caitriona.net : a photoblog by caitriona butler

there is a bustling tech community in dublin at the moment if you go looking for it. i stumbled into it almost accidentally last october when i scored a free ticket to dublin websummit for the relatively unusual combination of being both a developer & female. since then i've become a nerdishly regular attendee of the monthly 'post-conference-drink-up-without-the-conference' that is pubstandards. (btw thanks going to engine yard on both counts).

aware that i was mostly on the consuming side of the relationship, i was keeping an eye out for ways that i could do a bit of giving back to the community when, with impeccable timing, along came rails girls.

the aim of rails girls is to give women an introduction to some of the tools & vocabulary of web development. it's a free one day workshop, facilitated by volunteer coaches & kindly sponsors. it originated in finland and has been held in cities from tokyo to talinn to turku. on the day of the event each 'rails girl' learns how to build a basic but functional web app using ruby-on-rails.

not being a ruby developer, i had some slight hesitation in signing on as a coach, but i reckoned if i swotted up on the curriculum i could at least stay one step ahead of my students. also (and here my un-altruistic motives start to shine through) it was a good excuse for me to learn some ruby!

[above: some of the coaches of rails girls dublin at the coach's planning meeting]

struck by a moment of self-doubt at the pre-event coach's planning meeting, i also volunteered to make some cupcakes to compensate for any lacking in ruby knowledge. as it turned out on the day, it was more an explanation of general principles than specifics of the language that was needed, so i managed to muddle through. i think that for events like this, being a good teacher is probably as helpful as being a good programmer.

it was an incredibly intensive day, for the coaches as much as for the students. but i enjoyed it very much and although i wasn't attending as a student, i learnt a lot. having to explain something to a beginner is a great way to clarify your own thinking. it may even have helped that i was a ruby-on-rails beginner myself? i'm absolutely signing up as a coach for the next one. it has left me buzzing with a sense of enthusiasm and motivation to do things (what things? i don't know. all of the things!).

holla out to the fantastic organiser of rails girls dublin emily and also to all the coaches & rails girls attendees you guys are awesome!

further reading:
accounts of the rails girls dublin events by emily & declan

ps. ⅔ of the cupcakes featured above are by monaco cupcakes and on the right that's kate coding a blog in less time than it takes to paint your nails.