Rockin’ in Raleigh: Code.gov at All Things Open and Tech & Pints
Our month started with GW Hack Day which we followed up days later with the October Meetup for Operation Code: DC. Incredible way to start off a month, and we were just getting warmed up, forging ahead to an appearance in North Carolina.
Our visit in Raleigh began with All Things Open, an open source event held at the Raleigh Convention Center; and ended with a meetup at Growler USA, hosted by Raleigh Tech & Pints. The Code.gov team, consisting of FSCP Expert Joe Castle, Communications Chief Tee Morris, Outreach Director Ricardo Reyes, and Front-End Developer Daniel Dufour, set out to bring Code.gov to the attendees at All Things Open and discuss the role of Open Source in the government.
Celebrating six years of all things open source, All Things Open featured topics and technologies that help attendees become better coders, better programmers, and better members of the open source community. Each morning started with a series of keynotes covering more of the culture rather than the code. “The Next Billion’s Contribution” keynote from Angela Odour Lungati set an impressive tone for what would follow, amazing keynotes looking to open source and the potential that needed to be realized. Building on this message was “The Next Big Wave” from Zaheda Bhorat. Her keynote looked ahead by looking at legacies left behind, in particular her father’s, an advocate for open source in India during his lifetime. Her passion and sincerity concerning open source would be a recurring theme.
That is not to say that everything at All Things Open approached open source with rose-colored glasses. Henry Zhu’s “Maintainer’s Virtue” keynote addressed an uncomfortable truth about contribution: burnout. Zhu brought a heartfelt plea to the community that while innovation thrives in open source, the human element could not go forgotten, something that from his own experiences happened one time too many. Equally brave, blunt, and bold was Danese Cooper’s “Working for Open Source” talk, offering an honest look at a career in open source. She also covered the line of ethics Open Source advocates straddle when talking on behalf of companies, and are sometimes asked to step across. This was one of the many appealing aspects of All Things Open. The event did not serve as an echo chamber but offered frank discussions on matters affecting the community as a whole.
Code.gov’s involvement in this event was celebrated by both the moderator and panelists as our own Joe Castle brought to the discussion current news of open source in Washington D.C. “Open Data: Notes from the Field” teamed Joe up with a former federal associate from NOAA (Amy Gaskins), the GIS App Team Supervisor of Wake County (Carter Vickery), and the CIO of Cary (Nicole Raimundo). Joe endeared himself with the capacity crowd with “Yes, the Feds are here, and we’re here to help.” Even with all seats occupied, attendees lined the back of the room as the panel discussion centered around open source in various levels of the government. In the same manner as the talks given by Zhu and Cooper, the panelists addressed pushback they had received when introducing the idea of open source in the government. However, it was the success stories that remained the takeaways. “GSA recognizes the value of these initiatives,” Joe mentioned during the Q&A session, “and that is why they are thriving.” It was a real inspiration seeing so many people interested as to how open source was being implemented in the public sector, a sign that programmers and Open Source enthusiasts are curious, if not anxious, to know of what open source opportunities exist in government.
With such an amazing two days of incredible programming, it was high time that the Code.gov team took time out to unwind, and it was Raleigh Tech & Pints that offered the best way: hosting a meetup. The audience was lively and fun, a mix of All Things Open attendees, regulars to Tech & Pints events, and some who had just heard of the event from social media. Communications Chief Tee Morris led the talk, originally planning for a 40-minute talk; but the Code.gov team was so succinct in its messaging that the formal presentation wrapped within twenty-five minutes. Even more rewarding was the Q&A session that doubled in running time against the presentation itself. Not only was that an impressive feat in itself, it was a strong indication to the Code.gov team that the audience was engaged. They wanted to be there and wanted to know more. It was a terrific evening around America’s code, and we hope to have a return engagement with this Raleigh meetup group.
Settling back into the D.C. area, the Code.gov team members have just enough time to catch their collective breaths before more events scheduled in the upcoming winter months, including a November meetup and a December Hackathon. If you are joining us for the first time after meeting us at All Things Open or Tech & Pints, we invite you to explore Code.gov and visit our Open Tasks to see how you can contribute. If you have an event you would like to see us at or would like to talk to us about appearing at a meetup, visit us on Twitter or LinkedIn. We want to hear of your challenges, answer questions you may have for us, and offer you a chance to make a difference, to innovate, and to create.
Code on.
