Obviously, we need to offer trainings on how to get funding to attend conferences. The should be collocated with the conferences.
Cary On Thu, Nov 29, 2012 at 10:06 AM, Bess Sadler <[email protected]> wrote: > On Nov 29, 2012, at 6:13 AM, Christie Peterson <[email protected]> wrote: > >> If this were "training" in the sense of a seminar or a formal class on the >> exact same topics, I would be eligible for full funding, but since it's a >> "conference," it's funded at a significantly lower level. I'll gladly take >> suggestions anyone has for arguments about why attendance at these types of >> events is critical to successfully doing my work in a way that, say, >> attending ALA isn't -- and why, therefore, they should be supported at a >> higher funding rate than typical "library" conferences. Any non-coders >> successfully made this argument before? >> >> Cheers, >> >> Christie S. Peterson > > Christie you are not the only person who can get travel funding for training > but not for conferences, and you are not the only person on the fence about > whether you belong in code4lib. In my mind you are exactly the kind of person > I would like to attract to code4lib, so I very much hope you'll join us. > Archives in particular are facing significant technological challenges right > now, and as someone who has been known to develop software for born digital > archives[1] I have seen how vital it is to have a common language and > vocabulary, and a common way of approaching problem solving, in order to > create a system that will actually work according to archival principles. > > One option to consider would be signing up for one of the pre-conferences. > Given the background you've described and the challenges you face in your > career, I think you could make a very strong argument that having a basic > introduction to programming concepts would be helpful for you. Luckily there > is a free full-day of training to be had the day before the conference > starts! Please consider joining us at the RailsBridge and/or Blacklight > workshops or at any of the other workshops that look interesting to you that > you think you could pitch as training. > > Even outside of the code4lib context, I strongly encourage others who face > those kinds of travel funding constraints to get creative. Some of the best > learning opportunities of my life and the best pivotal moments in my career > happened because members of this community decided there was an unmet need > and they were going to do something about it. CurateCAMP springs to mind. The > many regional code4lib meetings are in this category. And also: one time when > a few code4lib folks were trying to get open source discovery projects off > the ground we just decided to create an "Open Source Library Discovery > Summit" in Philadelphia, declared ourselves invited speakers, and attended. > And it was a very successful meeting and a very good use of university funds! > > Christie, if there is training or skills development that, if it were offered > at code4lib, would do you some good, you are certainly not the only person > who could benefit from it. I strongly encourage you to think about what > training opportunities are missing in your corner of the library / archives > world, and then have some conversations with members of this community about > how we could provide that training together. I would love to hear your > thoughts on the subject. > > Best wishes, > Bess > > [1] http://hypatia-demo.stanford.edu Tell your funders you have to go to > code4lib because hydra is the future of born digital archives and this is the > conference where the developers hang out and you need to talk to them about > strategic directions for their project so that it will address your problems. > :D -- Cary Gordon The Cherry Hill Company http://chillco.com
