claire Giordano

Postgres is growing like gangbusters: in popularity, in adoption, and in the size of the ecosystem. And over 400 developers contribute code to Postgres today: their expertise, design chops, and skill are big factors in the increasing popularity of Postgres. But what if you’re not a developer? Are there things you can do to help grow the usage and popularity of Postgres? And are these non-code ways to contribute to Postgres important? Valued? Will they make a real difference?

If you love Postgres and want to help drive Fibonacci growth of the Postgres community, this talk is for you. I’ll walk through 21 different (and important) ways to contribute to Postgres—along with tips and resources for getting started.

Transcript

1. @clairegiordan
   o
   Fibonacci Spirals &
   21 Ways to Contribute
   to Postgres—
   Beyond Code
   Claire Giordano
   @clairegiordano @citusdata @microsoft
   PGConf.EU 2019
   

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2. @clairegiordan
   o
   Leonardo Pisano Bigollo
   (1170–1240)
   

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3. @clairegiordan
   o
   1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, …
   FIBONACCI SEQUENCE
   

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4. @clairegiordan
   o
   FIBONACCI SPIRAL
   1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, …
   2
   3
   5
   8
   13
   21
   

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5. @clairegiordan
   o
   What do Fibonacci spirals have to do with
   contributing to Postgres?
   

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6. @clairegiordan
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7. @clairegiordan
   o
   

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8. @clairegiordan
   o
   Source: Reddit
   

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9. @clairegiordan
   o
   Hi, I’m Claire Giordano—and
   I’m a Principal PM Manager
   at Microsoft, by way of the
   recent Citus Data
   acquisition, where I was
   VP of Marketing.
   21 Ways to Contribute
   to Postgres—
   Beyond Code
   @clairegiordano
   & drive Fibonacci growth
   

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10. @clairegiordan
    o
    Why ”Beyond Code”?
    What if… you’re not a developer?
    

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11. @clairegiordan
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    Right before I submitted talk proposal…
    Source: Josh Berkus on Slideshare.net: 50 Ways to Love Your Project
    DISCOVERED: Josh Berkus - similar talk in 2013
    

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12. @clairegiordan
    o
    Attend conferences like this.
    Participate in the community.
    Learn—and share your learnings.
    Create a place where newcomers can
    learn.
    1
    @clairegiordano
    

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13. @clairegiordan
    o
    Lots of ways to support local
    Meetups & User Groups, too.
    Attend.
    Give talks.
    Share learnings.
    Pay for food/drinks.
    Host in your company’s office space.
    @clairegiordano
    2
    

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14. @clairegiordan
    o
    Lots of ways to support local
    Meetups & User Groups, too.
    Attend.
    Give talks.
    Share learnings.
    Pay for food/drinks.
    Host in your company’s office space.
    @clairegiordano
    2
    

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15. @clairegiordan
    o
    Lots of ways to support local
    Meetups & User Groups, too.
    Attend.
    Give talks.
    Share learnings.
    Pay for food/drinks.
    Host in your company’s office space.
    @clairegiordano
    2
    

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16. @clairegiordan
    o
    Share your expertise—give a talk or
    tutorial at a conference.
    Meetups, too.
    Lightning talks, too.
    Most conference organizers
    WELCOME first-time presenters.
    @clairegiordano
    3
    PGConf.EU 2019
    

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17. @clairegiordan
    o
    Post your slides online!
    Share them.
    Promote them
    # of digital pageviews can exceed #
    of attendees!
    > speakerdeck.com
    > slideshare.net
    > conference websites…
    4
    @clairegiordano
    

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18. @clairegiordan
    o
    Start a local PGDay in your town.
    Single-track, 1-day, local
    > More affordable
    > Easy access
    > All together, same room, all day
    5
    @clairegiordano Source: 2020.pgday.paris
    

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19. @clairegiordan
    o
    @clairegiordano Source: www.pgday.cl/2019/
    5
    Start a local PGDay in your town.
    Single-track, 1-day, local
    > More affordable
    > Easy access
    > All together, same room, all day
    

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20. @clairegiordan
    o
    Write a blog.
    Publish an article.
    Share your learnings & expertise.
    Shine a light on value of Postgres.
    6
    @clairegiordano
    

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21. @clairegiordan
    o
    Syndicate to PlanetPostgres to
    increase reach of your blog posts.
    @planetpostgres promotes on
    Twitter, too.
    7
    @clairegiordano
    

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22. @clairegiordan
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    7
    Source: postgresql.org
    Syndicate to PlanetPostgres to
    increase reach of your blog posts.
    @planetpostgres promotes on
    Twitter, too.
    @clairegiordano
    

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23. @clairegiordan
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    Write Books that make it easier for
    newcomers to use Postgres
    8
    @clairegiordano
    

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24. @clairegiordan
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    Write Books that make it easier for
    newcomers to use Postgres
    8
    @clairegiordano
    

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25. @clairegiordan
    o
    Create User Stories!
    About amazing things do w/ Postgres
    Recipe:
    Story, headlines, diagrams, metrics,
    pull quotes
    9
    @clairegiordano Source: citusdata.com/customers/mixrank
    

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26. @clairegiordan
    o
    Use Video to show what Postgres
    can do!
    Some people learn better via video.
    10
    @clairegiordano
    Source: www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cbT64D9KFk
    

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27. @clairegiordan
    o
    Use Video to show what Postgres
    can do!
    Some people learn better via video.
    10
    @clairegiordano
    Title
    Thumbnail
    Description
    Bookmarks
    Links
    Don’t forget to post videos with
    good metadata!
    

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28. @clairegiordan
    o
    If you build it, they will NOT come.
    Promote, promote, promote.
    Whether blog, video, user story, talk,
    or book!
    Help people discover.
    How to reach beyond inner circle?
    11
    @clairegiordano
    

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29. @clairegiordan
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    Promote Postgres on Twitter
    meetups, TIL, QOTD, OH, how-to>
    12
    @clairegiordano
    

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30. @clairegiordan
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    Say thank you.
    If you like someone’s work, praise it.
    Privately. Publicly. Both.
    Including junior people. New people.
    Not just luminaries. Not just friends.
    13
    @clairegiordano
    

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31. @clairegiordan
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    Do you speak a non-English
    language?
    Help with message translations.
    Help Postgres content reach people
    in other languages.
    Mailing list: pgsql-translators
    More info: babel.postgresql.org
    14
    

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32. @clairegiordan
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    Report bugs with Postgres!
    When you find a bug with PostgreSQL
    we want to hear about it.”
    Your bug reports play an important
    part in making PostgreSQL more
    reliable.”
    @clairegiordano
    15
    Source: postgresql.org
    “
    “
    

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33. @clairegiordan
    o
    Report bugs with Postgres!
    When you find a bug with PostgreSQL
    we want to hear about it.”
    Your bug reports play an important
    part in making PostgreSQL more
    reliable.”
    @clairegiordano
    15
    Source: postgresql.org
    “
    “
    

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34. @clairegiordan
    o
    Submit corrections to documentation!
    Clarify.
    Disambiguate.
    Better help newcomers understand.
    16
    @clairegiordano
    Source: postgresql.org
    

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35. @clairegiordan
    o
    Submit corrections to documentation!
    Clarify.
    Disambiguate.
    Better help newcomers understand.
    16
    @clairegiordano
    Source: postgresql.org
    

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36. @clairegiordan
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    Promote Postgres with stickers.
    (Promote your PG projects, too.)
    Stickers are a thing for many devs.
    Stickers can spark conversation.
    @clairegiordano Source: my laptop
    17
    

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37. @clairegiordan
    o
    18
    Use your design skills.
    Graphics & visuals pull people in.
    Meet—the Citus elicorn.
    @clairegiordano
    Source: Citus Data “sharded” elicorn
    

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38. @clairegiordan
    o
    Use your design skills.
    Graphics & visuals pull people in.
    Meet—the Citus elicorn.
    Louise Grandjonc’s Crocodile.
    18
    @clairegiordano
    Source: www.Instagram.com/zimmoriarty/
    

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39. @clairegiordan
    o
    Use your design skills.
    Graphics & visuals pull people in.
    Meet—the Citus elicorn.
    Meet—Louise Grandjonc’s Owl.
    Meet—Postgres Activity Book.
    18
    @clairegiordano
    

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40. @clairegiordan
    o
    Use “Sketchnotes” to share your
    learnings.
    Effective way to capture &
    communicate big takeaways
    Engages through combo of words,
    font styles, color, some images
    19
    @clairegiordano Source: twitter.com/reverentgeek
    

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41. @clairegiordan
    o
    Reach out to evangelize at your local
    university (or alma mater).
    Offer to give a talk and share your
    learnings about the tricky problems
    you’ve solved by using Postgres
    (instead of…)
    20
    @clairegiordano
    Source: Twitter @DevrimGunduz, FOSDEM
    

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42. @clairegiordan
    o
    Reach out to evangelize at your local
    university (or alma mater).
    Offer to give a talk and share your
    learnings about the tricky problems
    you’ve solved by using Postgres
    (instead of…)
    What will it take to make Postgres
    the de facto database taught in
    universities?
    20
    @clairegiordano
    Source: Twitter @DevrimGunduz, FOSDEM
    

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43. @clairegiordan
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    Make people feel welcome
    Being “welcoming” is 1 step further
    than being “open”
    21
    @clairegiordano
    

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44. @clairegiordan
    o
    1. Attend Conferences
    2. Meetups & User Groups
    3. Give a Talk
    4. PostSlides online
    5. Start a PGDay
    6. Blogs&articles
    7. Syndicate to Planet Postgres
    8. Write a book
    9. User Stories
    10. Bite-sized videos
    11. Promote
    12. Twitter
    13. Say Thank You!
    14. Translations
    15. Report Bugs
    16. DocFeedback
    17. Stickers
    18. Design skills
    19. #sketchnotes
    20. Universityoutreach
    21. Welcome people in
    21 Ways to Contribute—Beyond Code
    

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45. @clairegiordan
    o
    

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46. @clairegiordan
    o
    Thank You
    @clairegiordano | @citusdata | @microsoft
    Ideas/Suggestions? +1 or -1? Let me know :)
    PGConf.EU 2019
    

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