031 - How the IT Community Makes You a Better SysAdmin

This week, Andy and Eric dive into one of the most underrated superpowers in IT: community. Not the cringe corporate “community,” but the real stuff. Think mentors, friends, people who help you level up, and the shared hive-mind that keeps SysAdmins alive during outages, zero-days, and career pivots.

From basements full of beige boxes to global open-source conferences, the IT world has evolved into something way more connected and way more essential than ever before.

Andy and Eric share personal stories from Microsoft MVP circles, KubeCon 2025, early career mentors, and the weird ways community quietly shapes your entire trajectory in tech.

In this episode you’ll learn:

- Why community is an actual career accelerator

- How mentors and advocates appear when you least expect them

- Why open-source communities operate differently than vendor ones

- Why contributing (even small stuff) builds reputation and opportunity

- Why community-first companies thrive.....and community-hostile ones decline

If you’ve ever wondered whether getting involved is worth it (spoiler: it absolutely is), this episode brings the stories, lessons, and laughs to prove it.

Episode Resources

- SysAdmin Weekly Website

- SysAdmin Weekly Companion Newsletter

- AndyOnTech

- Project Runspace

- Bank hit by audio deepfake scam

- Earlier SysAdmin Weekly episode on “enshittification”