Interest in helping setup a San Francisco NodeSchool Chapter

[duquet]

Hi, I would like to start a nodeschool chapter for San Francisco. I am @aduquet on twitter and work at NerdWallet as a contract Recruiter. I will be co-organizing this chapter with nerdwallet. I have been using Node.js for 1 month and would like to help others learn as well.

[max-mapper]

@duquet hiya! I know there are some others who have expressed interested in helping with a SF chapter. I'll cc some of them.

cc @mattpardee @agminusthev @dshaw @llkats

anyone have thoughts on format/meeting frequency and where it would be hosted?

feel free to CC others as well

[groundwater]

I can offer the New Relic offices, and other assistance when necessary. I will admit I'm a bad organizer, but am a decent host (I hope @maxogden agrees).

We actually have a classroom-style room that can be booked.

I'm also available to help at other locations as a mentor.

[terinjokes]

I would like to help out if someone wants to organize :)

[jedireza]

Count me in. I'm available to help as a mentor in both SF and Oakland.

[linclark]

I can mentor when I'm in town :)

[RichardLitt]

In.

[agminusthev]

I'm not sure what organizational requirements go into creating a NodeSchool event but I'd be happy to help.

What time frame were you thinking @groundwater @maxogden? Q1 2015?

[duquet]

Maybe I should attend another existing NodeSchool Chapter event and then take advantage of New Relic training room from @groundwater unless someone else would like to advise. For example, do we offer food/drink sponsorships? What days/times work best?

@groundwater - if I can figure out what the organizational requirements are, could you be the main host/mentor and/or recommend anyone for maybe Q1 2015?

[imurchie]

I'd be happy to help out, organizationally as well as as a mentor. Unfortunately I cannot offer space (we're running low as it is).

[llkats]

Also in as a student/mentor; might also be able to offer space at craigslist. I like to think that I'm a good organizer, so keep me posted. :grinning:

[bengl]

Throwing my hat in as a mentor. Can also help w/ organizational efforts.

[johnmarkos]

Hello! I'm happy to help as a mentor/perpetual student as well.

[cantremember]

it'd be good to have an SF Chapter. i'd be happy to be a mentor. i'd also be happy to help with organizational efforts

[tlhunter]

I've helped mentor upcoming developers in the past and would love to lend a hand for an SF NS.

[dshaw]

I'm certain we could combine forces occasionally with SFNode to do joint events. We put a lot of effort upfront with SFNode to make sure we built out a strong core contributor group before we started kicking off events. There's 3-5x time and effort that goes into running these things.

[dshaw]

Also, excuse me for stating the obvious, but recruiting + NodeSchool makes my skin crawl a bit. @duquet, you're going to have to be very careful to balance your interests here.

[duquet]

@dshaw, Understood and appreciated. I have no intention of recruiting via NodeSchool. I am only interesting in creating learning opportunities. I have no problem with you stating the obvious ;-).

Hi All:

Given the great response to this message chain, can someone with any NS organizational experience consider stepping up to either take the lead organizationally and/or have a phone chat with me about what we should do next? For example, I would love to chat with you @llkats if you are interested in leading or helping me.

Maybe @groundwater or @llkats can suggest a target date that we could use New Relic or Craigslist offices?

I think the following people have expressed interest. Please let me know if I missed anyone...

Host: @groundwater (new relic) @llkats (craigslist) 8+ Mentors: @maxogden @jedireza @maxogden @tlhunter @cantremember @johnmarkos @bengl @linclark Organizers: @agminusthev Helpers: @terinjokes Unknown: @imurchie @dshaw @RichardLitt Advice: @mikeal

Meanwhile, I will check out https://github.com/nodeschool/discussions/issues/93 and research SFnode to per @dshaw advice.

Disclaimer: I am a newbie so please let me know if there is a better way to organize this and/or communicate.

Thanks!

[paulgrock]

I'm happy to help in anyway that is needed. I can help organize or mentor. Also, if Craigslist or New Relic aren't available we can have the nodeschool event at the Blizzard SF office.

[groundwater]

our classroom space which we can probably use

[duquet]

Pretty darn nice!

On Thu, Dec 18, 2014 at 1:08 PM, Jacob Groundwater <notifications@github.com

wrote:

[image: img_1099] https://cloud.githubusercontent.com/assets/538488/5495920/e5a58f80-86b6-11e4-8c21-53f41460fccd.JPG

our classroom space which we can probably use

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/nodeschool/organizers/issues/92#issuecomment-67557175 .

Andrew Duquet Owner/Recruiter Searchlight Systems t:510.525.3200 andrew.duquet@gmail.com

[agminusthev]

@duquet Thank you for summarizing the comments from before. Conveniently, I'm one of the organizers for SFNode :D

First question: How many attendees do we want for the first event? It was recommended we have a 5:1 ratio of attendees:mentors. We should consider capping the student headcount for the first event. Maybe 30 students and at least 6 mentors (8+ volunteers already!) Craigslist's event space can hold a max of 35 people and it looks like New Relic's class space has 32 chairs and can comfortably hold some extra bodies.

Second question: When? Weekday or weekend? I'd think a Saturday so people don't have to take off work. Hopefully, this will make the event more accessible. From there we can figure out space availability and narrow down dates.

I'm tagging @maxogden since he kicked this off and @groundwater and @llkats since they volunteered their offices.

[duquet]

I think @groundwater was first to volunteer so maybe we should ask him if he has any preferences? I am totally open so for me 30 students sounds like a nice round number and Saturday sounds good. Ideally we could vote but that's probably too complicated so whatever @groundwater or @llkats thinks is fine with me if everyone agrees.

On Thu, Dec 18, 2014 at 4:23 PM, Rebecca Siler notifications@github.com wrote:

@duquet https://github.com/duquet Thank you for summarizing the comments from before. Conveniently, I'm one of the organizers for SFNode :D

First question: How many attendees do we want for the first event? It was recommended we have a 5:1 ratio of attendees:mentors. We should consider capping the student headcount for the first event. Maybe 30 students and at least 6 mentors (8+ volunteers already!) Craigslist's event space can hold a max of 35 people and it looks like New Relic's class space has 32 chairs and can comfortably hold some extra bodies.

Second question: When? Weekday or weekend? I'd think a Saturday so people don't have to take off work. Hopefully, this will make the event more accessible. From there we can figure out space availability and narrow down dates.

I'm tagging @maxogden https://github.com/maxogden since he kicked this off and @groundwater https://github.com/groundwater and @llkats https://github.com/llkats since they volunteered their offices.

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/nodeschool/organizers/issues/92#issuecomment-67580908 .

Andrew Duquet Owner/Recruiter Searchlight Systems t:510.525.3200 andrew.duquet@gmail.com

[llkats]

I don't know that we'd be able to open the office at craigslist on a weekend; I'd have to double-check on that. Hopefully @groundwater is cool with it. :)

[groundwater]

I will ask our events team!

[dshaw]

@groundwater Impressive space!

[groundwater]

I've gotten a 90% yes on using the space (an exact date will help).

Weekends are okay, but it might be better to use the lounge area. That way we can provide food/drinks, and it's more open.

[agminusthev]

How about Saturday, January 31 or February 7?

@groundwater would you mind running these dates by your event team?

[groundwater]

Feb 7 looks good, but I have an obligation in Sacramento around 7pm. I'm assuming we will do this in the daytime?

[llkats]

+1 for the daytime. How long do events usually last? Could we do something like 12 - 5?

[linclark]

For the one at Double Union, I scheduled it for 4 hours, which I think is about the right length. So maybe 1pm-5pm? If we start it at 1pm, then I think we can get away with having lighter snacks.

[llkats]

Sounds good to me!! How does that work, @groundwater and everyone?

[jedireza]

Feb 7th 1pm - 5pm works for me too.

[jasonrhodes]

FWIW, in Baltimore this is exactly the format we use, 1-5pm, light snacks and drinks (if alcohol, we only serve for the last hour or two, but recently we dropped alcohol altogether). We usually do about 30 minutes of intro up front and jump into exercises after that, although I've heard people having a lot of success going through the first lesson or two together as a group.

Also, we ask people in advance to self-rate their JS skill level with 1-3 ratings, then we put their names on color-coded name tags and tell them to pair up with someone with the same color name tag. That's worked really well if you are interested in having people pair, which we've found to be really really successful.

Good luck! :)

[RichardLitt]

Works for me!

[cantremember]

1-5pm sounds like a good plan -- but i'll have to bolt right @ 5

[llkats]

Thanks for the tips, @jasonrhodes!! Keep 'em coming if you think of any more! :)

[llkats]

Something that occurred to me: should we have signups or RSVPs?

[linclark]

For the one at Double Union, we did $5 tickets through Tito to ensure that people showed up.

[llkats]

Okay, cool, that sounds like a plan. I can set that up, just need confirmation from @groundwater on the date/times and I'm ready to start getting the word out!

[RichardLitt]

It'll also be useful to know tutors to students ratio, right?

[jedireza]

Referring to: https://github.com/nodeschool/organizers/blob/master/README.md#how-to-start-a-new-nodeschool-chapter

We need a chapter owner (if we don't already have one). I'm happy to throw my name in that hat. Once that's done we can continue with the steps outlined.

:sparkles: woot :sparkles:

[llkats]

Yes, tutor to student ratio would be great to know. How do we solicit and track volunteers? Would this Github issue be fine to do that?

Seems to me like @duquet would be first in line to be the chapter owner, since he opened this thread!

[duquet]

Thanks, I would like that unless anyone objects.

On Wed, Jan 7, 2015 at 11:22 AM, Lydia Katsamberis <notifications@github.com

wrote:

Yes, tutor to student ratio would be great to know. How do we solicit and track volunteers? Would this Github issue be fine to do that?

Seems to me like @duquet https://github.com/duquet would be first in line to be the chapter owner, since he opened this thread!

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/nodeschool/organizers/issues/92#issuecomment-69075823 .

Andrew Duquet Owner/Recruiter Searchlight Systems t:510.525.3200 andrew.duquet@gmail.com

[jedireza]

Sweet. @maxogden how do we get @duquet setup as an owner?

[jasonrhodes]

OK @duquet I added you as an owner. FYI there are chapters with multiple owners so let me know if you would like to add more. You can follow the steps in the README that you linked to above and get your chapter repo set up, then you can continue this conversation over there!

[groundwater]

I will confirm the time with our events planner tomorrow

[cantremember]

conversation moved to https://github.com/nodeschool/sanfrancisco/issues/1