A Journey to Berlin: Networking
“The strength of career success lies in the power of networking.” - Omotola E.O.
I shared in my previous post about my speaking engagement in Berlin at FOSS Backstage, where I spoke on Contributors’ Engagement and Monetization Opportunities.
In this series, I’ll share some of the new connections I made on this trip, particularly at the FOSS Backstage event.
This is my first international trip outside of Africa. I got the feeling you get when you go to a different country and meet people from different cultures. The good thing is I was already looking forward to connecting, learning new cultures, and having a good time.
I did! I met some cool folks from different organizations and career paths. One thing that brought us together is our love for open source.
Among many other connections I made at this conference, meeting with Outreachy mentors was one of my highlights.
I met with Antonin Delpeuch, an Open Refine community mentor, and Jarek Potiuk, an OpenStack community mentor.
We discussed their experience as an Outreachy mentor, how the program has benefited their projects, and them as a mentor. It’s good to hear them talk about what excites them about Outreachy applicants and interns and how the program has enhanced their projects.
After the conference, I had a good dinner with Antonin Delpeuch, and we talked more about the future of open source and outreach programs. We also shared individual goals, our steps, and what we see in open source.
It was such a great privilege to not only meet with other open source advocates who are interested in what the Outreachy program does but to learn more about how open source experts and the community can get involved, the benefit of the program to mentors, and the steps and requirements to participate in the program.
I was able to preach the gospel of Outreachy to these fantastic folks and build and strengthen their knowledge about the program and relationship. Looking forward to further connecting with them and having them support diversity in tech through the Outreachy program.
Until the next and final series, I will share my experience exploring the great Berlin. Mach’s gut (Welle)!
