Tuesday night I was a guest at a Boulder Ruby Group meetup at Pivotal Labs on Pearl Street. Ruby is a programming language known for being strongly community driven. This was my first social event in tech, and it was awesome.

Let me preface by admitting upfront that I showed up late, missing the intro talk. I knew I’d show up late, but figured it would be no big deal. I was wrong. The opening talk was geared toward newbies such as myself and was given by an alum of the program that I’m currently enrolled in, gSchool. So not only did I miss the content that I would have been most likely to have a strong grasp on, but I also missed the opportunity to preview where I might be in the near future, both technically and within the local scene. Lesson learned.

Just before the first presentation, our host, Eno, took a quick poll of guests who were hiring and asked for each to give a short run down of what kind of positions were open. I was excited to be in such an open environment and to see that there is no shortage of opportunity for Ruby developers in Boulder. There were maybe five jobs to be had for the right candidates.

Presentations began, and after about two weeks of class under my belt, I understood next to nothing. I would LOVE to be able to fill you in on all of the details, but I can’t. It’s a shame. All three of the gentlemen who spoke in that chunk of the evening were excellent speakers who seemed very well informed and were really likable. It’s reassuring that these guys are leaders in the local Ruby community — you would be thrilled if any of them were your co-workers. Next time, I’m bringing a notebook.

Topics included Toggle Methods, The Importance of Clean Code, and Angular on Rails.
*apologies if this isn’t an entirely accurate summary

Now two days later (sorry for the delay), I can say that I am totally stoked for the next Boulder Ruby Group meetup. Luckily they are monthly, so I won’t have to wait long. Next time, I will be punctual and take better notes. I hope I did it justice.