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Speaker Interview with Tom Kincaid

Could you briefly introduce yourself?
Hi, my name is Tom Kincaid. I have been working in the software industry for almost 35 years. I was a programmer for a long time before I became a full time manager in the late 90’s. I have worked with Database Systems for 15 years and have worked with Postgres for about 8 ½ years. I run the Boston PostgreSQL user group and I am the General Manager of 2ndQuadrant’s North American business.
How do you engage with the PostgreSQL Community?
I read as much of the hackers threads as I can. However, my primary engagement is through meetups and conferences. I am pleased to report that we have had a Boston PUG meeting every month this year. If you are interested in speaking at one of our meetups please let me know.
Have you enjoyed previous pgconf.eu or FOSDEM conferences, either as an attendee or as speaker?
This is my first time attending. Looking forward to meeting the European Postgres community. Please come by and introduce yourself.
What will your talk be about, exactly? Why this topic?
I am going to be talking about the Postgres Vacuum functionality. I will be doing so with illustrations. I chose this topic because I have encountered so many people who are in crisis because of improper vacuum operational practices and are confused about how vacuum actually works.
What is the audience for your talk?
Anybody looking to further understand how vacuum works. This will cover specifics that Developers, DBAs and Executives could benefit from understanding.
What existing knowledge should the attendee have?
General database knowledge.
What is the one feature in PostgreSQL 12 which you like most?
Foreign Keys to partitioned tables.
Which other talk at this year's conference would you like to see?
I would love to see an in depth talk on JDBC.
Which measure, action, feature or activity would—in your eyes—help to accelerate the adoption of PostgreSQL?
I would like to see more functionality such as connection pooling and failover to be incorporated into the Postgres core.
What do you like to do when you are not working?
I have two passions, hiking and basketball.