Teaser: From First Look to First Pull (OSCON 2016) by

1 of 9

Slide Notes

Here's a slidedeck "Teaser" for my presentation at OSCON 2016, to give you an idea of what I'll be talking about.

11:05am–11:45am Thursday, 05/19/2016
Location: Meeting Room 9C

More detail here: http://conferences.oreilly.com/oscon/open-source-us/public/schedule/detail/...

Hope to see you there!

Teaser: From First Look to First Pull (OSCON 2016)

Published on May 06, 2016

Here's a quick "trailer" slide deck for my OSCON 2016 talk. I'll be talking about contributing to Open Source from the viewpoint of the distractions and problems you'll face. There are many reasons to contribute to OSS, but so many ways and reasons to avoid it!

How do you circumvent these problems? Why is motivation is better than time management? What is YSAAS?

This talk answers these questions and many more, with humor and empathy and respect for contributors past , present, and those yet to contribute.

I hope I see you in Austin.

View Outline

PRESENTATION OUTLINE

From First Look to First Pull

Contributing to your Favorite Open Source Projects...A preview

Photo by toolmantim

Getting Started

I'll be talking about my first steps into contributing to open source through Github.

There's a lot of literature out there about the mechanics of it, but in my life the obstacle I see is not using git, but self-doubt and managing (or not managing) time.

So I want to talk with you about that.

Rules versus Real Life

I'll talk about the external distractions...

Photo by Photosightfaces

"AM I GOOD ENOUGH?"

'No' is really exciting.

...And the internal struggles that you might face as you start.

Ever feel like everyone who contributes to open source projects is a mega-genius? Ever feel intimidated by that?

Me too.

But I realized I was asking the wrong questions.

Getting Good

The Act of Changing.

I realized that OSS can become a channel for personal and career growth.

StoP MANAGING TIMe.

Start Making Time.

I learned that the most powerful tool I had in doing the work is not my calendar app but my own motivation to change.

Photo by oschene

YSAAS

Yak-shaving As A Service

I learned how to deal with impedance.

Photo by archer10 (Dennis) (73M Views)

The Definitive Guide to Staying Motivated

Schedule a talk at OSCON about contributing to OSS.
Be Selfish.
Be Selfless.
Picture Future You.
Be Vulnerable.

I developed some strategies...

Untitled Slide

...I want to share what I learned with you.

I'm going to talk about fear, motivation, learning, and distraction. I want to talk about the human side of tech because I believe this:

Contributing to open source isn't just software; it's about your growth and the relationships you build along the way.

I hope you'll join me for my talk next Thursday at OSCON! We'll be in Meeting Room 9c at 11:05AM.

Slide Notes