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Growing a Tech Community

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.

Luke Melia

June 21, 2014
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  1. Growing a Tech
    Community
    Luke Melia
    GORUCO
    June 21st, 2014

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  2. About this Rubyist
    2

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  3. About this Rubyist
    3

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  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.

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  5. What is so special about
    Ember.js NYC? 5
    49 events

    since April 2012
    1100 members

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  6. What is so special about
    Ember.js NYC? 5

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  7. What is so special about
    Ember.js NYC? 6

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  8. What is so special about
    Ember.js NYC? 6

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  9. Top Ten Tips for Growing a
    Great Tech Community
    7

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  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

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  11. Tip #9 9
    ★ Nurture your speakers
    ★ Always be recruiting
    ★ Help with prep
    ★ Give positive reinforcement

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  12. Tip #8 10
    ★ Use the ‘net!
    ★ Meetup.com
    ★ Twitter
    ★ YouTube

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  13. 11

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  14. 12

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  15. 13

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  16. 14
    Beyond the walls: video

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  17. Tip #7 15
    ★ Partner with venues
    ★ Find a win-win situation with a
    event host
    ★ Take care of the relationship

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  18. Tip #6 16
    ★ Be welcoming
    ★ Emcee
    ★ Connect people
    ★ Engage people

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  19. 17

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  20. Tip #5 18
    ★ Food and drink is how
    humans bond.
    ★ Don’t neglect “the
    event after the event.”

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  21. 19

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  22. Tip #4 20
    ★ Share the work
    ★ Enlist help
    ★ Delegate liberally
    ★ Embrace volunteer efforts

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  23. Tip #3 21
    ★ Trumpet your values

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  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

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  25. I talk frequently at our events
    about “Why Hacker Hours?”
    ★ In the beginning, it is vision
    ★ Eventually, it is truth
    23

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  26. Tip #2 24
    ★ Consistency wins.
    ★ Hack: Always schedule next meetup
    before the one that is about to
    happen.

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  27. Tip #1 25
    ★ Small is beautiful.
    ★ Small groups facilitate bonding and
    foster a supportive environment
    ★ Everything big started off small…

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  28. 26
    The May 30th [2006] meeting
    of the NYC Ruby user’s group
    was incredibly well attended.
    By a lot of nerds. -@jcn

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  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!

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