Earlier this week, I attended a women in technology event at one of the larger tech companies in the area. It was great getting to see and talk with some amazing women in the industry. About half of the women that attended the even worked at the company hosting the event.

Several other women came from two meetup groups (Women Who Code and Girl Develop It). My perception of both of these groups based on their online profiles and postings, was that they primarily catered to women who were looking to enter the field, but hadn’t yet done any self-teaching or taken any classes. I got the feeling that both of these groups seemed to have the attitude of “Women really can code, so let’s just teach the basics.” Almost every event is about learning HTML and CSS. My husband had previously asked me a question that I never really thought about until now. He asked me “what do you hope to get out of the meetup groups you attend?” I didn’t really have a good answer for him - until now. I realize that I’m just starting my career, but I also know that I’m never going to know everything. My primary goal is learning new things. I want to know more about what I already know, as well as expose myself to what I don’t know. I realize that I am entering into a field where everything changes so quickly. For example, one of the projects I’ve done for class uses Laravel. When I downloaded it, I read that the newest version (5.0) had just come out. Because of the amazing documentation and Laravel’s “laracasts”, I knew that I’d be okay. (Even though some people were trying to explain that it was brand new, and that I should be using the previous version.) For my individual project for Rockit Bootcamp, I think I might actually try to watch all of the 300+ minutes of the laracasts and really focus on learning the newest version of Laravel.

The secondary goal for attending meetup groups is networking. I’m an introvert and honestly, meeting new people always makes me nervous. I’ve gone to three networking events in the past week, and already, I can say that I’ve grown more and more comfortable with talking to people. I have essentially set a goal for myself to meet and talk with one new person per networking event that I go to. I realize that sounds a little silly, but having that goal gives me a focus during the event and a sense of accomplishment when I leave. This past event, I ended up talking with 3 new people! Even though, I exceeded my goal, I don’t think I’m going to change my regular goal. I know that I have a hard time remembering names. I think that if I stick to meeting one person per event, I have a much better chance of remembering their name when I see them again.

At this specific event, I got a much better feel for these meetup groups. I realized that the basic courses for HTML and CSS were commonly requested courses for their members. The organizers of the group have also mentioned that they are open to suggestions for additional classes and events. They also said that they were looking for teachers and mentors for those just learning to code. While I haven’t been coding long, I do know that my experience teaching might help me be a good mentor for someone starting out. I’ve even considered finding others within the group to start projects. I’ve even mentioned this idea to the other women in my cohort for Rockit, and they really like the idea. I’m sure coming up with a project is going to be the hardest part. I welcome the challenge though!