[Events] Would you be willing to write a long-ish summary of your thoughts of the Saturday workshop? (fwd)

[Asheesh Laroia]

I asked Jenny to write about her experience at the Saturday workshop.

She blew me away with a large, high-quality selection of words.

Then she gave me permission to send it along.

Here is what she wrote, unedited!

-- Asheesh.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 8 Mar 2011 21:48:16
From: Jennifer Kiehling <jkiehling at gmail.com>
To: Asheesh Laroia <asheesh at asheesh.org>
Subject: Re: Would you be willing to write a long-ish summary of your thoughts
     of the Saturday workshop?

Hi Asheesh,

Sure!

I already had some exposure to programming and linux and the command prompt,
so I was able to use the terminal to follow along relatively easily. I feel
like this could have been a bit fast for some people, but I'm not sure, it
was ok for me.

I feel like there were two separate elements of the training. 1 - straight
Python coding, and 2 - the 'environment' and what was involved in using
python with other the other elements such as github.

I always feel - with almost all trainings - that more time can be spent on
setting the scene and explaining the context. The morning session really
great - it was quick but I was able to follow along and understand the
concepts. But then we jumped right into something really advanced (the web
app) without much explanation of why or what we were about to do. I would
have loved a transition from the syntax and coding to how python is
implemented. E.g. how often is python really implemented straight from a
terminal?

I think the web app was very advanced and even though I got through it, I'm
not sure that I'd be able to do that again on my own. It was really great
for the following reasons: it was offering something advanced for people who
are ready to learn at that level; and it dealt with the part of computer
programming that is somewhat intimidating - the environment, setting up
github, changing SSH settings, using a server, etc. I think it's really
great to expose people to those things, to remove some of the mystique.

But I think most people didn't get through the web app and as a result
didn't really get to see the big picture. Is it possible to show people how
to do something similar - using python to implement a website - without
quite as many complex steps? I think having an example of using python to
actually create a website is really great but because it was so complicated,
maybe people didn't get to see the basic concepts of creating some python
files, storing them in github both on the local computer and on a github
server, and then pushing those files to a live server (did I get that
right?).

I think having said all that I would suggest something like the following:

- Introduction on what Python is, what it's used for, why it's used, etc.
- Basic coding (what we did in the morning)
- Intermediate coding (probably what the color wall was, maybe with a more
advanced option for people who felt it would be too simple)
- Overview or simpler example of how to implement python in a project - a
simpler version of the web app

- A follow up session or day 2 could include something like the web app, and
ALSO include some additional intermediate python coding

I definitely feel like I got a lot out of the workshop. I went into it not
really knowing ANYTHING about python, and now I understand a lot more about
what it is. I still don't really know what it's good for - maybe some
examples of python in action (like things we are already familiar with that
use python) would help me understand that a little better. Getting through
the web app helped with this a little. I also felt like the atmostphere was
really nice. Meeting other women, all of us being at a similar level with
python (complete beginners).

I would like to do the colorwall project still, at some point, on my own. I
would love to be able to use python more, I've been trying to think of a
project to work on in my spare time and it would be cool if i could use
python. I don't know what I'm going to do yet though. I feel like I am more
at the level of having some python exposure, as opposed to being a python
beginner. It seemed like you guys expected us to be able go off and code
some python after the workshop and i don't think, even after a whole day,
i'm at that level yet. But maybe you tried to accomplish too much with the
web app and focusing more on just straight coding, even though it's less
advanced, would have given me a more solid jumping off point? I'm not sure.

I would definitely go to future workshops. Even if I don't end up going any
further with python this type of introduction was very valuable. If I could
get an introduction like this for each of the common computer programming
topics I definitely would! It's so helpful to have a perspective on these
things when you work in a technical environment. Plus I would love to have
some additional programming skills. Three of my friends expressed interest
in going to this workshop (after it was full), I'm sure lots of people would
be interested.

I'd be happy to help out but I don't think I could volunteer in terms of
helping people with python after just 1 day of learning it myself - is that
what you mean?

I hope this is helpful. Let me know if you want me to clarify anything I
said or if you have any other questions. Thanks so much, too! I really
enjoyed it and it's awesome that you guys were willing to do something like
that for us.

- Jen

On Tue, Mar 8, 2011 at 4:11 PM, Asheesh Laroia <asheesh at asheesh.org> wrote:

> Hi!
>
> I am in the middle of a bunch of stuff, so I will be short. Sorry if it
> seems rude! I don't mean it to be!
>
> My question is, Would you write up what you thought of the Saturday event?
>
> I'm particularly interested in:
>
> * A list of things that worked well for *you*
>
> * Things that we did that did not work well for you
>
> * Things you perceived that worked well (and did not) for others, if you
> noticed any
>
> * If the long setup process for the web app was worth it. We're considering
> moving the deployment stuff to the end, or ditching it altogether, or
> ditching git, or ditching the web app because there's too much setup.
>
> * If the event seemed "as-advertised", or if we over- or under-delivered on
> some promises
>
> * If you'd be willing to volunteer at a future event
>
> * What you learned from the workshop, and what (if anything) you plan/hope
> to do as a result
>
> * A summary of your feelings on the workshop
>
> * Would you come to future workshops on similar topics? (Would you be
> willing to suggest to friends that they come to this one, if we ran it
> again?)
>
> I think that's it for now. If I think of more questions, I will let you
> know! I was originally aiming for this to be short.
>
> -- Asheesh.
>
> --
> You have the power to influence all with whom you come in contact.
>