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Long-time lurker here. Just chiming in to say that I think the idea of mentorship is great. Currently, I'm in a position (content editor for a database aggregator) somewhat outside my education and previous experience, and one that unfortunately, does not offer any opportunities for the kind of coding and back-end database work that I would like to do. In the past, I've worked in archives and libraries, most recently in a digital collections department, so I was able to get my feet wet in some tech-y stuff and developed a curiosity about what else was out there. Because it has zero to do with my current job, and I don't really have the discretionary cash, I won't be able to attend the conference, but the pre-conference lineup really piqued my interest. Hopefully, I'll be able to re-enter the library world soon and be a little more active in this community. At that time, the possibility of having someone to go to for a little guidance would be very appealing. In the meantime, I lurk, gather ideas, and do some self-directed study. :) On Thu, Nov 29, 2012 at 10:33 AM, Jason Ronallo <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > On Wed, Nov 28, 2012 at 4:23 PM, Bess Sadler <[log in to unmask]> > wrote: > > > On Nov 28, 2012, at 1:04 PM, Shaun Ellis <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > > > > In that respect, I would suggest the preconference hackfests/workshops > > that involve some kind of pair programming with experienced/inexperienced > > hackers, which could follow up into a mentor relationship outside of the > > conference. I do like the idea of mentor/mentee speed-dating to align > > interests, but in this sense, the workshop/hackfest you sign up for kind > of > > does that for you (assuming all the preconference proposals[1] are > actually > > going to happen). > > > > > > [1] http://wiki.code4lib.org/index.php/2013_preconference_proposals > > > > > > -Shaun > > > > My understanding is that all of the pre-conference proposals are going to > > happen (note to self: ask Erik Hatcher whether the evening solr session > > could happen at a bar somewhere). The RailsBridge workshop in particular > is > > aimed at folks who are new to Rails and perhaps new to programming in > > general, and RailsBridge as a thing was started as a way to bring more > > women into tech. If anyone is interested in helping out at the > RailsBridge > > session, or at the Blacklight-tailored-for-RailsBridge session in the > > afternoon, please join us! Workshops like this can never have too many > > people walking the room to help out, and if we had enough experienced > > folks, this would be a great opportunity for pair programming and meeting > > potential mentors. > > > > Bess > > > > I'll just echo what Shaun and Bess have said. This is part of the reason I > made the pre-conference proposal. Yes, I think the Ruby and Rails > pre-conference using the RailsBridge curriculum is an excellent opportunity > to make mentoring connections, grow the community, and encourage > diversity. I'd love it if there was a low ratio of helpers to attendees. If > you want to help grow the Code4Lib community, please add your name to the > wiki as a helper and let me know. All that I'll ask of you to help is that > you go through the curriculum in advance and come prepared to help folks. > If you're new to programming or Ruby/Rails, please sign up to attend. I'm > very excited to get a chance to offer this, especially in light of the > recent threads on the list. > > Jason >