How to Conference : A User Guide

Are you an introvert who dreads large gatherings? Do you find it challenging to attend tech conferences or user group events? We know how you feel, but the good news is that these gatherings present invaluable opportunities to expand your knowledge, enhance your skills, and even discover your next career move. The key is to navigate them effectively without feeling overwhelmed.

Join us as we discuss how introverts can make the most of conferences and user groups without exhausting themselves. In this session, we will explore strategies to ensure your success, from what to bring to these events, to uncovering the most effective learning methods and practices. We'll also delve into techniques and ideas for finding essential breaks to recharge and reveal the optimal places to be for maximum advantage.

Discover how introverts and extroverts can thrive in the world of tech conferences and user groups.

The Engineer's Guide to Socialization

The Pandemic has become somewhat manageable, and it is important for individuals to come out of their shells both mentally and physically. The statement emphasizes the significance of building and expanding one's network, as it is believed to contribute to personal and professional growth. However, the question arises: How can individuals achieve this? This problem arises because humans, including developers, tend to perform better when they collaborate and interact with others.

Socialization or networking is crucial for several reasons. Firstly, it allows individuals to exchange ideas, knowledge, and experiences, leading to personal and professional development. By connecting with others, individuals can learn from different perspectives, gain insights, and receive support in their endeavors. Additionally, networking can lead to opportunities such as collaborations, mentorships, job prospects, and partnerships, which can enhance one's career or business prospects. Furthermore, socialization provides a sense of belonging and community, fostering emotional well-being and reducing feelings of isolation.

Implementing networking strategies can improve the ecosystem by creating a supportive and collaborative environment. By establishing connections and fostering relationships, individuals can enhance knowledge sharing, innovation, and problem-solving. This leads to the growth and advancement of industries, organizations, and communities. Moreover, networking facilitates the exchange of resources, connections, and expertise, enabling individuals to access valuable opportunities and overcome challenges more effectively.

Now, let's explore different methods of implementing networking:

Method 1: One-to-One Connections - This approach involves building individual connections through platforms like Twitter and LinkedIn. It also includes arranging in-person meetings, such as grabbing a coffee with someone. These one-on-one interactions allow for more personal and focused communication, fostering deeper relationships and meaningful exchanges.

Method 2: One-to-Many Groups - This method involves participating in or organizing group events like meetups, conferences, or workshops. The individual takes on the role of a presenter or organizer, sharing their knowledge and expertise with a larger audience. This approach allows for broader networking and exposure to diverse perspectives.

Method 3: Many-to-One Groups - Similar to the previous method, this approach involves participating in group events, conferences, or meetups. However, instead of being the organizer or presenter, the individual engages with a larger group, benefiting from collective knowledge, insights, and networking opportunities.

Method 4: Many-to-Many Networks - This method involves leveraging social networks, online communities, and podcasts. By engaging with a wide range of individuals, participating in discussions, and sharing insights, one can build connections and expand their network on a larger scale.

Benefits of implementing these networking features include:

- Increased access to knowledge and diverse perspectives
- Enhanced career or business opportunities
- Support and guidance from a network of like-minded individuals
- Collaboration and innovation through shared experiences and resources

However, there are also drawbacks to consider, such as:

- Time investment required for networking activities
- Exposure to potential scheduling conflicts or overlapping commitments
- Possible challenges in maintaining a balance between online and offline interactions

In conclusion, taking actionable steps to come out of one's shell and engage in networking can lead to personal and professional growth. By implementing various networking methods, individuals can benefit from the exchange of knowledge, collaboration, and opportunities, ultimately contributing to a more vibrant and supportive ecosystem.

Give a talk in the session time using the association models from Rails in the terms of networking && socialization :
- belongs_to
- has_one
- has_many
- has_many :through
- has_one :through
- has_and_belongs_to_many

This is Technical Talk - Essential People Skills for Developers

This talk speaks to the importance of people skills as a developer. A deeper focus is then placed in 7 areas of focus important to the software engineering field. 1 actionable step each that can be taken to better or fix these skills. Here is a list of the skills I would like to talk about:
=> Communication
=> Collaboration
=> Problem-solving
=> Time management
=> Adaptability
=> Creativity
=> Attention to detail
=> Interpersonal skills
=> Leadership skills

Here is a list of the skills I would like to talk about:
=> Communication
=> Collaboration
=> Problem-solving
=> Time management
=> Adaptability
=> Creativity
=> Attention to detail
=> Interpersonal skills / Networking
=> Leadership skills

Unlocked : Growing Your Skills Through Open Source Development And Civic Hacking

As a developer, we want to increase our knowledge of the development world around us so that we can help grow our careers or help the world. Many folks can grow their career through reading blogs, books, following tutorials, building projects, or watching videos. But some of us need a project or community to help us attain our career growth. Where can we find these projects or the community? In this discussion, we will show you 2 paths that you can take advantage of, so that you can give to the community and grow your career.
The first path that we will discuss is how to contribute to an open-source project. This includes the who, what, and how of open source and the places where you can contribute to an open source.

Spoilers: Anyone can contribute, and you need not be a coder to contribute.
The second path we'll discuss is civic Hacking. We will define what it is, where to get involved, and cover its basic tenets:
- Do what you can?
- Where you can?
- With what you've got?

This is a talk that is presented with two speakers handling 2 separate sections.

Read the F*&K!ng ReadMe - How to Interpret A Repo's Instructional Manual

"I never got how this worked" ~ is a common talk heard by all developers at one time or another, the other one is - "This is black magic" or it works on my machine or it should work.
This talk aims to highlight the importance of reading the documentation attached to a work repo. This talk is the other side to Write F*&K!ng ReadMe. It highlights how to demystify one's code once created as a repo, using the instructional manual AKA the ReadMe.

It aims to help developers to understand :
- the importance of ReadMe as a tool to understand how to use someone's code.
- how to break the ReadMe down to decipher how a project is coded or built and how to use it.
- how to use ReadMe to get more resources on the project if needed.
- An actionable breakdown of how to figure out how to
use a ReadMe.
- finding out about open-sourced contributions etc.
- provide actionable steps for all of the above.

- This talk is aimed to be a community talk.
- It can be 30 - 50 mins long based on the audience.
- target: Anyone but catering mostly to entry-level and mid-devs.

Open-Sourced - Growth Hacking Your Tech Skills

How does one grow one's technical skills on limited resources ( whether by choice or otherwise ) or show how one can learn using current resources?

This talk aims to provide a how-to guide to developing one's technical skills using community resources to enhance the developer's journey. It will use examples from my journey such as freeCodeCamp meetups, mentorships, hackathons, and civic hacking, providing actionable steps with accompanying learned insights. These steps include :
=> What is is open source learning?
=> Establishing your learning goal and breaking down the steps to getting there.
=> Understanding the importance of joining a community and being an active participant.
=> Why you should blog and tweet your progress as you learn.
=> Why and how you should contribute to open source?
=> How to find activities such as hackathons, meetups, and civic hacking groups that will challenge you?
=> Examine how to building a coding habit eg #100daysofCode.
=> How using open source resources helps you to learn makes you a better and more valuable developer/ engineer.
=> Etc ( anything else that may cater to the theme of the conference or meetup where this talk is being given).

- This talk is aimed to being a how-to on how to use open source resources to grow as a developer.
- It can be 30 - 60 mins long based on the audience and their needs.
- Target: developers at any experience level.

Don't Scare The Newbies ~ Creating Beginner Friendly Spaces

One of the hardest things to do as a developer is to develop and maintain a beginner-friendly community. This issue has a bit of complexity built into it as experts have a problem simplifying and relaying knowledge to beginners.

Using my last 6 years as one of the organizers for freeCodeCamp Atlanta, my talk provides a few actionable ways to create an environment that enables the retention and growth of beginners in a developer community. It is based on the article of the same title: =>https://tinyurl.com/ycv72hbh.

This talk will entail actionable tips and tricks that I learned as one of the freeCodeCamp Atlanta organizers. This talk may include:
=> The importance of creating beginner-friendly spaces.
=> How to support newbie developers and interested people.
=> The importance of communication in nurturing developers.
=> Results of the application of some of these details.
=> How to establish virtual and physical environments that enable newbie developers to thrive.
=> Etc

- This talk is aimed to be a community talk.
- It can be 30 - 50 mins long based on the audience.
- target: mid to snr devs.

How !To Be Mentored

How to does one get the best out of a mentor-ship, while provide providing value to both the mentee and the mentor in times of time spent and growth?

The mentee/mentor relationship in tech tends to be wrought with issues if not structured properly on both ends. This talk hopes to provide actionable steps learned from my wins and losses based on my experience being a part of a learn-to-code mentorship group for 1 year period. This talk will include :
=> Understanding the value propositions of the participants [mentee vs mentor]), etc.
=> Setting relationship fundamentals/foundations and expectations/results.
=> Time and task management suggestions.
=> How to deal with challenges as they come up.
=> Content to read ( books, articles, and people to follow on Twitter).
=> Etc ( Anything else that can come to mind when writing this talk based on the theme of the audience/ conference ).

- This talk is aimed to be a community talk.
- It can be 30 - 50 mins long based on the audience.
- target: Anyone but catering to entry-level and mid-devs

Social Goodness || Civic Hacking - What's in it for me?

I am giving away my time and talent for free, how to I benefit from being a part of civic hacking?

This talk will look at the benefits of being a part of the local civic hacking community. This talk will use some concrete examples to speak about how I have become a better developer and project manager through those experiences and was a part of a team that donated $40,000 to charity. I will also cite experiences and provide actionable steps learned as a developer and a community organizer, explain how civic hacking has helped me to grow as a developer ( using examples from Marta Hackathons, AT&T C3 Hackathons, Civic Hack nights, Atl Thinks competitions )
These steps include :
=> How to use civic hacking to grow your soft skills.
=> How to use civic hacking to grow your technical skills.
=> How to use civic hacking as a networking tool.
=> How to use civic hacking projects as a part of job hunting ( both technically and behaviorally).