A Blog On: Ruby, Usability, Design, and Digital Culture
RailsConf 2012
May/7/2012
We just got back from RailsConf 2012 in Austin, Texas, and let us tell you that it was a blast! We first met up with our Hybrid Group Austin crew, who took us to our swanky rental immediately dubbed the “Hybrid House”. After taking in some amazing bbq and music at County Line BBQ, we began RailsConf with the first Alpha of KidsCodeCamp on Sunday, April 22.
The KidsCodeCamp turned out to be a resounding success, with all spaces having sold out over 2 weeks earlier (photo gallery, styling). We reached stand-room capacity almost immediately! The kids were taught how to program using KidsRuby taught by Ron Evans. This was followed by a class on Scratch by a class of local high-school students led by teacher Jacob Stephens. After a tasty lunch, thanks to sponsors AT&T & Famigo, we continued with our next session, a class from local iOS hackers Andrew Adonoho and friends. Lastly, but not least, was an amazing master class in real world domain modeling from Rich Kilmer.
The kids were each given a copy of both the Scratch and KidsRuby program on usb drives, which work without any internet connection and were allowed to be taken home for personal use.
That night was the fast-paced Ignite RailsConf, and there were several great talks, including Amanda Wagener’s talk on iwanttolearnruby.com; “Why You Should Participate in Your Local User Group by Ryan Brunner and The Toronto Ruby Brigade. Our own @deadprogram gave a talk about KidsCodeCamp to close out the first half of the evening’s proceedings, which was really well received by the packed house.
Perhaps most impressive was the generous “big check” presented to the members of the KidsRuby development team who were present in Austin. We really appreciate the support of the community, and have lots more in store!
The next few days of the convention consisted of inspiring keynotes, followed by a diverse range of around 25 different workshops/lectures throughout the day. There were even separate classes for those that were completely new to Rails and/or development, with classes like Rails for Zombies by Gregg Pollack and Rails Flavored Ruby by Michael Hartl.
We really miss our time in Austin and we can’t wait to make a trip back =)
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