Five Years of Running a Systems Reading Group at Microsoft

Re:Five Years of Running a Systems Reading Group at Microsoft by 3eb7988a1663 on Sunday March 22, 2026 @04:47PM (#47481965)

I lead a book club once (Designing Data Intensive Applications)- read a chapter and meet every two weeks. Was a real flop. Attendance remained high, but only one other person actually finished the book.

What was a real slap in the face - maybe a year after that book had concluded, someone told me I should lead another one about this other topic. She had not finished the first book, and she wanted me to regurgitate another to the group?

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Re:Five Years of Running a Systems Reading Group at Microsoft by _kulang on Sunday March 22, 2026 @07:21PM (#47483414)

Maybe there was value in the discussions that didn’t require the reading? But running seminars isn’t hobby material. If this was happening at my work, I may skim or not even read parts of the book, and still attend discussions.

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Re:Five Years of Running a Systems Reading Group at Microsoft by tayo42 on Sunday March 22, 2026 @07:53PM (#47483663)

There can be value, it's a networking opportunity and some companies could look favorably on it for promos.

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