My first thought was the same as Jason's—what if you opened up the
opportunity to remote experts? A lot of web developers are used to working
remotely and it would greatly widen your potential talent pool. On the
other hand, it sounds like you'd need to restructure your program too much,
as having someone Skype into a room of twelve for a workshop sounds like an
unideal experience. Maybe if it was possible to break the program into
smaller one-on-one remote meetings this would work.

It sounds like you reached out initially to individual community members,
but you could also try listing on local job boards or job sites. There are
whole sites that focus specifically on web or programming professionals
that might enable you to find someone in your area, e.g. Freelancer.

Aside: really cool that you're doing this! I've thought for a while that
support to learn coding is sorely lacking at most institutions. Good luck
finding someone!

Best,
Eric

On Fri, May 8, 2015 at 8:52 AM, Katherine Deibel <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Definitely poke local colleges/universities. Although rare, there are
> often some computing grad students (and maybe a few undergrads) with a
> passion for teaching that could greatly enjoy such an opportunity. I'd
> contact student advisors in the relevant departments as they'd probably
> know which students would have interest.
>
> Kate Deibel, PhD | Web Applications Specialist
> Information Technology Services
> University of Washington Libraries
> http://staff.washington.edu/deibel
>
> --
>
> "When Thor shows up, it's always deus ex machina."
>
>
> On 2015-05-08 8:25 AM, Chad Nelson wrote:
>
>> Eliza,
>>
>> Looks like Girl Develop It has a Milwaukee outfit, and even looks like
>> they
>> already run javascript classes.
>> http://www.meetup.com/Girl-Develop-It-Milwaukee
>>
>> I've heard nothing but good things about GDI classes in my neck of the
>> woods, but obviously can't speak specifically about folks from Milwaukee.
>> But seems like a decent possibility.
>>
>> hth,
>> Chad
>>
>>
>>
>> On Fri, May 8, 2015 at 11:14 AM Eliza Carrie Bettinger <[log in to unmask]>
>> wrote:
>>
>>  Hello All,
>>>
>>>
>>> I received a grant from my university to organize a 7-month program for
>>> academic staff to build their Javascript skills. The idea is all the
>>> staff
>>> who participate will get together 1-2x per month to share their progress
>>> on
>>> individual projects they're developing, and get feedback and
>>> troubleshooting help from both a peer group AND a paid expert I'm
>>> calling a
>>> "coach." (Full description below.)
>>>
>>>
>>> The problem I'm having is finding anyone who is interested in taking the
>>> coaching the job. I have not made a public job ad, but I have emailed
>>> about
>>> 10 folks from campus and community, and asked them to notify their
>>> networks
>>> and affiliated lis-servs. For example: the leaders of Milwaukee MeetUp
>>> groups for tech women, for Javascript programmers, and open data; the web
>>> development professor at our iSchool; our campus app development lab; the
>>> leader of a local nonprofit that teaches coding to kids; etc. I've gotten
>>> positive responses form many of these folks, but I haven't received a
>>> nibble of interest from a single person in the job itself. I'm continuing
>>> to identify key people whose networks I can tap, but I'm discouraged by
>>> the
>>> apparent lack of interest I've encountered so far, and scratching my head
>>> over what I'm doing wrong.
>>>
>>>
>>> So I'm turning to you for advice -- specifically, two questions:
>>>
>>> 1) Do you know someone who might know someone in the Milwaukee area who
>>> might be interested in a gig like this? If so, please feel free to
>>> circulate this posting
>>>
>>> 2) Can you spot anything in the ad itself that I could improve? Anything
>>> that's a turn-off? Should I include the pay rate in the ad?
>>>
>>> (We have a total of about $1100; I figured I would negotiate the hourly
>>> rate and total number of hours with the person we found. Although I
>>> listed
>>> 6 hours/month, that's only the ideal; we could bring down the total
>>> number
>>> of hours, and pay a higher rate.)
>>>
>>> Any other suggestions or ideas? I'd love to get your feedback.
>>>
>>>
>>> Thank you!!
>>>
>>> Eliza
>>>
>>>
>>> Javascript Workshop Leader / "Coach"
>>>
>>> 6 hours per month, July - December, 2015
>>>
>>>
>>> This summer, the Digital Humanities Lab at UWM will begin a professional
>>> development series for academic staff from across campus to improve their
>>> skills in coding for front-end Web development -- specifically,
>>> Javascript.
>>> Workshop participants will be professionals from diverse academic
>>> backgrounds who each have a real-life work-related project under
>>> development. They will have completed some basic training in Javascript
>>> (such as the JavaScript course in Codecademy), but are novice-level
>>> developers.  In twice-monthly meetings with peers and an expert coach, up
>>> to 12 participants will meet for collaborative workshop sessions in which
>>> they present progress on their projects, get help on overcoming
>>> obstacles,
>>> receive short lessons on important topics, and gradually “level up” to
>>> become more proficient programming problem solvers.  Our goal is to
>>> support
>>> staff who have already learned some basics of coding, but need help to
>>> start becoming fluent enough to apply those basics in order to design and
>>> build their desired products.
>>>
>>>
>>> We seek an expert front-end programmer with Javascript expertise who will
>>> act as coach, mentor, and troubleshooter for this group of learners.
>>> Overall, the goal of the workshop sessions will be to build a community
>>> of
>>> learners to support one another and provide motivation, camaraderie, and
>>> practical assistance in overcoming roadblocks. The paid expert will act a
>>> coach for the group, providing guidance in matters that are opaque to
>>> novice learners, and sharing strategies from his/her experience. Sessions
>>> may include short lessons prepared and presented by the coach, but we
>>> envision workshop sessions in which the focus of the majority of the
>>> meeting time is on individual participants' projects and questions.
>>> Participants could also take turns researching and presenting on relevant
>>> topics, with guidance from the coach.  The exact format of the sessions
>>> will be designed in part with guidance from the coach, and will be
>>> subject
>>> to revision and changes with input from the group as the project
>>> progresses.
>>>
>>>
>>> The person we hire will:
>>>
>>> Be an expert developer of front-end interaction applications. Skilled in
>>> JavaScript, and in adopting specialized JS libraries.
>>>
>>> Have some experience (formal or informal) teaching, coaching, or
>>> mentoring
>>> beginner-level programmers.
>>>
>>> Have Interest in and competency with a wide range of subject and content
>>> applications.
>>>
>>> Have comfort with and interest in joining a learning environment that is
>>> flexible, collaborative, and open.
>>>
>>>
>>> To express interest in the position, or to learn more, please contact
>>> Eliza Bettinger, [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Eliza Bettinger
>>> Digital Geo-Information Specialist
>>> American Geographical Society Library
>>> UW-Milwaukee
>>> Milwaukee WI USA
>>> 414-229-6282
>>>
>>>