I'm writing this on the last day of PGConf.EU, sitting here in Prague. I'm looking forward to sitting in several more sessions today, as well as having a few more conversations with the people at the conference. It's been a great event and I'm so happy I've been able to take part. Following the PASS Data Community Summit, just a few weeks ago, it reminds me, again, of just how important a thriving community is to us as technologists.

I've shared my story about how community changed my life and my career before, so I won't bore you with it again. Instead, let me tell you about something that happened in the vendor hall yesterday. A couple of people came up to me, who had attended the training day session that Ryan Booz and myself had put on (OK, mostly Ryan, but I really did help). They had a question about auto-vacuum in PostgreSQL. I'm still learning about the vacuum, so I didn't feel qualified to answer. I looked around and spotted one of the event organizers. I walked them over, made an introduction, and got the conversation started. The organizer then spotted another person walking by and roped them into the conversation. A nice technical discussion followed and the two people left with a lot more information than they had before.

Why does this matter?

By engaging with the people within the PostgreSQL community, I've started, slowly, to make connections. What matters isn't that I can ask those people questions. Rather, it's that I can then make the right connections for others who have questions that I can't answer. And the PostgreSQL community, like the SQL Server community, is more than happy to literally give out free consulting time, to give some answers. In short, knowledge, skills, understanding, is shared freely and we all improve.

Your task is a simple one. Get engaged with your technical community, regardless of the technology. Yes, in-person events such as PGConf.EU make these kind of quick. easy conversations even easier, but online communities thrive and can function in the same way, albeit a little slower. Whether online or off, make those connections because they will help you, yes, but also because they'll enable you to help others. And, follow the lead of both the PostgreSQL community and the SQL Server community, do it with kindness.