I should just mention my own reasons for not going to more meetings, which unfortunately doesn't make finding good solutions any easier. Sorry :-)<br><br>The main reason is balance - I need a lot of not-coding time (like with yoga classes), despite my desire to better immerse myself in the local tech community. In college, I was never able to take more than one or two CS classes at a time, or I'd get burnt out - I took liberal arts classes to balance those out, usually, and it worked nicely. I've only been working for two years - just spending a full day working on code was an overwhelming thing to get comfortable with; involving myself in "extracurriculars" will take even longer, despite my desire.<br>
<br>That leaves so much of the responsibility in my court - growing up, learning, adapting, etc. But it is the honest reason I'm not more involved. I currently only regularly attend Code N Splode (hi Selena) and I suspect that once I get really comfortable with those meetings I will feel less overwhelmed by the prospect of tacking on another monthly meeting.<br>
<br>Like I said, not very helpful in terms of increasing participation, but perhaps a reason to not get down on yourselves, either ;-)<br><br>-Addie<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Jan 15, 2009 at 3:59 PM, Selena Deckelmann <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:selenamarie@gmail.com">selenamarie@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;"><div><div></div><div class="Wj3C7c">On Thu, Jan 15, 2009 at 3:03 PM, chromatic <<a href="mailto:chromatic@wgz.org">chromatic@wgz.org</a>> wrote:<br>
> On Thursday 15 January 2009 14:35:23 Addie M wrote:<br>
><br>
>> I'm willing to change myself a bit to accomodate the culture, but the<br>
>> culture has not changed at all to accomodate me, and that's why "the sooner<br>
>> they learn this stuff, the better off we all will be!" hit a wrong note<br>
>> with me. Until there's a little give on each side, expect to see a<br>
>> persistent lack of diversity in this field.<br>
><br>
> I wish I had something better to add to this discussion than what Addie has<br>
> said, but it's satisfying to agree completely.<br>
><br>
> With that said, are there specific ideas or practices that PDX.pm (or other<br>
> communities of which we are part) can do to encourage everyone who may be<br>
> interested but isn't a middle-class white male age 21 - 45 to participate more<br>
> fully in the community?<br>
<br>
</div></div>First, +1 to Addie's comments.<br>
<br>
Active networking with technical women and direct, specific<br>
recruitment to projects and meetings has worked the best for me.<br>
<br>
And before we all go off and flagellate ourselves for totally sucking,<br>
Portland does better than many other cities w/r/t female attendance<br>
and participation in the open source/user group community. I guess<br>
that just tells you how bad it is other places.<br>
<br>
It is quite possible to get more women to come to perl-specific<br>
activities. One thing to think about is having lunch get-togethers, or<br>
events that are more friendly to people who have after-work<br>
commitments (like Addie) that consistently conflict with our meeting<br>
time. I don't know if you've noticed, but none of the user group<br>
leaders (of the groups I've attended) have children.<br>
<br>
Also, I've found that once I prove a meeting is worth attending (and<br>
fun!), people re-arrange their schedules to fit the meeting. Or we<br>
move our meetings to accommodate them (Hi David!) :)<br>
<br>
I'm not saying that Eric has to do any of this -- but those of you who<br>
feel passionately, and want to help the gender balance change, there<br>
are things you could be doing.<br>
<br>
-selena<br>
<font color="#888888"><br>
--<br>
Selena Deckelmann<br>
Open Source Bridge - <a href="http://www.opensourcebridge.org" target="_blank">http://www.opensourcebridge.org</a><br>
PDXPUG - <a href="http://pugs.postgresql.org/pdx" target="_blank">http://pugs.postgresql.org/pdx</a><br>
Me - <a href="http://www.chesnok.com/daily" target="_blank">http://www.chesnok.com/daily</a><br>
</font><div><div></div><div class="Wj3C7c">_______________________________________________<br>
Pdx-pm-list mailing list<br>
<a href="mailto:Pdx-pm-list@pm.org">Pdx-pm-list@pm.org</a><br>
<a href="http://mail.pm.org/mailman/listinfo/pdx-pm-list" target="_blank">http://mail.pm.org/mailman/listinfo/pdx-pm-list</a><br>
</div></div></blockquote></div><br>