In Episode 8 of Season 10 of the Virtual Coffee Podcast, hosts Bekah and Dan delve into the intricate process of open sourcing a private repository. Drawing from their experience with Virtual Coffee's community docs, they discuss considerations like verifying the safety of repository content, ensuring appropriate permissions, and maintaining the privacy of sensitive discussions. They also touch on the importance of updating READEMEs, licensing, and providing clear guidelines for new contributors...
Oct 30, 2024•26 min•Season 10Ep. 8
In this episode of the Virtual Coffee Podcast, hosts Bekah Hawrot Weigel and Dan Ott delve into the journey of climbing the contributor ladder in open-source projects. They explore the progression from contributor to maintainer, focusing on the importance of trust-building, consistent contributions, and respectful interactions within the community. Key strategies discussed include engaging with project documentation, reproducing bugs, and effective communication. The episode also highlights how ...
Oct 23, 2024•28 min•Season 10Ep. 7
In Season 10, Episode 6 of the Virtual Coffee Podcast, hosts Bekah and Dan explore the multifaceted aspects of building and nurturing relationships within the open source community, particularly during Hacktoberfest. The episode highlights the significance of effective networking, making meaningful connections, and becoming a valued repeat contributor. The hosts provide practical advice for newcomers, stressing the importance of understanding projects, submitting quality pull requests, and contr...
Oct 15, 2024•30 min•Season 10Ep. 6
In this episode of the Virtual Coffee Podcast, hosts Bekah and Dan delve into the benefits and challenges of being a maintainer in open source projects, particularly during Hacktoberfest. They discuss the excitement and responsibility of maintaining projects, the joy of welcoming new contributors, and the importance of community building. The hosts also highlight the preparation involved in enhancing project onboarding and documentation, and the growth opportunities for maintainers. The episode ...
Oct 08, 2024•25 min•Season 10Ep. 5
Bekah and Dan explore the community's engagement with Hacktoberfest, a month-long event encouraging open source contributions. They discuss what Hacktoberfest is and what it means to be a positive contributor in the open source community. They highlight the importance of meaningful contributions, respecting maintainers' time, and provides tips for navigating and contributing to open source projects, and touches on ways to be a good open source citizen and the benefits of contributing consistentl...
Sep 30, 2024•27 min•Season 10Ep. 4
In Season 10, Episode 3 of the Virtual Coffee Podcast, hosts Bekah and Dan explore the topic of 'Big M' versus 'Little m' Mentorship. They distinguish between formal, one-on-one mentorship ('Big M') and more informal, community-based mentorship ('Little M'). They discuss the advantages and potential pitfalls of each approach, emphasizing the importance of finding the right mentorship fit. They also touch on the role of coaches, the value of community support in events like Hacktoberfest, and the...
Sep 24, 2024•25 min•Season 10Ep. 3
In Episode 2 of Season 10 of the Virtual Coffee podcast, hosts Bekah and Dan discuss the concept of 'trust capital' and its importance in tech communities. They define trust capital as the value and trustworthiness one has with others. The hosts explore how to build trust through consistent actions, showing up, transparency, and effective communication. They highlight the difference between networking and building genuine relationships, emphasizing practical ways to accumulate trust capital, suc...
Sep 16, 2024•33 min•Season 10Ep. 2
In the first episode of Season 10 of the Virtual Coffee podcast, hosts Bekah and Dan introduce the new format focusing on "back pocket topics" from Virtual Coffee community discussions. They delve into common remote collaboration tools and techniques, sharing insights from their experiences in tech. Topics include effective communication, the importance of documentation, and how different company cultures influence remote work. The episode also touches on the role of community members in improvi...
Sep 10, 2024•34 min•Season 10Ep. 1
Join hosts Bekah and Dan as they engage in a captivating conversation with Jessica Wilkins, a prominent figure from freeCodeCamp. In this episode, Jessica shares her invaluable insights on nurturing and developing relationships within the open source community. Delve into the nuances of effective collaboration with maintainers, understand the significance of embracing non-traditional skillsets, and discover the pathways to flourish as a contributor. Jessica's experiences with freeCodeCamp provid...
Nov 02, 2023•49 min•Season 9Ep. 4
Join hosts Bekah and Dan with guests Matt McInnis, Ray Deck, and Tom Cudd, as they chat about the complicated topic of open source software (OSS) licenses. They share insights into how to choose the appropriate license, how to understand licenses on other projects, and general guidelines for maintainers and contributors. Links: ChooseALicense.com by GitHub Example of clarifying subfolders in the LICENSE: TensorFlow’s models repo . Example of a License section in the README indicating what parts ...
Oct 11, 2023•49 min•Season 9Ep. 3
Join hosts Bekah and Dan in this episode with Nadia Eghbal's "Working in Public" enthusiasts Jessica Wilkins and Brian Meeker. We discuss the nuances of open source collaboration highlighted in the book, the challenges and rewards of being both a contributor and a maintainer, and the profound impact of individual contributions in the open source community. Dive into the transformative journey of participating in open source and redefining its true meaning with OpenSauced. Links Working in Public...
Sep 26, 2023•45 min•Season 9Ep. 2
Join hosts Bekah and Dan in this episode with monthly challenge Preptember leads, Dominic and Ayu. We talk about the importance of preparing both as a contributor and a maintainer, some of the challenges you might face as someone new to those roles during Hacktoberfest, and some of the benefits you'll receive by participating in open source. Links Ayu's Episode: Working through burnout as a self-taught developer Dominic's Episode: Finding value in challenging ourselves Your GitHub Issues --- Abo...
Sep 18, 2023•39 min•Season 9Ep. 1
Sponsor: LevelUP Financial Planning We're grateful to be sponsored by LevelUP Financial planning, who understands the importance of finding balance between having an awesome life today, and being confident and excited about your future possibilities. If you want to take your financial confidence to the next level, check out levelupfinancialplanning.com . Join hosts Bekah and Dan in this episode featuring Rafi, a talented full-stack developer from Bangalore. In this episode, you'll discover how b...
Aug 02, 2023•46 min•Season 8Ep. 8
Sponsor: LevelUP Financial Planning We're grateful to be sponsored by LevelUP Financial planning, who understands the importance of finding balance between having an awesome life today, and being confident and excited about your future possibilities. If you want to take your financial confidence to the next level, check out levelupfinancialplanning.com . Join Bekah and Dan in this week's episode, where they talk with Taiwo Yusuf, a back-end engineer with a passion for developing innovative solut...
Jul 26, 2023•47 min•Season 8Ep. 7
Sponsor: LevelUP Financial Planning We're grateful to be sponsored by LevelUP Financial planning, who understands the importance of finding balance between having an awesome life today, and being confident and excited about your future possibilities. If you want to take your financial confidence to the next level, check out levelupfinancialplanning.com . Join Bekah and Dan in this week's episode, where they talk with Josh Goldberg, an independent full time open source developer working on projec...
Jul 19, 2023•52 min•Season 8Ep. 6
Join Bekah and Dan in this week's episode, where they dive into the transformative journey of Reda, a self-taught developer. Hear about the unique challenges and victories Reda faced as he navigated the journey to becoming a front-end developer. Gain valuable advice on the ideal timing for job applications, as Reda shares advice he heard along his journey: "When should you start applying for jobs? Yesterday." Tune in for an enriching conversation that will inspire aspiring self-taught developers...
Jul 12, 2023•44 min•Season 8Ep. 5
This week Bekah and Dan sat down with Caitlin Floyd, a front-end developer, to chat about the concept of collective learning and explore new possibilities in the evolving landscape of tech mentorship. Discover firsthand how Caitlin's experiences highlight the power of collaboration, breaking down silos, and leveraging collective knowledge to drive innovation and success. Links: Jonan Scheffler Nick Taylor About Caitlin: Caitlin is a front-end developer driven by the power of technology as a forc...
Jun 28, 2023•50 min•Season 8Ep. 4
This week Bekah and Dan sat down with Carmen Kohole, a DevOps Engineer based in Portland, Oregon, to chat about the benefits of collaboration and the valuable opportunities you can gain just by asking for help. We also discussed the benefits of fostering strong relationships in the tech industry, and what it means to be a DevOps engineer. About Carmen DevOps Engineer based in Portland, Oregon. Big fan of house plants, hiking, hats and cats. Here to help build stuff, break stuff, learn stuff and ...
Jun 21, 2023•49 min•Season 8Ep. 3
This week Bekah and Dan sat down with Alex Curtis-Slep, long time member and volunteer and self-taught developer, about documenting the small wins, falling in love with the process, and aligning your goals to maintain a healthy life while job searching and during your tech career. About Alex Alex Curtis-Slep is a self taught software developer. After getting his initial tastes of HTML and CSS in the early 2000’s on his basketball blog, Alex jumped into coding in early 2019. He heard about a cour...
Jun 14, 2023•51 min•Season 8Ep. 2
We're starting the new season with a conversation with our maintainers, including our new maintainer, Julia Seidman! We share our thought process for adding a maintainer and walk through our culture citizenship statement to share how we intend to create a positive community. About Julia Julia Seidman is a developer education consultant based in the Seattle area. Julia is a believer in embracing the 'careen' over the career. @juliaseid on GitHub @juliaseid on LinkedIn About Kirk A full stack deve...
Jun 07, 2023•58 min•Season 8Ep. 1
Join Bekah, Dan, and Special Guest Nick Taylor for a live-streamed episode of the Season Seven Finale! Watch the video replay here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Wj-zlORvm8 Sponsor Virtual Coffee! Your support is incredibly valuable to us. Direct financial support will help us to continue serving the Virtual Coffee community. Please visit our sponsorship page on GitHub for more information - you can even sponsor an episode of the podcast! Virtual Coffee: Virtual Coffee: virtualcoffee.io Podca...
Mar 31, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Season 7Ep. 9
This week Bekah and Dan sat down with Ramón Huidobro, a developer advocate and DevEd enthusiast, and chatted about the process of learning and growing and how asking questions and knowing what questions to ask is an important part of the tech experience. Check out Ramón's article about reaching out for help ! About Ramón Ramón Huidobro is a developer advocate and DevEd enthusiast. He thrives on lifting others up in their tech careers and loves a good CSS challenge. Always excited to talk about t...
Mar 23, 2023•55 min•Season 7Ep. 8
This week Bekah and Dan sat down with Dominic Duffin, a Full-Stack Developer, Co-founder of ArtTechChat Twitter chat, Salon Host at The Interintellect, and Open Source contributor, and chatted about the the value gained in creating a learning environment wherever you go and the importance of participating in community experiences. Links: Pass the Pen: https://codepen.io/collection/nZrZLy https://twitter.com/arttechchat About Dominic: Full Stack Developer, community builder, remote worker and asp...
Mar 16, 2023•49 min•Season 7Ep. 7
This week Bekah and Dan sat down with Arthur Doler, a Software Engineer and Community and Culture Steward, and chatted about the human side of tech, the importance of recognizing our emotions, communication styles, and the dynamics of the environments we're working in. Links: Daniel Pink's Drive Arthur's talk: You're Not Just Tired: The Psychology of Burnout Aikido Pro Disc Golfers About Arthur Arthur (or Art, take your pick) has been a software engineer for 19 years and has worked on things as ...
Mar 09, 2023•54 min•Season 7Ep. 6
This week Bekah and Dan sat down with Rebecca Key, a PhD in Organic Chemistry and now Software Engineer, and chatted about her career journey, Ham radios, being left-handed, taking notes, and the importance of consistency. About Rebecca Rebecca Key is a Software Engineer based out of Atlanta, GA. She is a first-generation college graduate that went on to obtain a PhD in Organic Chemistry from Georgia Tech. After many years in research (roles ranging from Laboratory Technician to Research Directo...
Mar 02, 2023•49 min•Season 7Ep. 5
This week Bekah and Dan sat down with Aishwarya, front-end developer from India, about her first open source contributions and how her perspective on open source changed after her fourth (of ten!) Pull Request during Hacktoberfest. One word to describe you - Dedicated One word to describe your developer journey - Evolving Me Before You by Jojo Moyes Open-Source YouTube Videos: How to Find Beginner-Friendly Open Source Projects 4 Beginner Friendly Open Source Projects to Contribute before 2023 5 ...
Feb 23, 2023•45 min•Season 7Ep. 4
This week Bekah and Dan sat down with Kai Katschthaler, a technical writer and content creator, about their creation process, finding learning approaches that work for them, and mentoring others. Links: Kai's appearance on the Coming Out Pod Kinesthetic Learning Freecodecamp Codecademy Flatironschool Exercism Kai Katschthaler Kai is a tech content specialist and mental health advocate. They run Taboola Rasa, a mental health awareness project that seeks to erase the stigma connected to mental hea...
Feb 16, 2023•52 min•Season 7Ep. 3
This week Bekah and Dan sat down with Joe Karow, the Lead Engineer at a nonprofit, about his career change from the hospitality industry, his experience with the online bootcamp, 100devs, and about the ADHD experience. Joe Karow Joe is the Lead Engineer at InReach, a 501(c)3 registered non-profit building world’s first tech platform matching LGBTQ+ people facing discrimination and persecution with safe, verified resources. Formerly a Director of Finance for a large hotel chain, he made the leap ...
Feb 09, 2023•51 min•Season 7Ep. 2
This week Bekah and Dan sat down with Jörn Bernhardt, a 2x founder in Germany, about his career path, the challenges of being a founder, and the key traits that have led to his success. About Jörn Jörn started developing web-based software in the last century when he was still in school. In 2018, he founded his second company compose.us where they implement digital solutions and share their knowledge with public administrations. In his spare time Jörn organizes local meetups in Germany and creat...
Feb 01, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Season 7Ep. 1
It’s the final episode of season six of the podcast and we’re bringing it to you live with Bekah, Dan, and Kirk! We talked a lot about Hacktoberfest with many side-tracks and segues in between. Sponsor Virtual Coffee! Your support is incredibly valuable to us. Direct financial support will help us to continue serving the Virtual Coffee community. Please visit our sponsorship page on GitHub for more information - you can even sponsor an episode of the podcast! Virtual Coffee: Virtual Coffee: virt...
Oct 13, 2022•1 hr 4 min•Season 6Ep. 9
