Kylie Stradley Web Developer MailChimp Pamela Vickers Software Development Manager MailChimp Great Wide Open 2016 Atlanta, GA March 16th 2016

1. The Little Meetup
That Could
A Rails Girls Atlanta Scrapbook
Kylie Stradley & Pamela Vickers
@RailsGirlsATL
Great Wide Open 2016

3. But before there can be a leadership board…

4. there has to be a meetup.

5. And before there can be a meetup…

6. there has to be a need.

8. Rails Girls Workshops
• Founded by Linda
Liukas & Karri Saarinen
• November 2010 in
Helsinki, Finland

11. 1st Atlanta Workshop
•December 2012

15. -Everyone
what now?

16. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
-Us

17. Workshop round 2
•May 2013

18. what now?
-Everyone

19. ¯_(ツ)_/¯Come to our monthly meetup!
-Us

20. • Paid Meetup.com account
• 🍕
• Confirmed venue
• Tweeted
January 2013
(1st Meetup)

21. • Assigned “homework”
• Scheduled a speaker
January 2013
(1st Meetup)

23. January 2013
(1st Meetup)
• ~20 people came
• People said nice things
• Used Google Hangouts for
out-of-town workshop
attendees

26. Short Lessons
• Set expectations early

28. Short Lessons
• Set expectations early
• Order vegetarian options

29. Long(er) Lessons
• Not every talk is for every attendee.

30. 1 month later

31. February 2013 Bug Fix
• 🍕+🌽🌿🍄 🍅

32. February 2013
• Handpicked Project Euler problems

33. • Handpicked Project Euler problems
• Lower attendance despite higher RSVP count than
first meetup
February 2013

34. 🏆 First Recruiter 🏆

35. Short Lessons
• RSVP count != Attendance count (ordering food is
hard)
• Recruiters will find any technology meetup (but
that’s not always bad)

36. Long(er) Lessons
• Not every talk is for every attendee.
• There’s no formula for predicting attendance
numbers.

37. • Not every talk is for every attendee.
• There’s no formula for predicting attendance
numbers.
• Don’t make assumptions about recruiters.
Long(er) Lessons

38. 1 month later

39. March 2013 Bug Fix

40. 🏆Our Treasurer’s 1st RGATL 🏆

41. • Not every talk is for every attendee.
• There’s no formula for predicting attendance
numbers.
• Don’t make assumptions about recruiters.
Long(er) Lessons

42. • Not every talk is for every attendee. Why are
some talks better than others for our
meetup?
• There’s no formula for predicting attendance
numbers.
• Don’t make assumptions about recruiters.
Long(er) Lessons

43. 2 months later

44. May 2013 ✨New feature✨
• Rolled out ToDo List project assignment
• Slowly introducing Rails into the monthly
assignments

45. 1 month later

46. June 2013 ✨New feature✨
• Offered milestone 1 of the Todo List as public
Github repo

47. 🏆 RGATL’s half birthday 🏆

48. 🏆 Kylie’s 1st RGATL 🏆

49. 2 months later

50. August 2013
• Continued working through
and reviewing ToDo List
milestones
• Bootstrap talk from
ATLRUG’s Patrick van Stee
to prepare for front-end
focused milestone

51. 🏆 Our Event Facilitator’s 1st RGATL 🏆

52. 2 months later

53. October 2013
• Jordan Killpack gave
talk on building silly
apps to prep for
our November
“Silly Hacks Only”
aka “Wackity Hack”
event

54. 🏆 1st Absentee Organizer &
Community Facilitated Meetup🏆

55. 1 month later

56. November 2013 ✨New Feature✨
• Regularly scheduled
meetup was too close
to Thanksgiving
• Saturday afternoon
hack event

58. The good news:

60. The less good news:

61. Not a lot of people came to enjoy our
coffee, snacks, and prizes. 😿

62. Short Lessons
• Set expectations for events, especially when hoping
beginners will come to a hack event

63. 1 month later

64. December 2013 ✨New Feature✨
• Talk given by one of our regularly attending
members

65. 🏆 First year of RGATL 🏆

66. 🏆 Smallest Attendance of the Year 🏆

67. 🏆
First time handling the “but I saw
that you had other male members, so
I figured it was fine for me to come”
situation.
🏆

69. • You’re going to have awkward encounters when
you organize community focused groups
• Set clear expectations for who should attend your
meetup
Short Lessons

70. • Not every talk is for every attendee. Why are some
talks better than others for our meetup?
• There’s no formula for predicting attendance
numbers.
• Don’t make assumptions about recruiters.
Long(er) Lessons

71. • Not every talk is for every attendee. Why are some
talks better than others for our meetup? Recycle
good talks.
• There’s no formula for predicting attendance
numbers.
• Don’t make assumptions about recruiters.
Long(er) Lessons

72. • Not every talk is for every attendee. Why are some
talks better than others for our meetup? Recycle
good talks.
• There’s no formula for predicting attendance
numbers. Holidays make it even harder to
predict.
• Don’t make assumptions about recruiters.
Long(er) Lessons

74. 1st Year Retrospective
• Worked on projects and
assignments as a group
• Built membership base
• Saw core members begin
contributing in small ways

75. Release Notes
• Improved food ordering
• Improved expectation setting for all events
• Improved meetup content

76. Release Notes
• Improved food ordering
• Order vegetarian options
• There’s no formula for predicting attendance
numbers

77. Release Notes
• Improved expectation setting for all events
• Who should come
• What they should bring
• What they will learn

78. Release Notes
• Improved meetup content
• Not every talk is for every attendee
• Recycle good talks

79. Release Notes
• Improved food ordering
• Improved expectation setting for all events
• Improved meetup content

81. 1 month later

82. Hothlanta 2014
January 2014

83. Let’s try this again

84. 1 month later

85. February 2014 Bug Fixes
• Made meetup location private for non-members
• Added some leading questions for new members:
“Are you a lady? If not: who are you here with?”

86. February 2014
(With special guests from Atlanta chapters of
PyLadies, WomenWhoCode, and Systers)

87. Short Lessons
• Joint community events are fun
• No experience required content == higher
attendance and engagement

88. Long(er) Lessons
• Time set aside for just conversation builds stronger
community connections.

89. 1 month later

90. March 2014

91. 🏆 Our Membership Outreach
Coordinator’s 1st RGATL 🏆

92. Long(er) Lessons
• Time set aside for just conversation builds stronger
community connections.

93. Long(er) Lessons
• Time set aside for just conversation builds stronger
community connections.
• Our small meetup is a great place to foster new
speakers.

94. And now for something completely
different

95. April 2014 ✨New Feature✨

96. Later that month

97. April 2014
• ⚡ Lightning talks from four members ⚡

98. 🏆 Our Sponsorship Coordinator’s 1st RGATL 🏆

99. Long(er) Lessons
• Time set aside for just conversation builds stronger
community connections.
• Our small meetup is a great place to foster new
speakers.

100. Long(er) Lessons
• Time set aside for just conversation builds stronger
community connections.
• Our small meetup is a great place to foster new
speakers. ⚡Lightning talks⚡ are less
intimidating for 1st time speakers.

101. 1 month later

102. May 2014
• ⚡ Lightning talks ⚡

103. again.

104. 1 month later

105. June 2014
• ⚡ Lightning talks ⚡

106. again?!

108. Long(er) Lessons
• Time set aside for just conversation builds stronger
community connections.
• Our small meetup is a great place to foster new
speakers. ⚡Lightning talks⚡ are less intimidating
for 1st time speakers.

109. Long(er) Lessons
• Time set aside for just conversation builds stronger
community connections.
• Our small meetup is a great place to foster new
speakers. ⚡Lightning talks⚡ are less intimidating
for 1st time speakers.
• Recognize organizer fatigue.

110. 1 month later

111. July 2014
• Attempted to revive project based meetup
• Goals: make open source contributions more
accessible, work on project as a group, renew
excitement around shared progress

112. July 2014
• Attempted to revive project based meetup
• Goals: make open source contributions more
accessible, work on project as a group, renew
excitement around shared progress
• Results: blank stares, intimidated members, no
movement on any of the goals

113. 🏆 Our Meetup Facilitator’s 1st RGATL 🏆

114. Long(er) Lessons
• Time set aside for just conversation builds stronger
community connections.
• Our small meetup is a great place to foster new
speakers. ⚡Lightning talks⚡ are less intimidating
for 1st time speakers.
• Recognize organizer fatigue.

115. Long(er) Lessons
• Time set aside for just conversation builds stronger
community connections.
• Our small meetup is a great place to foster new
speakers. ⚡Lightning talks⚡ are less intimidating for
1st time speakers.
• Recognize organizer fatigue.
• Shape content around community’s immediate
needs.

116. Over the next several months

117. Early Fall(ish) 2014
• Several great talks
• Hit-or-miss on engagement

118. Short Lessons
• Just because a talk is great doesn’t mean it is great
for our meetup

119. Long(er) Lessons
• Time set aside for just conversation builds stronger
community connections.
• Our small meetup is a great place to foster new
speakers. ⚡Lightning talks⚡ are less intimidating for
1st time speakers.
• Recognize organizer fatigue.
• Shape content around community’s immediate
needs.

120. Long(er) Lessons
• Time set aside for just conversation builds stronger
community connections.
• Our small meetup is a great place to foster new
speakers. ⚡Lightning talks⚡ are less intimidating for
1st time speakers.
• Recognize organizer fatigue.
• Shape content around community’s immediate
needs.

121. At the end of the year

123. 2nd Year Retrospective
• Talk based format
• Became an established
Atlanta meetup
• More core members, and
more core member
involvement

124. Release Notes
• Improved expectation setting for events
• Patched hole in Atlanta women’s meetups
landscape with supplementary social meetup
• Increased speaking opportunities for members
• Improved talk selection based on our community’s
needs

125. Release Notes
• Improved expectation setting for events
• No experience required content == higher
attendance and engagement
• Time set aside for just conversation builds
stronger community connections

126. Release Notes
• Patched hole in Atlanta women’s meetups
landscape with supplementary social meetup
• Joint community events are fun
• Time set aside for just conversation builds
stronger community connections

127. Release Notes
• Increased speaking opportunities for members
• Our small meetup is a great place to foster new
speakers
• ⚡Lightning talks⚡ are less intimidating for 1st
time speakers

128. Release Notes
• Improved talk selection based on our community’s
needs
• Just because a talk is great doesn’t mean it’s great for
our meetup
• Recognize organizer fatigue. Otherwise, content can
suffer
• Shape content around community’s immediate needs

129. Release Notes
• Improved expectation setting for events
• Patched hole in Atlanta women’s meetups
landscape with supplementary social meetup
• Increased speaking opportunities for members
• Improved talk selection based on our community’s
needs

131. 1 month later

132. January 2015
• New Year, New Environments!
• Got everyone set up to do actual Ruby on Rails
development in anticipation of working through a
curriculum as a group

133. Long(er) Lessons
• Members who aren’t served directly by our content
appreciated the opportunity to gain knowledge by
volunteering.

134. 1 month later

135. Hothlanta 2015
February 2015

136. 1 month later

137. March 2015
• Community member presented on Ruby tool
• Worked through RailsBridge curriculum

140. Long(er) Lessons
• Members who aren’t served directly by our content
appreciated the opportunity to gain knowledge by
volunteering.

141. Long(er) Lessons
• Members who aren’t served directly by our content
appreciated the opportunity to gain knowledge by
volunteering. Volunteering is easier when you
have expectations about what you’ll be
helping with.

142. Long(er) Lessons
• Members who aren’t served directly by our content
appreciated the opportunity to gain knowledge by
volunteering. Volunteering is easier when you
have expectations about what you’ll be
helping with.
• Beginners like structured learning and
opportunities to get help.

143. 1 month later

144. April 2015

145. April 2015
• Held our first RailsBridge workshop with many of
the coaches coming from our own Rails Girls
community.
• Held a meetup to keep working on the workshop
materials

146. Short Lessons
• Stuff happens (like a power outage resulting in no
lunch 😭😭😭)

147. 1 month later

148. May 2015
• Held a meetup to keep working on the workshop
materials
• Ticket Giveaway for Github’s CodeConf in
Nashville (several members attended)

149. Long(er) Lessons
• Members who aren’t served directly by our content
appreciated the opportunity to gain knowledge by
volunteering. Volunteering is easier when you have
expectations about what you’ll be helping with.
• Beginners like structured learning and
opportunities to get help.

150. Long(er) Lessons
• Members who aren’t served directly by our content
appreciated the opportunity to gain knowledge by
volunteering. Volunteering is easier when you have
expectations about what you’ll be helping with.
• Beginners like structured learning and
opportunities to get help.

151. Long(er) Lessons
• Members who aren’t served directly by our content
appreciated the opportunity to gain knowledge by
volunteering. Volunteering is easier when you have
expectations about what you’ll be helping with.
• Beginners like structured learning and opportunities to
get help.
• Going to a meetup alone for the first time is
intimidating; going to a conference alone for the first
time is more intimidating.

152. 1 month later

153. June 2015
• Presentation: “Git Workflow: Little Red Riding
Hood and the Big Bad Ogre”
• Workshop: “Git-it Git & GitHub”

154. June 2015

155. June 2015

156. Short Lessons
• It is possible to have too much of a good thing

157. 1 month later

158. July 2015
• One of our most popular presentations “A Day in
the Life of a Full Time Developer”

159. July 2015

160. 🏆 Communication Coordinator’s 1st RGATL 🏆

161. Long(er) Lessons
• Members who aren’t served directly by our content
appreciated the opportunity to gain knowledge by
volunteering. Volunteering is easier when you have
expectations about what you’ll be helping with.
• Beginners like structured learning and opportunities to
get help.
• Going to a meetup alone for the first time is
intimidating; going to a conference alone for the first
time is more intimidating.

162. Long(er) Lessons
• Members who aren’t served directly by our content appreciated
the opportunity to gain knowledge by volunteering.
Volunteering is easier when you have expectations about what
you’ll be helping with.
• Beginners like structured learning and opportunities to get help.
• Going to a meetup alone for the first time is intimidating; going
to a conference alone for the first time is more intimidating.
• The best talks for a technology meetup aren’t always
technology focused.

163. 1 month later

164. August 2015 Bug Fix

165. August 2015
• Try out “new” study group/team ongoing project
format
• Provided opportunity for members to sign up as
participants or coaches

166. August 2015

167. August 2015

168. 2 months later

169. October 2015
• Andy Lindeman presented “Intro to Automated
Testing with RSpec” (requested topic)

170. Long(er) Lessons
• Members who aren’t served directly by our content appreciated
the opportunity to gain knowledge by volunteering.
Volunteering is easier when you have expectations about what
you’ll be helping with.
• Beginners like structured learning and opportunities to get help.
• Going to a meetup alone for the first time is intimidating; going
to a conference alone for the first time is more intimidating.
• The best talks for a technology meetup aren’t always
technology focused.

171. Long(er) Lessons
• Members who aren’t served directly by our content appreciated the
opportunity to gain knowledge by volunteering. Volunteering is
easier when you have expectations about what you’ll be helping
with.
• Beginners like structured learning and opportunities to get help.
• Going to a meetup alone for the first time is intimidating; going to a
conference alone for the first time is more intimidating.
• The best talks for a technology meetup aren’t always technology
focused.
• Make it easy for your community to tell you what they need.

172. 2 months later

173. December 2015

174. Short Lessons
• We still don’t know how to host a hackathons

175. Long(er) Lessons
• Members who aren’t served directly by our content appreciated the
opportunity to gain knowledge by volunteering. Volunteering is
easier when you have expectations about what you’ll be helping
with.
• Beginners like structured learning and opportunities to get help.
• Going to a meetup alone for the first time is intimidating; going to a
conference alone for the first time is more intimidating.
• The best talks for a technology meetup aren’t always technology
focused.
• Make it easy for your community to tell you what they need.

176. Long(er) Lessons
• Members who aren’t served directly by our content appreciated the
opportunity to gain knowledge by volunteering. Volunteering is easier
when you have expectations about what you’ll be helping with.
• Beginners like structured learning and opportunities to get help.
• Going to a meetup alone for the first time is intimidating; going to a
conference alone for the first time is more intimidating.
• The best talks for a technology meetup aren’t always technology
focused.
• Make it easy for your community to tell you what they need.
• Sometimes, Rails Girls just want to have fun

178. 3rd Year Retrospective
• Structured-learning-with-
occasional-talks based
format
• Hosted a RailsBridge
workshop
• Put plans in motion to share
organization responsibilities

179. Release Notes
• Improved volunteering opportunities for members
• Provided space for members to request content
• Improved food ordering
• Added opportunities for community members to
organize and lead

180. Release Notes
• Improved volunteering opportunities for members
• Members who aren’t served directly by our content
appreciated the opportunity to gain knowledge by
volunteering
• Volunteering is easier when you have expectations
about what you’ll be helping with
• Beginners like structured learning and
opportunities to get help

181. Release Notes
• Provided space for members to request content
• The best talks for a technology meetup aren’t
always technology focused
• Make it easy for your community to tell you what
they need

182. Release Notes
• Improved food ordering

183. Release Notes
• Improved volunteering opportunities for members
• Provided space for members to request content
• Improved food ordering
• Added opportunities for community members to
organize and lead

184. Release Notes
• Improved volunteering opportunities for members
• Provided space for members to request content
• Improved food ordering
• Added opportunities for community members to
organize and lead

186. Chae, Treasurer

187. Megan, Communication Coordinator

188. Britni, Event Facilitator

189. Mallory, Membership Outreach Coordinator

190. Kristin, Meetup Facilitator

191. Anika, Sponsorship Coordinator

192. Kylie, Co-Director

194. WIP
• Board terms and responsibility handoff
• Sponsorship
• Attaining
• Maintaining
• Processing and accessing funds
• ✨https://opencollective.com/railsgirlsatl✨

195. WIP
• Setting up formalized conference buddy system
when we’re given tickets (thanks GWO for all the
tickets!)
• Hackathons: how even

197. 👋 hello@railsgirlsatl.com
🐦 @RailsGirlsATL
💰 opencollective.com/railsgirlsatl
Kylie Stradley
kylie@railsgirlsatl.com
Software Engineer
MailChimp
@kyfast
Pamela Vickers
pamela@railsgirlsatl.com
Software Engineering Manager
MailChimp
@pwnela
ⓚ ⓟ