The Data Town Hall

The Origin

Late 2022 - Data Day Texas was coming back after a two year hiatus during Covid.

I was selecting speakers - and saw a new O'Reilly book Fundamentals of Data Engineering by Joe Reis and Matt Housley. Joe and Matt had a weekly podcast, Monday Morning Data Chat, and they seemed like a great fit for ddtx23. So, I reached out to Joe. I never heard back.

A month later, I reached out again. Once again, no reply.

About that same time, I was on a call with Patrick McFadin - a friend and advisor going back to 2011, when I was organizing the Cassandra Summits. When I asked Patrick for speaker recommendations for the upcoming Data Day Texas, Patrick said "Definitely get Joe Reis." I told him that I had reached out a few times with no response. Patrick replied: Send him another email and tell him that Patrick McFadin says "You need to come to Data Day Texas."

So I did - and Joe responded within 24 hours - saying "I'm there."

I can't remember whether it was over a Zoom or email, but Joe asked: "So what do you want us to do at Data Day?" My typical response: "Whatever the fuck you want to do. We're happy to have you join us."

Looking at the speakers already confirmed, Joe said: "There's too many smart people for us to stand in front and talk. I want to hear what THEY have to say - maybe have something like a talk show." (He didn't say talk show, but I can't remember what he said - but it made me reply....)

"You mean like Phil Donahue?"

"No. Like Jerry Springer."

I said that it would be the perfect way to cap off the day, but Joe was concerned that people might not hang around. I told him that I would put an open bar at the door — and that it could run as long as it needed to. The bar would stay open until the room was done.

And thus the Data Town Hall was born.

-Lynn Bender
Global Data Geeks