(Re)Inventing Yourself
Michael DenomyBoston RubyNovember 12, 2013@mdenomy
Wednesday, November 13, 13
(Re)Inventing Yourself
Michael DenomyBoston RubyNovember 12, 2013@mdenomy
Continuously
Wednesday, November 13, 13
What Is This Talk About, Anyway?
• Based on my experiences as:- Developer- Manager- Director
• I needed to be writing software
• Change is hard- Dealing with fear, uncertainty, & doubt
Wednesday, November 13, 13
How Did I Get Here?• Ten years ago....
• I was feeling pretty good- Senior developer- OOD- Learning new languages
Wednesday, November 13, 13
How Did I Get Here?• Ten years ago....
• I was feeling pretty good- Senior developer- OOD- Learning new languages
• Truth was, I had a lot to learn
Wednesday, November 13, 13
Water-Fail
Wednesday, November 13, 13
Failure Can Be Good• Kicked off a long and still ongoing
learning journey
• Immersion into Agile and XP- Pairing, TDD, Continuous Integration- Incremental Requirements and Design- Led to more successful projects
• Got Out In The Community- Gave my first public talk- Introduction to TDD at Nashua Scrum Club
Wednesday, November 13, 13
How Does This Get Me To Ruby?• Growing dissatisfied in .NET world- No love for XP/Agile
• Listening to podcasts, reading blogs- .NET developers defecting to Ruby...- What was that all about?
•Moving away from code and into management
Wednesday, November 13, 13
Why Were People Moving To Ruby?
• Focus on Quality and Testing
• Good use of Design Patterns
• Rich, Open Source Community
•Well-suited to Agile and XP
Wednesday, November 13, 13
Why Were People Moving To Ruby?
• Focus on Quality and Testing
• Good use of Design Patterns
• Rich, Open Source Community
•Well-suited to Agile and XP
These all sang to me, I had to be part of this
Wednesday, November 13, 13
What About You?
•What brings you to Ruby?
Wednesday, November 13, 13
Decided To Learn Ruby “In Anger”
• Declared a Season of Ruby- http://mdenomy.wordpress.com/category/season-of-ruby/
• 3 months intensive study- ~12 hours/week on top of my real job- Treated like an agile project- Ruby Koans- Michael Hartl Tutorial- Pickaxe Book- Ruby Rogues- Courses at thoughtbot
Wednesday, November 13, 13
It’s Good To Have a Support System
Wednesday, November 13, 13
Left My Cushy Job• OK, it wasn’t all that cushy, but I
had to give this a try
• Scared S**tless- Leaving a space I was established and
successful in for an uncertain future- Did I still have my developer chops- Would my “experience” work against me
• Got lucky in finding a company that saw my full body of work- Agile background helped pave the way
Wednesday, November 13, 13
Getting Started in Boston Ruby
•What’s the big deal, can’t you just show up?
• Had no idea what to expect
• Had no contacts in the Ruby world
• Had some catching up to do!
Wednesday, November 13, 13
Gaining a Toe Hold - Community
• Get involved- I volunteered to run Google Hangouts
• Improve the community- What would make Boston Ruby better?
• Grow your network- Meet people- Ask questions- Build relationships...
Wednesday, November 13, 13
Gaining a Toe Hold - Community• Building Relationships
Wednesday, November 13, 13
Gaining a Toe Hold - Community• Building Relationships
Wednesday, November 13, 13
Gaining a Toe Hold - Community• Building Relationships
Wednesday, November 13, 13
Gaining a Toe Hold - Community• Building Relationships
Wednesday, November 13, 13
Gaining a Toe Hold - Open Source
•Where To Start???
• Ruby Documentation Project- http://documenting-ruby.org/- Zach Scott’s “Contributing To Ruby”
presentation at Boston Ruby got me started
•Where can you start?- Talk to fellow rubyists about projects they
know or maintain- The Boston Ruby website
Wednesday, November 13, 13
Gaining a Toe Hold - Speaking
• Speak at a meetup or project night- Get your name out there- Become an expert- Tame your fear- Use your fear
• Project Night workshops- Getting Started With Rails Testing- Debugging With Pry
Wednesday, November 13, 13
Gaining a Toe Hold - SpeakingFirst time speakers in 2013*
Kevin Incorvia Myke CameronJohnny BoursiquotAlex JarvisAlex WheelerBob GilmoreMike MunroPeter Degen-PortynoyKen MazaikaChris Lee
Matt DaubertLuke BergenDave JachimiakOctavian NeamtuThijs de VriesLiana LeahyRob ParkQuinn LeeMatt MongeauDaniel GrippiMichael Denomy
*Apologies if I missed anyoneWednesday, November 13, 13
Gaining a Toe Hold - Speaking
•What could you possibly have to talk about
http://thisisindexed.com/2012/05/two-annoying-problems/
Wednesday, November 13, 13
Gaining a Toe Hold - Speaking
•What could you possibly have to talk about
http://thisisindexed.com/2012/05/two-annoying-problems/• Beginners- Gems you’ve used, or your “breakable toy”
• Intermediate and Advanced- Something from a project you’ve worked on
Wednesday, November 13, 13
Will This Really Work For You?
Wednesday, November 13, 13
Will This Really Work For You?• No guarantees
• Skill-set, network, past experience, and luck all come in to play
•What can you do to put yourself in the best position
Wednesday, November 13, 13
Closing Thoughts - Take Risks• Put yourself out there
http://thisisindexed.com/2010/11/stretching-is-good-stuff/
Wednesday, November 13, 13
Closing Thoughts - Open Source• Try your hand at open source
• Check out Zach Scott’s “Contributing To Ruby” - http://bostonrb.org/presentations/
contributing-to-ruby
Wednesday, November 13, 13
Closing Thoughts - Build Skills• Keep Your Skills Current
• Study good design practices- SOLID- Design patterns
• Learn TDD and Pairing- Try them out at project night- http://www.jamesshore.com/Agile-Book/
Wednesday, November 13, 13
Closing Thoughts - Community• Be Involved
•What do you think will improve the community
•Meet new people
• Build relationships
Wednesday, November 13, 13
Closing Thoughts - Community• Be Involved
•What do you think will improve the community
•Meet new people
• Build relationships
This is not a network
Wednesday, November 13, 13
(Re)Inventing Yourself
@mdenomy
Wednesday, November 13, 13