RailsBridge Triangle is our local chapter of RailsBridge. As you may have heard, the tech community has a big problem when it comes to diversity. The makeup of many tech companies does not match the community they serve, largely underrepresenting women, people of color, and LGBTQ people. We hold a free Intro to Rails event a few times a year in the Triangle area in order to introduce web development to the broader community. We're trying to make the tech community more diverse by providing a welcoming environment where underrepresented populations can feel comfortable getting started.
Our focus is on providing opportunities for underrepresented populations in tech. If you are not a member of an underrepresented group in tech, you are welcome to attend as a student as long as you come as the guest of someone who is. You can indicate this on the signup form. Everyone is welcome to help out as a TA, regardless of their membership in an underrepresented group.
The curriculum we cover is best suited for those with little to no previous programming experience. If you've managed to view this website, you have all the knowledge necessary to succeed at programming! If you already have some experience with Ruby and Rails, this event may include a lot of recap for you, but may still be useful. If you are comfortable with Ruby and Rails, you are welcome to help out as a teaching assistant.
Yes! Most of the people who attend these events do not go on to do web development professionally. Whether you're more into design or the business side, this event is perfect for those that just want to get an idea of what web development is like.
A little. Enough to get a job? No, probably not. The goal of this event is to introduce you to Ruby on Rails and web development in general. Consider this a preview. We want to show you enough for you to be able to decide if you'd like to continue learning. Towards the end of the event, we will talk about the best ways to proceed if you do decide you like it.
Yes! Our gracious sponsors will be providing three meals during the event: dinner (during the Installfest), breakfast, and lunch. The Installfest dinner (Friday night) is usually something like pizza. The main event (Saturday) starts with a light breakfast, normally including things like bagels, coffee, and muffins. After working in the morning, we'll have a lunch of something like sandwiches or wraps. We are happy to accomodate any dietary restrictions. You can indicate these when you sign up.
Our events have between 30-50 students with 10-20 teaching assistants.
No, you need to attend both days. The Installfest is an essential part of the event where we make sure you have everything necessary to go through the curriculum. If you think your machine is already setup, great! Come to the Installfest and one of our TAs can verify your setup and you can enjoy some free food!
Our teaching assistants are made up of previous RailsBridge participants, students from local tech schools, and members of the local tech community. They are here to help you out with the curriculum as well as to help with any other general questions you might have about programming/working in tech.
Yes, RailsBridge Triangle is dedicated to a harassment-free conference experience for everyone. For more details, see the full BridgeFoundry Code of Conduct.
We may have a photographer during the event take some photos for this website. We also usually take a group photo in the afternoon. When you sign in, you will be presented with a photo release form if you are willing to have your photo taken. If you don't want to be photographed, you can let us know then and we will make sure the photographer is aware of your wishes.
See our Schedule page for an idea of how the event will work. The Installfest (Friday night) is spent mostly working through an install guide for getting Ruby and everything else set up for Saturday. On Saturday we work through the RailsBridge Intro to Rails curriculum. The curriculum is largely self-driven. We'll point you in the right direction and let you work through the exercises at your own pace. TAs will circulate and help you out with any questions. We will also have a few 10-20 minute presentations to introduce main concepts.
Free! If you request it, we will hire a sitter at no cost to you to provide childcare on-site so you can focus on your work. You can indicate if you need childcare on the signup form.
All you need to bring is a working laptop computer that can connect to the internet via WiFi (and its charger). We will help you install everything you need on Friday night during the Installfest. You may want to bring a jacket as the AC in some places can get a little chilly. Also, some people like to bring paper/pens to take notes so they don't have to switch between things while using their computer.