Some observations about conference-y stuff:

- Newcomer dinner groups tend to see a disproportionate n/v ratio, even
with some prodding to get more established members to participate and
disperse themselves out in the groups. Then again, I can't make things
mandatory, lest I get pelted with book snakes.
- Since 2009, I've noticed that the number of first time attendees range
between over 1/3 to roughly 1/2 of the conference crowd. [1]
- Even when it's not their first code4lib conference, people at their
second or third conference still identify as newbies, so these folks might
not be comfortable being mentors quite yet...

[1] Count taken from raised hands when asked the annual "How many
code4libcons you've attended" question

Thanks,
Becky, uncaffeinated

On Tue, Nov 27, 2012 at 8:33 PM, Cynthia Ng <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Getting traction for mentoring online is always difficult, but what
> about starting that mentorship at code4libcon?
>
> 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
>