> Having a sort of "speed dating" setup might help make better fits between mentors and mentees, as well.
+1, not only to satisfy the 'room full of nerds' case, but also the fact
that people spend their free time @ code4libcon in a variety of ways,
and not everyone might want to, e.g., wind up in the hospitality suite.


On 11/28/2012 09:45 AM, Ross Singer wrote:
> On Nov 27, 2012, at 9:33 PM, Cynthia Ng <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>> Getting traction for mentoring online is always difficult, but what
>> about starting that mentorship at code4libcon?
>>
> +1 - being face-to-face might help ease the tension.
>
> Having a sort of "speed dating" setup might help make better fits between mentors and mentees, as well.
>
> That is, a roomful of nerds deferring passively to one another might not get us very far :) Something more structured about what people want to learn and what mentors know and how they get along together would probably make for a more productive outcome.
>
> -Ross.
>
>> Maybe almost like a buddy system, so that the first meeting between a
>> mentor and mentee is at a code4libcon (national, regional, or
>> otherwise) if possible.
>>
>> This might simply be a good idea for first timers who are not going
>> with colleagues too.
>>
>> Just throwing out some ideas here...
>>
>> On Tue, Nov 27, 2012 at 7:49 PM, Nick Ruest <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>> Matt McCollow proposed something like this a while back. We have a page up
>>> and everything! But, it never got much traction.
>>>
>>> [log in to unmask]" target="_blank">http:[log in to unmask]
>>> http://wiki.code4lib.org/index.php/Mentorship
>>>
>>> -nruest
>>>
>>> On 12-11-27 07:30 PM, Bess Sadler wrote:
>>>> +1 to this idea. I have benefited tremendously over the years from kind
>>>> people taking me under their wings. Many of us try to do this one-on-one,
>>>> but some kind of introduction service would be a huge benefit for the
>>>> community, I would think.
>>>>
>>>> Mentorship is a great example of a robust solution - a solution that
>>>> addresses more than one problem at once. I suspect that this would not only
>>>> improve our diversity as a community, it might also solve some tech
>>>> leadership / succession planning problems and maybe expose some training
>>>> needs.
>>>>
>>>> Bess
>>>>
>>>> On Nov 27, 2012, at 4:20 PM, Nathan Tallman <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> This is a slightly different topic, but relates to Kelley's post: Does
>>>>> code4lib have a mentor program where more inexperienced geeks can pair up
>>>>> with someone to guide their development? I don't have anyone like that in
>>>>> my network, but would really like to. I don't mean to discount the
>>>>> existing
>>>>> resources on code4lib or this list, which both have been very useful. I'm
>>>>> sure I could just start by attending some of the conferences, but for
>>>>> more
>>>>> inexperienced people they can be a bit intimidating, albeit inspiring.
>>>>>
>>>>> It would also be a way to directly engage minorities.
>>>>>
>>>>> Just a thought.
>>>>>
>>>>> Nathan
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On Tue, Nov 27, 2012 at 6:20 PM, Kelley McGrath <[log in to unmask]>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> I'll second the idea of approaching people individually and explicitly
>>>>>> asking them to participate. It worked on me. I never would have written
>>>>>> my
>>>>>> first article for the Code4Lib Journal or become a member of the
>>>>>> editorial
>>>>>> committee if someone hadn't encouraged me individually (Thanks
>>>>>> Jonathan!).
>>>>>>
>>>>>> It would also be good to find a way to somehow target the pool of
>>>>>> lurkers
>>>>>> who maybe aren't already connected to someone and get them more
>>>>>> involved.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> As far as anonymous proposals go, we recently had a very good workshop
>>>>>> on
>>>>>> implicit bias here. Someone brought up that found significant changes in
>>>>>> the gender proportions in symphony orchestras after candidates started
>>>>>> auditioning behind screens. There are also lots of studies about the
>>>>>> different responses to the same resume/application depending on whether
>>>>>> a
>>>>>> stereotypically male/female or white/black name was used. Probably it's
>>>>>> impossible to make proposals completely anonymous, but it would be an
>>>>>> interesting experiment to leave off the names.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Kelley
>>>>>>
>>>>>> PS Interestingly, I wouldn't instinctively self-identify as a member of
>>>>>> the Code4Lib community, although my first thought is that that has more
>>>>>> to
>>>>>> do with not being a coder than with being a woman.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> **************************
>>>>>> Kelley McGrath
>>>>>> Metadata Management Librarian
>>>>>> University of Oregon Libraries
>>>>>> 1299 University of Oregon
>>>>>> Eugene, OR 97403
>>>>>>
>>>>>> 541-346-8232
>>>>>> [log in to unmask]
>>>>>>
>>> --
>>> -nruest