You've certainly seen him around. Maybe it's been on the website, across your favorite social channels, or even a recent StarRocks webinar. We're of course talking about one of the newest members of the StarRocks community, and certainly the cutest: Rocky!
Say hello to Rocky
Who (and What) Is Rocky?
Standing roughly 50 inches tall, Rocky is a wise and clever engineer, and the official StarRocks mascot. Like everything that happens in our community, Rocky came about through a collaborative process where contributors gave life to the values and strengths that make StarRocks great.
Early versions or Rocky
Ok, but Why an Otter?
While the StarRocks mascot came surprisingly close to being a cartoon database or, worryingly, a rock, an otter seemed more apt for several reasons:
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StarRocks' increasing investments in the lakehouse made a water-based animal an ideal candidate. A new mascot for a significant new shift in the project roadmap seemed appropriate.
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Otters are generally seen as more friendly and welcoming than more technical mascots or inanimate objects. We needed to have a mascot that reflected the supportive global community StarRocks has built over the years.
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Otters are famous for using rocks to accomplish their goals, just like our community when it comes to StarRocks.
The latest version of Rocky
Why Does StarRocks Need a Mascot Now?
It might surprise you to know that Rocky has been in development since the StarRocks project kicked off. Having a mascot that could serve as a friendly face for the project and help showcase the unique character of our community was something many contributors had inquired about, but settling on what that mascot would be was not a straightforward process. With the long-term vision of the project taking time to be solidified and the community quickly growing, new mascot ideas and opinions around what StarRocks stood for came in on a near-daily basis.
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Original Rocky sketches
Slowly but surely common themes across the community started to solidify, but what finally pushed Rocky from ideation to existence was the shift in StarRocks' long-term vision towards the lakehouse. This was a major milestone in the project's development and finally establishing a mascot felt like one of the best steps we could take to celebrate this new chapter in StarRocks' history.
Ultimately, Rocky is a reflection of years of thoughtful engineering effort and community-building that have made the StarRocks project so successful.
What Are Some Fun Facts About Rocky?
There's a lot that might surprise you about Rocky. Here are a few highlights:
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Rocky's design was powered by AI - The initial reference images that inspired what Rocky would eventually come to look like were generated utilizing AI with a prompt based on a short story about Rocky written by StarRocks' community manager Kate Shao.
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Rocky is a "Star Otter" - While not a traditional river or sea otter, Rocky is instead a "Star Otter". What is a Star Otter? An otter native to outer space, of course. What Star Otters eat, however, is anyone's guess.
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Rocky's Myers Briggs type is ESFJ - Which suggests he's very caring, social, community-minded, and always eager to help. How does that manifest?
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He enjoys making friends and is eager to help and support others.
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He's also a walking knowledge base of StarRocks; learning from him can make you a big data master!
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Lastly, he's full of wisdom but appears cute and whimsical, lacking the airs of a typical master—which is a relaxed demeanor characteristic of true experts.
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Rocky's got hobbies too - He enjoys writing SQL, fixing bugs, sharing knowledge, and occasionally indulging in a bit of cuteness. Just like the rest of the StarRocks community (minus the emphasis on cuteness).
There's a lot more to Rocky than can be summed up in one blog post. If you'd like to read the in-depth interview with StarRocks' design team about creating Rocky, you can read it here.
Is There Any Rocky-Themed Gear Available?
Rocky-themed swag is coming for engaged members of the StarRocks community and future events where the StarRocks community team is present (you may have even seen some at this year's Databricks Summit). Over time, we'll be incorporating Rocky more and more into community gear and events, so keep an eye out.
Rocky at Databricks' Data + AI Summit
What Do You Think of Rocky?
Just like the members of the StarRocks community, Rocky's personality and what he represents will grow alongside the project, and we'd love to hear your thoughts on StarRocks' furriest new member. Drop on by the Slack channel and tell us what you think, and what about him resonates most with you.
