At last year's OSCON I was lucky enough to stumble across the ChickTech booth. I had heard of women in tech organizations before, but hadn't heard of ChickTech. When I asked what they were about and if there was an Austin chapter, my life changed for the better.
ChickTech is dedicated to introducing young girls to tech careers. It's best known for its high school program, in which teacher-nominated students are set up with workshops, mentorships, and job shadowing opportunities.
But before I get too far into that, let's start at the beginning.
Growing up
When I was in middle school, I took a summer school computer class where I basically spent the day playing Oregon Trail and making flyers in an early desktop publishing application. In high school, we were still learning how to type on typewriters and early word processors. There was a computer lab in my school, but I never spent much time in it. I used our home computer to play educational games and write my first "novel," but that was about it.
So you can imagine my surprise when I entered college and decided to take an introductory computer science class. I quickly realized that there was so much more to computers than games and word processing.
I didn't want this to be the story for the next generation of girls—I wanted them to know that tech careers are both amazing and attainable. When I learned about ChickTech's mission, I knew I had to start a chapter here in Austin.
Making it happen
Starting a chapter of ChickTech (or any group, for that matter) takes a lot of up-front investment. I have spent hours researching similar groups, attending every tech meetup I can, and going out to events to talk to people. I've emailed strangers who looked like they might want to volunteer. I've posted in Facebook groups and tweeted about my efforts regularly. In short, I spammed Austin until I found a leadership team to help me out!
Once I had a core team, it was time to figure out how to help the girls.
A few projects we plan on doing with the girls include the Lilypad Arduino and developing a website using open source tools. I've already spoken to some open source advocates here in Austin and they can't wait to show the girls how to use Git for their projects. I'm also hoping for a donation of used (or new) laptops that we can install Linux on for them to do all of their programming and designing. In short, I'm not only going to show these girls about a career in tech, but the power of open source.
There's a lot to think about outside of that too, not the least of which is who's going to pay for all of this. As a nonprofit, ChickTech depends on donations and sponsorships to offer its high school program free of cost. That means more cold emails, phone calls, meetups, and conferences. Now my entire team was spamming Austin! It was truly a full-time job on top of my other full-time job. I even found myself taking personal days to focus on ChickTech business.
We were incredibly lucky on our first go-round. We found someone at HomeAway here in Austin who wanted to not only host our first meetup, but sponsor food and drinks. We were able to host a kick off event for about 40 people—an amazing turnout for any new group. We made more connections, gathered more volunteers, and set the ball in motion for many future events.
Key takeaways for starting a chapter
- You have to get out there and talk to people! Attend meetups, go to conferences, and plan lunches and dinners with folks in the field.
- You'll need startup capital. I was lucky enough to have a donation from CDK Global here in Austin to get me up and running.
- If you're not sending at least 20 emails a night, you're not doing enough. Because for every 20 emails you send, you might get one reply.
- Make sure your volunteers are on the same page as you. You won't have time to deal with convincing your own team in the mission.
- Make use of social media. Make sure you're posting regularly (or scheduling posts each weekend for the week ahead like I do).
- Show people your passion. One of the best compliments I ever get when talking about ChickTech is that folks can see how passionate I am. That's contagious.
- Don't give up and don't get impatient. There have been times I've been pretty down about how slow things seem to be going, but if you follow the above steps it will succeed in the end.
I've attended and written about multiple sessions on how to host and prepare for events, but nothing can prepare you for how stressful it can all be. You have to find a cause you really believe in and give it your all to make it succeed. I'm so very lucky to be doing this in Austin because the city has been more than welcoming to our group and to our mission.
I can't imagine a more rewarding way to spend my free time, and I'm so excited to share ChickTech Austin with the girls in the area and with all of you. If you'd like to learn more, visit our website and meetup page. We're doing some pretty exciting things as we gear up for the high school program this fall! And if you're in a city without ChickTech, I'm happy to help you get started on the road to helping girls learn about careers in tech!
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