Mentoring newcomers

[Ross Gardler <rg...@opendirective.com>]

I was recently at an event in Sri Lanka. At this event I discussed
Cordova with a number of employees from a large IT services company
called Virtusa (predominantly India based but with offices in a number
of countries). They currently use PhoneGap and were very excited to
hear that it was coming to Apache as Cordova.

The main problem they had was upskilling their developers. It sounded
like there was the potential for widespread use of the Callback code
within Virtusa but that training was an issue. Obviously not all their
developers would be coming to this community but it was felt that a
number might be interested in getting involved and addressing the
problems their teams come up against. We therefore discussed ways of
kickstarting their involvement.

Naturally I discussed some of my own ideas with them, but before we
discuss those I wonder if the community ever did this kind of work in
the past before coming to the ASF? Do you have any models that have
worked well for you in the past?

Ross

-- 
Ross Gardler (@rgardler)
Programme Leader (Open Development)
OpenDirective http://opendirective.com

Re: Mentoring newcomers

[Brian LeRoux <b...@brian.io>]

Ross, been meaning to respond to this forever. Quick answer is: YES
lets pursue this. We need more and better training materials and I
would love if that stuff came as a part of the f/oss proj docs dist.


On Fri, Mar 30, 2012 at 8:26 AM, Ross Gardler
<rg...@opendirective.com> wrote:
> Regarding creating some training materials. I met with a company
> based here in the UK who might be interested in helping create some
> training materials for the project. Like all volunteer driven efforts
> there needs to be a number of people willing to make this happen. As a
> random idea would anyone here be willing to support an activity such
> as outlined below.
>
> For now lets assume all costs incurred, but not salaries, would be
> covered and that outputs would be donated to the Cordova project for
> reuse by the community in any way compatible with the ASF licence
> (note I'm not saying I have secured funding for this activity, I'm
> asking if those with the necessary skills would be willing to help
> produce materials if funding were found).
>
> - organise a training event somewhere
> - fly in key Cordova personel
> - deliver training with video cameras present
> - post produce training to make it suitable for online consumption
>  - video, slides, how to documentation etc.
>
> I'm thinking this would cover topics such as:
>
> Basic (user):
>  - downloading and installing Apache Cordova
>  - writing a hello world app
>  - deploying to each of the major platforms
>  - building a more complex app with JQuery Mobile (or similar)
>  - overview of advanced topics
>
> Intermediate (contributor):
>  - setting up an Apache Cordova development environment
>  - running build scripts and unit tests
>  - reporting bugs/requesting enhancements
>  - making changes to Cordova
>  - contributing changes upstream
>
> This is obviously alot of work and would not directly contribute to
> the core code of the project. However, it might help attract new users
> and contributors (such as those at the company I originally referred
> to). Does this sound like something I should pursue with respect to
> finding the resources to cover this work? Would someone here be
> willing and able to provide the necessary training content?
>
> If there is sufficient (genuine) interest I will continue to pursue,
> but if there wasn't enough community energy behind it I don't see how
> I can make it work so will just drop it.
>
> Ross
>
>
>
> On 19 March 2012 22:47, Brian LeRoux <b...@brian.io> wrote:
>> No, tho Adobe has started creating a bunch of them lately. [1] I think
>> its a good start but this content should be free, as in source, and in
>> a more discoverable place (like our docs).
>>
>> Its been an education process for everyone. =/
>>
>> And anyhow, I think this might be a different thing altogether.
>> Something wherein we create an example video and add it to the docs
>> ... opening up the opportunity for someone else to contribute an
>> example translated. Also, we need to reopen the training materials.
>>
>> [1] http://tv.adobe.com/show/adc-presents-phonegap/
>>
>> On Fri, Mar 16, 2012 at 10:09 AM, Filip Maj <fi...@adobe.com> wrote:
>>> Brian have we made publicly available any of the webcasts we recorded/gave
>>> as Nitobi over the past two years or so?
>>>
>>> On 3/16/12 3:02 AM, "Ross Gardler" <rg...@opendirective.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>>On 7 March 2012 19:32, Brian LeRoux <b...@brian.io> wrote:
>>>>> Hey Ross, sorry for the delayed response! Been meaning to answer this.
>>>>> The short answer is we try to be available as possible in every place
>>>>> possible. We're all over twitter, irc, stackoverflow, the various
>>>>> mailing lists and confs. When at Nitobi we did regular webcasts and
>>>>> in-person training (monthly). Thats dropped off of late. Formalizing
>>>>> our in person training would be good.
>>>>
>>>>As a start I'd be very interested in exploring the webcast idea. If
>>>>there is sufficient momentum from Cordova devs to make this happen
>>>>then I'd like to see what we can do as a trial. Is there any
>>>>information about the kinds of webcasts you ran and which worked well?
>>>>
>>>>Ross
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On Wed, Feb 29, 2012 at 1:49 AM, Ross Gardler
>>>>> <rg...@opendirective.com> wrote:
>>>>>> I was recently at an event in Sri Lanka. At this event I discussed
>>>>>> Cordova with a number of employees from a large IT services company
>>>>>> called Virtusa (predominantly India based but with offices in a number
>>>>>> of countries). They currently use PhoneGap and were very excited to
>>>>>> hear that it was coming to Apache as Cordova.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The main problem they had was upskilling their developers. It sounded
>>>>>> like there was the potential for widespread use of the Callback code
>>>>>> within Virtusa but that training was an issue. Obviously not all their
>>>>>> developers would be coming to this community but it was felt that a
>>>>>> number might be interested in getting involved and addressing the
>>>>>> problems their teams come up against. We therefore discussed ways of
>>>>>> kickstarting their involvement.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Naturally I discussed some of my own ideas with them, but before we
>>>>>> discuss those I wonder if the community ever did this kind of work in
>>>>>> the past before coming to the ASF? Do you have any models that have
>>>>>> worked well for you in the past?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Ross
>>>>>>
>>>>>> --
>>>>>> Ross Gardler (@rgardler)
>>>>>> Programme Leader (Open Development)
>>>>>> OpenDirective http://opendirective.com
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>--
>>>>Ross Gardler (@rgardler)
>>>>Programme Leader (Open Development)
>>>>OpenDirective http://opendirective.com
>>>
>
>
>
> --
> Ross Gardler (@rgardler)
> Programme Leader (Open Development)
> OpenDirective http://opendirective.com

Re: Mentoring newcomers

[Ross Gardler <rg...@opendirective.com>]

Regarding creating some training materials. I met with a company
based here in the UK who might be interested in helping create some
training materials for the project. Like all volunteer driven efforts
there needs to be a number of people willing to make this happen. As a
random idea would anyone here be willing to support an activity such
as outlined below.

For now lets assume all costs incurred, but not salaries, would be
covered and that outputs would be donated to the Cordova project for
reuse by the community in any way compatible with the ASF licence
(note I'm not saying I have secured funding for this activity, I'm
asking if those with the necessary skills would be willing to help
produce materials if funding were found).

- organise a training event somewhere
- fly in key Cordova personel
- deliver training with video cameras present
- post produce training to make it suitable for online consumption
  - video, slides, how to documentation etc.

I'm thinking this would cover topics such as:

Basic (user):
  - downloading and installing Apache Cordova
  - writing a hello world app
  - deploying to each of the major platforms
  - building a more complex app with JQuery Mobile (or similar)
  - overview of advanced topics

Intermediate (contributor):
  - setting up an Apache Cordova development environment
  - running build scripts and unit tests
  - reporting bugs/requesting enhancements
  - making changes to Cordova
  - contributing changes upstream

This is obviously alot of work and would not directly contribute to
the core code of the project. However, it might help attract new users
and contributors (such as those at the company I originally referred
to). Does this sound like something I should pursue with respect to
finding the resources to cover this work? Would someone here be
willing and able to provide the necessary training content?

If there is sufficient (genuine) interest I will continue to pursue,
but if there wasn't enough community energy behind it I don't see how
I can make it work so will just drop it.

Ross



On 19 March 2012 22:47, Brian LeRoux <b...@brian.io> wrote:
> No, tho Adobe has started creating a bunch of them lately. [1] I think
> its a good start but this content should be free, as in source, and in
> a more discoverable place (like our docs).
>
> Its been an education process for everyone. =/
>
> And anyhow, I think this might be a different thing altogether.
> Something wherein we create an example video and add it to the docs
> ... opening up the opportunity for someone else to contribute an
> example translated. Also, we need to reopen the training materials.
>
> [1] http://tv.adobe.com/show/adc-presents-phonegap/
>
> On Fri, Mar 16, 2012 at 10:09 AM, Filip Maj <fi...@adobe.com> wrote:
>> Brian have we made publicly available any of the webcasts we recorded/gave
>> as Nitobi over the past two years or so?
>>
>> On 3/16/12 3:02 AM, "Ross Gardler" <rg...@opendirective.com> wrote:
>>
>>>On 7 March 2012 19:32, Brian LeRoux <b...@brian.io> wrote:
>>>> Hey Ross, sorry for the delayed response! Been meaning to answer this.
>>>> The short answer is we try to be available as possible in every place
>>>> possible. We're all over twitter, irc, stackoverflow, the various
>>>> mailing lists and confs. When at Nitobi we did regular webcasts and
>>>> in-person training (monthly). Thats dropped off of late. Formalizing
>>>> our in person training would be good.
>>>
>>>As a start I'd be very interested in exploring the webcast idea. If
>>>there is sufficient momentum from Cordova devs to make this happen
>>>then I'd like to see what we can do as a trial. Is there any
>>>information about the kinds of webcasts you ran and which worked well?
>>>
>>>Ross
>>>
>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Wed, Feb 29, 2012 at 1:49 AM, Ross Gardler
>>>> <rg...@opendirective.com> wrote:
>>>>> I was recently at an event in Sri Lanka. At this event I discussed
>>>>> Cordova with a number of employees from a large IT services company
>>>>> called Virtusa (predominantly India based but with offices in a number
>>>>> of countries). They currently use PhoneGap and were very excited to
>>>>> hear that it was coming to Apache as Cordova.
>>>>>
>>>>> The main problem they had was upskilling their developers. It sounded
>>>>> like there was the potential for widespread use of the Callback code
>>>>> within Virtusa but that training was an issue. Obviously not all their
>>>>> developers would be coming to this community but it was felt that a
>>>>> number might be interested in getting involved and addressing the
>>>>> problems their teams come up against. We therefore discussed ways of
>>>>> kickstarting their involvement.
>>>>>
>>>>> Naturally I discussed some of my own ideas with them, but before we
>>>>> discuss those I wonder if the community ever did this kind of work in
>>>>> the past before coming to the ASF? Do you have any models that have
>>>>> worked well for you in the past?
>>>>>
>>>>> Ross
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> Ross Gardler (@rgardler)
>>>>> Programme Leader (Open Development)
>>>>> OpenDirective http://opendirective.com
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>--
>>>Ross Gardler (@rgardler)
>>>Programme Leader (Open Development)
>>>OpenDirective http://opendirective.com
>>



-- 
Ross Gardler (@rgardler)
Programme Leader (Open Development)
OpenDirective http://opendirective.com

Re: Mentoring newcomers

[Brian LeRoux <b...@brian.io>]

No, tho Adobe has started creating a bunch of them lately. [1] I think
its a good start but this content should be free, as in source, and in
a more discoverable place (like our docs).

Its been an education process for everyone. =/

And anyhow, I think this might be a different thing altogether.
Something wherein we create an example video and add it to the docs
... opening up the opportunity for someone else to contribute an
example translated. Also, we need to reopen the training materials.

[1] http://tv.adobe.com/show/adc-presents-phonegap/

On Fri, Mar 16, 2012 at 10:09 AM, Filip Maj <fi...@adobe.com> wrote:
> Brian have we made publicly available any of the webcasts we recorded/gave
> as Nitobi over the past two years or so?
>
> On 3/16/12 3:02 AM, "Ross Gardler" <rg...@opendirective.com> wrote:
>
>>On 7 March 2012 19:32, Brian LeRoux <b...@brian.io> wrote:
>>> Hey Ross, sorry for the delayed response! Been meaning to answer this.
>>> The short answer is we try to be available as possible in every place
>>> possible. We're all over twitter, irc, stackoverflow, the various
>>> mailing lists and confs. When at Nitobi we did regular webcasts and
>>> in-person training (monthly). Thats dropped off of late. Formalizing
>>> our in person training would be good.
>>
>>As a start I'd be very interested in exploring the webcast idea. If
>>there is sufficient momentum from Cordova devs to make this happen
>>then I'd like to see what we can do as a trial. Is there any
>>information about the kinds of webcasts you ran and which worked well?
>>
>>Ross
>>
>>
>>>
>>> On Wed, Feb 29, 2012 at 1:49 AM, Ross Gardler
>>> <rg...@opendirective.com> wrote:
>>>> I was recently at an event in Sri Lanka. At this event I discussed
>>>> Cordova with a number of employees from a large IT services company
>>>> called Virtusa (predominantly India based but with offices in a number
>>>> of countries). They currently use PhoneGap and were very excited to
>>>> hear that it was coming to Apache as Cordova.
>>>>
>>>> The main problem they had was upskilling their developers. It sounded
>>>> like there was the potential for widespread use of the Callback code
>>>> within Virtusa but that training was an issue. Obviously not all their
>>>> developers would be coming to this community but it was felt that a
>>>> number might be interested in getting involved and addressing the
>>>> problems their teams come up against. We therefore discussed ways of
>>>> kickstarting their involvement.
>>>>
>>>> Naturally I discussed some of my own ideas with them, but before we
>>>> discuss those I wonder if the community ever did this kind of work in
>>>> the past before coming to the ASF? Do you have any models that have
>>>> worked well for you in the past?
>>>>
>>>> Ross
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Ross Gardler (@rgardler)
>>>> Programme Leader (Open Development)
>>>> OpenDirective http://opendirective.com
>>
>>
>>
>>--
>>Ross Gardler (@rgardler)
>>Programme Leader (Open Development)
>>OpenDirective http://opendirective.com
>

Re: Mentoring newcomers

[Filip Maj <fi...@adobe.com>]

Brian have we made publicly available any of the webcasts we recorded/gave
as Nitobi over the past two years or so?

On 3/16/12 3:02 AM, "Ross Gardler" <rg...@opendirective.com> wrote:

>On 7 March 2012 19:32, Brian LeRoux <b...@brian.io> wrote:
>> Hey Ross, sorry for the delayed response! Been meaning to answer this.
>> The short answer is we try to be available as possible in every place
>> possible. We're all over twitter, irc, stackoverflow, the various
>> mailing lists and confs. When at Nitobi we did regular webcasts and
>> in-person training (monthly). Thats dropped off of late. Formalizing
>> our in person training would be good.
>
>As a start I'd be very interested in exploring the webcast idea. If
>there is sufficient momentum from Cordova devs to make this happen
>then I'd like to see what we can do as a trial. Is there any
>information about the kinds of webcasts you ran and which worked well?
>
>Ross
>
>
>>
>> On Wed, Feb 29, 2012 at 1:49 AM, Ross Gardler
>> <rg...@opendirective.com> wrote:
>>> I was recently at an event in Sri Lanka. At this event I discussed
>>> Cordova with a number of employees from a large IT services company
>>> called Virtusa (predominantly India based but with offices in a number
>>> of countries). They currently use PhoneGap and were very excited to
>>> hear that it was coming to Apache as Cordova.
>>>
>>> The main problem they had was upskilling their developers. It sounded
>>> like there was the potential for widespread use of the Callback code
>>> within Virtusa but that training was an issue. Obviously not all their
>>> developers would be coming to this community but it was felt that a
>>> number might be interested in getting involved and addressing the
>>> problems their teams come up against. We therefore discussed ways of
>>> kickstarting their involvement.
>>>
>>> Naturally I discussed some of my own ideas with them, but before we
>>> discuss those I wonder if the community ever did this kind of work in
>>> the past before coming to the ASF? Do you have any models that have
>>> worked well for you in the past?
>>>
>>> Ross
>>>
>>> --
>>> Ross Gardler (@rgardler)
>>> Programme Leader (Open Development)
>>> OpenDirective http://opendirective.com
>
>
>
>-- 
>Ross Gardler (@rgardler)
>Programme Leader (Open Development)
>OpenDirective http://opendirective.com

Re: Mentoring newcomers

[Ross Gardler <rg...@opendirective.com>]

On 7 March 2012 19:32, Brian LeRoux <b...@brian.io> wrote:
> Hey Ross, sorry for the delayed response! Been meaning to answer this.
> The short answer is we try to be available as possible in every place
> possible. We're all over twitter, irc, stackoverflow, the various
> mailing lists and confs. When at Nitobi we did regular webcasts and
> in-person training (monthly). Thats dropped off of late. Formalizing
> our in person training would be good.

As a start I'd be very interested in exploring the webcast idea. If
there is sufficient momentum from Cordova devs to make this happen
then I'd like to see what we can do as a trial. Is there any
information about the kinds of webcasts you ran and which worked well?

Ross


>
> On Wed, Feb 29, 2012 at 1:49 AM, Ross Gardler
> <rg...@opendirective.com> wrote:
>> I was recently at an event in Sri Lanka. At this event I discussed
>> Cordova with a number of employees from a large IT services company
>> called Virtusa (predominantly India based but with offices in a number
>> of countries). They currently use PhoneGap and were very excited to
>> hear that it was coming to Apache as Cordova.
>>
>> The main problem they had was upskilling their developers. It sounded
>> like there was the potential for widespread use of the Callback code
>> within Virtusa but that training was an issue. Obviously not all their
>> developers would be coming to this community but it was felt that a
>> number might be interested in getting involved and addressing the
>> problems their teams come up against. We therefore discussed ways of
>> kickstarting their involvement.
>>
>> Naturally I discussed some of my own ideas with them, but before we
>> discuss those I wonder if the community ever did this kind of work in
>> the past before coming to the ASF? Do you have any models that have
>> worked well for you in the past?
>>
>> Ross
>>
>> --
>> Ross Gardler (@rgardler)
>> Programme Leader (Open Development)
>> OpenDirective http://opendirective.com



-- 
Ross Gardler (@rgardler)
Programme Leader (Open Development)
OpenDirective http://opendirective.com

Re: Mentoring newcomers

[Brian LeRoux <b...@brian.io>]

Hey Ross, sorry for the delayed response! Been meaning to answer this.
The short answer is we try to be available as possible in every place
possible. We're all over twitter, irc, stackoverflow, the various
mailing lists and confs. When at Nitobi we did regular webcasts and
in-person training (monthly). Thats dropped off of late. Formalizing
our in person training would be good.

On Wed, Feb 29, 2012 at 1:49 AM, Ross Gardler
<rg...@opendirective.com> wrote:
> I was recently at an event in Sri Lanka. At this event I discussed
> Cordova with a number of employees from a large IT services company
> called Virtusa (predominantly India based but with offices in a number
> of countries). They currently use PhoneGap and were very excited to
> hear that it was coming to Apache as Cordova.
>
> The main problem they had was upskilling their developers. It sounded
> like there was the potential for widespread use of the Callback code
> within Virtusa but that training was an issue. Obviously not all their
> developers would be coming to this community but it was felt that a
> number might be interested in getting involved and addressing the
> problems their teams come up against. We therefore discussed ways of
> kickstarting their involvement.
>
> Naturally I discussed some of my own ideas with them, but before we
> discuss those I wonder if the community ever did this kind of work in
> the past before coming to the ASF? Do you have any models that have
> worked well for you in the past?
>
> Ross
>
> --
> Ross Gardler (@rgardler)
> Programme Leader (Open Development)
> OpenDirective http://opendirective.com