bgror

Steppin’ Out: Real America Edition »

Created at: 15.08.2011 20:49, source: Engine Yard Blog, tagged: community events gogaruco JRubyConf madison ruby rocky mountain ruby WindyCityRails

Greetings, faithful Rubyists! It's August, and the conference scene is about to blow up--we're fresh from Washington D.C., where we were pleased to participate in JRubyConf 2011! There were many talented and engaged people at that conference, and presentations by the JRuby core team were nice bookends for a great roster of speakers. We'd like to thank the good people at EdgeCase for all their hard work, and give a special shout-out to Amazon Web Services, who sponsored the now-legendary whisky tasting.

Going forward, we've got some awesome events to cap off your summer, the first of which is Madison Ruby, starting on August 18. Experience the vibrant Madison Ruby community, and make sure to stop by for the "Killer After-Party" (details forthcoming--keep your eye on @madisonruby). Madison will feature talks by Engine Yard's Charles Nutter, as well as Chicks Who Rip alum Renee De Voursney and many more.

Next up August 31-September 2 is Rocky Mountain Ruby, which promises to merge great technical presentations with "outdoor experiences!" An epic party will ensue in the taproom of craft brewery Avery's. Purchase your tickets now, before they sell out, and enjoy the natural splendor of Boulder, Colorado.

It's always great to come home to San Francisco, and GoGaRuCo makes it twice as nice. This year's Golden Gate Ruby Conference will take place from September 16-17 at the Mission Bay Conference Center. Wes Beary will be speaking, alongside Corey Haines and Ron Evans.

Finally, be sure to check out WindyCityRails on September 17 in Chicago. This event will feature an excellent slew of speakers, lightning talks, and a Groupon Octagon and Obtiva Coding Dojo. On September 16 the day before the conference, Engine Yard and Obtiva will host a day long Introduction to Rails taught by Gregg Pollack, from Code School & Envy Labs. The tutorial will start with a live version of Rails for Zombies followed by a second Zombie Rails tutorial (which has not yet been published). It's only 85 bucks--you can register here.

If you do make it out to these events, keep your eyes peeled for Engine Yard folks! It's always our pleasure to hang out with you guys.

Introduce a friend to Rails »

Created at: 12.08.2011 02:05, source: Engine Yard Blog, tagged: events training Engine Yard University rails for zombies ruby on rails training WindyCityRails

This post has one purpose. I want you to bring a friend to the Introduction to Ruby on Rails training day on September 16th in Chicago. Code School's Gregg Pollack, of Rails for Zombies fame, is leading this day-long session, and it promises to deliver. Heck, bring two friends. Make sure they're cute.

Enroll Here

Now that we've gotten that out of the way, let's talk more about your cute friend, and why he or she should join us.

In my role as director of training at Engine Yard, I have heard two phrases again and again. The first goes something like this:

"We need to hire Rails programmers, but they are hard to find, and expensive."

The second phrase is the other side of the coin:

"Rails is awesome! I have so many opportunities!"

In the short run this is good news for the Rails guru. The labor curves drawn by your freshman Economics professor illustrate the benefit. An intersection of a low point on the labor supply curve with a high point on the demand curve means a solid income for all of us.

In the long run, and assuming the pressure to deliver web applications remains constant, there are some different economic models to consider. Even without innovation in other languages, a decrease in productivity due to talent acquisition costs will lead to fewer Rails projects over time. Alternatively, an influx of new Ruby on Rails programmers will help meet current and future demand.

To put it simply, if we love Ruby on Rails, which we do, it is in our interest to recruit new blood. It will grow the community, keep things thriving, and give us more warm fuzzies than the GDP of all the OPEC nations combined.

By the way. Gregg's session is followed by the WindyCityRails conference the next day. Does this not have the makings of a serious road trip?

If Rails is your religion, get your PHP and Java followers, and start the pilgrimage to Chicago, a city of great food, awesome pubs, and home to more Nobel Prize laureate Economists than any other city in the world.

Note: If you're interested in attending or hosting an Intro to Rails course (and the Zombies) in your city, get in touch.

Additional Note: Thanks to Obtiva for providing the space for this awesome event!

Yet Another Note: Cover image of May I Bring a Friend was included with permission from Perfection Learning.

Engine Yard Cloud Out Loud S01E15: Chicago Ruby »

Created at: 18.03.2011 22:49, source: Engine Yard Blog, tagged: community chicago ruby cloud out loud podcast ray hightower the wisdom group windycitydb windycitygo WindyCityRails

This week on Cloud Out Loud we talk with Ray Hightower of WisdomGroup. Ray tells us about how he got into doing Rails development while he was doing networking with Novell and Microsoft Windows NT. He is very active in the Chicago Ruby community and is an organizer for Chicago Ruby, WindyCityRails, WindyCityDB, and WindyCityGo. Ray gives us some insight into how he orchestrates great events that people are excited to attend, and that continue to grow in size each year. We found out there is even a github repo created by the people at Chicago Ruby to document how they organized the conference. They've got their event execution and planning down to an art. If you want to experience the Chicago tech scene for yourself, WindyCityGo is coming up April 9. There are some great talks lined up. If you register by Monday, March 21 you can snag a ticket at an early bird price and save yourself $80! Check out the lineup and register before the discount expires here. Now, just think how many Chicago hot dogs you can treat yourself to with that 80 bucks you saved... Load Podcast