Speaker Buddy System

SirSQL made a rather stirring post recently. He talked about a speaker buddy system to help out new speakers in our community that are trying to make the jump to a SQL Saturday or any larger event. I think it's a fantastic idea. He brought on a story of a girl named Anna who felt so put off by her experience that she'll never speak again. Anna was made up for his post to emphasize his point. I'm going to add a personal story to this as well.

I've been helping with SQL Saturdays in OKC, OK for going on 4 years. I decided to get into speaking this year. I haven't given a presentation or had any face time in front of a large group (3+ people) since high school.My first presentation was at our local user group. They gave great feedback and gave me some great pointers. My second one was in Tulsa's local user group. Great people, great presentation and useful feedback. 3 days after that, me and my wife drove down to Houston's SQL Saturday and I gave my first presentation at a SQL Saturday. 

I noticed a few things that I hadn't before. I've been to multiple SQL Saturdays in various states. I've helped presenters who struggled figuring out how that school or building sets up their projection system. I've seen speakers and people in general that were lost to where they're supposed to go. I've seen presenters rushing in the crowd with the rest of us trying to get to a room on time. The difference for them is that they still need to sit down, set up, check that the presentation view or demo comes over correctly and calm down for the presentation.

 When I sat behind the desk for my first SQL Saturday, I had to figure out what strange settings and controls their presentation setup had. I have no clue why it seems like every school and conference center insists on having a completely different presentation setup. I digress. I was a bit familiar with the drill. I got in the room, started setting up immediately, checked the screens and just waited. I was excited, nervous and a bit on edge to see how many people came in the room and what sort of questions I'd get.

I had 4 people show up. One was a couple who stared at their phones the entire time. My presentation went a bit faster than it should have since I had no audience to get some back and forth with. I was not prepared for a 4 person silent room. I had one question that was related to but off the main topic and in an area I'm not 100% familiar with. If that had been my first interaction with SQL Saturdays, it would have been my last. I had driven 9 hours down on my weekend to stand in front of 4 people to give a quick nervous presentation and not be able to answer the one question asked, even if it was off topic. 

I would have loved to have someone in there that's done this a few times. They might have been able to stir a few questions out and help me see how to spin up a crowd. They could have given me some advice on what I did wrong or right. If I hadn't worked with a dozen or so different projection setups in the past, they would have been extremely useful in helping me not stress over hooking up a screen.

Now, I know that's not how all SQL Saturdays are. Very few actually end up like that. I know my topic is a bit strange anyways. I've signed up to speak and 5 locations this year. Houston, Baton Rouge, OKC, Kansas City and St. Louis. I've been accepted to the first 4 and St. Louis hasn't closed yet. I plan on treating each and every one of these as my first event. I think a first time speaker buddy system is a fantastic idea. I hope it catches on quickly.

Collaborated Training: What Legacy Will You Leave?

My very first IT job was a bit daunting for me. I really wanted to do my best but I wasn't really sure what they did. One of our supervisors had built a large collection of documentation and a list of our most common issues. It helped so much. That doesn't work as well in the database world. I do document my code and am building documentation on our projects so that everyone has better information. How do I leave behind something that someone else could use beyond simple documentation?

SharePoint

Odd lead in I know. What I plan on doing is simple though. Every day I come across something I've not learned yet but may have some interest in. I plan on creating a folder with the main term listed with an X at the end. This will only signify that I have nothing in that folder yet. When I get time later, I'll go back to each X and see what strikes me as interesting that day.  

Expanding on this idea

At first I'm going to make it simple and keep it to my close friends. The idea would be that anyone can create the folder and put items in each one. Something you didn't even think about may appear suddenly full of information. Something like this could start small scale and end up being a strong repository for multiple people within a few user groups or even beyond. I know we have forums now... but they don't really isolate information for long term use short of searching.

Keeping it clean

I might build it out at the start... but honestly moving stuff around later shouldn't be an issue. At first it will be just a list of items. It'll slowly transform into groups of folders divided by subject. I'm thinking a master legend that's updated weekly/monthly may be good as well. I'm going to set a few requirements on people that upload information that I plan to follow as well. All documents will be labeled BriefInformation-Date-VersionNumber(if applicable). Information within the document should include proper citing. If someone is recording a complete work of someone else, they will need to identify where they got it, when it was obtained and a link back to that location. I should be able to get better ideas of what to write as I slowly build out my personal list of things I don't know.

Negatives

Yes, there is a down side of sorts. If you move on quickly against your will... you may lose control of this. That's where you need to maintain good backups or have an agreement that you can retrieve this before you leave. A worst case scenario is that they may assume they can continue on without you and replace you with a cheaper newer model. That's always the fear of making work look too easy. It's good to declare goals and show accomplishments. There are just simply things you cannot predict. 

Legacy

It's a strong word to use... but hear me out. It's easy to keep a copy of good works for personal use if you keep good backups. Now I'm not saying that you should keep proprietary information... that should have its own folder. Consider what you could gather with this. Most things we learn come from a necessity of some sort. Consider all the things you've learned over the last year or so. How helpful would that have been in one central location for you? Think of all the good an internal WIKI would do? 

I pose this to you. Create this for your own environment and keep a copy for you should you leave. Every new place you go set it up again and keep working on it. How far can this go in a month, year, or even a decade? I've forgotten well more than I can remember. Take all that information you hold and store it mentally offline. This could save you and your co-workers months of effort. Every place you leave will be able to spin the new guy up with ease.  

Final Product

I plan on having something soon to show off for you all. I want to show a working skeleton with instructions and suggestions. I plan on showing price options and alternates for those a bit more cash strapped. I want to have something up and working in the next month that my close friends can demo and work. If anyone has any suggestions, I'll gladly listen to them. I'd even like to eventually get a developer friend or two to work up an app for my phone to hit my site and let me pull up information or write down ideas on the go. If this already exists... throw me a line, I'd love to know.

What do you all think of this idea?