My journey to becoming a Liquibase Legend

I love the Liquibase product. My first experience with Liquibase was in 2012. I was hired as a Build Automation Engineer at a company that was a competitor to Groupon. That company doesn’t exist anymore. (Nor does the position and the whole subsidiary.) But my use and love for Liquibase have persisted.

About a year ago, Datical rebranded to Liquibase, formally embracing our open source roots. I was one of two members of the newly formed Liquibase Community team, with a title I have never had before: Developer Advocate. I quickly came to understand and appreciate that Liquibase as an organization is merely a steward for the real owners of Liquibase: the open source community.

Defining the Liquibase open source community

I think of our community as a really big family, but instead of sharing genetics or a surname, we share in our interests of Liquibase. This community of our choosing is different from families that have built-in supporting structures (like the aforementioned genetics, surnames, and societal protections). We have to create a safe place and nurture our community with intention.

Places to meet and collaborate

We’ve created safe places like the Liquibase forum, where people can ask and get answers to help them use the tool. There are no wrong or bad questions, and your response doesn’t strictly have to be an answer. There is no down-voting here. No pedantic editing your post to make it form some perfect question. Just love and help. And now you can get recognition for both asking a question and helping with answers.

There is also the Liquibase Discord Server where folks can chat in real time with users from all over the world. This feels like the local Liquibase coffee shop for me. Yeah, some of us are working here, but some of us are just sipping coffee and chatting. There are channels for particular interests. (My favorite hangout is #support, that’s where my posse congregates.)

Liquibase Legends program: recognition for my contributions

With our basic needs of a place to exist met, we move on to realizing our potential, climbing up Maslow’s hierarchy. This is the nurture part of the Liquibase Community team’s mandate. The Liquibase Legends program is designed to encourage continued learning and recognize the efforts of our many contributors.

Joining the Liquibase Legends has practical benefits. You get recognized for the work you are probably already doing (like answering questions on the forum or taking a Liquibase University course). These actions are helping you along your journey within the DevOps space. It is also a nice way to see your own growth in one place (which has a way of encouraging even more growth). I hope you will join our community formally and sign up for the Liquibase Legends program.

Summing it up

Before the Liquibase Legends program, I thought I had all I needed as a member of the community. I found a product I love, a way to use it in my career, and finally, I get to work for the organization responsible for maintaining Liquibase. I was pleasantly surprised at the feeling of belonging that came from joining the program (even though I helped create it, side-by-side with my wonderful colleagues)!

Final thought on joining: Please get the recognition you deserve and help knock this smug person off the top of the leaderboard.