[mpw-staff] new wiki text suggestion

[Catherine Devlin]

WHEW!  My months of project death-march are over, and I can at last
put some energy into the workshop.

I want to get serious about finding sponsors, and to that end I was
thinking of working over the wiki page to make it more clear to them
what they're sponsoring.  I wanted to

- front-load it with the basic What/When/Where data
- Make the gender policy explicit (I've had people asking about it already)

I didn't want to change it unilaterally, though.  I'm pasting in my
suggested edit here - what do you think?

Thanks,
-- 
- Catherine
http://catherinedevlin.blogspot.com
__NOTOC__

== What it is ==

The Indianapolis Python Workshop for women and their friends is a
free, hands-on,
beginners' introduction to computer programming.

== Upcoming events ==

The first Indianapolis Python Workshop will run Friday evening and
Saturday, April 13-14, 2012 at the
[http://www.wyndham.com/hotels/INDAP/main.wnt Wyndam Indianapolis West
Hotel] alongside [http://www.indianalinux.org/cms/ Indiana LinuxFest].
Sign up for the workshop at the
[http://www.meetup.com/python-182/events/53792112/| IndyPy Meetup
page] - and don't forget to register for
[http://indianalinux.org| Indiana LinuxFest].
[http://blog.melchua.com/contact/ Contact Mel] with any questions!

<gallery caption="Photos from the [[Boston Python Workshop|Boston
event]] that inspired this Indianapolis workshop" widths="300px"
heights="200px" perrow="4">
File:Spang_helping.jpg
File:Bpw2-4.jpeg
File:Bpw2-breakout.jpg
</gallery>



== Who it's for ==

The workshop is designed for true beginners to programming - absolutely no
experience is assumed.  We are hoping to arrange childcare for attendees
to make it easier for parents to attend - watch for more details.

The workshop's primary target is women of all ages and backgrounds.  Men may
participate as the guest of a female attendee - that's where the
"women and their
friends" part comes in.  If you're a man who wants to take part, ask a woman you
know to join you.  Don't underestimate the power of a personal
invitation - you'll
never know which of your friends just needs a nudge to try it until you give her
that nudge.

==Why are we doing this?==

<div style="padding: 0.5em; border-color: #FF6D3D; border-style:
dashed; border-width: 2px; width: 400px; margin-left: 25%;
margin-right: 25%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em;">Our goal is
to increase Python community diversity through programming outreach
events. Basic programming skills are so empowering and useful that we
think everyone should have them, whether those skills lead to a
career, a new hobby, or just a better understanding of the computers
that surround us.

<div style="padding: 0.5em; text-align: right;">Read about other
[[Events|OpenHatch events &raquo;]]</div>
</div>

Most directly, with every workshop we get to introduce 30 or 40 women
and their friends to programming in Python. We also strive to:

<ul>
<li>Show new programmers and the Boston Python community examples of
smart, confident, capable programmers of all backgrounds.</li>
<li>Bring new, awesome, diverse people into local Python programming
communities through diversity and outreach events.</li>
<li>Inspire other people to run their own introductory workshops and
outreach events, and to get more user groups thinking about diversity
and outreach.</li>
</ul>

== Past events and history ==

The Indianapolis Python Workshop is inspired by - and done in
partnership with - the [[Boston Python Workshop]]. Read about them in
their [[Boston Python Workshop/archive|archive]].

==Get involved==

<ul>
<li>join us on the
[http://lists.openhatch.org/mailman/listinfo/events| OpenHatch events
list], where this and other workshops meet to share and plan outreach
events.</li>
<li>Say hello in #openhatch on Freenode.</li>
<li>Follow us on [http://twitter.com/openhatchery Twitter] and
[http://identi.ca/openhatchery Identi.ca].</li>
</ul>

<!-- == Press == -->

== Organizers ==

The workshop is being taught by [http://catherinedevlin.blogspot.com/
Catherine Devlin] and [http://blog.melchua.com/about Mel Chua], two
female open source geeks with a passion for teaching, a love of
Python, and a vision of the powerful impact open source could have
with a larger and more diverse community of contributors.

We're grateful to [http://www.meetup.com/python-182/ IndyPy] for
acting as teaching assistants and helping with fundraising and
publicity, to [[Boston Python Workshop]] organizers Jessica McKellar,
Asheesh Laroia, and Ned Batchelder for their mentorship and support,
and the event simply wouldn't be happening without the backing and
logistical support of [http://www.indianalinux.org/cms/ Indiana
LinuxFest] organizers, especially Matt Williams and Michael
Schultheiss.

We're always looking for help in organizing and teaching Python
workshops across the Midwest - if you're interested,
[http://lists.openhatch.org/mailman/listinfo/mpw-staff join our
mailing list and introduce yourself.] We'd love to have you!

== Sponsors ==

* DirectEmployers provided the 1GB thumbdrives.