Community and Learning at RailsConf

David Hill 0:00

Shout out to GoRails for sponsoring Ode to RailsConf . If you or your team wants to learn the latest Ruby on Rails features Hotwire Ruby and more check out GoRailscom . Use code ODE2RAILSCONF at checkout to get 10% off . You're listening to the Ode to RailsConf podcast , where we reminisce about our experiences at RailsConf over the years . I'm your host , david Hill , and joining me today is Saran Yibarik Saran would you introduce yourself to our listeners ?

David Hill 0:35

Hey , everyone nice to be here today and hang out with you and talk about RailsConf . So , saran , I started watching one of your RailsConf talks and you kind of mentioned a bit about your background . Coming from a non-technical side of the startups you were working in , you did a bootcamp , was it right ? Yeah , you did a bootcamp and kind of came into Rails from there . What was it like going from that non-technical background into this very technical space and then coming into this conference space ? I'm really curious what that experience was like for you .

Saron Yitbarek 1:03

It was really exciting because when I did the bootcamp , I think that our co-founder and dean at the time , avi Flambam I think he did such a great job of instilling in us the values of community and sharing and coming together and really loving code . The language of choice for that bootcamp for the Flatiron School was Ruby on Rails and we did some JavaScript , but it was mostly like a Rails shop and we didn't just learn how to code , we also learned about why and his poignant guide to Ruby , and we learned about all kinds of different books and videos and just this culture of being with Ruby on Rails and being a Ruby on Rails developer . And so with that I feel like I finished the bootcamp and entered the working world with this great affection for the language and the framework and this great love of the industry and really just wanting to be a community member . That was the main thing . It wasn't just okay , let's get a job and then kind of walk out . It was let's be a member of this community and let's really take on that responsibility in a way and really own that .

Saron Yitbarek 2:30

And so RailsConf was my first opportunity to do that . That was my first opportunity to kind of get out of my little bubble of the bootcamp and get out of my little world and enter the real tech community . And I remember when my talk was accepted I was so excited , I laughed , I cried , I burst into tears when I read the email that I had gotten accepted . I was so thrilled , I was so flattered and honored and so excited . And I don't remember the details of what it felt like to be there , but I do remember this sense of I'm home , like I've come home , I've met my people , I've joined my people , I'm now a part of this community and that's just really exciting .

David Hill 3:13

Yeah , that was the exact phrase I was going to chime in with is like you met your people .

Saron Yitbarek 3:17

Yeah .

David Hill 3:17

The community angle of that is something that's really started to fascinate me , just because , coming from , I got my bachelor's degree in computer science and then just went straight into find a job and spend time to write code for money . For a long time I had that opposite perspective of I was just there for a job and then finding Ruby and kind of getting more deeply enmeshed into the community , I kind of slowly have started developing that oh yeah , this is a community and this is supposed to be a communal effort , where we help and lift each other so that we can all enjoy the benefits of the communal effort instead of just relying on other people to do the work for us .

Saron Yitbarek 3:59

Yeah , and I remember at RailsConf I'm pretty sure it was either that RailsConf , maybe it was a RailsConf afterwards I'm getting my RailsComps mixed up , but I remember that Sandy Metz was there and they had this weird room . I think it was like a meet and greet with the speakers and we were like , what do we do with each other ? We just it was kind of awkward and we didn't really have a plan . Didn't really have a plan . So Sandy Metz organized this massive game of rock paper scissors with everyone who was in the room and everyone played against each other and then whoever won played against the winners and just kind of bubbled up and ended up with the final two people .

Saron Yitbarek 4:34

And I just remember thinking this is so cool . It's so cool that in this moment of awkwardness and uncertainty , people didn't just leave the room or kind of go like , oh , this is kind of stupid . They embraced this silly little idea that Sandy had and went with it and ended up being actually a lot of fun . And I just remember feeling very much a part of the community and really grateful for the community in that moment and feeling , yes , these are my people , this is where I'm supposed to be .

David Hill 5:02

The rock paper scissor game . I have a very negative experience with that kind of feeling yes , these are my people , this is where I'm supposed to be . The rock paper scissor game . I have a very negative experience with that kind of rock paper scissor game .

David Hill 5:08

Oh no , and that's the weird thing is like you're telling that story and I'm thinking about my negative experience of it , but the way Sandy did it is like , oh , that's fantastic , because the whole point of it was kind of a social icebreaker get to know people . My negative experience with that game came from my first full-time programmer job for the company . Christmas Party we did a company-wide rock paper scissor thing and the winner won a trip to Africa with an African safari . What ? Yeah , and everybody else got nothing and it was kind of like , oh , that sucks Right . Yeah , it was terrible . It was like we don't get to know anybody . It's like the social aspect is completely gone and it was like the cost of that trip you could have split that up among every employee and given all of us a little Christmas something .

David Hill 5:57

Yeah , my emotional reaction to that rock paper scissors story was kind of funny . For me it was like , oh , no , not that game . Oh , actually Sandy did that . It's a social thing . Okay , I could see how that'd be a good thing .

Saron Yitbarek 6:09

Yeah , yeah , it was great yeah . I know you've spoken at RailsConf have you spoken multiple times or just the once ? I've keynoted RubyConf a couple times , but I think I've only spoken at RailsConf the one time . Yeah .

David Hill 6:21

Okay , what was the talk about ?

Saron Yitbarek 6:23

It was called Reading Code Good , and it was about the power of reading code and how important that is in terms of leveling up as a developer and becoming a stronger developer , and it's a great like social activity too . We have like essentially like a book club out of it , but it was reading code and we had to all read little small libraries and try to understand what they were saying , and it was a good exercise .

David Hill 6:48

Right , I remember that . Now it's like you basically had a little study group where you kind of the advice you were given on how to accelerate your development was read code and you're just well , what code . Yeah , and so you just kind of you figured out this kind of , like you said , book club type group .

Saron Yitbarek 7:07

Yeah , because what people kept saying was to be a better developer , like it's not just writing code , it's reading code , it's being exposed to different patterns and different ways of doing things .

David Hill 7:17

And I was like , okay , that sounds reasonable , that makes a lot of sense , so let me go out and find some libraries to read , stumbled into the Ruby and Rails community on accident and so for a long time I didn't really have a strong connection to the community or to other Ruby developers .

David Hill 7:38

So that idea of just going out and reading other people's code on GitHub to see how they're doing things , that would have been really useful to me as a younger developer and I wish I had come across that idea earlier . But that's a fantastic idea . And I wish I had come across that idea earlier . But that's a fantastic idea . And I think Drew Bragg was the person that I had heard that idea from more recently that his opinion was that the more comfortable a person was of diving in and opening up the actual Rails gem or some other arbitrary gem to see what it's doing in there , the more likely he thought that person was to be promoted in the near future , just because they were going to get exposed to so many more ideas on how to do things than the guy who's just writing code . Yeah , absolutely Nice . So what other experiences do you have at RailsConf ? Do you have any fun or favorite memories that you'd like to share ?

Saron Yitbarek 8:28

Yeah , my issue is I don't know if I'm remembering RailsConf ory conf or which one came first , but I feel like it's kind of generally the same experience . But the biggest experience that I remember is when I organized a big ruby dinner one day and I think this was in san antonio . I think this was rails conf , I'm not sure , but I remember organizing a dinner at a Mexican restaurant and it ended up being maybe some like 30 people came out and it was basically whoever wanted to . I had this open invitation . I basically said I don't remember if I tweeted it or how the word got out , but I basically said I'm organizing a dinner . If you want some people to eat with , come hang out with me , come join me . And I got a bunch of people . We went to a Mexican restaurant . We had a long table .

Saron Yitbarek 9:24

Again , it was these opportunities of creating community amongst the attendees and in the hallway track . And I remember Nadia and Nadia Arnaio , the founder of the Storygraph . She's my best friend and she and I had so many bonding moments at these different Rails conferences and so many moments where we were just talking about code and talking about our dreams and our goals and the companies we wanted to build and the talks that we had seen , and it was just I mean , the hallway track at RailsConf is the one to be at . That's the best part of the whole thing and it's just been such a great experience of just getting to visit these cities in the US that , frankly , I wouldn't otherwise go to , I probably wouldn't have an excuse to visit , and it gave me a great excuse to kind of visit different parts of the US and an opportunity to just make friends and just be in the Ruby community and be in the Rails community in a way that felt very authentic and very intimate and very close . So it's been a great experience so far .

David Hill 10:25

I love Nadia . She's amazing . I've had a couple of opportunities to chat with her in the hallway track and worked two chairs away from her during the hack day back at RailsConf in May . She has this very kind of vibrant personality and she's really fun to be around and at the same time we weren't just goofing around , we were working and talking about Rails and Ruby and programming and stuff . It was just so pleasant and I've unfortunately worked around people where the pleasantness was not there , and so it's just really refreshing when you find somebody that's like oh , this is the way it should be , this is so easy and welcoming and encouraging .

Saron Yitbarek 11:01

It's so great , it's so funny . I had a conversation with them . I was working with a video editor recently and we had a little one-on-one feedback opportunity and she asked me for feedback and I said to her to do this job well , you don't have to be pleasant to work with , but boy is it great to be . It is so nice . And the thing I love about Nadia is she just brings this wave of joy to every conversation .

Saron Yitbarek 11:29

She's just the most positive , most uplifting person and she's so optimistic . If she gets down on something , like something went terribly wrong because she never gets down . You know , it's such a joy to be around someone who's just so positive and so uplifting and just full of joy . It's really great .

David Hill 11:46

Right , it's people like her that make me so glad to be part of the Ruby community because like she kind of she embodies it . Yes , that's the word I was trying to find . She just embodies that , like you said , the joy and the camaraderie and the community of it all .

Saron Yitbarek 12:01

Yeah , exactly A hundred percent .

Reflecting on RailsConf and RubyConf

David Hill 12:03

Is there anything else you'd like to share about RailsConf ?

Saron Yitbarek 12:06

I'm really glad it happened . I'm sad to see it go , but I'm glad it happened . We had many years of really great conversations and friendships and interactions . That happened because of RailsConf at RailsConf and I'm glad I got to take part in it and get to experience it . And I'm glad that even though we don't have RailsConf , we do still have RubyConf , so we got the other one , so that's good .

David Hill 12:26

Yeah , we'll still have RubyConf To more of those Looking forward to more of those . Yeah , absolutely , and then this will air after RubyConf . But I'll be at RubyConf this year for the first time . I've gone to multiple Rails comps . This one will be my first RubyConf , though .

Saron Yitbarek 12:39

Oh my goodness . So I hope you have a blast .

David Hill 12:40

This will be hopefully a pretty fun time .

Saron Yitbarek 12:43

Yeah , you'll have a great time .

David Hill 12:45

Awesome . Well , thank you so much for joining me today , saran , and it's always just fun meeting new people and talking to Ruby in the community with you .

Saron Yitbarek 12:53

Absolutely you too . Thank you for having me .