Unlocking success: Insider tips from an Elastic Gold Contributor with Tomasz Dzierżanowski

Tomasz Dzierżanowski (Tom D) is the founder of toughcoding.net and is a passionate educator and experienced software engineer specializing in Elasticsearch. With years of experience in the field, he demystifies complex technical concepts through engaging YouTube tutorials, in-depth blog articles, and practical code examples, empowering developers of all levels to master Elasticsearch. Get to know more about his journey, and learn how you could also become an Elastic Gold Contributor. 

I started a blog at toughcoding.net in 2023, along with a YouTube channel. I posted multiple videos and articles, and some of them were related to Elasticsearch, so I contacted the Elastic team to propose that they include my articles in a newsletter that they were sending to people. I got an answer from Ully Sampaio, Community & DevRel program manager at Elastic, who told me about a new alternative for a newsletter called the Elastic Contribution Program.

It was fully aligned with my activity and interests, so I decided to post videos and articles for the program. At the same time, people started to appreciate my content by giving positive comments and likes, which became a great motivation to post on a regular basis.

It pushed me to explore undocumented corner cases. I also tried all the authentication methods in Elasticsearch. On a daily basis, I stick to certain solutions and do not necessarily have time to explore new things. To maintain my goal of posting weekly about Elastic, I needed to explore new topics for video tutorials and knowledge articles constantly.

I'm incredibly proud of the projects I've created that simplify Elasticsearch cluster setup for developers. By providing ready-to-use configurations and dashboards, I've enabled countless programmers to focus on building applications rather than wrestling with infrastructure.

My commitment to providing functional, copy-paste-ready code snippets in my articles has also been well-received. For example, the article "Elasticsearch 8.9 install/start with custom user process" addresses a critical need in corporate environments, while "Send Kibana alerts to Microsoft Teams" tackles a popular integration challenge. Seeing these resources help so many people is incredibly rewarding.

Consistency is the key. Establish a realistic publishing schedule that allows you to maintain quality and avoid burnout. Follow your own interests, so your content has a chance to be unique. Additionally, try to answer common problems so that you learn more and get quicker feedback. 

The most efficient way of learning is teaching. Therefore, if you start sharing knowledge, you are not only helping others but also deepening your own expertise. The Elastic Contribution Program is a great opportunity to find people like you who share a similar passion and skill set. 

The release and timing of any features or functionality described in this post remain at Elastic's sole discretion. Any features or functionality not currently available may not be delivered on time or at all.