I saw this post (please do read it) about introducing speakers and it reminded me that I wanted to write about it too. At the July oPASS meeting I did the introduction for Kendal Van Dyke, and it just felt like the right thing to do. We’ve been a little lax about it, and in fact this month we didn’t do it very well. I think it happens a lot because the meeting organizer has been communicating and/or knows the speaker and forgets that the rest of the attendees don’t have that background yet.

Most speakers include a slide of background/qualifications (which I agree with), but reading it is often awkward – feels like the presentation is about selling the speaker and not teaching the attendees. A good intro both helps the speaker build their brand (the most common reason for speaking) and gives them the best chance of success by helping the attendees learn about their qualifications from someone who is allowed to be openly enthusiastic about.

Not sure I said all that well, but hoping for the best. I’d like to see the SQL community really adopt this as a practice, from chapter meetings right up through the Summit.