Growing a Tech Community

10 tips for people growing a local tech community based on my experiences with the Ember.js NYC group. This was a 10-minute presented at GORUCO 2014. You may want to watch the video (http://vimeo.com/101020270) -- the slides don't cover all the material that I covered verbally.

Transcript

1. Growing a Tech Community Luke Melia GORUCO June 21st, 2014
2. About this Rubyist 2
3. About this Rubyist 3
4. 4 What am I going to cover? ★ Tips and tricks for growing a tech community in NYC ★ Mostly ideas I’ve put to the test growing Ember.js NYC.
5. What is so special about Ember.js NYC? 5 49 events 
 since April 2012 1100 members
6. What is so special about Ember.js NYC? 5
7. What is so special about Ember.js NYC? 6
8. What is so special about Ember.js NYC? 6
9. Top Ten Tips for Growing a Great Tech Community 7
10. Tip #10 8 ★ Think like a promoter ★ Build anticipation with out-of-town speakers ★ Spread awareness with joint events with other meetups ★ Try not to schedule against “competitive” meetups
11. Tip #9 9 ★ Nurture your speakers ★ Always be recruiting ★ Help with prep ★ Give positive reinforcement
12. Tip #8 10 ★ Use the ‘net! ★ Meetup.com ★ Twitter ★ YouTube
16. 14 Beyond the walls: video
17. Tip #7 15 ★ Partner with venues ★ Find a win-win situation with a event host ★ Take care of the relationship
18. Tip #6 16 ★ Be welcoming ★ Emcee ★ Connect people ★ Engage people
20. Tip #5 18 ★ Food and drink is how humans bond. ★ Don’t neglect “the event after the event.”
22. Tip #4 20 ★ Share the work ★ Enlist help ★ Delegate liberally ★ Embrace volunteer efforts
23. Tip #3 21 ★ Trumpet your values
24. I loved the ethos of the Ruby community… ★ There was no corporate dictator. No Sun, no Microsoft. ★ MINASWAN: “Matz is nice and so we are nice.” 22
25. I talk frequently at our events about “Why Hacker Hours?” ★ In the beginning, it is vision ★ Eventually, it is truth 23
26. Tip #2 24 ★ Consistency wins. ★ Hack: Always schedule next meetup before the one that is about to happen.
27. Tip #1 25 ★ Small is beautiful. ★ Small groups facilitate bonding and foster a supportive environment ★ Everything big started off small…
28. 26 The May 30th [2006] meeting of the NYC Ruby user’s group was incredibly well attended. By a lot of nerds. -@jcn
29. Creative Commons photo credits: https://flic.kr/p/9wRWPN - Cropped. manipulated
 https://flic.kr/p/n1Dapn, cropped
 https://flic.kr/p/737rp9, cropped 27 @lukemelia @yapplabs, @embernyc Q&A: Later, on a boat!