I think that's why it's important we try more for 1-on-1, but that
means having people who know the "regulars" (i.e. non-newbies).

So it might go something like this:
* everyone interested would sign up
* a (committee/organizing) group would match people up
* for any newbies leftover, the organizing group would ask individual
"regulars" if he/she would be willing to mentor/buddy with a
particular newbie who's interested in learning something they have to
offer

It's then up to people to set aside a time to meet. The pairing might
only last that one meeting, it might last longer, you don't know, but
having a specific someone to go to just to ask questions if you have
any can already make a newbie feel much more welcome.

This was the sort of system we had at our library school. I haven't
asked much from my mentor, but I now have a contact at another
university library who has expanded my network and my comfort zone.

On Wed, Nov 28, 2012 at 9:19 AM, Becky Yoose <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> 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
>>