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