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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 >>