Podcast appearances and mentions of allison mcmillan

In this episode, the focus is on RubyConf, the upcoming conference dedicated to the Ruby programming language. They start by talking about the origin and evolution of RubyConf, highlighting its growth in attendance and its impact on the Ruby community. Chelsea details how the conference has adapted to the digital format due to the COVID-19 pandemic but points out the value of in-person connections. They are looking forward to the Community Day event, which will feature various activities to encourage community interaction and an acknowledgment of scholarships that would help more people attend. The event will offer various programming options, workshops, and talks to cater to newcomers and seasoned professionals. There will also be some level of hands-on learning through hacking activities. The conference aims to be inclusive, offering opportunities for mentorship and growth, regardless of one's career stage. Towards the end, the discussion shifts to Ruby Central, the organizing body behind RubyConf and RailsConf. Chelsea and Allison describe multiple avenues for community engagement, ranging from board membership to open-source contributions. They also encourage donations and corporate sponsorships. Don't miss your chance to register for RubyConf and engage with the fantastic Ruby community! RubyConf (https://rubyconf.org/) Follow RubyConf on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/ruby-central-inc/), X (https://twitter.com/rubyconf), YouTube (), or Mastodon (https://ruby.social/@rubyconf). Learn Academy (https://learnacademy.org/) Follow Learn Academy on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/LEARNSD/), X (https://twitter.com/SDLEARN), LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/school/sd-learn/), or Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/sdlearn/). Follow Chelsea Kaufman on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/chelskaufman/) or X (https://twitter.com/ChelsKaufman). Follow Allison McMillan on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/apmcmillan/) or X (https://twitter.com/allie_p). Visit her website at daydreamsinruby.com (https://daydreamsinruby.com/). Follow thoughtbot on X (https://twitter.com/thoughtbot) or LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/150727/). Become a Sponsor (https://thoughtbot.com/sponsorship) of Giant Robots! Transcript: VICTORIA: This is the Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots podcast, where we explore the design, development, and business of great products. I'm your host, Victoria Guido. And with me today is Allison McMillan and Chelsea Kaufman, Board Directors, and RubyConf '23 Co-chairs. Thank you for joining me. ALLISON: Hi, thanks for having us. CHELSEA: Thanks for having us. VICTORIA: Yes, I'm glad that you were able to make time to come on the show today. I understand, Allison, that you've been having very full weeks with family over the last month. Do you want to tell us a little bit more about that? ALLISON: Yeah, it's...we have just ended what I call the gauntlet of Jewish holidays. But, basically, there are four Jewish holidays starting with Rosh Hashanah, which many folks know that's the Jewish New Year. But what a lot of folks don't know is that there are actually four holidays that are all in a row, each about a week apart. And you do different celebratory things for each of them. And so, it's been really amazing and fun, and lots of, like, sharing our home with others and meals and seeing lots of people. But it is also exhausting. And they basically all fell on weekends this year, which was nice from sort of a scheduling perspective but was exhausting in the fact that I basically have not had a weekend in over a month. So, it was wonderful and tiring. And I am, I guess, both happy and sad that they're over now. VICTORIA: Yeah, that does sound like a lot of quality family time, which has its pros and cons [laughs], right? So, after going through that, do you feel more rested? Or what do you feel like you need to do in order to recuperate and return to your normal energy levels after having every weekend full after that? ALLISON: Oh, that's a great question. I've been looking at my calendar to be like, I should take a day off. I should take a break. I'm working for myself and [inaudible 02:02] entrepreneur consultant. So, I do have the flexibility to do so, but it is hard to look at my calendar and be like, yes, I will take this day off because I deserve it. But, ideally, I would take a day or multiple days off. VICTORIA: Yes. And some of us are lucky enough to have a reason to travel for work purposes and to sneak in a little vacation and be productive [laughs] in our companies. So, I'm curious, Chelsea, if you can tell me a little bit about the option for people to come to San Diego in November and take a restful vacation by the beach and learn a little bit more about Ruby. CHELSEA: Yeah, so RubyConf will be in San Diego this year. As a native San-dieagan, I am a bit biased, but November is a beautiful time to be in San Diego. And we're going to be at the Town and Country, which feels a little bit like we're going to be in a, like, Palm Springs resort. They just went through a major renovation. And there's these really awesome, like, lounge areas with fire pits and just places for people to gather, which really kind of aligns itself with some of the stuff that we're planning because we're really trying to focus in on just connecting Rubyists together. So, to me, it feels like the perfect place because I think San Diego is, one, we're a little bit more low key, a little chill. And it's a great place to just gather and connect and share with people that have, you know, similar interests. VICTORIA: Yes, I live in San Diego now, but I was from Washington, D.C., And I would come and visit my family in San Diego once a year. And they would always go on about how great it is and how beautiful, and everyone is so happy and chill. And I was like, sure, whatever. And then we [chuckles] had the opportunity to move here, and now I'm one of those people who says that [laughs]. Like, it's great, especially in November. Everywhere else is getting a little cold and fall. And San Diego has a little bit of fall, but it's still 75 degrees out. I forget what that is in Celsius. But yes, I'm also super excited. CHELSEA: We have, like, fake fall activities that you can go do. Like, Allison, when you're talking about doing all the family activities and things like that, you know, this is when we start thinking about, oh, we need to go to, like, the pumpkin patch and apple picking and do all these things, but it's not cold or, like, fall weather at all. So, you want to get all, like, bundled up in your cute fall clothes or, like, put my kids and bundle them up in cute things. But then they're, like, sweating and trying to do [laughs] all these funny activities. But I think that there's so many beautiful things to do here that we, like, try and do these, like, fall activities. But then we just end up at the beach and play in the sand [laughs]. VICTORIA: Yeah, I will go out in, like, shorts and a T-shirt because it's that kind of weather. And my neighbors will be wearing full puffy jackets and [laughs], like, long pants and a hat. And they're like, "You're not from around here, are you?" [laughs]. It's like, you guys are silly. But it's fun. Yeah, there's seasons, I think, you know, in November...I made a list of suggested activities for my team members since thoughtbot is sponsoring RubyConf this year. And we're going to have a couple of speakers at the event. And we'll have other thoughtboters available at our booth for people to come up and chat with us. So, I'm really thrilled to be hosting everyone. And I made a list of, like, activities, and most of them were about where to see cool animals [laughs]. I was like, of course, there's the zoo, which is the obvious one, but then there's baby leopard sharks, and there's a season for them. I think they will still be around in November; I'm curious if you know, Chelsea, actually. And then there's, like, the safari parks, and whale watching, and the sea lions at La Jolla and, like, just a bunch of cool animals to see that I think it makes San Diego really special. CHELSEA: I agree. The zoo, the safari park are great places to just hang out and see some really cool exhibits. Balboa Park, the museums there are amazing. Liberty Station is one of my favorite places to go; that it's an old historic naval training center that's been converted into an arts and culture area. So, they have, like, little shops. They have...there's museums. There's brew pubs. There's coffee shops. And then there's beautiful, like, grassy areas, and right by the water, it's one of my favorite places to just go and hang out. ALLISON: This is great. I've done zero research on San Diego so far. So, just, like, I'm writing notes of what things to do and see while I'm there. CHELSEA: Yeah, I know the San Diego Ruby group is trying to put together some, like, local events and things that people can gather and do together. I know that there was a talk about doing a taco crawl. I think if I say that on the podcast, it might actually push them to do it because there are some amazing tacos in San Diego to be had. VICTORIA: Yes, I love that taco crawl. I'll reach out to them because I'll help put something like that together. I'm writing a blog post right now about all of these things and about all the other kind of events that are coming up in San Diego this fall. Great location, great time of year to be here. Tell me a little bit more about RubyConf specifically. And what are you all trying to do different this year than in past events? ALLISON: There are a bunch of things that we're doing differently. Our goal this year with this RubyConf is really to sort of focus on more ways to bring the community together. I think in the last little bit so much excitement around Ruby and Ruby Central and just sort of the community in general. It's a hard time in tech. I think people need to be sort of choosier about sort of what they attend and why they're attending something. And so, we really wanted to help folks connect with each other, help folks get to know other people, help folks sort of reconnect to ways that they love Ruby and the Ruby community and being a Ruby programmer. So, one of the things that we're doing differently is we have a three-day conference. And the way that that sort of broken down is the first day is a Community Day. And the first day is comprised of the workshops, as well as sort of this Hack Day, where people can bring their own projects. We're going to have people there that folks can hack with, sort of open-source projects that folks can work on, all sorts of different stuff. So that people can really sort of get to know one another, work with one another, work with people that they might, you know, admire or have followed in the community for a while, and have that sort of really special experience that doesn't feel as conference-y, right? It feels a little bit more sort of organic in terms of the way that the day will flow and, the options that people have, and sort of what that day looks like. And then following that, we have two days of sort of RubConf with talks and speakers, et cetera. And I'll let Chelsea add anything to Community Day and then also jump into some of the sort of new and different things we're doing at RubyConf. CHELSEA: I agree with Allison in that we've really wanted to focus in on the connection side of things. But I think coming out of the last few years, out of even the last year that's been tough in the industry, just finding ways for people to connect, support, lift up each other, I think that that was something we really wanted to do. And we didn't want it to just be about going and seeing speakers. We wanted to find more ways for people to learn from each other, to connect. And so we added in quite a few of these community connection points. So, on that first day, there's a lot of community aspects to it. We have a lot of learning happening with our workshops and also working on projects, hacking together, showing off what you're working on, connecting with people in the community. It's going to be really focused in on everyone's own skills and talents and coming together and supporting each other in where we're at in our careers, in our learning. And then, the next couple of days will look a little bit familiar in the way that it is structured with some new aspects kind of woven in. We'll have our Community Room, where we're bringing different community groups together so that people can learn more about what is going on in the community, how they can support, how they can connect. And in addition to seeing and learning about some of the new things happening in the Ruby community, we'll also have our Career Pathways room again, which will be a place for people to support their own careers. And that room was really set up so that it wasn't just about early career, but also about folks in their mid and senior careers, and finding the advice, finding the resources, finding the mentorship that they might need in whatever stage of their career that they're at, and figuring out how we can together as a community grow as a whole. VICTORIA: I really appreciate the focus on community. And, for me, as managing director at thoughtbot, in deciding to invest in which conferences we want to attend and sponsor, we find more value in groups that are trying to bring people together around a common passion and purpose versus a particular product. But I'd like to hear from each of you if you can tell me, what does the community mean to you? And I'm looking for, like, a personal story on how you've benefited or how you've engaged with the Ruby community in the past. And what makes you motivated as CEOs and founders of your own companies [laughs] to spend all this time organizing a conference? ALLISON: Many, many, many years ago, I did a Rails Girls workshop. It was actually my first introduction into the tech community, into programming in general. And, for me, really, I did Rails Girls. I did not actually expect to like programming. But I was sort of launching a startup, and I wanted to learn more about tech and blah, blah, blah. And at the end of the day, I was, like, so energized and so excited about what I had built and what I had done. The Ruby community in D.C., who I always think is just a group of really special individuals, was so supportive, was so wonderful, was so, like, "Here's where we co-work on Wednesdays. Come to this coffee shop. Here's how you can keep learning," just was so encouraging. You know, I went to the local Ruby meetup sort of really not knowing anything. And they were excited about, you know, newbies being there and asking questions and, you know, really sort of getting to know folks who are just starting out in their programming journey. And really, through that, I mean, I went to my first RubyConf as a scholar. Was strongly encouraged to do a lightning talk, did a lightning talk. That's how I, you know, sort of ended up having a whole bunch of informational interviews and having conversations with folks. And really, that's how I got my first real job in tech. And so, you know, I want people that are coming into the industry now to have that same support, to have those same opportunities, to have that same encouragement. And, for me, sort of planning RubyConf, planning these conferences, being a part of Ruby Central is really me giving back to the community that has gotten me to where I am today, right? And it's amazing, also, to just...I'm still in touch with the people that were at my table, sort of guiding and mentoring at that first Rails Girls session or the people who I met at the first-ever Ruby meetup that I went to. I still talk to them. I'm still in touch with them. We still get together. I still ask them for, you know, advice and guidance sometimes. And sometimes, they ask me, at this point, for advice and guidance, which is fun. But yeah, it just means so much to me that I have really been able to get to where I'm at because of the support and encouragement of the community. CHELSEA: I have a similar story. I guess over, gosh, over a decade ago, I also went to my first RailsBridge and got introduced to the community there at RailsBridge. And, you know, at the time, I wasn't in tech. I was in the theater. I come from the performing arts. I had spent a very long time executive leadership in the theater. And I got introduced to this community that was so warm and welcoming to people wanting to learn and grow. And I was so interested in how communities are built and how people connect together that I started getting more and more involved in the Ruby community here in San Diego. And just like Allison was saying about the welcoming and warmth that she felt from the D.C. community, I felt the same way here in San Diego. Before that, you know, I had spent so many years being the only woman in a room. I had been in an industry that made me feel like my voice was not always heard. And when I walked into this room, I felt like I mattered. I felt like people wanted to hear what I had to say. And they wanted to learn from my experiences. And in 2014, San Diego hosted RubyConf here. And at that point, my business partner and I launched our business, LEARN Academy, and it's still running strong today. But it was about creating that on-ramp for people and a launchpad into this industry where they could make a difference and they could have their voice heard. And they could be a part of a conversation, even if they hadn't been a part of that community for many, many years, that their background mattered, that their growth mattered. And helping people find their voice at a table is something that is so important to me that I love being able to bring that into the planning of this conference, into a lot of the work that I've done with Ruby Central, with LEARN academy. And really just helping people understand that just because you don't have the traditional background, maybe you didn't start programming at the age of two, you can have a different background and a different path and still provide so much value. And I think that that is the thing that I wanted to continue to be a part of and to make sure was a part of the conversation, that we need so many different types of people at the table. And I want to make sure that our community is responsive to that, that it's inclusive to that, that it's equitable as best we can, and just allows people to share their own experiences. And so, you know, I feel like, for me, we're, you know, almost at our 10-year mark at LEARN academy and that we were launching the company at RubyConf in 2014. To have it here again this year is so special to me. I remember being at the conference many years ago; you know, we spend a lot of time helping companies figure out how to work with early-career developers and to create those pipelines for them so that there's career growth for them. And, you know, I remember sitting around the table and just saying, "Hey, who wants an internship? Who wants to, you know, help these early-career developers?" And everyone raised their hand, and we found some of our very first partners at that conference. And it's always been such a warm and welcoming community that has allowed me to feel like I have a voice and then allows me to help other people find theirs. VICTORIA: Wow, thank you both for sharing that. I totally relate to that feeling of a welcoming community and just getting the sense that, like, wow, everyone who does Ruby is really nice [laughs]. And I think that you know, for me, same as Allison, starting in D.C., there were quite a few people who were involved in Women Who Code who were running Ruby meetups. And that's where I met Valerie Woolard, who I think is also coming to San Diego for RubyConf. I'm excited to see her again. And it's interesting for me coming from that perspective and hearing that from both of you because I've also heard a viewpoint on Ruby community as being highly opinionated and causing certain amounts of consternation. So, I'm curious if you have any comments on that. If not, otherwise, I'm grateful that there are people working to bring that better community in the community that I'm more familiar with more to the forefront and making it more inclusive and open for everyone. So, to, like, bring the question all the way back, it's like [chuckles], do you have any comments on, like, if there's a tendency for Rubyists to be really highly opinionated? Or what else can we do to make it more open and inclusive for people to join the community? CHELSEA: I mean, I think that people are going to be opinionated about something that they care a lot about. And I think that the thing that I've noticed in the Ruby community is people love this language. They love programming in this language, and I think that there's something very powerful about that. And it does, you know, lend itself to people [laughs] having very strong opinions about what they think needs to be out there. And, to me, it's not a matter of, like, whether we have strong opinions or not. It has more to do with whether we're listening or not. But I think it's really important for those of us who are leading to be the listeners, and that we should be there to make sure that there is space for people to be heard, whether their opinion is loud or not. And I think that there are people that are going to be louder than others; that is going to be true no matter where we go. But I think that as long as there is intention around making sure that we are listening to even the quietest voices and that we are creating space for the quietest voices, that's where we're going to find more collaboration. But if we're only going out there and saying, "This is the way it needs to be," and we're not willing to listen to anything else, then I think that growth will stop happening because we need to listen to everyone. We need to be able to create some kind of place for people to come together and share ideas; you know, you don't get the perspectives of all these amazing people in the industry. So, that's why I feel like, you know, I've been on the board at Ruby Central for about a year now, and the biggest thing that I feel like I can contribute is to simply listen. If I can help in any way of filtering ideas or creating connections with people because I've been putting my ear to the ground and saying, "Okay, these people are talking about this, and we're expanding here." And we just want to make sure that we're doing the best we can at being open to all different kinds of ideas and not closing anyone off. Maybe your opinion is really strong. It doesn't mean that we should shut you down. It just means that we need to make sure that there's space for other people, too. And I think that that's the part that, you know, as someone who has always been a bit of an introvert, a bit of a wallflower, I understand how hard it is to get my voice out there. And so, I often fight for the quiet people. I think in every language and any space where it's a craft, it's something that we're creating, people get really passionate about it. And that's going to happen. And I think there's something powerful in that because there's going to be change that happens from that. But if we're not doing our part in the listening and making sure that there isn't just one voice, that there's a collective voice, that's the part that I felt so powerful when I joined the community so many years ago was that, even though I had, you know, months of experience, my questions mattered. And as long as we hold on to that, the community will continue to grow. But those of us at Ruby Central and some of the other organizations, if we're creating space to allow people to question, allow people to speak their opinions and listen, then I think that the industry, the community will just continue to thrive because of that. But we have to be open, and we have to be compassionate when we're doing our listening. ALLISON: Yeah, I agree with all of that. And I would just add in safe places, in a way that we're creating sort of safe structures and safe places for folks to communicate. MID-ROLL AD: Are your engineers spending too much time on DevOps and maintenance issues when you need them on new features? We know maintaining your own servers can be costly and that it's easy for spending creep to sneak in when your team isn't looking. By delegating server management, maintenance, and security to thoughtbot and our network of service partners, you can get 24x7 support from our team of experts, all for less than the cost of one in-house engineer. Save time and money with our DevOps and Maintenance service. Find out more at: tbot.io/devops. VICTORIA: What, if you could tell me, what does Ruby really have going for it? Like what makes Ruby a good choice for tech founders or for new companies would make someone decide they want to build with Ruby? ALLISON: First, it's a little bit about just sort of the ease of the language to jump into and to understand, right? There's a lot that you can get done very quickly with Ruby and Rails. And in addition to sort of individuals being able to work in it, there's a whole community of resources, and support, and podcasts, and tutorials, and all sorts of stuff. I know that as an engineering leader at any company, when engineers are coming to me with, like, the desire to use a new language or try something new, part of what I look at is, if I'm going to hire, like, what would hiring look like? What does it look like for engineers to have to ramp up in this area? How long does that take? What resources are available? What sort of community am I pulling from and looking at? And that's both community in terms of sort of technical experience, expertise, years, et cetera, but also non-technical skills, right? What does the community look like in terms of some of those ideals around communication, collaboration, just sort of general pieces like that? And so, I think that, given sort of the strength of open source, strength of community, community contributions, ways to contribute, etcetera, I think that's one of the reasons that it still makes Ruby a really strong choice for folks to build in and to work with. VICTORIA: What type of people, what personas do you think will be the most interested in attending RubyConf? Is it all just going to be, like, senior or super Ruby developers, or what? CHELSEA: Oh, I don't think so. I mean, this RubyConf, in particular, is great for anyone on a learning journey. We've worked really hard to make sure there's a good breadth of programming for different folks in different stages of their careers. I think that, you know, those of you that are maybe earlier on there, this is a great opportunity to meet people who are maybe even a step or two ahead of you. I think that the best mentorship that you can find is someone who is only maybe a year ahead of you because they're going to recognize where you're at and help you along the way. And I think that there's a lot of opportunities here for that. I think that with our Community Day, the hacking that's going to be involved, like, maybe, as a new developer, you wouldn't be able to come in and, like, get your hands really dirty. But you'll get to sit next to somebody who has been through all the different stages and get to watch, and explore, and learn. I think that making those connections could be really great for anyone's career. I think that our mid-level developers, folks that are our management, there's great resources for them to connect with other developers in similar stages. There's great workshops. Because of our focus on the community, I think that it's going to be a place where you can really connect with other Rubyists. And so, if you are at a stage in your career that you want to figure out what that next spring is, where that next ladder step is, this is a good place to see all the different options because you're going to be surrounded by people in all different stages of their careers. And what we've, I think, said now quite a few times is so many people there are just so excited to help people continue that growth. And so, I think that no matter what stage you're in, you're going to find people there that are excited to help you along the way. That being said, I think for our more senior, more advanced, our executive leadership, this is going to be a great place to, one, meet some really great talent, and, two, I think, learn from other folks in the industry of, like, where people are at, what we're struggling with, and how we're changing and doing things differently. So, I really do think there's going to be a little bit of everything for people. And what I love about that is really that it gets to the core and heart of the Ruby community because we're so excited about new folks coming in that that growth continues, that you have folks like Allison who started out as a scholar and want to give back. And then because we have folks at all those different stages, you can find people that are, you know, maybe a step or two ahead of you that are going to be able to help bring you up to that next level. So, I think it's an exciting opportunity for people to really meet new people, learn some new things, maybe find a little bit of encouragement, empowerment on where you're going to go next on your career. VICTORIA: Yeah, absolutely. And it reminds me of an article I read while I was at RailsConf earlier this year about why we do conferences and what's the whole point. And, you know, for me, all of those things are true, like, all those values. As an executive, I'm going to meet a lot of great talent. I'm going to connect with other companies. I'm just going to get to show up and say hi to people and ask them questions in a way that's very informal. And that's so valuable to have that. I think where I was going to go next with this was with Ruby Central, which I believe organizes both RailsConf and RubyConf. (And you can correct me if I'm wrong on that.) I'm curious if there are anything else you want to talk about with, like how the community can engage in support and how other companies could get involved with the community and show their support. CHELSEA: I think that there's quite a few different ways for folks to get involved. We are currently recruiting board members. We just finished a round just now. But I know that in our planning, that we're likely going to bring on at least one, maybe two more, in the next six months. So, I definitely...for folks in the community that want to get involved, that is a really great place to really get involved with Ruby Central. We also have a really strong open-source community. And we're working, oh gosh, with quite a few different companies now that are really helping to support our open-source efforts. And those are also good ways to get involved. You know, we do plan both RailsConf and RubyConf. RailsConf will be in the spring again. And, you know, it takes a village to put on a conference like this and that, you know, we also look for programming committee members to help us shape the program of the conferences. So, if you are interested in any of that, that's also another great way to get involved in the community. We have an amazing programming committee that's helped us with RubyConf. And I'm excited to see what we do next with RailsConf. And I think that you know if you're one that's going to the conference and are saying, "Man, I wish that they would do this," or "I wish I could see that," come and talk to us because that's the best way for us to learn, that we want to hear all of those pieces. But don't be surprised if we then send you an email and say, "Hey, you want to be on our programming committee with us?" ALLISON: I'll add that we also, through our website, we take donations. So, if you want to help monetarily, there's the option to do that on the website. And if you're a company, I mean, we're always looking for conference sponsorships. But if your company also is interested in getting involved in sort of more of a corporate sense of sponsoring or supporting Ruby Central, we are always open to those conversations. You can send an email to contact@rubycentral.org. VICTORIA: That's great. I have a fun question about the conference because I'm leading the event with thoughtbot since I live here. And I'm thinking about some fun swag to give away. Rank your preferences on what kind of swag you'd like to see at the thoughtbot sponsor booth: a thoughtbot-branded surfboard or, a boogie board, a bucket hat, or a pickleball paddle. Any of those interesting for you? ALLISON: Wait, when you say surfboard, like, how am I going to get a surfboard back to D.C.? [laughter] VICTORIA: Okay. I think it's, like, kind of funny because if you win it, it's like, well, what do you do? [laughter] You got to shake it back. That sounds like maybe a boogie board. CHELSEA: Yeah, I'm down for a boogie board. VICTORIA: Thank you so [laughs] much for entertaining me on that one. Is there anything else that you would like to promote today? ALLISON: We would love to see everybody at RubyConf. You can register. Check out the program speakers, et cetera, at rubyconf.org. You can learn more about Ruby Central at rubycentral.org. Those are, I think, the two things that we'd love to make sure everybody knows about. CHELSEA: And if you're here in San Diego, come say hello. VICTORIA: Yes, I have met up with a few random people from the internet [laughs] who have said like, "I'm in San Diego. Who should I say hi [inaudible 34:02]?" I was like, "Me, me, me," [laughter]. So, yes, I'm very happy to meet up for drinks. Chelsea, you and I will have to get together sometime soon before the conference. And I'm super excited for RubyConf. And thank you both so much for being here today. ALLISON: Thanks for having us. CHELSEA: Thank you. VICTORIA: You can subscribe to the show and find notes along with a complete transcript for this episode at giantrobots.fm. If you have questions or comments, email us at hosts@giantsrobots.fm. And you can find me on Twitter @victori_ousg. This podcast is brought to you by thoughtbot and produced and edited by Mandy Moore. Thanks for listening. See you next time. AD: Did you know thoughtbot has a referral program? If you introduce us to someone looking for a design or development partner, we will compensate you if they decide to work with us. More info on our website at tbot.io/referral. Or you can email us at referrals@thoughtbot.com with any questions. Special Guests: Allison McMillan and Chelsea Kaufman.

Ruby Central's Adarsh Pandit and Allison McMillan join the show to discuss Ruby Central, how organizing conferences has changed in the past few years, and more.Ruby CentralRubyConf — Buy your ticket now.Follow us on Mastodon: Rooftop Ruby Collin Joel Show art created by JD Davis.

In a world where getting everyone into the same office five days a week is increasingly difficult, offsites are becoming an essential tool for aligning and connecting teams, departments and companies. But all too often, the planning falls to someone with limited events or facilitation experience - on top of their day job - and substantial value is left on the table.Allison - (currently an engineering leadership consultant - previously VPE at QuotaPath and Head of Engineering at Forem) has been planning offsites for 25 years and in this thoughtful interview she shares advice on setting meaningful goals for offsites, how to think about size, location and frequency and some best practices for making them more targeted and engaging to maximize their value.If you'd like to learn more about Allison, check out her website - https://daydreamsinruby.com/

Special co-host Kevin Murphy joined Brittany this week to interview Allison McMillan and Chelsea Kaufman, co-chairs of the upcoming Rubyconf 2023 happening in San Diego. The quartet discussed lessons learned from Railsconf 2023, the approach to thinking about and planning this year's Rubyconf and what is new and different at the event. Show Notes: Buy Tickets to Rubyconf 2023 (https://rubyconf.org/register) Ruby Central (https://rubycentral.org/) Allison McMillan's website (https://daydreamsinruby.com/) Chelsea Kaufman on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/chelskaufman/) Kevin Murphy's website (https://kevinjmurphy.com/) Sponsored By: Honeybadger (https://www.honeybadger.io/) If you want to simplify your stack, and lower your bills, it's time to check out Honeybager. Honeybadger combines all of those services into one easy to use platform—it's everything you need to keep production healthy and your customers happy. Get started today in as little as 5 minutes at Honeybadger.io (https://www.honeybadger.io/) with plans starting at free!

Allison McMillan, VP of Engineering at Quota Path, joins us to talk about the transformation engineering leaders go through when they become parents and the lessons we can take parenting to our day-to-day as managers. From communication to rewards vs. consequences to dealing with other humans and their unique challenges. Deep dive into the topics discussed in this episode at go.developingleadership.co/ep35 Join the discussion and follow us on twitter @ devleadership_ Developing Leadership is a podcast presented by Athenian. We are introducing the world of engineering to metrics and data that improve processes and help teams. If you want to learn more about data-enabled engineering, go to athenian.com

Allison McMillan was looking for the next stage of her career and noticed a big gap between what small business owners have the time to do, to bid on government contracts. On Today's Podcast, I speak with Allison McMillan and how she is helping small businesses land government contracts.

In this episode, we talk about Forem's product and engineering with Jennie Ocken, Forem's head of product, and Allison McMillan, Forem's head of engineering. Show Notes DevNews (sponsor) Duckly (sponsor) CodeNewbie (sponsor) Compiler (DevDiscuss) (sponsor) Scout APM (DevDiscuss) (sponsor) Forem DEV

Interview with Allison McMillan, Director of Engineering at GitHub. She shares her best virtual offsite ideas, hands out some tips you can try yourself and warns you of the pitfalls to avoid. Real life stories from behind the scenes at GitHub. https://codingsans.com/engineering-management-newsletter?utm_source=Podcast&utm_medium=platforms (Sign up to the Level-up Engineering newsletter!) In this interview we're covering: Definition of virtual offsites Ground rules for virtual offsites Realistic expectations for virtual offsites Challenges of virtual offsites Preparations for virtual offsites Virtual offsite ideas Excerpt from the interview: "I consider an offsite a state of mind rather than a physical location. Going to a different location can help you achieve this state of mind. Depending on your preference, it may be a different location at your house, a coffee shop, a coworking location, or a different continent. The idea is to get yourself away from daily tasks and to put your brain into a different gear." https://codingsans.com/blog/virtual-offsite?utm_source=Podcast&utm_medium=platforms (Click here to read the full interview!)

Parent Driven Development Episode 067: Goodbye, for now. 1:00 Parent Driven Development reflects on what it’s like being a panelist on the podcast Imposter syndrome Multiple purposes to be an effective parent Expanding perspectives, ideas, and parenting techniques Ability to relate with one another 8:40 What we hope to our listeners take away from the podcast There is no one way to parent You’ll continue to grow as a parent You are not alone - every parent, kid, family, circumstances are different 13:30 What would we have done differently? Earlier sponsorship Episode format 16:15 Parting words for listeners Thank you!! You’re doing a great job. 17:17 Final genius and fail moments Chris Sexton’s daughter uses the word arithmetic with her peers, but no one knows the word leading her to question whether her parents played a prank on her. Allison calms down her family with deep breathing after her daughter has a potty accident. KWu’s 3-year-old son feels super proud after helping shovel the snow, and he helped! Chris Arcand finds the perfect snow sled for his son to be towed around in the deep Minnesota snow. How can I support the podcast? Please follow us @parentdrivendev (https://twitter.com/parentdrivendev) on Twitter or email us at panel@parentdrivendevelopment.com (mailto:panel@parentdrivendevelopment.com). Our website is at ParentDrivenDevelopment.com (https://parentdrivendevelopment.com). Chris Arcand (https://twitter.com/chrisarcand) Chris Sexton (https://twitter.com/crsexton) KWu (https://twitter.com/kwugirl) Allison (https://twitter.com/allie_p)

Parent Driven Development 66: Finding a new job during the pandemic. Welcome, Jean Hsu! Jean Hsu (https://twitter.com/jyhsu) is a writer, coach, and software engineer turned leadership coach after working for a decade in Silicon Valley. She is the VP of engineering at Range Labs (https://www.range.co/) and Co-founder of Co Leadership (https://coleadership.com/), which focuses on filling the gaps in leadership development in the tech industry. Jean doesn’t miss writing code, but she does miss deleting it. 0:53 Finding a new job during the pandemic Desire strikes for leadership The hiring process 5:20 How did the pandemic change your thought process Intentionality of specific desires - management, leadership, flexibility Enjoying the journey rather than letting comparison or stress take over 7:30 What would Jean do differently now? Finding ways to lean into async communication with a remote team in different time zones, while keeping the team engaged and connected with each other Hybrid mix of in-person and remote is the future for companies 13:13 Pre-pandemic commute tales Feels like a different lifetime 15:40 New expectations for Range during the pandemic Getting rid of the 9-5; windowed work with colored labels Core hours for team meetings Setting boundaries 19:40 Genius and fail moments KWu closed her son’s fingers between a door hinge… #fail Allison’s daughter turns 3 and shines at her yearly doctor's appointment. #genius Jean downloaded TikTok and discovered the best parenting hack to tell your kids to do a task, rather than ask. #genius Chris brings back his daughter's love of Star Wars. #genius How can I support the podcast? Please follow us @parentdrivendev (https://twitter.com/parentdrivendev) on Twitter or email us at panel@parentdrivendevelopment.com (mailto:panel@parentdrivendevelopment.com). Our website is at ParentDrivenDevelopment.com (https://parentdrivendevelopment.com). Allison (https://twitter.com/allie_p) KWu (https://twitter.com/kwugirl) Chris Sexton (https://twitter.com/crsexton) Special Guest: Jean Hsu.

From Alt:BrightonRuby 2020.Planning for Personal SparklesA new version of an old talk, for a weird time.@allie_p

Parent Driven Development Episode 052: Taking Breaks 02:16 Taking breaks as a parent, how have you been coping? Is everyone taking breaks? Chris breaks with home projects Allison opts for a few full days off, rather than breaking during her day KWu dives into Downton Abbey (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004KAQQ5E/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B004KAQQ5E&linkCode=as2&tag=parentdrivend-20&linkId=b55bfd713a79c6abf4f9c6ea8e4c60c6) 07:32 Productive breaks Increasing your home ROI Decreasing internet time during “breaks” Home improvements 09:15 A break crisis! Dinner Time chaos How syncing self care time with business trips is no longer an option Making an intention plan for a stay-cation 15:35 Planning for fun Animal Crossing (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07SL6ZXBL/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B07SL6ZXBL&linkCode=as2&tag=parentdrivend-20&linkId=3ee6c16aa6d2b59ebde325b35a4a11c9) Making lists 18:43 Choosing not to make the adult decision Binging on a novel late at night Sometimes choosing the wrong thing is the right decision 23:25 Genius / Fail moments Chris shares his parents-only “secret food” with the kids #genius Allison spooks her kids by hiding from them after they don’t want to go along with their normal bedtime routine and it was a major success #genius KWu says yes in the moment but wasn’t actually prepared for her son to join her in the kitchen.. #fail How can I support the podcast? Please follow us @parentdrivendev (https://twitter.com/parentdrivendev) on Twitter or email us at panel@parentdrivendevelopment.com (mailto:panel@parentdrivendevelopment.com). Our website is at ParentDrivenDevelopment.com (https://parentdrivendevelopment.com). Support us via Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/parentdrivendev) and get access to our our Slack Community! *As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Panel Chris Sexton (https://twitter.com/crsexton) Allison McMillan (https://twitter.com/allie_p) KWu (https://twitter.com/kwugirl)

Parent Driven Development Episode 050: Agile Household (https://yvonnemarcus.kartra.com/page/xt271) with Yvonne Marcus (http://www.yvonnemarcus.com/) Yvonne is a home system strategist, mom of two, lover of Girl Scout cookies, cake, craving song parodies and getting outdoors with the family. She is on a mission to revolutionize everyones view of #MomLife. She is the creator of your Agile Home, a four-week course that looks to get your family together, feel like a valued member of the team, instilling autonomy and having fun! 00:50 Welcome, Yvonne Marcus (https://twitter.com/agileyvonne) Background in TV production How Agile Home came about Bringing Agile into her home Establishing family values 07:10 When and how is Agile executed in Yvonne’s house? WFH, toddlers and setting values Run as SCRUM (https://amzn.to/3f8TYaW) The sprint process, and day-to-day process 10:40 Are the kids involved? Daily SCRUM board: white board (https://amzn.to/2BGMQVC) + Scrum board home toolset (https://amzn.to/2D96yJX) They participate in bi-weekly check in Dance party and breaks are essential 13:09 Accountability without the nagging Assignments to the person with the more strengths in that specific area 14:45 How do we get skeptical families on board? Start with the daily stand-up Start on your own, showcase success, then show those with doubts 18:50 Quarantine times Get rid of #MomGuilt ! 20:00 Genius / Fail moments Kwu’s children have both fallen to the ground from various chairs in the past week… #fail Chris Sexton and his wife didn't have any troubles with a PDD Twitter poll.. #win Arit creates a schedule for her son for his Zoom class and school work after realizing her son kept coming to her with every question #geniusfail Chris Arcand’s son is starting to say anything and everything he feels. Sassiness to come #fail Yvonne becomes the fun mom by dying her kids hair #genius Allison and her partner create space for “virtual travel” for her to prepare for GitHub’s satellite conference #genius ### How can I support the podcast? Please follow us @parentdrivendev (https://twitter.com/parentdrivendev) on Twitter or email us at panel@parentdrivendevelopment.com (mailto:panel@parentdrivendevelopment.com). Our website is at ParentDrivenDevelopment.com (https://parentdrivendevelopment.com). Support us via Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/parentdrivendev) and get access to our our Slack Community! *As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Panel Chris Sexton (https://twitter.com/crsexton) Allison McMillan (https://twitter.com/allie_p) KWu (https://twitter.com/kwugirl) Arit Amana (https://twitter.com/AritAmana) Chris Arcand (https://twitter.com/chrisarcand) Special Guest: Yvonne Marcus.

Parent Driven Development Episode 038: Women Mentorship with Kari Clark from Uplift Parents Welcome, Kari Clark! Kari is the founder Uplift Parents (https://www.upliftparents.com/), a coaching service for working moms. She previously worked at Google for 8 years, invented their live case product, and co-created many other products. Kari has two kids and believes that they both made her a better at her job! Interviewing over 100 women, all at the top of their field, Kari breaks down the common threads in successful working moms and how we all can amplify our lives. These are the best tips for working moms! 00:50 Welcome, Kari Had two kids during her time at google Became incredibly focused after kids Interviewing women at the top of their fields (all moms) and created Uplift (https://www.instagram.com/getuplifted/) 02:50 What was the trend of working moms from home and in the office? There is success in many ways Common trend, perspective, empathy and efficiency 04:45 Ruthless efficiency Make more of your time Details are huge after having kids OCD tendencies?! 7:35 How to balance efficiency with rest Uplift offers group or individual coaching sessions and encourages users to get off the hamster wheel and take time to reflect and make sure they are aligned with their path. Take time to savor your coffee, smell the flowers, and remember what’s important! Your careers are long, your kids are only very young for a short time 12:08 Enjoying work-life balance Feeling fulfilled from work, unapologetically, especially for women Creating intentional boundaries to spend time with family 14:10 Pushback from women mentorship Difference between mentorship and coaching Everyone has a nutritionist, trainer, and other specialists, why would you not have one on motherhood?? Networking was the number 1 thing that got cut in women’s career post kids 19:50 Not parenting advice, working mom advice New life changes encourage new life habits Uplift promotes big changes 2nd kid offers ease for moms and promotes big changes! 24:30 Moms and dads treated differently Dads are praised more than moms 25:40 Best “Zone Defense” tips for working moms Be kind to yourself! Logistical tip - be creative in how you delegate things Be comfortable with giving your kids responsibility, most will rise to the challenge Assign responsibilities for each partner, and trusting that they are taking care of it 34:20 How to delegate More intentionality behind choices Uplift encourages conversations about household tasks, etc Do you enjoy it? If not, delegate 39:10 Mom data from Uplift Parents 41:15 Genius / Fail moments Kwu’s son falls down the stairs :( Chris takes his son to The Lion King and forgets all diapers… Kari genius/fail combo on his son’s new school schedule Josh realizes he needs help with guiding his daughter academically, but his daughter is totally on board and cooperative #genius #win Allison’s daughter is extra exploratory and discovers essential oils! Follow & Support Please follow us @parentdrivendev (https://twitter.com/parentdrivendev) on Twitter or email us at panel@parentdrivendevelopment.com (mailto:panel@parentdrivendevelopment.com). Our website is at ParentDrivenDevelopment.com (https://parentdrivendevelopment.com). Support us via Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/parentdrivendev) and get access to our our Slack Community. Panel KWu (https://twitter.com/kwugirl) Allison McMillan (https://twitter.com/allie_p) Chris Arcand (https://twitter.com/chrisarcand) Josh Puetz (https://twitter.com/joshpuetz) Special Guest: Kari Clark.

Parent Driven Development Episode 037: New Panel Intro - Welcome Chris and Adarsh! This episode we feature two new panelists on Parent Driven Development, Chris Arcand and Adarsh Pandit! Chris is a Minnesota native holding two bachelor degrees in musical performance and computer science. After some years spent in Washington DC, Chris and his wife decided to return to their home in Minneapolis to start their family. They have a 2-year-old son and one more on the way! Chris currently works as a software engineer at Hashicorp. Welcome Chris. Adarsh is a developer consultant living in Oakland, California with his wife and two sons. He is the founder of Cylinder Digital and is currently on the Ruby Developer Board. Originally from Michigan, this former scientist taught himself code while working for boutique consulting firms. Adarsh is currently the primary caregiver at home and is embracing every sock and sandal dad moment he can get! Welcome Adarsh. 00:30 Welcome Chris and Adarsh! 00:51 Chris Arcand Chris shares a bit about his past work experience, family and himself! 03:04 Adarsh Pandit Adarsh shares a bit about his past work experience, family and himself! 05:40 Do we do too much? Adarsh’s wife is practicing physician and is super busy! Early mornings, late nights and even weekends Adarsh is totally a hands-on dad! Taking on the majority of childcare in the home (socks and sandals kind of guy with no shame) Bringing in software development tools into parenting, scheduling activities, etc… and they are useful! 07:25 Irregular work schedules This can cause more difficulty in scheduling for kids Kids thrive under routine and consistency and irregular schedules can be tough Adarsh currently does leadership consulting and is a CTO working about 20-30 hours a week, this gains him flexibility 09:10 Consulting and irregular work schedules, how do they mesh? Coding needs more focus and uninterrupted time, not conducive to irregular scheduling To-do lists are super important, but so is knowing when to let them go! 11:59 Summer vs. school schedules Allison’s kids are currently in year-round school, she preps for the years of summer camps, activities, and whole new schedules… uh oh! 14:05 Older kids get more responsibility You’re actually managing less as your kids grow up. Baby bags are essential! Kids bring extra hands on vacations Parents now empathize with crying babies AND the parents holding them 15:40 Traveling with young kids Trend in families with a known “bad baby traveler” The treats are not really necessary, a crying baby is normal Chris had a seat neighbor draw a panda on a bag for his youngster when he had an uncomfortable flight Overall consensus, we shouldnt be bribing each other 19:40 How moms and dads are treated differently Mom’s may be glared at for having a screaming baby on a plane, dad’s are instantly supported More empathy comes from parenthood, especially when you get more educated on child development 24:30 Growing families KWu’s son starts part-time preschool, and is expecting her second! Chris expects his second child as well Doula‘s plus photography bundle - are these photos too personal? Emergency births are very overwhelming Scheduled C sections are bizzare, but can be more calm 31:45 Multiple kids Is it the different personalities of the kids, or is the younger child a bit easier to manage? Multiple kids can help entertain each other Time goes quicker after each kid Kids learn lessons when having siblings Oldest vs youngest child 43:28 Genius / fail moments Adarsh's family camping trip ends in the hospital #fail Chris fails at pre-planning to move-out of his house.. by taking a vacation the week before! KWu fails at unpacking from her cross-country move, misplacing her microphone and engagement ring… Allison has a genius finishing her daughter’s “quiet book” Chris finds success by implements reading time before bed #genius JC has a proud dad moment #genius KWu’s forgets the bug repellent #fail, but scores from a teenager to keep her son safe! #genius Follow & Support Please follow us @parentdrivendev (https://twitter.com/parentdrivendev) on Twitter or email us at panel@parentdrivendevelopment.com (mailto:panel@parentdrivendevelopment.com). Our website is at ParentDrivenDevelopment.com (https://parentdrivendevelopment.com). Support us via Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/parentdrivendev) and get access to our our Slack Community. Panel KWu (https://twitter.com/kwugirl) Allison McMillan (https://twitter.com/allie_p) Chris Sexton (https://twitter.com/crsexton) JC Avena (https://twitter.com/jcavena) Chris Arcand (https://twitter.com/chrisarcand) Adarsh Pandit (https://twitter.com/adarshp)

Parent Driven Development Episode 036: Adoption This episode will discuss the process of international adoption, the major changes that hit home, and future challenges adopting parents and children face 00:28 Welcome, Kalimar How long does it take to adopt a child internationally? It took Kalimar 2 ½-3 years! Kalimar and his wife have had their baby girl for 6 months, she is now 21 month old Huge learning curve welcoming a child that already has mobility 01:12 Why choose adoption? Kalimar and his wife are 35+ and decided this was the right option for them 01:39 What is process for international adoption? Adoption ad in paper, an option International adoption agencies is most common and safe International adoption requirements: Micro scale of state approval, social workers, background checks, reading, workshops, cultural events, then moving to federal approval then international country approval 4:43 How hard is it to adopt a child? Is parenting easier or harder? The paperwork is tough, but Kalimar says parenting is harder! Everyone and every book has a different advice on parenting Kids don't come with instructions 6:05 Challenges of being a new parent? No more late nights because baby doesn’t sleep in The need for more friendly activities with friends, luckily most of Kalimar's friends already have kids! Secret sledding hills that have mostly been kid only zones are now opened up to play at 8:08 Experiencing everything with fresh eyes KWU's son is full of excitement and the energy is contagious Kalimar's daughter eats spaghetti for the first time and its adorable New toddlers like to explore their limits and gravity 10:36 Things to consider when adopting a child The challenges in adopting a newborn verse a toddler Kalimar had to baby proof before bringing his daughter home The danger kid zone within the house, everyone has one 12:20 Are post adoption services and consultants available? Yes! Massive support from adoption agency, trainings, workshops, other families and community members Why parenting classes are important and how biological parents should be put through parenting school just like adoption parents First day with adopted child - the bumps, triumphs and everything in between 15:23 How do you decide which agency or country to choose from? First google agency, then attend an open house and adoption seminars, see who you mesh with Factor in expense of international adoption cost and timeline that it will take 17:45 How do the adoption seminars prepare you? Kalimar reflects on the self question of making it known that his daughter is adopted in daycare or not Adoption transition tips - understanding the child is going through HUGE emotional changes Kalimar feels lucky his daughter is so adaptable How to talk about the adoption process with your child at the level they can understand. Open discussion is best, remove the taboo Adoptive parents do a whole lot of work and are totally the parents 24:13 Top parent concerns, are they adoption based? Kalimar worries about his daughter being treated as a minority, as he and his wife are caucasion and their daughter is Indian. Girl and dad relationship, other common worries Become a part of the local community of their daughters orgin Pros and cons of exposing your child to their origin country 28:46 Genius / Fail moments Chris stores old legos and toys in his attic until his friends with new babies need them. Out of the house and supporting a friend #parentingwin Allison gets crafty by using walkie-talkies to keep in touch with her 4-year-old son at her office HQ #genius JC’s 10-year-old daughter is a total catch! She learns how to put in the work to improve her skills as her teams catcher. KWU’s son is repeating everything. She’s noted to watch her language, but proud that her son has picked up on her good habits and is mimicking new language. Kalimar temps his daughter back to the dinner table by making it look like the most delicious time ever! Kids continue to throw food on the ground... to learn reaction and explore new roles #fail Follow & Support Please follow us @parentdrivendev (https://twitter.com/parentdrivendev) on Twitter or email us at panel@parentdrivendevelopment.com (mailto:panel@parentdrivendevelopment.com). Our website is at ParentDrivenDevelopment.com (https://parentdrivendevelopment.com). Support us via Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/parentdrivendev) and get access to our our Slack Community. Panel KWu (https://twitter.com/kwugirl) JC Avena (https://twitter.com/jcavena) Allison McMillan (https://twitter.com/allie_p) Chris Sexton (https://twitter.com/crsexton) Special Guest: Kalimar Maia.

Links:Allison's WebsiteAllison's Parent Driven Development PodcastGithub's website

Parent Driven Development Episode 034: Back to School and Extracurricular Activities for Kids 00:59 Welcome, Barrett Clark Barrett Clark is a data programmer, speaker and author of Data Visualization ToolKit. He is a longtime member of the Ruby community and a co-organizer of RailCamp South. Married for 22 years, Barrett and his wife have two teenage boys and a new dog. Ruby community Family: 2 highschool teenage sons (senior / sophomore) both in band. Parent advisors and past president to children’s band team 01:46 Extra curricular activities for kids Barrett’s son involved with band The parents get involved as well, to have the kids know that you value them and their interest carpools with fellow parents 08:25 Extra cirrculars taking up more time than school and work. How to deal? Helping kids see the importance of prioritizing (school, dating, work, band, etc) 12:20 Helping kids find their “thing” + Overly committing kids to activities to help them find a passion Signing your kids up for more activities Kids getting wiped out from over activity Teaching kids the importance of community at a young age 15:15 Help kids find their community Friends of similar interests and ideals Creating deeper bonds Certain activities lend towards a larger community than others. gymnastic - girls range from 12-18, while sports often limit to one age group 17:13 Becoming a part of your kids activities More time with your children Build your own community amongst the other parents involved with your kids Flexibility in being involved “part-time” 20:51 Uninvolved parents vs. involved parents Single parents Younger kids in school Parents helping each other get their kids to activities Making sure other kids have support if their parents aren’t there or too busy 25:45 Ways to keep busy parents in the loop: build greater community Film concerts, games, etc for distant family members or busy parents to help keep them involved Building the community feel past just teammates and classmates 27:28 Discussing the organization of extra cirrculars before getting involved Sit down and discuss with your child. what’s important to you most? will you have time for all these sports and clubs? Ask about the history of the organization and decipher if it’s the right fit for you and your child 30:02 How to deal with “that parent” + learning to manage other parents in your kids activities Don’t yell at refs Overly involved parent envy 32:14 The financial side Fundraisers - parents typically have to get involved as well Writing a check vs. spending the time on fundraisers Kids take responsibility (older kids) Parents budgeting for future extracurriculars for kids Non-negotiable extracurriculars for kids - kids choice vs. have-to’s Budgeted financial support for activity or sport 42:35 Genius / fail moments The volleyball team offers a weekend trial for students to try without commitment. #genius New favorite child when they take on your same activity Barrett plays catch up with son’s college applications - the struggles motivating your child and parent strategy #geniusfail Middle school back to school night, too many teachers and no quality time #failmoment Allison’s son on a mission to find Sukana bread… except she doesn’t know what it is #fail Kwu’s son’s first haircut goes awry #fail So Kwu stepped up, orders tools and cuts his hair at home now #genius Follow & Support Please follow us @parentdrivendev (https://twitter.com/parentdrivendev) on Twitter or email us at panel@parentdrivendevelopment.com (mailto:panel@parentdrivendevelopment.com). Our website is at ParentDrivenDevelopment.com (https://parentdrivendevelopment.com). Support us via Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/parentdrivendev) and get access to our our Slack Community. Panel KWu (https://twitter.com/kwugirl) Chris Sexton (https://twitter.com/crsexton) JC Avena (https://twitter.com/jcavena) Allison McMillan (https://twitter.com/allie_p) Josh Puetz (https://twitter.com/joshpuetz) Special Guest: Barrett Clark.

Parent Driven Development Episode 033: Raising Children Away From Family 00:28 Welcome, Adarsh Pandit Adarsh is a self taught coder, scientist and consultant. He is the founder of Cylinder Digital, a software design and development studio, and is on the board of Ruby Together. This episode we discuss what it’s like to raise a family, while living away from your parents and other family members. 03:00 The difficulties of raising a family away from family Lack of support Career trade offs Finding a sitter 07:01 Home-Ops: The Business Side of Raising a Family Who can help with childcare? Realizing the limitations of parents age and health as they get older Adjusting child care depending on the time, day or event that they are covering for. - who can drive? 13:30 - Coping with coordination Co-op babysitting Drop off playdates with neighbors 17:11 Finding the Right Child/Child and Parent/Parent Match Finding the perfect family match: kids need to get along and parents need to get along Building rapport with other families to become close enough to ask for favors for pick-up give specific dietary requirements, disciplining other kids and have other parents disciplining your kids “it’s probably fine” - trusting other parents with your kids 22:15 The Importance of Being a Patient Parent Without Extra Family Support Effective response to kids Managing stress - yoga, lots of water, getting outside, eating well 23:37 Work Flexibility Staying organized as a working parent Being a consultant has been helpful for Adarsh because he can dial up or down depending on the demands of the children. The benefits of being at home or working at home - enjoy the time with your toddlers because there will be a day they will not want your attention any more. 30:03 The Trade Offs of Having Two Working Parents Potential extra PTO for one the parents One parent typically has a more flexible schedule 32:30 Fail Moments More poop stories, because poop is always funny. #Fail 36:16 Showing Empathy Towards our Kids Kids are actually little people with little personalities and their own personal functions, weird!? Allowing kids to figure things out on their own. 39:30 Genius Moments Allison invites her son Devin on stage during a conference event and he tells says… “Mommy, I just want to be just like you when I grow up” #genius KWu’s diaper change at the playground #fail… having a spare outfit in the diaper bag #genius Adarsh gets his son to poop in the toilet #genius Follow & Support Please follow us @parentdrivendev (https://twitter.com/parentdrivendev) on Twitter or email us at panel@parentdrivendevelopment.com (mailto:panel@parentdrivendevelopment.com). Our website is at ParentDrivenDevelopment.com (https://parentdrivendevelopment.com). Support us via Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/parentdrivendev) and get access to our our Slack Community. Panel KWu (https://twitter.com/kwugirl) Allison McMillan (https://twitter.com/allie_p) Adarsh Pandit (https://twitter.com/adarshp)

Parent Driven Development Episode 032: Tackling More 00:45 Welcome, Dana Jones Our guest, Dana Jones (https://twitter.com/danabrit), Engineering Manager at Abstract (https://www.abstract.com/). Dana has 4 children. Came in to software development from an untraditional path. 2:00 Dana goes back to school Dana has also recently gone back to school to get her college degree and talks about her experience 5:15 talking about the people side of our work and people management 8:40 how do you organize yourself? 14:00 kids and driving 16:30 how are challenges different at different times in your life and when you’re kids are different ages 20:20 professional development with non-tiny children and child development/phases 22:00 Meeting kids where they’re at 23:00 how has family time changed as children have gotten older 25:00 ask more questions and give fewer answers at work and at home 28:00 moderating your reactions as a parent 35:37 Genius and Fail moments! Follow & Support Please follow us @parentdrivendev (https://twitter.com/parentdrivendev) on Twitter or email us at panel@parentdrivendevelopment.com (mailto:panel@parentdrivendevelopment.com). Our website is at ParentDrivenDevelopment.com (https://parentdrivendevelopment.com). Support us via Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/parentdrivendev) and get access to our our Slack Community. Panel KWu (https://twitter.com/kwugirl) Chris Sexton (https://twitter.com/crsexton) Allison McMillan (https://twitter.com/allie_p) Special Guest: Dana Jones.

Parent Driven Development Episode 031: Negotiating A Shorter Workweek 00:16 Welcome, Itamar Turner-Trauring Itamar Turner-Trauring started his software career in the cutting-edge field of multimedia CD-ROMs. He currently works as a consultant helping speed up Python code and deployments (https://pythonspeed.com), and shares his software and career mistakes every week with 3700 programmers on his Software Clown (https://softwareclown.com) newsletter. His crowning achievement as a parent was when months of brainwashing paid off and his daughter stopped saying "my legs are tired" and started saying "my legs are getting stronger! Itmar is that author of "You Can Negotiate A 3-Day Weekend" (https://codewithoutrules.com/3dayweekend/). 00:51 Working Part-Time as a Programmer and Writing a Book "You Can Negotiate A 3-Day Weekend (https://codewithoutrules.com/3dayweekend/) 03:54 Overcoming "This Isn't Normal" or "Entitlement" Feelings Negotiation is easier at your current job. Your work ethic is already established. Frame/approach it as a problem-solving situation. 08:05 Difficult Parts of Negotiation Harder to do up-front at new companies. Communication concerns. What about emergencies? Worries about getting work done and job commitment. 11:26 Scheduling Your Shorter Workweek Be courteous of your team. Plan around regularly-scheduled meetings. 14:40 Utilizing Extra Time as a Parent 17:52 Taking on Remote-Friendly Tasks + Peer Reactions 20:12 Output Value + Impact You can be productive and work shorter hours. The better the management, the less of an issue. Asking yourself, "What is enough work?" can be a struggle to measure when you're not counting hours. Honor your commitments. Parents are excellent multitaskers!!! 28:44 Genius / Fail Moments KWu uses a sippy cup at night so she doesn't knock it over. (#Genius) Chris told his daughter, "You are not your homework," which was adapted from "You are not your code!" (#Genius) Itmar's daughter's snack negotiation skills are getting more sophisticated. (#Genius/Fail) It took less than 90 seconds for Allison's life to fall apart in her household! (#Fail) Follow & Support Please follow us @parentdrivendev (https://twitter.com/parentdrivendev) on Twitter or email us at panel@parentdrivendevelopment.com (mailto:panel@parentdrivendevelopment.com). Our website is at ParentDrivenDevelopment.com (https://parentdrivendevelopment.com). Support us via Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/parentdrivendev) and get access to our our Slack Community. Panel KWu (https://twitter.com/kwugirl) Chris Sexton (https://twitter.com/crsexton) Allison McMillan (https://twitter.com/allie_p) Special Guest: Itamar Turner-Trauring.

Parent Driven Development Episode 026: Breastfeeding 01:21 Making Feeding Decisions KWu and Allison both breastfed. Mandy did not. Feeling tied down vs feeling guilt. 13:32 Things They Don't Tell You Nursing clothes suck. Lactation happens even if you don't breastfeed! So many people struggle with nursing issues. Hormone shifts as you ween. 19:05 Navigating Conflicting Information Everyone has an opinion. There is no one way to do it. 30:30 Breastfeeding in Public When kids play with your boobs. Covers are B.S. 33:18 Toddler Talk Feeding around siblings. 34:34 Health Benefits and Science 36:57 Genius / Fail Moments KWu: Her son stole her husband's credit card! (#Fail) Allison: Forgot about the Kinder Egg. (#Fail) Mandy: Youth/Adult Bowling League fun. (#Genius) Follow & Support Please follow us @parentdrivendev (https://twitter.com/parentdrivendev) on Twitter or email us at panel@parentdrivendevelopment.com (mailto:panel@parentdrivendevelopment.com). Our website is at ParentDrivenDevelopment.com (https://parentdrivendevelopment.com). Support us via Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/parentdrivendev) and get access to our our Slack Community. Panel KWu (https://twitter.com/kwugrl) Mandy Moore (https://twitter.com/therubyrep) Allison McMillan (https://twitter.com/allie_p)

Engineering Management With Allison McMillan TableXI is now offering training for developers and products teams! For more info, email workshops@tablexi.com or visit the web at http://tablexi.com/workshops. Guest Allison McMillan (https://twitter.com/allie_p): Engineering Manager at GitHub (https://github.com/); Atom (https://atom.io/); Creator of the Parent Driven Development Podcast (https://www.parentdrivendevelopment.com/). Blogs at DayDreams in Ruby (http://daydreamsinruby.com/). Summary Today on the show we’re talking about engineering management. Allison McMillan is an engineering manager for the Atom team at GitHub. We talk about what her role is within the team, how she helps her team grow and improve, and how the management role is different from her previous developer jobs. We’d like to hear from you. What makes a great engineering manager? Let us know at techdoneright.io/55 or on Twitter at @tech_done_right Notes 01:48 - What does an Engineering Manager do? 05:29 - Having Effective and Successful Meetings 12:20 - Goals as a Developer and Teammate 22:56 - Becoming an Engineering Manager 27:34 - Expectations and Challenges 32:01 - Measuring Yourself and Your Progress 35:10 - Plans to Improve / Having Teammates Rate Your Performance as a Manager Related Episodes Episode 003: Remote Work with Allison McMillan and Bradley Schaefer (https://www.techdoneright.io/003-remote-work) Special Guest: Allison McMillan.

** Warning: This episode contains potential holiday spoilers for young children. Parent Driven Development Episode 023: The Holidays: A Retrospective 00:18 Spending the holidays with your extended family... When families celebrate different holidays and observe different religions Code-switching (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code-switching) 12:28 ...Or spending the holidays alone and making new traditions! Elf on the Shelf (https://www.elfontheshelf.com/) NORAD Santa Tracker (https://www.noradsanta.org/) 17:00 Compromise and Respect; Expectation Setting When kids are younger, the holidays don't matter as much. You want to pass on things you did as a child to your own child(ren) 25:31 The Reality When no one pays attention to your wishes Thoughts about the future 31:05 Genius / Fail Moments Mandy: Remembered to move the Elf every day this year! (#Genius) Allison: Her and her husband remembered that their local avaition museum membership had a sister museum close to her inlaws. (#Genius) KWu: Her son blew his diaper in the carseat on the way home from her parent's house and uninstalled the carseat. (#Fail) Follow & Support Please follow us @parentdrivendev (https://twitter.com/parentdrivendev) on Twitter or email us at panel@parentdrivendevelopment.com (mailto:panel@parentdrivendevelopment.com). Our website is at ParentDrivenDevelopment.com (https://parentdrivendevelopment.com). Support us via Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/parentdrivendev) and get access to our our Slack Community. Panel Mandy Moore (https://twitter.com/therubyrep) KWu (https://twitter.com/kwugirl) Allison McMillan (https://twitter.com/allie_p)

Parent Driven Development Episode 022: Single Parenting 00:46 Single parenting is becoming more common... ... but events can feel ostracizing. Logistics are hard to navigate. There are full-time and half-time single parents. 04:06 It takes a village Having a support system. (Friends, neighbors, family members) Non-nuclear families / modern family situations. 10:55 Dating as a single parent Introducing kids to significant others. When is it appropriate? When kids do/don't get attached to partners. 21:27 Challenges and eases of single parenting Drama: engaging and avoiding. Making decisions solo vs with someone else. Holding onto resentment/anger/confusion/disappointment towards the other parent. Questions from kids as they get older. Sometimes you just want to quit! 35:15 Supporting single parents Talk to them. Don't ask intrusive questions. Don't assume single parents live off of child support. Just don't assume, period. 39:43 Genius / Fail Moments Mandy: Her daughter made sure she had Christmas presents. (#Genius) Allison: Her son specifically wants to donate to a hospital on a beach that helps Jewish boys with broken bones that are healing. (#Genius) Jess: Took her son's stuffed animal on adventures because he forgot him at home. (#Genius) KWu: Her son is trying awesome new foods and less than 50% ends up on the floor! (#Genius) Follow & Support Please follow us @parentdrivendev (https://twitter.com/parentdrivendev) on Twitter or email us at panel@parentdrivendevelopment.com (mailto:panel@parentdrivendevelopment.com). Our website is at ParentDrivenDevelopment.com (https://parentdrivendevelopment.com). Support us via Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/parentdrivendev) and get access to our our Slack Community. Panel Mandy Moore (https://twitter.com/therubyrep) KWu (https://twitter.com/kwugirl) Jess Szmajda (https://twitter.com/jszmajda) Allison McMillan (https://twitter.com/allie_p)

Parent Driven Development Episode 020: Fertility Struggles 00:23 Welcome, Adam Cuppy (https://twitter.com/AdamCuppy)! Adam started as a professional actor, turned the corner into advertising, and found his way to tech entrepreneurship and education. Adam performed for the world-renowned Oregon Shakespeare Festival (https://www.osfashland.org/) before making his way into creative direction for Dutch Bros. Coffee (https://www.dutchbros.com/), where he oversaw brand strategy for all of their franchised locations. After six years at Dutch Bros., he co-founded Define Your Edge; the mission: to maximize the customer experience, understand the “why,” and let that influences the “how.” Within a few years, he co-founded Zeal (https://codingzeal.com/). When not writing code, he speaks internationally on company culture, software development best-practices, and agile methodologies. And, if you’re one of the rare few, you may catch him on stage. 01:17 Adam's Background with Fertility Struggles Adam and his wife tried for many years to conceive a child naturally before deciding to undergo medical testing to better determine any underlying issues as to why they were unable to do so. Initially, everyone assumed it was his wife, Julia, who was experiencing problems and was unable to get pregnant, however, it turned out that Adam was the one experiencing problems across the board. Roughly 15% of couples have issues with getting pregnant. Adam first went an got a personal trainer in attempt to increase testosterone levels naturally, and though they explored more invasive means of conception including IVF, they did not have to go that route and ending up conceiving about four months later. 08:55 The Emotional Weight of the Journey The feeling of failure weighed heavily, especially when it seemed like everyone around them (but them) was getting pregnant and having kids. Unfortunately, there was also a miscarriage involved at one point which contributed to a deep sense of loss and more failure. Julia and Adam did differ emotionally whereas Adam felt it would always work out and they would become parents one way or another. Julia felt that maybe it just wasn't in their destiny. Julia was also a high school teacher at the time, so watching teen pregnancies during school or shortly after they graduated was hard on her as well. 15:38 The Lack of Community for Males with Fertility Struggles Adam stresses how important as a man and 50% a part of the conception equation it is to have conversations around these problems. There are a lot less moving parts for men then there are for women to become a pregnant couple, therefore a lot of people equate fertility issues in men with masculinity or lack thereof. 21:43 Loving Parenting After the Conception and Birthing Journey Adam gets asked the question often of whether or not he values being a parent more because it was such a struggle to get where he and his wife are today. He's discovered he values the journey a lot more, and it has given him a greater sense that while it was hard, there are many other things in his life that are hard and worth pursuing. 26:46 Finding Your Acceptance and Allowing Other Parents to Find Their Own Whether it's because you cannot have more children, do not feel comfortable having more children, or want to or need to pursue different ways of becoming a parent again in the future, everyone has to find their own path and no path is the wrong path. No one is less of a parent than anyone else regardless of the journey. 28:56 Resources Being open about the challenge with close friends and/or family. Comminity support groups. (Hospitals/Fertility Clinics.) "Those who struggle together, learn together." Going online and look for the positive things. Tracking ovulation. 32:50 Genius / Fail Moments Mandy: Cut down her own Christmas tree and got it out of the forrest, into her truck, out of her truck, into her house, and up her stairs into a standing position in the corner of her living room (albeit after four hours), but she did it and she did it her damn self! (#Genius) Jess: Daniel Tiger songs are pretty cool, therefore strategic screentime is okay! (#Genius) Adam: "Tooter Checks"! (#Genius) Allison: Not traveling far for Thanksgiving and bring the kid's pajamas with you if you do go anywhere. (#Genius) Follow & Support Please follow us @parentdrivendev (https://twitter.com/parentdrivendev) on Twitter or email us at panel@parentdrivendevelopment.com (mailto:panel@parentdrivendevelopment.com). Our website is at ParentDrivenDevelopment.com (https://parentdrivendevelopment.com). Support us via Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/parentdrivendev) and get access to our our Slack Community. Panel Mandy Moore (https://twitter.com/therubyrep) Allison McMillan (https://twitter.com/allie_p) Jess Szmajda (https://twitter.com/jszmajda) Special Guest: Adam Cuppy.

Parent Driven Development Episode 019: Being Adults 00:25 Welcome, Jonan Scheffler (https://twitter.com/thejonanshow)! Jonan is a free-range computer sciencer at Heroku (https://www.heroku.com/) and cheerleader for hire (all major hugs accepted). He is also a board member of RubyTogether (https://rubytogether.org/) and all-around swell human being! We recorded this episode live and in-person at this year's RubyConf (http://rubyconf.com/) in Los Angeles. 01:09 Catching Up On Sleep, Spending Time with Friends, and Spending Spousal Points Conferences are NOT vacations, y'all! Traveling as a job. Being present at home. Partying is WORK. 11:16 Communicating to Loved Ones at Home Facetiming, calling, audio messaging. 18:50 Going Home / Reentry to the Parenting World 25:04 It Takes a Village... Support Systems When Away 29:30 Self-Care While Away Treats! Massage! Movies on the plane! Room service! Fancy coffee! Tattoos!?! 32:34 Genius / Fail Moments Allison: Her son drew her a picture "so Mommy doesn't scream as much". (#Fail); Attending an anger management for parents of small children class. (#Genius) Mandy: Forgot to download things to her devices on the way to LA! (#Fail) Josh: Mistook a sprained ankle for growing pains. (#Fail) KWu: Mistook roseola for windburn! (#Fail) Jonan: Ruined waffles for his kids. (#Fail) Andy: His daughter learned how to swim! (#Genius) Follow & Support Please follow us @parentdrivendev (https://twitter.com/parentdrivendev) on Twitter or email us at panel@parentdrivendevelopment.com (mailto:panel@parentdrivendevelopment.com). Our website is at ParentDrivenDevelopment.com (https://parentdrivendevelopment.com). Support us via Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/parentdrivendev) and get access to our our Slack Community. Panel Andy Croll (https://twitter.com/andycroll) Mandy Moore (https://twitter.com/therubyrep) Allison McMillan (https://twitter.com/allie_p) Josh Puetz (https://twitter.com/joshpuetz) KWu (https://twitter.com/kwugirl) Special Guest: Jonan Scheffler.

Parent Driven Development Episode 018: Designing Apps/Digital Products for Parents 00:24 Welcome, Anne Halsall (https://twitter.com/annekate) and Sara Mauskopf (https://twitter.com/sm)! Anne is the co-founder & head of product of at Winnie (https://winnie.com/). Sara is the CEO. 01:12 Coming Up With Winnie: Providing Local Information for People With Children Great app to use for travel! Gives parents child-friendly reccomendations for activities, places to eat, things to see. 03:12 Content Moderation and Quality Winnie is a crowdsourced platform similar to Yelp or Quora where you can both ask questions or give advice. You can post under a pseudonym or anonymously in a community that is very well monitored and moderated. 05:23 Gathering Information Grew organically from private beta testing. The community would add members: friends and family. 06:23 Monetization Winnie is venture-backed. It's very important to keep the app free and accessible to all. 08:32 Building an App For and Around Parenting Parents are wonderful participants and well-behaved to boot. Content that could be considered harmful is not distributed. 11:06 How do you have time to be a parent AND work a full-time J-O-B?!?! Family-friendly workplace. Kids give you motivation. Attitudes towards parents are changing. 15:53 Winnie's Childcare Discovery Platform Links to the Licensing Database to make sure that places are legit. Childcare providers aren't necessarily web marking gurus -- many do not have sweet websites or the time/budget to create them. Rage-driven Development. 21:21 Holy Crap! Kids and Parents Exist in San Francisco?! 22:23 Topic Channels Connecting parents based on special interests. 24:10 Favorite Parts of Being a Parent and a Founder 27:11 Genius / Fail Moments Mandy: Her daughter reffered to Hillary Clinton as Harley Quinn (#Fail) Jess: Comparing voting to choosing between chocolate cake and ice cream (#Genius) Allison: Suggesting her toddler to "stop and think." (#Genius) Sara: Her daughter needs to cut back on the watching of Daniel Tiger after renaming her sister after the sister on the show! (#Fail) Anne: Her 4-year-old confused "voting day" with "boating day" and broke his heart. (#Fail) Follow & Support Please follow us @parentdrivendev (https://twitter.com/parentdrivendev) on Twitter or email us at panel@parentdrivendevelopment.com (mailto:panel@parentdrivendevelopment.com). Our website is at ParentDrivenDevelopment.com (https://parentdrivendevelopment.com). Support us via Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/parentdrivendev) and get access to our our Slack Community. Panel Chris Sexton (https://twitter.com/crsexton) Mandy Moore (https://twitter.com/therubyrep) Josh Puetz (https://twitter.com/joshpuetz) Jess Szmajda (https://twitter.com/jszmajda) Allison McMillan (https://twitter.com/allie_p)

Parent Driven Development Episode 016: Media Picks! Great Apps, Books, Shows, Etc. For Kids 01:15 T.V. Shows / Binge Watching Discussion The Good Place (https://www.nbc.com/the-good-place) (Josh) 05:56 Music Avoid "Kids" Music!! Bee Gees - Stayin' Alive (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNFzfwLM72c) (Allison) Apple Music (https://www.apple.com/music/) (Chris) 08:54 Games A great bluffing game is Sheriff of Nottingham (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/157969/sheriff-nottingham) (Chris) Go Fish (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_Fish) (Allison) Chutes and Ladders (https://www.amazon.com/Chutes-Ladders-Game-Amazon-Exclusive/dp/B00000DMF6) (Allison) Fish Stix (https://www.amazon.com/Peaceable-Kingdom-Award-Winning-Fish/dp/B002CG87Z0) (Allison) How to make Candy Land tolerable (even fun) (http://blankdrums.blogspot.com/2016/01/how-to-make-candy-land-tolerable-even.html?m=1) (Josh) What Are the Odds? Chutes and Ladders (http://blog.minitab.com/blog/fun-with-statistics/what-are-the-odds-chutes-and-ladders) (Josh) BoardGameGeek (https://boardgamegeek.com/) (Josh) Survive: Escape from Atlantis (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/2653/survive-escape-atlantis) (Chris) Harry Potter Hogwarts Battle (https://www.amazon.com/Hogwarts-Cooperative-Building-Official-Merchandise/dp/B01EIKRP0K/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1541527232&sr=8-3&keywords=harry+potter+hogwarts+battle) (Josh) PBS Kids App (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pbs-kids-games/id1050773989?mt=8) (Allison) 20:08 T.V. Shows (Cont'd) Phineas and Ferb (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phineas_and_Ferb) (Chris) 21:05 Asking Alexa She tells stories! She's got jokes! She'll play music! She can even add toilet paper to your grocery list! 23:16 'yesmum' Cards (http://www.londonhypnobirthing.co.uk/shop/) 24:31 YouTube Channels SciShow (https://www.youtube.com/scishow) vlogbrothers (https://www.youtube.com/vlogbrothers) 27:10 Apps (Cont'd) Toca Boca (https://tocaboca.com/) 28:55 What We Wish We Had Filtering options that work on services like Hulu and Netflix Better screen time controls Devices that let kids know what the limits are for time budgeting 36:03 Genius / Fail Moments Chris: Using bribes. (#Genius) Josh: Cookbooks! Cooking Class: 57 Fun Recipes Kids Will Love to Make (and Eat!) (https://www.amazon.com/dp/1612124003?ref=yo_pop_ma_swf) and Cooking Rocks! by Rachael Ray (https://www.amazon.com/Cooking-Rocks-Rachael-30-Minute-Meals/dp/1891105159/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1541530540&sr=8-1&keywords=rachael+ray+kid+cookbook). (#Genius) Allison: Her son and her had a little argument and Allison yelled (#Fail), but then they came together and calmed down and walked away better and unscathed. (#Genius) Follow & Support Please follow us @parentdrivendev (https://twitter.com/parentdrivendev) on Twitter or email us at panel@parentdrivendevelopment.com (mailto:panel@parentdrivendevelopment.com). Our website is at ParentDrivenDevelopment.com (https://parentdrivendevelopment.com). We are listener supported. Please consider Supporting us via Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/parentdrivendev) and gaining access to our our kind Slack Community. Panel Chris Sexton (https://twitter.com/crsexton) Allison McMillan (https://twitter.com/allie_p) Josh Puetz (https://twitter.com/joshpuetz)

Parent Driven Development Episode 012: Traveling with Kids 00:48 The Great Screen Debate Today's particular panelists are all about screens while traveling as long as it's not detracting from the travel experience. Everyone agrees that screens are a great way to keep kids occupied and quiet. 08:09 Transportation Challenges, Woes, and Genius Tips When your kid gets flagged on her first plane ride... TSA Pre√ (https://www.tsa.gov/precheck) (Worth its weight in gold!!) Download shows to devices in advance Have a variety of activities (besides screens) Hotel Paper & Pens Books Cheerios ... and a Walkman (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walkman)? Building Up Good Will with People Around You: Is it worth bribing others (with chocolate??) and socializing or should they just deal with you traveling with your kiddo(s)? Use Car Services like Lyft! (https://www.lyft.com/) 24:25 Transportation + Car Seats (Deserves its own conversation, obviously.) Amazon a cheap one + have delivered to your destination then donate when you go home (Pro tip: Do the same thing with diapers!) Uber and Lyft have car seat options in select cities (https://offspring.lifehacker.com/how-to-ride-with-a-car-seat-in-an-uber-or-lyft-1826237627) Renting Car Seats: Yay or Nay? 32:58 On-The-Go Childcare Hotel Concierge - Check Yelp (https://www.yelp.com/) Reviews! Make sure you know where the closest hospital/urgent care center is 37:46 We're Here. Now What? Google "Top 10 things to do in X" Use an app like Winnie (https://winnie.com/) 39:48 A Round of Helpful Hints and Tricks Josh: If possible, get a hotel room with a separate bedroom. Mandy: Hotels with pools are delightful. (Especially if your kids can swim on their own.) Also use Uber Eats (https://www.ubereats.com) for food delivery to the hotel if going out is undesirable. Chris: Pizza chains will deliver to hotel pools for an easy pizza party. Great for traveling sports teams! Allison: Bring a roll of duct tape and use a taller chair on the side of the bed to act as a bedrail. Andy: Aluminum foil and a sponge! 43:42 Genius / Fail Moments Allison: MilkStork (https://www.milkstork.com/): A breast milk shipping company when you're away from your infant. Andy: Andy's son offered his teddy bear to a friend in need! Chris: Playing Mario Kart (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario_Kart) on the Nintendo Wii (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii) as a family activity to teach good sportsmanship and kindness. Mandy: Staying on the boardwalk part of the beach on the ground level. Also, if you do a lot of traveling, save up points! Mandy uses Marriott Rewards (https://www.marriott.com/loyalty.mi) to get free nights in select hotels for summer vacation fun! Follow & Support Please follow us @parentdrivendev (https://twitter.com/parentdrivendev) on Twitter or email us at panel@parentdrivendevelopment.com (mailto:panel@parentdrivendevelopment.com). Our website is at ParentDrivenDevelopment.com (https://parentdrivendevelopment.com). Support us via Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/parentdrivendev) and get access to our our Slack Community. Panel Andy Croll (https://twitter.com/andycroll) Chris Sexton (https://twitter.com/crsexton) Allison McMillan (https://twitter.com/allie_p) Mandy Moore (https://twitter.com/therubyrep) Josh Puetz (https://twitter.com/joshpuetz)

Parent Driven Development Episode 011: Being a Trans Parent 00:30 We're joined by our friend Jess (https://twitter.com/jszmajda) today We've been soliciting questions from our audience which will help guide our conversation today 02:00 How do you help young children who want to categorize everything in to boys and girls? How do we talk about boy parts and girl parts and gender identity especially with young children? It's a complex topic. Different children classify in different ways. Does it talk to how we socialize children? It changes when your children interact with other children in school. Science has proven that gender identity is mostly internal and it is in flux until children are around 3 and then they demonstrate more behaviors that can be associated with a specific gender. 07:50 How much do body parts relate to gender identity? Talking about body parts and explaining that you can't tell what a person is by looking at them. You need to ask, 9:00 Children see the world in different ways There's a need to talk to children in different ways because the way children classify and categorize are different. It's important to reach a child in a way that makes sense for them. You can still categorize and have these boundaries but talking about what defining characteristics and boundaries are is important. We're seeing more categories now that are gender non-binary or gender fluid and that's another set of categories to introduce and look for in books. When other people define those categories, it's also very difficult and overwriting peer pressure and social norms is tough. We have to understand details and nuance. Needing to overwrite social norms and outside influence is so much of parenting. It's a beautiful thing when parents can help their children learn compassion and talk through these questions. 14:14 If a child sees someone and wants to know what gender that person is, what is a good way to make sure we're guiding them correctly and having them ask in a way that is not offense and hurtful to the individual? Parents react in a variety of ways when children ask. Jess talks about some of the reactions she's gotten and what is helpful in the moment. The polite way to ask as an adult is "hi, my pronouns are and . What are your pronouns?" It's hard to tell by looking at folks so it can be normalized by just asking. Sarah talks about a camp that does this and the children have picked up on it super quickly. Kids are much more open to these discussions now than we are at our age and they might be more open to these discussions because they are being raised in a different time. 19:50 Listener comment Conversations about a trans girl in elementary school led to a lot of parental learning. 20:20 Are younger kids talking about this more and recognizing this earlier? Definitely. Talking about media representations and cultural expectations of trans people in the past and present. Late transitioners are going to become less and less common. 22:00 What's helpful as parents to make sure our children feel comfortable having these conversations with us? Podcast: How to be a girl (http://www.howtobeagirlpodcast.com/) about a parent raising a trans girl Book: Transgender 101 (https://www.amazon.com/Transgender-101-Simple-Guide-Complex/dp/0231157134) helps address these issues As well as some helpful questions and approaches for parents with children talking about gender identification. 25:00 - 28:30 How do you deal with people who can't understand? trigger warning Gender dysphoria and depression dysphoria and euphoria. Talking about calling in a support system and recognizing how to be honest with ourselves and our families. 29:00 As parents, how to support trans families? Best allies are simple things like using the correct pronouns because it's more about being a person and not about being trans. Jess shares a Mother's Day story which shows fellow parent support and an example of allyship. 32:00 How to help young children develop identity in a world of gender policing? Graciously accept gifts and then lose them. Trying to phrase things as play or as talking about play as what the child is doing. Giving children options is good as well. 36:00 What are good resources? Red: A Crayon's Story (https://www.amazon.com/Red-Crayons-Story-Michael-Hall/dp/0062252070) I am Jazz (https://www.amazon.com/I-Am-Jazz-Jessica-Herthel/dp/0803741073/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=) Kids books are few and far between. For adults, pflag (https://www.pflag.org/) chapters are also good. Jenny Boylan (http://jenniferboylan.net/) as an author is great. Jess is also happy to chat on twitter! 39:00 Genius / Fail moments Allison - I took my son to see the fireworks and he was excited but also terrified and asked to leave. I thought it was ok but then once we got home we needed to have a long discussion about how he's safe in the house from fireworks. I may have scarred him for life. #Fail Chris - My kids wanted to wash the truck which was great but then they got bored of washing and took the hose to the side yard and now it's a muddy mess. #Genius Jess - My son's daycare has been growing cucumbers and he brought home cucumbers to make pickles! #Genius Josh - The food wars continue. My daughter helps me pick out the meals that get sent every week so she recognizes that she's agreed to what gets sent. #Genius Sarah - My daughter drew a picture of being a spider vet when she grows up, but actually it was a spider pirate. She's got a great imagination. #Genius Also, future genius? Family vacations are hard so instead of a family trip. We're doing 1-on-1 trips depending on where each child wants to go. 53:40 Contact Us! Tell us if you have a question you want us to discuss on air! Follow & Support Please follow us @parentdrivendev (https://twitter.com/parentdrivendev) on Twitter or email us at panel@parentdrivendevelopment.com (mailto:panel@parentdrivendevelopment.com). Our website is at ParentDrivenDevelopment.com (https://parentdrivendevelopment.com) Support us via Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/parentdrivendev) and get access to our our Slack Community. Panel: Josh Puetz (https://twitter.com/joshpuetz) Sarah Olson (https://twitter.com/saraheolson) Allison McMillan (https://twitter.com/allie_p) Chris Sexton (https://twitter.com/crsexton) Special Guest: Jess Szmajda.

Parent Driven Development Episode 010: Doing Good with Kids, Live Episode 00:50 We're LIVE from Ruby For Good (https://rubyforgood.org/) 02:30 How do we make our kids do good? School is a good place to start. There are lots of options for kids and parents to start out. We talk about different activities at different ages, preschool to high school 03:37 Where to start when you want to have childcare at your conference Treat it as any other vendor Go to the conference venue and ask for recommendations Ask for recommendations from the hotel, local user groups, etc. 5:30 Various programs are mentioned For Girl Scout cookies (https://www.girlscouts.org/en/cookies/all-about-cookies.html) you can purchase a cookie to have sent to troops overseas Girls on the Run (https://www.girlsontherun.org/) each session has a theme related to "good" things 6:40 For young children, focus on having the conversation What does it mean to do good things? We talk about PJ Library (https://pjlibrary.org/home) and Tikkun Olam (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tikkun_olam) Simple things are good like the Dawn soap (https://dawn-dish.com/en-us/dawn-saves-wildlife) that you can use to tell a story Box Tops (https://www.boxtops4education.com/) can be taken to school The more exposure, the better 9:50 Bring the kids along At this conference, bringing kids can help them see that we're doing good things. It also happens when kids see you packing up food for shelters. The more exposure you have, the better JC talks about how they help people move a lot. Religious institutions are also a good way to find opportunities. Mandy talks about doing something nice for a homeless person and the conversation that resulted from that action 13:30 Helping family is also a good option Helping family members and grandparents can be very important. Finding places with family and extended family or neighbors to do good things for is really great. Helping our kids be aware of opportunities to help others is key 17:00 The News We talk about what's going on in the world and how we help our kids understand them. Do we bring our children to rallies? or marches? What is the importance of talking about what is going on in the news and being aware of how it affects our children, the world, and others. How do we support our children if they want to participate in walk-outs or some of the activism happening with our kids these days? 21:20 - 22:53 Trigger Warning: We talk a bit about the Parkland Shooting and gun violence related to our children 23:00 What do we do for the world for our kids? Beyond involving our kids, we get involved in issues that affect the world our children are growing up in Like elections, environment, infrastructure, etc. Writing letters to the Senate can be incredibly important so that funding continues for life changing programs. 26:30 Showing kids that doing good is also bi-directional. You give and you get. Local tech stuff, mentoring, starting a Women Who Code (https://www.womenwhocode.com/) chapter and more 29:00 Monetary donations are also great Sometimes you're not going to be able to do things hands-on, giving money is also important Involve kids in where to donate Allow children to allocate money to a charity or charity type Birthdays are a great opportunity as well, money to charity instead of gifts 34:00 Genius / Fail moments Allison - We sleep trained our daughter! We were going to wait but we didn't and it's worked out really well. #Genius JC - Teenager was being a teenager and we took him off the Spotify premium family plan. #Genius Chris - My son doesn't enunciate always and we had a Trader Joe's chicken in the freezer and we called it Emergency Chicken. One day Lars was in class and said Emergency Chicken is his favorite food. #Fail Mandy - I've been super busy this conference season and end of the school year and I missed an email from a teacher which apparently said there were portfolio reading. My daughter was super sad and I just missed it. But I'm making up for it! #Fail 44:40 Contact Us! Tell us if you have a question you want us to discuss on air! Follow & Support Please follow us @parentdrivendev (https://twitter.com/parentdrivendev) on Twitter or email us at panel@parentdrivendevelopment.com (mailto:panel@parentdrivendevelopment.com). Our website is at ParentDrivenDevelopment.com (https://parentdrivendevelopment.com) Support us via Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/parentdrivendev) and get access to our our Slack Community. Panel: Mandy Moore (https://twitter.com/therubyrep) Allison McMillan (https://twitter.com/allie_p) JC Avena (https://twitter.com/jcavena) Chris Sexton (https://twitter.com/crsexton)

Parent Driven Development Episode 009: Planning Childcare at Conferences 00:25 We're joined by Abby Phoenix (https://twitter.com/aphoenix) today 01:00 When did childcare at Ruby Central events start? started in 2015 and have now been at 6 conferences The intention is to always have childcare at RailsConf (https://railsconf.com/) and RubyConf (https://rubyconf.org/) 03:37 Where to start when you want to have childcare at your conference Treat it as any other vendor Go to the conference venue and ask for recommendations Ask for recommendations from the hotel, local user groups, etc. 6:10 Smaller conferences Smaller conferences are a little more difficult but also easier because if it's in the same location every year you can use the same provider year after year 7:30 Very important that childcare is based in the city of the conference They know how to get around They have alternative options They are on time They have the equipment they need 9:10 How many people use childcare at conferences? Typically 5-7 kids Usually younger children especially since RubyConf and RailsConf are during the school year so most older children are in school Always a question of whether or not a parent can make it work because bringing a child to a conference can be challenging 13:45 Lactation room is also offered Visibility is very important It is important that it is known in the community that childcare and lactation rooms are available at these conferences What to call the lactation room? How it works at a conference to make sure you don't get walking in on and to make sure it is easy The lactation room has outlets and a fridge. 20:20 We tangent about all the things we can't wait to forget as parents Diapers Wiping bums and more 21:30 Lactation rooms are really easy to put in place as a conference organizer 22:20 What have been the biggest challenges of providing childcare at a conference? There were things we did not know to ask when we started and so now we have a list which is helpful Abby goes in to which questions they have started to ask 26:00 What do you wish you could provide? Evening childcare so parents can do things. They will try to work with childcare providers to offer after-hours care but can't provide it themselves 31:00 Childcare is often tailored to 1-5 year olds Most of the participants are younger 32:00 Mandy talks about what you can do with an older child at a conference Is it worth it to bring an older child to a conference? What conferences have a "kids track"? How to engage older kids at conferences? The childcare provider will often tailor childcare towards the age range of the children there 39:30 What are the costs involved for organizers and participants Participants are not charged for using childcare Discussion about costs in different cities 44:00 Genius / Fail moments Allison - My daughter has had a rough few weeks and loves being bounced on a ball but it's tiring for me and hurts my back, so I put her on the ball, tummy down, bounced her, and it calmed her down and she got gas out #Genius Andy - After a difficult day, my daughter wrote "I love you daddy, even when you're grumpy" #Genius? or #Fail? Mandy - My daughter got the principals award for having a positive attitude, was responsible, did homework, and more. I was very proud! #Genius KWu - I'm on call for the week and so I set up a daybed in the office and negotiated with my husband that after the wake-ups, I would go to the office and turn off the monitor and be off duty for a few hours #Genius Abby - My daughters are very picky eaters. My youngest will eat waffles that she'll eat for breakfast. Recently she brought one over to me and said, "mommy I really like these. I like that there is candy inside" #Fail With my oldest, I asked her to describe her perfect meal and I thought she'd talk about candy or ice cream but she said "My perfect meal is a cheese plate" and so from then on every night has been a cheese plate for dinner, which to her means little bits of a variety of food #Genius 54:00 RubyConf is coming! Find more information at @rubyconf (https://twitter.com/rubyconf) and rubyconf.org (https://rubyconf.org/) has some information right now. Registration will open in August or September 54:40 Contact Us! Email us to ask questions. Follow & Support Please follow us @parentdrivendev (https://twitter.com/parentdrivendev) on Twitter or email us at panel@parentdrivendevelopment.com (mailto:panel@parentdrivendevelopment.com). Our website is at ParentDrivenDevelopment.com (https://parentdrivendevelopment.com) Support us via Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/parentdrivendev) and get access to our our Slack Community. Panel: Mandy Moore (https://twitter.com/therubyrep) Allison McMillan (https://twitter.com/allie_p) KWu (https://twitter.com/kwu) Andy Croll (https://twitter.com/andycroll) Special Guest: Abby Phoenix.

Parent Driven Development Episode 008: Remote working with kids 00:37 Who all works remotely? 02:30 Working remotely with kids at home Lifestyle choice Nursing and alternate schedules Spouses working from home as well 06:00 Working remotely before and after having a child The difference between working from home with a spouse also working from home vs. not Hard starts and stops to your day 10:00 JC forgets pickup 11:00 Dealing with interruptions This classic example (https://youtu.be/Mh4f9AYRCZY) Interruptions from your spouse vs. the kid(s) 15:00 Allison joins 15:45 Do companies who accept remote work also do better at understanding flexible schedules and work/life balance? Tyranny of the green dot on Slack What are the expectations of being remote? Do we feel guilty about doing "life" or kid stuff during the work day? 19:53 Being a remote worker vs. being on a distributed team Understanding working hours Helping colleagues be more purposeful about working hours and communication 23:00 Shared calendars and communicating hours to your team slack notifications and snoozing google calendar work hours basecamp Tools 24:00 Based on Cate's blog post (https://cate.blog/2016/12/29/figuring-out-remote-work-is-figuring-out-work/) Going in to an office established a lot of defaults for a team and working remotely it helps to be more explicit 25:30 Being in the office is nice because you get to talk to other adults. How do you deal with isolation? Going to stores Being in the coffee shop Parenting groups and daycares Playdates with other kids The difficulty of coworking and coffee shop working while pumping Leads to great isolation which is pretty difficult Rant about when people tell you to be social while pumping (spoiler: it's not that easy!!) 31:00 Being home instead of going out as a matter of priorities What do you want to have time for? 33:00 Listener Question!! Our first!! It is so exciting!!! When is the right time to introduce screens to your child and how did you do it? Allison introduced games first, mostly on flights. When Allison introduced tv shows, she tried to make it educational like Daniel Tiger (http://pbskids.org/daniel/), PBS shows (http://pbskids.org/), etc. Talking to your child about what they watched and what they learned KWu thinks what screen time and for what purpose. And introduce something, see the effect and make changes from there. JC said as you have more kids, it's harder to control media and screen time. Having structure around things is very important. Josh remembers lots of research but can't remember when they introduced screens Andy says do it collectively and sparingly KWu says that technology and watching things can be used as bonding time and can focus on artistic or creative endeavors as opposed to isolating JC talks about use of imagination using programs like minecraft (https://minecraft.net/en-us/). 45:00 Genius / Fail moments JC - my daughter has been playing softball and she looked at pictures of herself batting and fixed an issue! She was resilient and didn't get discouraged. #Genius Allison - Everything is a genius and fail right now. My son's preschool teacher told me that he's doing fantastic #Genius Josh - my daughter has guinea pigs named Ana and Elsa and one of them fell which led to a visit to the vet. There they found out Ana and Elsa are male which led to a great discussion about gender and what gender means. #Genius KWu - Marriage win! We started watching the Americans together and it is so nice to be doing something together and have something not household related to talk about. #Genius Andy - After a difficult day, my daughter wrote "I love you daddy, even when you're grumpy" #Genius? or #Fail? 53:00 Contact Us! Tell us what you're learning! Follow & Support Please follow us @parentdrivendev (https://twitter.com/parentdrivendev) on Twitter or email us at panel@parentdrivendevelopment.com (mailto:panel@parentdrivendevelopment.com). Our website is at ParentDrivenDevelopment.com (https://parentdrivendevelopment.com) Support us via Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/parentdrivendev) and get access to our our Slack Community. Panel: Josh Puetz (https://twitter.com/joshpuetz) Allison McMillan (https://twitter.com/allie_p) JC Avena (https://twitter.com/jcavena) KWu (https://twitter.com/kwu) Andy Croll (https://twitter.com/andycroll) Additional links: https://medium.com/@benthompson/breaking-down-the-father-on-bbc-being-interrupted-by-his-children-9840cdc8857b https://youtu.be/-Ojvk-4IcOE

We're joined by Aaron Patterson for puns. Aaron also updates us on compacting GC for Ruby and Ruby 2.6's JIT compiler before telling us how he really feels about functional programming. Aaron Patterson (@tenderlove) on Twitter Parkinson's Law of Triviality (The Bike Shed Effect) Cargo Cult Building a Compacting GC for MRI by Aaron Patterson Allison McMillan on Twitter CAR and CDR Honeypot The method JIT compiler for Ruby 2.6 Closing Keynote by Aaron Patterson Opening Keynote: FIXME by David Heinemeier Hansson The Future of Rails 6: Scalable by Default by Eileen Uchitelle The Crystal Programming Language

Diverse Agile Teams with Marlena Compton, Betsy Haibel, and Jennifer Tu TableXI is now offering training for developers and products teams! For more info, email workshops@tablexi.com. Get your FREE career growth strategy information and techniques! (https://stickynote.game) Guests Marlena Compton (https://twitter.com/marlenac): Organizer of PearConf (https://pearconf.splashthat.com/). Betsy Haibel (https://twitter.com/betsythemuffin): CTO at Cohere (https://www.wecohere.com/). Jennifer Tu (https://twitter.com/jtu): Co-Founder at Cohere (https://www.wecohere.com/). Summary How do common Agile practices like pair programming and retrospectives work when you have diverse teams? How can you make sure that underrepresented team members have their voices heard, and how does doing so improve the way that your team delivers software? Besty Haibel, Jennifer Tu, and Marlena Compton discuss ways in which Agile practices can better serve your team in the real world. For more discussion, be sure to check out PearConf (https://pearconf.splashthat.com/). Notes 02:05 - Pairing and Agile Development on Diverse Teams Betsy on Twitter (https://twitter.com/betsythemuffin/status/990568867683500034) 04:31 - Implicit Agreement, Teaching Vs Exploring, and Power Differentials in Pairing Ruby DCamp (http://rubydcamp.org) Code Retreat (https://www.coderetreat.org) Allison McMillan (https://twitter.com/allie_p) 08:52 - Understanding and Improving Team Dynamics: Building a Library of Smells Pairing With Privilege (https://pearconf.splashthat.com) Ping Pong Pairing (http://wiki.c2.com/?PairProgrammingPingPongPattern) Troll Pairing Table XI Pair-A-Palooza Station (https://uploads.fireside.fm/images/e/e2f17a1d-4992-4c1c-b414-0780dcd58bc3/SAElUnop.jpg) 17:57 - Good Agile Pair Programming Techniques + Retrospective Roles Running your unconference discussions effectively: AdaCamp session role cards (https://adainitiative.org/2013/10/02/running-your-unconference-discussions-effectively-adacamp-session-role-cards/) 22:14 - Making People Comfortable When Speaking Up and Making Agile Healthier Dot-Voting (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dot-voting) 32:30 - Agile As An Institution Agile Manifesto (http://agilemanifesto.org) 38:34 - Backing Away From The Idea of Perfection 42:42 - PearConf (https://pearconf.splashthat.com/) Details 43:55 - Bonus Conversation: The Practices Not Being the Manifesto The Winter Getaway That Turned The Software World Upside down by Caroline Mimbs Nyce (https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/12/agile-manifesto-a-history/547715/) Related Episodes Nonviolent Conversation with Nadia Odunayo (http://www.techdoneright.io/22) How Set Design Can Inform Software Architecture With Betsy Haibel (http://www.techdoneright.io/21) Agile Teams and Escaping Velocity with Doc Norton and Claire Podulka (http://www.techdoneright.io/15) Special Guests: Betsy Haibel, Jennifer Tu, and Marlena Compton.

Parent Driven Development Episode 007: Keeping up to date with tech 00:27 Welcome back Allison 01:00 Today topic: Learning during the work day 02:47 It's ok if learning doesn't happen when your kids are little 04:14 Learning if you're a single parent is more difficult It's more difficult if you don't have a partner to hand things off to Real talk: you will always just have less time 7:15 Choices and Bringing your laptop along Being efficient and aware of the time you have But don't burn out 12:36 The pressure to always be learning Pros and cons to these feelings How it relates to burn out How it related to work/life balance 15:35 Staying competitive in the industry Tools, tips, and tricks 18:36 Learning staycations 22:33 Know how you learn and setting goals Knowing how you learn is really important How much do you want to learn? To what extent? etc. 23:34 Learning while you're on the clock Convincing your employer to give you time to learn Selling learning time to your boss 34:36 External groups like meetups, slack, etc. are extremely important for having a peer group to learn from Support groups are super important Coworking locally is even helpful if you can't make it to meetups, etc. 37:10 Genius / Fail moments Chris - Conference swag as gifts for kids when you get home #Genius Allison - I get to do 3 because it's been a while. I started a subscription to Le Tote so I can get new clothes that are nursing and postpartum body friendly #Genius Baby has been sleeping for the entire podcast #Genius My son didn't realize he could get out of his room on his own in the morning and he thought he had been left home alone #Fail Josh - Labo (https://labo.nintendo.com/) is a set of projects made out of cardboard and it's integrated into a Nintendo Switch. It's awesome, but we haven't had a chance to do it yet. #Genius JC -We're participating in the mulch fundraiser. My kids had to go out and hustle and sell mulch, cover fees, etc. But the fail was that my 15 year old had a snarky answering machine message on his phone and he lost a sale as a result. #Genius turned #Fail 53:00 Contact Us! Tell us what you're learning! Follow & Support Please follow us @parentdrivendev (https://twitter.com/parentdrivendev) on Twitter or email us at panel@parentdrivendevelopment.com (mailto:panel@parentdrivendevelopment.com). Our website is at ParentDrivenDevelopment.com (https://parentdrivendevelopment.com) Support us via Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/parentdrivendev) and get access to our our Slack Community. Panel: Josh Puetz (https://twitter.com/joshpuetz) Allison McMillan (https://twitter.com/allie_p) Chris Sexton (https://twitter.com/crsexton) JC Avena (https://twitter.com/jcavena)

This week on My Ruby Story, Charles speaks with Allison McMillan. Allison is a software developer at Collective Idea, a software consulting company that solves real-world software problems. Allison is very excited about working on a number of projects and learning new things in the development world. Allison was a recent guest on Ruby Rogues and will be a speaker at Ruby Dev Summit coming up on October 16-21, 2017. In this episode we learn more about Allison’s journey as a startup founder, to make a career change to a developer, all while and making a name in the dev community and gaining a dev job. Allison talks about her involvement and contributions to the Ruby community. In particular, we dive pretty deep on: Allison got into programming working as a non-profit executive and dealing with change in the organization. Getting in involve  in the DC Tech Community  Joining the Rails Girls Workshop Got her first job by attending the Ruby Conf. at the Scholar Guide Program Working Remotely as a junior developer Doing light talks at Ruby Conf. to gain authority Allison mentions doing conference speaking and organizing as apart of contributing to the Ruby community Allison’s favorite thing to speak about at conferences involves writing interactive workshops. Links: DC Tech Community  Rails Girls http://rubyconf.org/scholarships Blog site - DayDreams In Ruby @allie_p Ruby Dev Summit  - Free Picks:  Allison Hello Ruby by Linda Liukas Baking - SmittenKitchen Charles GitLab Server MatterMost

This week on My Ruby Story, Charles speaks with Allison McMillan. Allison is a software developer at Collective Idea, a software consulting company that solves real-world software problems. Allison is very excited about working on a number of projects and learning new things in the development world. Allison was a recent guest on Ruby Rogues and will be a speaker at Ruby Dev Summit coming up on October 16-21, 2017. In this episode we learn more about Allison’s journey as a startup founder, to make a career change to a developer, all while and making a name in the dev community and gaining a dev job. Allison talks about her involvement and contributions to the Ruby community. In particular, we dive pretty deep on: Allison got into programming working as a non-profit executive and dealing with change in the organization. Getting in involve  in the DC Tech Community  Joining the Rails Girls Workshop Got her first job by attending the Ruby Conf. at the Scholar Guide Program Working Remotely as a junior developer Doing light talks at Ruby Conf. to gain authority Allison mentions doing conference speaking and organizing as apart of contributing to the Ruby community Allison’s favorite thing to speak about at conferences involves writing interactive workshops. Links: DC Tech Community  Rails Girls http://rubyconf.org/scholarships Blog site - DayDreams In Ruby @allie_p Ruby Dev Summit  - Free Picks:  Allison Hello Ruby by Linda Liukas Baking - SmittenKitchen Charles GitLab Server MatterMost

This week on My Ruby Story, Charles speaks with Allison McMillan. Allison is a software developer at Collective Idea, a software consulting company that solves real-world software problems. Allison is very excited about working on a number of projects and learning new things in the development world. Allison was a recent guest on Ruby Rogues and will be a speaker at Ruby Dev Summit coming up on October 16-21, 2017. In this episode we learn more about Allison’s journey as a startup founder, to make a career change to a developer, all while and making a name in the dev community and gaining a dev job. Allison talks about her involvement and contributions to the Ruby community. In particular, we dive pretty deep on: Allison got into programming working as a non-profit executive and dealing with change in the organization. Getting in involve  in the DC Tech Community  Joining the Rails Girls Workshop Got her first job by attending the Ruby Conf. at the Scholar Guide Program Working Remotely as a junior developer Doing light talks at Ruby Conf. to gain authority Allison mentions doing conference speaking and organizing as apart of contributing to the Ruby community Allison’s favorite thing to speak about at conferences involves writing interactive workshops. Links: DC Tech Community  Rails Girls http://rubyconf.org/scholarships Blog site - DayDreams In Ruby @allie_p Ruby Dev Summit  - Free Picks:  Allison Hello Ruby by Linda Liukas Baking - SmittenKitchen Charles GitLab Server MatterMost

Tweet this Episode Allison is a developer in the Washington DC area. She is a non-profit executive turned developer. She helps organize the RubyConf and RailsConf Scholar Program. She organizes a local meetup call Silver Spring Ruby. She works at Collective Idea. The Rogues talk to Allison about being a mom in coding and work-life balance.  They also talk about transitioning from non-profits to coding.  This episode goes into depth on: Prioritizing your family and still having a great career Goal setting, focus, and growth Team collaboration Contributing to open source and much, much more... Links: Delayed Job Allison's Blog Baby Driven Development talk Rails Girls Ruby Dev Summit RSpec Minitest RailsCasts Interactor Gem Leah Silber from Tilde tweet Tilde article on Baby at Work Mother Coders RailsBridge Allison on Twitter Picks: Eric: Gallup Strengths Test Metabase Allison: Sticky Note Game by TableXI WriteSpeakCode Ruby Jewel Crystal DISC Assessment Dave Rails Guides

Tweet this Episode Allison is a developer in the Washington DC area. She is a non-profit executive turned developer. She helps organize the RubyConf and RailsConf Scholar Program. She organizes a local meetup call Silver Spring Ruby. She works at Collective Idea. The Rogues talk to Allison about being a mom in coding and work-life balance.  They also talk about transitioning from non-profits to coding.  This episode goes into depth on: Prioritizing your family and still having a great career Goal setting, focus, and growth Team collaboration Contributing to open source and much, much more... Links: Delayed Job Allison's Blog Baby Driven Development talk Rails Girls Ruby Dev Summit RSpec Minitest RailsCasts Interactor Gem Leah Silber from Tilde tweet Tilde article on Baby at Work Mother Coders RailsBridge Allison on Twitter Picks: Eric: Gallup Strengths Test Metabase Allison: Sticky Note Game by TableXI WriteSpeakCode Ruby Jewel Crystal DISC Assessment Dave Rails Guides

Tweet this Episode Allison is a developer in the Washington DC area. She is a non-profit executive turned developer. She helps organize the RubyConf and RailsConf Scholar Program. She organizes a local meetup call Silver Spring Ruby. She works at Collective Idea. The Rogues talk to Allison about being a mom in coding and work-life balance.  They also talk about transitioning from non-profits to coding.  This episode goes into depth on: Prioritizing your family and still having a great career Goal setting, focus, and growth Team collaboration Contributing to open source and much, much more... Links: Delayed Job Allison's Blog Baby Driven Development talk Rails Girls Ruby Dev Summit RSpec Minitest RailsCasts Interactor Gem Leah Silber from Tilde tweet Tilde article on Baby at Work Mother Coders RailsBridge Allison on Twitter Picks: Eric: Gallup Strengths Test Metabase Allison: Sticky Note Game by TableXI WriteSpeakCode Ruby Jewel Crystal DISC Assessment Dave Rails Guides

Summary Allison McMillan (@allie_p) and Bradley Schaefer (@soulcutter) talk about remote work in the age of Slack. What makes a good remote worker, or a good remote working team? How can you support more junior team members who want to work remotely? How do you email cake to remote workers on launch celebration day? How can you improve code review for remote workers? Guests Allison McMillan: Software Developer at Collective Idea (http://collectiveidea.com/) and Rails Girls (http://railsgirls.com/) Bradley Schaefer: Senior Developer at Table XI (http://www.tablexi.com/) and the RSpec (https://github.com/rspec) Core Team Show Notes 01:07 - Working Remotely: Getting Started, Setups, etc. Allison McMillan: Even the Justice League Works Remotely @ RubyConf 2016 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7Z0uS2x_cY) 03:19 - Coworking Spaces STARTMART (http://startmart.us/) 04:34 - What makes an individual successful to be able to work remotely? 07:30 - Gains and Challenges of Working Remotely 10:18 - Transitioning From Onsite to Offsite Work 11:48 - Being the Only Remote Person: How can companies help remote workers feel included? Slack (https://slack.com/) Know Your Company (http://www.knowyourcompany.com) 21:10 - Building Trust Between Companies and Remote Workers 24:30 - Working Remotely in Other Fields First 25:42 - Working Remotely as a Newbie 30:08 - Cultivating Teams and Positivity - rubocop (https://github.com/bbatsov/rubocop) Tips & Resources: Allison: Schedule weekly pairing sessions and make it a goal to ask questions. Zach Holman: Remote-First vs. Remote-Friendly (https://zachholman.com/posts/remote-first/) SheNomads (http://www.shenomads.com/) Bradley: Try to find pairing tools that work well for you. Remote: Office Not Required (https://www.amazon.com/Remote-Office-Required-Jason-Fried/dp/0804137501) Special Guests: Allison McMillan and Bradley Schaefer.

Allison McMillan (from General Assembly) joins us this week to talk about working remotely. She shares great tips for finding your first remote development job, how to be a more effective remote employee, how to overcome the fear of asking questions, why working remotely might not be right for everyone, and more. Show Links: Allison McMillan Contact Allison for remote work consulting General Assembly Portlandia: Working from home Zapier Conspiracy Santa Slack Screenhero