I think it was the first time in my life that I attended a non-academic, professional, and non-Postgres conference, and it was surprisingly interesting.
I am posting about this conference here rather than on my professional blog, because it’s more about the atmosphere than what exactly the talks were about.
First note: this community did not succumb to whatever the current “official” position is, and fosters diversity for real. Just one nice touch: when you register, they give you your name tag, and then you can add as many ribbons as you like:
I loved the idea of speakers’ ribbons! I will do it for PG DATAKeanya Phelps made opening remarks. Later, I had a very in-depth conversation with her about how we can work together. We share the goals and values, and that’s amazing.The talk about community governance – I talked with the presenters later.
Django’s 20th birthday and DEFNA’s 10th birthday!
Although I am not a “programmer” or an application developer, many talks were really interesting to me because they were about building communities, supporting Open Source, fostering diversity, and working towards the common good.
And we spent a lot of time together with my friend M.
Another thing I loved about this community was how the conference participants organized to experience the best of Chicago, including multiple tours, museums, bike rides, and even an early morning lake plunge. Somehow, when I attend Postgres conferences, most of the attendees are only interested in places to have dinner. It was really refreshing :). I felt being among “my tribe.”
My name is Henrietta (Hettie) Dombrovskaya. I was born in Saint-Petersburg, Russian (actually, back then – Leningrad, USSR) in 1963, and immigrated to the United States in 1996.
I love Saint Petersburg, the city I was born and raised in, and I think it’s one of the most beautiful places in the world. Similarly (but differently) I love Chicago, and can’t imagine myself moving somewhere else in the observable future.
I have three children, Igor, Vlad and Anna, all adults living on their own, and one (so far) granddaughter Nadia. I also believe that my children are the best thing that happened in my life.
As for my professional life, I am working in the field of Information Technologies. When I was twenty, I’ve declared that the databases are the coolest thing invented and that I want to do them for the rest of my life. Thirty plus years later, I still believe it’s true, and still, believe that the databases are the best. These two statements together imply that I think a person can have it all, and indeed, I think so! Keep reading my journals to find out how I did it.
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Hettie's Reflections 