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Towards Open Query’s first anniversary

Wow indeed, it’s been almost a year already! How time flies… I left MySQL in July 2007, and had two months much needed holiday.

But one needs to live, and opportunity in Australia was clearly there, so I started Open Query in September and went for part familiar, part less familiar territory. The less familiar was consulting, in the sense that there had been no MySQL consulting in Australia by either me or MySQL directly, ever. I had done consulting before, in my old software development company in The Netherlands, as well as for others (I built a training & consulting firm for someone else).

The more familiar (in the MySQL realm) was of course training, as I’d been teaching courses here for years. The way that came about:

In 2001, MySQL AB hired me as a tech writer for the docs, however my boss Kaj had just come in from Polycon which had developed MySQL training materials. Since I also had training experience, I suggested to also try scheduling courses in Australia. That’s how it developed, as essentially Australia has never been a priority for MySQL; Marten has always (and I think rightly) maintained that you can’t go into a new territory half-heartedly, you need to put enough local resources into it to make it effective and successful. So MySQL did stuff in AU because I happened to be here; as tech writer I could’ve come from anywhere, and so it’s pretty much coincidence 😉

I tell this story because I’ve found that I’m actually competing against my former self, when you look up mysql training related stuff (in Australia) on Google, there are many articles, mailing list posts, and even press quotes referencing me @ MySQL, with of course all the appropriate links to the MySQL site. So, I reckon I did a good job back then – I hope I’m even more effective now and thus able to outcompete my former now static self – however the mysql company site does of course have a lot of Google juice, and the net does not forget. It’s interesting (at least to me 😉

Anyway, back to the present… I’m currently undecided on which “arm” of Open Query is more successful. They’re both expanding nicely and in ways I couldn’t have anticipated when I started.
I run on a simple business plan, try to remain agile, and OQ is self-funding (and profitable) and with low overheads so any adjustment in the direction the company goes in (as is inevitable) is actually fairly painless. Put differently: any mistakes I make aren’t too costly 😉

There’s also another reason why I intend to keep both training and consulting around: I think there’s an advantage to a) not being a full-time trainer and b) the additional real world exposure you get with consulting. It’s simply other other side of the same coin!

Think about professors at universities often lose touch with the big world out there once they’ve been only lecturing for years. That’s just a pity and doesn’t serve the students really, does it? Do they learn about the real world?
A teacher hears and sees plenty of stuff in the process of teaching a good and interactive course, but having to solve immediate problems in consulting is something else. It requires you to step directly in the same position your students would be in, and applying the exact techniques that you’re teaching. If the approach doesn’t work, you find out first hand. I think that’s invaluable.

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1 thought on “Towards Open Query’s first anniversary

  1. The quality, topicality and clarity of your technical blog posts certainly show you have a knack for explaining as well as the knowledge to do so, Arjen. Thanks for the regular posting.

    I’m glad your decision to branch out has paid off and you’re happy with it. The community’s benefiting as well. So, from one happy reader, thankyou. 🙂

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