Earlier this week I saw this post from Chris Webb (blog | @technitrain) regarding a session he is delivering at the upcoming PASS Summit. When I read the abstract there was one section that jumped out at me (emphasis mine):
If you’ve been to PASS Summit before, you know that social media channels such as Twitter go wild during the keynote speeches. Many people comment on what’s being said: Some comments are positive, some … not so positive.
Yeah, that’s a nice British way of stating things. The comments seen and heard from the audience during the keynote are both positive and negative, but some comments can be overly personal and insulting. And that time when I asked for members of the bloggers table to be respectful? Well, I was accused of trying to “control the media“. Good times, indeed.
But all of that is in the past, dear reader. If there is one endearing facet I love most about my #SQLFamily it is that we are often able to talk things through and put incidents like this one in our rearview mirrors. But as this year’s Summit draws near I felt the need to help you understand my thoughts on our decorum at events, both large and small.
I was told this story from my fellow Head Geek Leon Adato (blog | @leonadato) and I found it worth sharing with you today:
The Medrash tells the story of a passenger on a boat who takes out a drill and begins drilling a hole under his seat. The passenger next to him sees what he’s doing and says, “What on earth are you doing?!”
The man with the drill replies, “It’s none of your business. I’m only drilling under my own seat.”
That.
That’s what I want you to understand. Your actions as an individual affect us as a group. The world of tech is small. The world of data professionals even smaller. The world of SQL Server is but a tiny sliver. Just look at the new Microsoft MVP award categories and you can see how much larger the world of data is OUTSIDE of SQL Server.
When you tear those around you down to feel better about yourself (what I consider to be asshat behavior) at an event such as Summit or a SQL Saturday it hurts all of us. And when you sit next to an asshat and don’t ask them to stop being an asshat, it hurts all of us. If a keynote speaker has to go to the blogger table and ask the question “I hope you will not be mean to me” then we have done something horribly wrong as a a group of data professionals.
That’s why I took notice of this session by Chris. I applaud his efforts to measure and provide feedback on audience sentiment from the keynote. This is a great way for us to let the keynote presenters understand what resonates with us as an audience as well as provide constructive criticism without resorting to yelling from the back of the room. I will do my best to participate in the study and I encourage everyone else in attendance to do so as well.
Of course this topic goes beyond just one event or a collective group such as our #SQLFamily. This is a lesson for us in life as well. Treat others the way you want to be treated.
I’m looking forward to seeing everyone in Seattle in just over ten days from now where we can continue this discussion the best way we know how: with #sqlhugs.
Good thoughts – but wouldn’t that be ‘PASSHat’ ? Just sayin’ 😉
YES!