The first ever NodeSchool Regina (aka. NodeSchool YQR) had a good turnout. We had 40 people sign up prior to the event. We ended up having 27 people attend with 7 mentors and the workshop ran from 1-4 PM.
We promoted the event through meetup.com, a Facebook event and we built our own site using GitHub pages. We also put posters up around the GasBuddy office and on campus. We also used GasBuddy’s social media channels to promote the event.
At the start, I gave a 10 minute presentation explaining the format of NodeSchool. I also did a brief walkthrough with the first lesson in the Javascripting workshop. Since it was the first time, we broke the workshops into three levels:
Beginners (non programmers):
Jsforcats.com - website
Java scripting
People that know Javascript, but not node:
Learn You Node
How To NPM
People that know node:
Elementary Electron
ExpressWorks
Since this was the first NodeSchool meetup in Regina, most people were either working on Javascripting or Learn You Node. We also found there was a pretty good mix of novice and experienced programmers, and most participants came with their environments already set up. We tried to arrange participants at the different tables according to their skill/familiarity level, but found that our seating formation might not have been clear enough -- something to look at next time.
Our sponsor was GasBuddy, who provided the venue, the snacks, the stickers and most of the mentors, all of whom were current or former GasBuddy employees.
There were a few technical issues which we’re looking to improve upon for the next event. We had some issues with our projector setup. We didn’t have a microphone and we were in a big open area, so it was difficult for people to hear when the demonstration was going on. We also planned to have music playing during the workshop time, but our Sonos system didn’t work out too well thanks to questionable wi-fi.
The feedback we received was very positive, with many people saying they would come again if there was another NodeSchool. We are already planning our next NodeSchool for January.
The first ever NodeSchool Regina (aka. NodeSchool YQR) had a good turnout. We had 40 people sign up prior to the event. We ended up having 27 people attend with 7 mentors and the workshop ran from 1-4 PM.
We promoted the event through meetup.com, a Facebook event and we built our own site using GitHub pages. We also put posters up around the GasBuddy office and on campus. We also used GasBuddy’s social media channels to promote the event.
At the start, I gave a 10 minute presentation explaining the format of NodeSchool. I also did a brief walkthrough with the first lesson in the Javascripting workshop. Since it was the first time, we broke the workshops into three levels:
Beginners (non programmers):
People that know Javascript, but not node:
People that know node:
Since this was the first NodeSchool meetup in Regina, most people were either working on Javascripting or Learn You Node. We also found there was a pretty good mix of novice and experienced programmers, and most participants came with their environments already set up. We tried to arrange participants at the different tables according to their skill/familiarity level, but found that our seating formation might not have been clear enough -- something to look at next time.
Our sponsor was GasBuddy, who provided the venue, the snacks, the stickers and most of the mentors, all of whom were current or former GasBuddy employees.
There were a few technical issues which we’re looking to improve upon for the next event. We had some issues with our projector setup. We didn’t have a microphone and we were in a big open area, so it was difficult for people to hear when the demonstration was going on. We also planned to have music playing during the workshop time, but our Sonos system didn’t work out too well thanks to questionable wi-fi.
The feedback we received was very positive, with many people saying they would come again if there was another NodeSchool. We are already planning our next NodeSchool for January.