[pydata-outreach-staff] Signup info form

[Asheesh Laroia]

On Mon, 10 Dec 2012, Vid wrote:

> On Mon, Dec 10, 2012 at 12:49 AM, Vid <svaksha at gmail.com> wrote:
>> On Sun, Dec 9, 2012 at 2:34 PM, Asheesh Laroia <asheesh at asheesh.org> wrote:
>>> Hey all,
>>>
>>> I think these questions would be helpful for us to know the answers to, so
>>> we can prepare accordingly.
>>
>> May I ask why we need this information? And I'll explain why below..
>>
>>> <questions>
>>
>>> One sentence: Have you used Numpy or PyData or pandas before?
>>>
>>> One sentence: Describe how much programming you have done in Python.
>>
>> If someone were new (to either Python or to Pandas), this 2 questions
>> can seems like an entry barrier to them. They can go "I've never used
>> any scientific packages before, does that mean I cannot do this?" or
>> "Do I need to have 10k lines of code under my belt before I attempt
>> thes?" and I would hate to see people turn themselves away. I'll speak
>> for myself and say that I know the "imposter syndrome" from a very
>> close range, struggle with it all the time, and I would discount
>> myself if I came across those questions.
>
> How about a question that conveys this message "If you have a basic 
> understanding of Python, you should attend the workshop and think of 
> becoming a contributor".

I share your concern about the questions, and I think the phrasing and the 
context is what will make the difference. I, too, know imposter syndrome, 
but you're newer to Python than I am, and so it's hugely helpful to hear 
your perspective.

First I'll zoom out and answer the "why" question, which I'm glad you 
asked! I think that it will be extremely helpful for Chang to know who 
he's talking to. If he's talking to an audience of 100% NumPy core 
contributors and daily users of pandas, then he can go into great 
technical depth on pandas' performance optimizations. And if it's the 
opposite, then spending a substantial amount of time explaining what 
pandas is, and how fits into the broader pydata picture, would be a better 
strategy.

It'll also be useful to know when we+Chang are identifying good first-time 
bugs for people. For example, at a previous workshop I ran, generally 
about getting involved in open source, one student indicated she had no 
experience with open source but thought Biopython was a cool idea. So I 
found a documentation bug that suited her before the workshop began, and 
we worked on that and she submitted a patch that landed. Getting a sense 
of the attendee can really help with finding tasks that are motivating.

For one extreme example, if attendees are split 50/50 between super-newbie 
and super-experienced, then maybe it would be best for us to email the 
people with a lower degree of experience a quick "cheat sheet" so we can 
have a more in-depth lecture but bring those people up to speed another 
way. Or maybe we can tell the more experienced people to come slightly 
later, or at least tell them before hand which parts might be review. 
(That's just an example of how to address the problem of retaining 
people's enthusiasm in a room wiht different experience levels with only 
one lecture; it's not an actual proposal.)

That's the "why". Hopefully you agree that the background that the 
audience has should affect the information in the lecture and how it is 
delivered. If not, then I'd like to keep discussing that so I can better 
understand where you're coming from.

Given all that, I think it'd be good to get some information along these 
lines from people. We could change the questions to:

"We're looking for people will all sorts of experience levels in Python. 
In a sentence, can you summarize yours?"

and

"We're looking for newcomers and old-hats alike. In a few words, can you 
summarize if you have used Pandas before, and what you used it for (if at 
all)?"

I am totally on board with the idea of ratcheting up the friendly level 
until everyone feels welcomed. Text suggestions very welcome.

(Also if IRC is speedier, I can be reached on #openhatch-unlogged )

>>> https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dFVKUzVTMGxTc0diYXN2S3NLeEh1OHc6MQ
>
> Does eventbrite allow us to email attachments to people?

I'm not sure I understand the question.

>From what I understand, eventbrite gives us a list of email addresses, and 
then we can send them emails ourselves using our own email accounts. So if 
we wanted to send an attachment, we could.

Having said that, the survey link is not an attachment; it's just a link, 
so I'm not sure why you're asking about attachments.

>>> * Vid, would it be OK to grant me access to the EventBrite backend so I can
>>> send this out to people as they sign up, including the people who have
>>> already signed up?
>>
>> Need your  login-id and the email you use (I am not sure which one I
>> need to grant access)

Right-o! asheesh at asheesh.org is the email address. I think that's what 
Eventbrite uses for login IDs as well; I don't see any other indication 
of a login ID on the site.

And do know that I won't send anything to attendees without getting your 
approval!

-- Asheesh.