Why a PostgreSQL Event was my favorite Conference of the Year as a Python Developer (So Far)

A few weeks ago, I spent my days with the wonderful attendees of PGConf NYC 2025. This was my second PG event of the year. This conference had me feeling as if this was the making of a home away from home.

Events I've been to this year and why was PGConf the Best One

Okay so this has been a big year for travel but not for conferences. This year I only have gone to 2 Python Conferences (PyCon US, and PyTexas) and a PGDay.

This also isn't a knock on all the other events, those were also excellent.

The thing that made PGConf NYC was that what I made of it.

Talks are not recorded and that feels like a miss but it's okay

I wish that talks were recorded. Apparently not recording talks is a common trait of many PostgreSQL conferences. That said I was able to record my talks (slides and my voice) which you can catch on my youtube channel. With respect to the conference, I am not going to make them public but I will link to the unlisted videos here.

• Talk 1 - The 5 Levels of JSON Tables
• Talk 2 - PostgreSQL vs other Technologies

The not recording of talks in the past has been one of the reasons that I have wanted to go to now defunct conferences such as PyCon Tennessee. The big challenge is that, with no talks to help market future events, I don't know how easy it is to bring new people to the conference.

People remembered me

I think your second event in a community is more important than the first one. In PGDay Chicago, I was likely very awkward and not talkative because it was my first event in the community and I didn't know anyone. This time when I walked in, some people immediately knew me.

In fact, it was Ryan Booz greeting me with "Hey Jay!" that made me feel welcome, considering I'd only him once before. I'd only met Ryan in Chicago and our conversation was very brief considering he had a talk to give. This time around we talked a little baseball, the event, work and more.

Another person I met in Chicago that made me feel more than welcome in New York was Chelsea Dole, one of the organizers. Also shout out to my Diversity working group folks

I was also able to actually join conversations and feel invited. This happened like 3-4 times during the conference. There was a whole "How would you calculate the WAR (wins above replacement) of contributors in the PostgreSQL community.¹ A lot of the what was meant to be 2-3 minutes of conversation became 10-20 minutes with individuals learning what they did.

A Need for New Faces

The biggest and most important conversation that I had was with two of the organizers, Chelsea and Jonathan. They both mentioned that they would love more less-knowledgeable folks at these PostgreSQL events. The reality is that postgreSQL is an old technology that is gaining a lot of popularity now because of AI. Where it's been a viable database for ages, there are many now that are able to use it professionally. This was echo'd by long-time attendees at the event saying "in the early days, everyone was a hobbyist because no one took PG seriously. Now we all get paid very well to take it seriously."

I spoke with a couple of recent graduates and they all mentioned feeling like much of what was happening was over their heads. The challenge that the organizers mentioned was that beginner tracks don't tend to be well attended. It was my hope that CFP committees would be open to talks showcasing DB features and functionality in applications. This could change the dynamic of these events but would reflect the outlook that 49% of Stack Overflow respondents use PG but those learning to code are still preferring MySQL.

Where it fell short

The outside the conference times. Perhaps it was me not knowing anyone, or the large swaths of people there with their employers, but my dinners were mostly spent alone which is strange for a conference. I noticed this wasn't the case in Chicago so I have to assume that it was just based on not knowing anyone and not being invited.

That said, I had some amazing meals. I'm not too upset, just surprised and I hope that other first timers didn't have the same experience.

What's Next

Next week I'll be in Riga for PostgreSQL Conference Europe presenting a couple of talks:

• Creating a Speakers Corner @ Community Organizers Summit
• Don't leak PII to AI - Thursday 23 Oct

I'm also presenting more insights around being a developer that's into PostgreSQL at a few user groups (more to talk about that in the future when they announce it.)