for Orlando Lady Developers Meetup Group
Community Building
Towards the end of ___ I got a message that the current leader of the group was planning to step down and had nominated me to take over. I hadn’t been active for awhile. It seemed like a good thing to do.
For the next 2 years, I led the group. I arranged meetings and workshops. We had a regular monthly Coffee Klatch. I used this as my listening session – to find out what people were interested in doing or learning. I made it clear that everyone, including those who identify as women and men who wanted to support us, was welcome and invited to join. I also made it clear that I had zero tolerance for anything other than respect towards everyone.
That and the tone I set – we’re here to talk about development and help each other progress, not just to bitch about whatever bad thing happened and complain about issues for women in tech.
I sent out very limited group emails. I’d do a recap of any meetings, including the Coffee Klatch. And things that were of interest to developers.
Membership increased almost 40% to over 800 people. We got a sponsorship from Google to join their Global Community.
I stepped down in 2020 to work on other things.