Dear Janice (and anyone else in a similar boat),

You might also consider joining DevChix (http://www.devchix.com). There are many other women there in similar situations, who are supporting each others' learning. It's an additional option to finding a code4lib mentor.

Bess

On Nov 29, 2012, at 7:58 AM, Janice Childers <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> 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
>>