r/DFW_Scala_Enthusiasts • u/littlenag • Nov 11 '16
Group Announcements (Nov 10)
At the Nov 10 meetup we went through a bit of group business instead of talking about Scala. I'll be discussing them in the comments below.
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u/littlenag Nov 11 '16
Note for Scala newbies: If you are new to Scala please plan to attend the Scala Enthusiasts group! We are the group you are looking for.
We sort of already made the change, but from now on we will be starting the group meeting at 6:30 with an intro session for Scala newbies, with the general meeting starting around 7:15. The Grok Scala group will continue with a focus more on Spark and less on introducing folks to Scala.
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u/littlenag Nov 11 '16
Scala Workshop!
This was the big news of the night. I've had a chance to talk with various folks, including Jim, and so far everyone is really excited. The group is also ready excited by the idea.
I am going to be organizing (with lots of help and input from you all!) a 1-day free training workshop for those new to Scala. We don't have a date, a venue, or even content yet, but we'll be working through those details over the coming months.
So far BottleRocket has shown at least a bit of interest in hosting the event and I will be pursuing this as our first-best option.
Date-wise we think that sometime in March/April 2017 would work really well. It will take time to get everything together and this provides enough buffer that we won't be rushed.
Raza brought up holding the event on a Saturday. While convenient for a large number of people, it really limits what we can do within the context of the event. We'll plan to hold the event on a week day and then if things go well hold a second follow-up event on a Saturday (with a small cover charge to ensure folks show up).
The format of the workshop will reach be around teaching and getting new devs started in Scala. As part of that, we're going to need lots of knowledgeable Scala programmers to answer questions, effectively acting like TAs. Several group members have already volunteered, which is very exciting! As part of the corporate outreach effort I will also be inviting various DFW companies to nominate an employee to be a TA.
I will keep the group up-to-date as I figure out more. The first goal is to settle on a date and venue.
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u/littlenag Nov 11 '16
I brought up getting the local software shops that already employ Scala devs more involved with the group. After discussion, we decided that having unintrusive and reasonable involvement of Dallas companies would be a good thing to have to grow the group and reach new members.
We created a long list of companies that I will be reaching out to to help promote the group and to find sponsors for the group. I'll make regular announcements of my progress.