iOS workshops

[Sameer Siruguri]

Hi -

not sure if this is the right group to post to, but I thought I'd start here --

a company in Oakland is interested in potentially sponsoring a weekend but asked if it could be for an iOS workshop. I am not a mobile app developer, and having organized only Railsbridge events I don't know the quirks of the curriculum, or how easy it is to rustle up volunteers.

Is there someone that I can talk about this that has had prior experience with an iOS-bridge (esp in the Bay Area,) and can help me think through the logistics?

Thanks!

Sameer.

[Katherine]

Hi Sameer,

There is a sister organization to Railsbridge -- MobileBridge.

MobileBridge

mobileb...@gmail.com
https://twitter.com/mobilebridgesf

https://github.com/mobilebridge/organizing/issues/16  (a history of MobileBridge since its founding in 2014)

MobileBridge is small enough that there isn't a separate Oakland chapter yet, so they should email mobileb...@gmail.com to start the conversation about sponsoring an event.

You can let them know that so far we've organized two types of events:

• Saturday workshops
• Audience: those from under-represented-in-tech populations who are learning iOS development
• Sponsorship = space & food for 2 sessions
• teacher training (generally 3-4 hours on a Saturday or Sunday before the workshop, generally we get pizza & drinks)
• workshop (we provide breakfast & lunch to fuel the long, intensive learning/teaching day, plus conversations over food builds our community)
• weekday evening hack nights (generally 6-9pm on a Mon, Tue, Wed or Thu evening)
• Audience: folks who have previously attended a MobileBridge workshop, so we can help them continue, building their 2nd mobile app
• Sponsorship = space & food for 1 session

So far, it's really easy to find space for workshops; it's hard to find funding for food sponsorship for workshops.  We find that food is an important part of making these events work & of building the volunteer community.

Additionally, for weekend workshops, we like to offer childcare if possible.  In the past, we've had at most 3 kids at a single workshop, but everyone really appreciates that we're including parents.  Generally, we find a conference room or other reasonable space for the kids, so they aren't in the same space as the students.  If there is an appropriate space & the host company gives us the green light, then we recruit babysitters & have the parents sign a waiver (http://tiny.cc/MB-parent-waiver) and ask them to bring all the food/toys necessary for their children to be happily engaged for the day.

Whew, that's a lot of detail, but figured it was better to provide this upfront, so the company will have a sense of what's involved for both workshops and hack nights.

Thanks for making this connection!

Katherine

p.s. Sorry for the delayed response...I'm not a regular reader of the messages here in the RailsBridge Workshops Google Group.