Organizing, Welcoming, and Storytelling: What I Learned at Community Events Day

Having recently joined Data Bene during the summer, I was really looking forward to discovering the 2026 PostgreSQL community, and what better place for that than the PG Conference Europe and it’s Community Day? After preparing the Data Bene T-shirts and communication materials, I was eager to experience the event from the inside. I arrived full of enthusiasm, with my list of workshops ready, and determined to meet lots of people.

Organizing and Growing Community Events

My first workshop was Organizing and Growing Community Events. We discussed two of the four proposed topics in small groups. I really liked being able to change groups during the break, as well as the fact that a wiki had been set up so we could continue the work and keep a record of it (although it still needs to be fully filled in).

The first group I joined was facilitated by Pat Wright. We had a very interesting discussion about how to improve the welcome participants receive at events.

In my opinion, the success of this group, where we had many exchanges, came down to two things: the facilitator had prepared varied and relevant questions to guide us, and the group included people with quite different levels of experience.

Here are some of the points that made the biggest impression on me.

1. Welcoming new participants and encouraging them to come back requires preparation!

We need to put appropriate measures in place, such as:

• A buddy system, with mentors trained to support newcomers.
• An introductory session presenting the different activities and opportunities to get involved.
• A distinctive item, such as a badge or lanyard.
• Recognizing volunteers, for example during the opening ceremony.

I am not entirely convinced by this last idea, because putting volunteers in the spotlight can make many people uncomfortable. However, I really like the idea of training people to be good buddies. I am also a big fan of presentations that explain all the opportunities available at an event, beyond the talks themselves. In my opinion, this would also be useful for regular participants, especially when they need a break between two presentations!

2. Questionnaires are often very interesting to analyze, but few people fill them in. How can we make them more enjoyable to complete?

At an exhibition about data visualization in Paris a few years ago, I noticed a questionnaire system where people answered questions using a piece of wool that they wrapped around something as they went through their answers. It was very attractive and engaging: everyone took part!

I think I will try this approach at the next event I organize. I will let you know whether it works!

3. The location of the conference matters too.

Some people prefer local events, while others enjoy events that allow them to travel.

Personally, I think we need both to reach different audiences! There is not just one type of newcomer, but many different personalities and life situations.

To give my own example, I loved travelling a few years ago. Today, with a very young child, I prefer local events.

4. Food and coffee can leave a lasting impression… for the wrong reasons!

When the food or coffee at a conference is bad, participants may remember nothing else. This shows that logistical details can sometimes be much more important than we think!

Ideas for better organizing community booths

For the second part of the workshop, I joined a group of VERY experienced people in events and marketing, facilitated by Mark Wong.

We discussed ways to help community volunteers run booths at events organized by other communities.

It was really interesting to hear from people working at large companies, especially because Mark’s volunteer group is mostly from North America, as are other participants. This allowed me to observe some differences compared with my European way of thinking, particularly regarding the geographical distribution of resources and initiatives.

We identified several ideas that I am adding to my own toolkit for organizing booths:

• Plan engaging activities related to the event. This idea was already being considered at Data Bene, but I still really like it!
• Anticipate storage and transportation issues. This is a real obstacle: how can they send the booth materials to the event and then bring them back? Several solutions were discussed: having some items made locally and then giving the remaining materials to local communities, or asking people who are attending the event but are not part of the volunteer group to help transport some of the materials.
• Make it easier to recruit volunteers locally. Finding suitable locations and motivated people to staff a booth is not always easy. They considered asking the organizers to share a call for local volunteers, as well as contacting local sponsors to fund volunteers’ attendance and potentially help them at the booth.
• Do not underestimate the importance of giveaways! They need to offer items that are both fun and useful. I will not reveal our ideas just yet: you may discover them at future events!
• Choose events more carefully. We discussed creating a map of volunteers of the community groupe, showing their areas of activity and where they are able to travel. I would love to see such a visualization! We also discussed the benefits of connecting with local events, where it can sometimes be easier to recruit long-term volunteers than at large national or even international events. Finally, they should not hesitate to contact organizers every year to ask for a free or discounted booth at the events that matter most to them.

The workshop concluded with presentations of the work done by the other groups lead by Andreas Scherbaum and Hettie Dombrovskaya. At the time of writing, the workshop wiki had not yet been fully filled in, but in the future you should be able to find the other discussion groups contributions there.

Storytelling for Technical Communication

My second workshop was about the Storytelling for Technical Communication. Like the previous one, it was a practical workshop, but this time it was organized around a presentation followed by an exercise, rather than a group discussion. Speakers were Boriss Mejías, Divya Sharma, Teresa Lopes and Derk van Veen.

I find this format just as interesting, particularly because it allows us to discover many different individual interpretations of the same instructions.

The facilitators presented an adapted version of the classic storytelling structure: initial situation, problem encountered, solution provided, and conclusion.
They then asked us to apply it first to a personal introduction, and then to an idea, project, or feature.

They had prepared a table to help us apply this method in a structured way. As you can see in their slide below.

This tool makes the process easier to visualize and organize, while still allowing plenty of freedom to explore different approaches.

In fact, none of the pitches were really alike! Some people focused more on the somebody part, while others placed greater emphasis on the but or the so.

I had learned about this type of structure during my studies, but I had not necessarily thought of applying it to a technical presentation in a professional context.

I think this is an excellent idea, particularly for technical people. The highly structured methodology provides reassuring guidelines that can help them start telling stories.

However, I would like to return to a point I raised at the end of the workshop, which I consider essential in my profession: this structure is only useful if it provides context and creates points of connection that the audience can relate to.

The goal is to create empathy, allow people to put themselves in someone else’s position, or make connections with their everyday lives.

The structure alone is not enough to create a good story. It contributes to it and helps build it, but whether we connect with a story or not depends mainly on our ability to recognize ourselves in what is being told and find something that resonates with us. If you’re interested you can see all the slides here

20% Content, 80% People

As many of us pointed out during the first workshop, we do not attend a conference solely for its content. Otherwise, we would simply watch the presentations online!

We also attend, and above all, for the social aspect: meeting people, exchanging ideas, sharing good moments, and reconnecting with people amid busy professional lives.

I noticed that the less experience we have in a field, the more interested we are in the content, because everything still has the appeal of novelty. Conversely, the more experienced we become, the more likely we are to find some content uninteresting or not specialized enough. And above all, we have more people to meet again and talk to!

As someone new to the PostgreSQL world but familiar with tech events, my ratio was therefore 20% content and 80% people.

But then, why am I only telling you about the 20% devoted to content here?

Quite simply because, at my first conference, the conversations I had were mainly about introducing ourselves and presenting our respective activities. Conversations about a wider range of topics will gradually develop through exchanges between events and when we meet again at future conferences.

That said, a huge thank you to everyone who took me under their wing and made me feel so welcome, especially the members of the Diversity group and the French-speaking participants, who introduced me to so many people.

I also hope to have the opportunity to talk more about diversity in future articles. Perhaps I will even write an article about the initiatives I have discovered in the different communities I am part of: Wikimedia, the free software community, the non-profit sector, and now PostgreSQL.

Would you be interested in this type of article? Let me know!