As the time draws near to the first annual Greenplum Summit, a conference within a conference at PostgresConf which is taking place in Jersey City in April of this year – I have begun to reflect on all of the things that make an event like this successful.  It includes the venue and the ambiance of the rooms within that venue.  It includes the food and the drinks (both caffeinated and alcoholic and just plain ole hydrating).  It includes the vendors and partners, the quality of their products and the attraction of their give-aways.  These events take months of effort, and when done correctly, they really kick off the excitement and passion that a community of like-minded individuals can rally around.  And passion isn’t something that can be faked.  It’s not something you can force.  It comes when you share the same ideas with others that face a similar adversity (or opportunity)  as you.  It comes when you feel that you’re part of a movement that is even bigger than you or what you face on a day to basis.  My colleagues and I at Pivotal carry this passion for a product that has it’s roots with Postgres.  We carry this passion for our embracement of open source.  We carry this passion for the innovation and power that we bring to our users.  Ultimately Greenplum Summit is a place where we plan to tell our story.  For more than 10 years, I’ve personally held this passion and it grows more strongly every day.  Every day I see new data problems that are solved nicely and neatly with our product, and my passion grows.  Every day I see competitive products that blatantly copy our message and direction, and my passion grows.  Every day I see new open source projects popup that try to emulate our capabilities, and my passion grows.  Greenplum Summit is going to be a great event where I can tell these stories.  But it won’t be my story that I tell.  In fact it won’t even be Greenplum’s story that I tell.  The real story to be told is one about data – and data tells the story for everyone.

Personally this story has always centered itself in data.  Data tells my story.  And what really has me excited is that, we’re just a few weeks away from sharing all of our stories at Greenplum Summit!  It’s really almost that time.  The largest gathering of Greenplum users is literally almost upon us.  We have been assembling an impressive number of topics that should appeal to a wide range of audiences.  When Greenplum Summit is complete, and the last of the conversations are had at PostgresConf, I look forward to relaying many more stories than just my own.

Greenplum is a massively parallel implementation of Postgres and we stand witness to a tremendous surge in usage thanks to both being open source and it’s obvious capabilities – Data Administrators will tell their story.

The explosion of both the quantity and the variety of data in today’s world has led to unique architectures and even the creation of less mature and less complete alternatives – Data Engineers will tell their story.

The ability to correlate and infer insights from data has never been easier or more important to organizations looking to connect with their customers – Data Scientists will tell their story.

Whether you’re brand new to Greenplum or a seasoned veteran like me, we’re gearing up to make both Greenplum knowledge bigger and it’s use more pervasive than ever before.  For over 10 years, Greenplum has been working and evolving to help our users solve big, gnarly, real problems – and in a few weeks, I hope you can join us in in the collective shout to show the world how data tells the most important story.  Experience the growth, innovation, and impact of Greenplum for yourself and interact with a passionate group of peers.  The things that I’m looking forward to include:

• keynote presentation to kickoff the conference by Greenplum founder – Scott Yara
• the ability to truly influence Greenplum product direction
• the networking opportunities of like minded people
• play with the platform in an easy way
• the sessions
• meeting the partners
• who doesn’t want some cool swag?
• the largest gathering of Greenplummers
• experiencing the Pivotal culture first hand
• hands on training for both administrators and data scientists
• amazing demos
• big data, big ideas and big inspiration
• the parties
• what else can I learn from one of the world’s most innovative and exciting companies, Pivotal?
• beautiful views of the Big Apple  
• the Regulated Industry Summit on Wednesday April 18
• meeting your favorite MVPs and #Greenplum colleagues IRL
• who’s going to have the most steps in a single day
• forging new partnerships
• the adrenaline rush and excitement of the first day
• a renewed appreciation for coffee and Red Bull
• some good natured ribbing of other ‘inferior’ data products and platforms
• going home inspired, tired, and happy