DATA LUTHIER

So, picture this: until about a year ago, I was just like many of you. I thought with all the documentation, videos, and expert-led sessions out there, why bother adding my own voice to the mix? There’s no need to keep repeating the same material, it adds no value. But let me tell you, that mindset couldn’t be further from the truth.

In 2021 I wrote a two-part blog about the DAX engine for the company I work for, Purple Frog Systems. It wasn’t anything overly technical, it was a new topic for me too so I was by no means an expert. It got a few comments, a couple of people got in touch to ask further questions and then it faded into obscurity.

Fast forward two years and I decided to give a presentation at Data Relay 2023 as a foray into public speaking, more to push myself than anything. So I turned that two-part blog into a high level session, submitted and got accepted.

The session wasn’t heavily attended and turned out to be quite an intimate one with only a handful of attendees and a lot of Q&A, but the feedback I received all mentioned the same thing. I had took a topic, one that had been covered a lot, and explained it in a way nobody else ever had, and the few in the room had grasped the concept!

Thinking back on that I realised, you know sometimes how you can read one blog post and it’s like trying to decipher a foreign language, but then you stumble upon another one on the same topic and suddenly it clicks? That’s because everyone learns differently. Sharing your own personal experiences, struggles, and solutions can truly enhance someone else’s learning journey. Your unique perspective might just be the missing piece they need to understand a concept fully.

So that’s why the Data Luthier blog exists, to put my spin on tech topics in the hopes that at least one person can grasp something they’ve been struggling with.

And here’s the kicker: by sharing my knowledge, I’m not just contributing to the wonderful data platform community, I’m hopefully inspiring others to do the same. Imagine if we all just sat back and waited for someone else take the reins. Nothing would ever get done, and we’d miss out on so many fresh perspectives and ideas.

So, if you’ve ever toyed with the idea of creating content or sharing your expertise, now’s the time to make it happen. Whether it’s through blogging, creating videos, or giving presentations, there are countless ways to get involved and make a difference. That’s what I am hoping to achieve with this blog.

If you want to chat more about getting into blogging or speaking, or anything else, feel free to reach out to me. Let’s keep the conversation and content going.