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
   

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

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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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