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Where workshop organizers can keep track of the workshops currently being planned.
https://github.com/railsbridge/docs/wiki/Money-Things
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Oakland Rails Workshop - 11/21 & 11/22 #32

Closed rachelmyers closed 9 years ago

rachelmyers commented 10 years ago

This workshop is being organized by Sameer Siruguri, Sunny Juneja (@whatasunnyday), and potentially also An Bui (unless we break her's up into a separate workshop).

Giant List of TODOs:

A few months out:

Potential sponsors: Please leave a comment if you're able to host or sponsor! :smile_cat:

A month out:

:turtle:

sunnyrjuneja commented 10 years ago

Hi! I'm Sunny Juneja. Thanks for making this issue. I'll start following up with Sameer and An.

mejarc commented 10 years ago

I'm looking forward to being an instructor at this!

siruguri commented 10 years ago

Hi, @mejarc - thanks for volunteering! I'm really excited about this too. I've set up a Doodle to get us started on our first meeting to discuss the Few Months' Out list that Rachel has provided ... I've picked slots in the morning, the PM and during Happy Hour, to give us a few options. Sunny and I are pretty free as we're both work-at-home folks, not sure about others.

Thanks!

siruguri commented 10 years ago

@mejarc - @whatasunnyday is not actually avlbl next week, to meet in person. My bad ... I want to plan for the following week, would similar times on the 16th work for you?

rachelmyers commented 10 years ago

Gentle reminder that we were picking a time to meetup in person. :relaxed:

siruguri commented 10 years ago

Hi all - Jane met with us on Monday, and we had a great conversation about next steps... Jane said she'd help us find a co-organizer... @mejarc - we would love to have you as an instructor! We are checking back with our venue to get some dates, and we are going to start looking for a sponsor... any suggestions on whom to ask in the Oakland area?

nuclearsandwich commented 10 years ago

I live in the South Bay but I can help organize or mentor as necessary. On the organization side about the only things I can't help with are finding a venue and deciding where to cater food since I'm not local but I am totally down to help with the rest of the logistics and offer advice where I can.

sunnyrjuneja commented 10 years ago

Hey everyone, Sameer and I spoke with Jane and some people who've been to a few RailsBridges to better understand the logistics. Right now, we're focused on getting the location. We have a place in mind but need to get the final yes. We spoke with them last week and are expecting a response soon. We've investigated other locations in case this falls through. Just want to keep everyone in the loop.

siruguri commented 10 years ago

Someone we met yesterday said they could connect us with folks at Nationbuilder who might be interested in sponsoring. We also have a couple more folks from a posting I made to the Open Oakland mailing list, that offered to help organize. Not to be too old-school about it, but I prefer using mailing lists to organize group communication - anyone have problems with my creating a Google Group?

One question that came up - the venue, Oakstop, that we had in mind is in fact a co-working space so if they gave us the space for the weekend, it'd cut into their revenues directly. The owner is up for donating some of the time but would like to know if it's okay for us to find sponsorship to cover some of it. Is there a precedent for this?

@nuclearsandwich - would love to include you in the list of potential organizers - would you mind sharing an email I can use to loop you in?

nuclearsandwich commented 10 years ago

@siruguri steven@nuclearsandwich.com works fine.

careful-with-that-axe-zz commented 10 years ago

Hey all late to joining this conversation but I did indeed meet with Sunny and Sameer in June and they are stellar guys... I left our meeting feeling very positive about getting RailsBridges started in Oakland. If it takes a little longer to find/schedule a venue that won't disadvantage the host company that is all good. I have a hazy memory of someone knowing another venue, possibly they are in my business card pile... will circle back on that.

Also I met another person who is very keen on having RailsBridges in Oakland this weekend at the Carbon Five front end workshop, I will put Sunny and Sameer directly in contact with them and I will point him to this. He knows we are looking for female teachers/tas and co-organizers (I will help too) and he said he had some leads on that, possibly he does on venues as well.

Hope all of you are exceedingly well and enjoying your weekend!

siruguri commented 10 years ago

Jane - thanks for the intro to Dominic! We'll follow up. I think while there's definitely interest all around, planning for August might be a bit tight. I know I'm going to be pretty busy this week, and won't have the time to really get organizing going per the recommended calendar, to plan for a mid-August workshop.

Maybe we can think of renaming the issue to "September"? Thoughts from others?

On Sun, Jul 13, 2014 at 2:06 PM, Jane S. Sebastian <notifications@github.com

wrote:

Hey all late to joining this conversation but I did indeed meet with Sunny and Sameer in June and they are stellar guys... I left our meeting feeling very positive about getting RailsBridges started in Oakland. If it takes a little longer to find/schedule a venue that won't disadvantage the host company that is all good. I have a hazy memory of someone knowing another venue, possibly they are in my business card pile... will circle back on that.

Also I met another person who is very keen on having RailsBridges in Oakland this weekend at the Carbon Five front end workshop, I will put Sunny and Sameer directly in contact with them and I will point him to this. He knows we are looking for female teachers/tas and co-organizers (I will help too) and he said he had some leads on that, possibly he does on venues as well.

Hope all of you are exceedingly well and enjoying your weekend!

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/railsbridge/organizing/issues/32#issuecomment-48851928 .

careful-with-that-axe-zz commented 10 years ago

I am all for that. Will be good to have more time to find a venue, pull people together etc. And for me it is much better since I will be out of town a great deal in July and August, but only the 24th through 28th in September.

dominic commented 10 years ago

Hey all :) Dominic here - I'm the person @careful-with-that-axe met and referenced above.

I'd definitely +1 for September too. I'll be out of town for a lot of August, and would hate to miss the actual event.

As for venues, has anyone checked out Impact Hub? They've got a really nice space, but may be too expensive. Are there any Oakland based companies that could donate space instead? I know Pandora is Downtown and has a pretty big office there.

siruguri commented 10 years ago

Hi, Dominic -

we haven't asked at the Hub - they also make money from rentals, but if one of us had a close enough relationship we could maybe get it for free. You're right, they are pretty pricey but it's a great space.

Anyone here know someone at the Hub personally?

Pandora would be great, again if we knew someone that can put in a word for us to improve our ask. Sunny and I don't know anyone there personally. Sunny cold-called NPM.JS but we haven't heard back.

Sameer.

On Mon, Jul 14, 2014 at 1:56 PM, Dominic Dagradi notifications@github.com wrote:

Hey all :) Dominic here - I'm the person @careful-with-that-axe https://github.com/careful-with-that-axe met and referenced above <#14736a9b5ea5a3d4_issuecomment-48851928>.

I'd definitely +1 for September too. I'll be out of town for a lot of August, and would hate to miss the actual event.

As for venues, has anyone checked out Impact Hub https://oakland.impacthub.net? They've got a really nice space, but may be too expensive. Are there any Oakland based companies that could donate space instead? I know Pandora is Downtown and has a pretty big office there http://www.pandora.com/careers/locations.

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/railsbridge/organizing/issues/32#issuecomment-48958552 .

careful-with-that-axe-zz commented 10 years ago

I might have a Pandora connection, will do some checking... they seem like they would be a great company to join our list of hosts as well.

dominic commented 10 years ago

I'll ask around for connections to Hub and Pandora as well. I think I have friends-of-friends involved with both.

sunnyrjuneja commented 10 years ago

I cold emailed Pandora and they said they would forward to someone but I didn't hear back even after follow ups. Sameer and I discussed the hub when we visited and both agreed it was a perfect place. If someone has a relationship there, that would be awesome!

siruguri commented 10 years ago

Is there a way to rename the title of an issue? I couldn't figure out how to do that ... or maybe we create a new one, reference this, and close this?

sidhene commented 10 years ago

I have renamed the workshop to September. I have also pinged a friend who works at a company in Alameda to see if they'd be interested in sponsoring. I will direct her to this thread.

siruguri commented 10 years ago

We've been intro'ed to a couple of folks here, including Kimberly Bryant who's with BGC. I need to follow up.

On Fri, Jul 25, 2014 at 3:23 PM, sidhene notifications@github.com wrote:

I have renamed the workshop to September. I have also pinged a friend who works at a company in Alameda to see if they'd be interested in sponsoring. I will direct her to this thread.

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/railsbridge/organizing/issues/32#issuecomment-50211447 .

careful-with-that-axe-zz commented 10 years ago

Heya, I have been out of contact (was traveling most of August) and am still a bit swamped but I just wanted to check in and say hi quickly. Though I haven't done much for the actual event yet, I have been collecting more names of people who are east bay who can help out/organize etc.

And I think right now the big blocker is a venue, I am going to do some reaching out tonight (I have some nebulous contacts at Pandora/Kapor Foundation) to see if they would be open to it for sometime in September or October.

And I know it is taking awhile, but east bay is a bit different than SF as far as tech events and I think taking some time to do it right/without too much stress is all good. Hopefully once the ball really starts rolling it will continue to do so.... I will check back in a bit regarding venue situations.

sidhene commented 10 years ago

Pandora is hosting Girl Geek Dinner this week, so maybe the activity around that can be leveraged into enthusiasm for hosting a Railsbridge

On Mon, Sep 8, 2014 at 11:12 AM, Jane S. Sebastian <notifications@github.com

wrote:

Heya, I have been out of contact (was traveling most of August) and am still a bit swamped but I just wanted to check in and say hi quickly. Though I haven't done much for the actual event yet, I have been collecting more names of people who are east bay who can help out/organize etc.

And I think right now the big blocker is a venue, I am going to do some reaching out tonight (I have some nebulous contacts at Pandora/Kapor Foundation) to see if they would be open to it for sometime in September or October.

And I know it is taking awhile, but east bay is a bit different than SF as far as tech events and I think taking some time to do it right/without too much stress is all good. Hopefully once the ball really starts rolling it will continue to do so.... I will check back in a bit regarding venue situations.

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/railsbridge/organizing/issues/32#issuecomment-54862811 .

sunnyrjuneja commented 10 years ago

I've tried reaching out to Pandora via cold emailing and didn't get any responses. It would be great if you guys could knew anyone there.

On Mon, Sep 8, 2014 at 11:13 AM, sidhene notifications@github.com wrote:

Pandora is hosting Girl Geek Dinner this week, so maybe the activity around that can be leveraged into enthusiasm for hosting a Railsbridge

On Mon, Sep 8, 2014 at 11:12 AM, Jane S. Sebastian < notifications@github.com

wrote:

Heya, I have been out of contact (was traveling most of August) and am still a bit swamped but I just wanted to check in and say hi quickly. Though I haven't done much for the actual event yet, I have been collecting more names of people who are east bay who can help out/organize etc.

And I think right now the big blocker is a venue, I am going to do some reaching out tonight (I have some nebulous contacts at Pandora/Kapor Foundation) to see if they would be open to it for sometime in September or October.

And I know it is taking awhile, but east bay is a bit different than SF as far as tech events and I think taking some time to do it right/without too much stress is all good. Hopefully once the ball really starts rolling it will continue to do so.... I will check back in a bit regarding venue situations.

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub < https://github.com/railsbridge/organizing/issues/32#issuecomment-54862811>

.

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/railsbridge/organizing/issues/32#issuecomment-54863004 .

careful-with-that-axe-zz commented 10 years ago

I think I have a tenuous connection... and I wish I would be in town for the girl geek dinner that would be a great networking opportunity. I will see if anyone else is attending that event who could reach out specifically though I have to follow up later tonight.

siruguri commented 10 years ago

Hi, @jane - thanks for re-connecting, and agreed that we should work on this the right way rather than hurry to make something happen. Might it help to see if anyone from the Open Oakland group is going to the girl geek dinner? I can have them get in touch with you if that's okay. Would it be appropriate for Sunny or me to drop by to say hello the Pandora organizers, seeing as how we are not "girls"?

On Mon, Sep 8, 2014 at 11:48 AM, Jane S. Sebastian <notifications@github.com

wrote:

I think I have a tenuous connection... and I wish I would be in town for the girl geek dinner that would be a great networking opportunity. I will see if anyone else is attending that event who could reach out specifically though I have to follow up later tonight.

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/railsbridge/organizing/issues/32#issuecomment-54868216 .

careful-with-that-axe-zz commented 10 years ago

Hi Sameer, definitely reach out to the Open Oakland group, that would be great if someone was going who could network for us. Unfortunately I do think it wouldn't be appropriate for you and Sunny to swing by, though I mega appreciate you wanting to help, since the event is for specifically for women. I will reach out to the workshop list tonight... hopefully we can get some people with RailsBridge experience who would be comfortable promoting a bit into the event. I wish I was in town to do so!

careful-with-that-axe-zz commented 10 years ago

Sent an email to the RailsBridge workshop list just now... will let you all know if I get any responses.

siruguri commented 10 years ago

I sent an email to the OO mailing list ...

On Mon, Sep 8, 2014 at 12:37 PM, Jane S. Sebastian <notifications@github.com

wrote:

Sent an email to the RailsBridge workshop list just now... will let you all know if I get any responses.

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/railsbridge/organizing/issues/32#issuecomment-54875035 .

max-mapper commented 10 years ago

hi railsbridgers, we recently started planning an oakland nodeschool group and had a discussion about venues that might be helpful here: https://github.com/nodeschool/oakland/issues/1

siruguri commented 10 years ago

I believe Laney College has good discounts for nonprofits, I called their Facilities office and left vcmail.

careful-with-that-axe-zz commented 10 years ago

Thanks maxogden, that is very appreciated... we are just getting some from a twitter post as well, will share which ones aren't overlap back with you.

rachelmyers commented 10 years ago

cc @eanakashima in case you can also help with Oakland venues. :house_with_garden:

siruguri commented 10 years ago

I just heard about another "women in tech" event - Angie Chen from BA Girl Geek is involved with them... Women 2.0 in Oakland. The next event is on Oct 2 - maybe someone from here can attend?

sidhene commented 10 years ago

I posted asking for a Pandora contact on one of my email lists and Tina of MotherCoders said she could put me in touch with the diversity cheif there. I asked her to hook Jane up with this contact.

On Tue, Sep 9, 2014 at 9:07 PM, Sameer S notifications@github.com wrote:

I just heard about another "women in tech" event - Angie Chen from BA Girl Geek is involved with them... Women 2.0 in Oakland http://women2.com/city-meetup/oakland/. The next event is on Oct 2 - maybe someone from here can attend?

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/railsbridge/organizing/issues/32#issuecomment-55068823 .

careful-with-that-axe-zz commented 10 years ago

Thanks for the heads up about the Women in Tech event Sameer, I will be in town then so I have signed up. Guess I better move to Oakland sooner than the later I planned so I don't get busted at the door... ;)

Open Oakland sounds like a fantastic partner organization to work with, thanks for that intro...

And thanks again Amy for the great contact for us at Pandora, will see how that plays out and keep all posted. :)

lilliealbert commented 10 years ago

I asked Twitter for ideas for Oakland venues: https://twitter.com/lilliealbert/status/509428413682028544

If nothing else, all this brainstorming will make Oakland workshop no. 2 easier to find a venue for! :dancers:

lilliealbert commented 10 years ago

I saw a comment earlier about paying to use a coworking space (Oakstop) from back in July — that is something that is totally reasonable, although in SF we'll always pick a space that is free to use, so that we can spend all of our money on food. If you're able to get sponsorship to cover the cost of space + food + etc., though, there's nothing philosophically wrong with renting a space, for sure.

siruguri commented 9 years ago

We just heard from Monsoon Co (Fri 9/19 3p at their offices) that they'll offer us space! I'll be following up this week. Props to @lilliealbert for making us the connection.

sidhene commented 9 years ago

I've been accepted to the Pandora Girl Geek dinner on Sept 25. Was there someone specific there it might be helpful for me to seek out and talk to?

On Tue, Sep 16, 2014 at 3:18 PM, Sameer S notifications@github.com wrote:

We just heard from Monsoon Co, that they'll offer us space! I'll be following up this week. Props to @lilliealbert https://github.com/lilliealbert for making us the connection.

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/railsbridge/organizing/issues/32#issuecomment-55822604 .

sunnyrjuneja commented 9 years ago

Cool, does that mean we're still looking for financial sponsorship?

siruguri commented 9 years ago

@whatasunnyday - for food, yes, we will be.

careful-with-that-axe-zz commented 9 years ago

Huge thanks @sidhene and @lilliealbert! :) :) :)

@sidhene we were all about networking to find possible venues, sponsors, female teachers/tas/organizers/students at the Pandora dinner. Now that our first venue is found, making those connections should be much easier.

Side note, I will be out of town town the last weekend in September but would love to be able to continue to help out, so if this is actually an October workshop I would be all about it though I am not critical to the situation so if it doesn't no worries.

careful-with-that-axe-zz commented 9 years ago

Oh hey, I think I wasn't clear about the Pandora dinner, please do still attend if you can @sidhene, the networking for future events and to get teachers/tas/students would be great. I don't have a specific person to talk to at the moment but I can make sure to have a (small) list for you before the event and get you connected.

sunnyrjuneja commented 9 years ago

I noticed we mentioned sponsorship would cost between $700-$1200. Since we have a venue, is there a more concrete number I can mention?

lilliealbert commented 9 years ago

The amount will depend more on the size of the workshop — you can probably do the food for 50 (30 students, 20 volunteers) for less than $1,000. Almost all of the budget is spent on food — the other incidentals would be name tags and maybe markers if Monsoon didn't have some you could use.

On Wed, Sep 17, 2014 at 11:48 AM, Sunny Juneja notifications@github.com wrote:

I noticed we mentioned sponsorship would cost between $700-$1200. Since we have a venue, is there a more concrete number I can mention?

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/railsbridge/organizing/issues/32#issuecomment-55941264 .

Lillie Chilen @lilliealbert ('li-lee shuh-'leen)

sunnyrjuneja commented 9 years ago

I asked one of my friend's startup. He said he can't commit to the entire sponsorship but really wants to chip in something. If he wanted to give a donation of $100, what's a good way to do that?

careful-with-that-axe-zz commented 9 years ago

Hi @whatasunnyday, I don't have the answer for that question right now, but I will look into it. Partial donation is absolutely all good, very glad they want to chip in. Thanks so much for finding them. :)

@sidhene could you work with @siruguri and @whatasunnyday to do whatever is best for scheduling the workshop with Monsoon? They are the lead organizers of this workshop and should likely handle the timing of when it will happen depending on Monsoons availability.

If need be RailsBridge can cover food costs, so we shouldn't let that stop us from going forward, though we should definitely keep looking for sponsors.

siruguri commented 9 years ago

Had a great conversation with the monsoonco folks ... they're def in on venue, and have a great venue to boot. We just need to work out some logistics, I'll be sending them email on that, lmk if anyone on here would like to get included. Also, I have pics of their rooms which I can share via email if anyone would like to see them. Overall, they have about five well spread out rooms, at least two of which can accommodate 12-15 folks.

I will also send them a note on sponsorship and see what they say.

siruguri commented 9 years ago

@whatasunnyday - just noticed that the Cookbook has an entry on Money Things, that says something about handling indiv donations.