For more than 10 years now we’ve structured events with technology students in mind. And moreover, it was one of the primary reasons we started the Open Source 101 series in the first place.

Why did we do this? For a few reasons…

  1. Students are the “technologists of tomorrow” and need to be as prepared as possible to hit the ground running upon graduation. Education is expensive and competition for top jobs that pay well is not only strong, but is now global.
  2. A working knowledge of open source technologies and processes are now preferred (and possibly expected) by employers. Those with this knowledge coming out of school are more competitive and better positioned.
  3. Open Source is a great way to gain technology and process experience, and meet new people that can further a career.
  4. We have found open source methods, processes and many technologies are rarely taught in schools or widely understood by faculty. The result is often a graduate (even in computer science programs) without the basic skills and understanding needed in today’s uber competitive and ever-changing world.

With this in mind, and understanding Open Source 101 is only a one-day event, we suggest students consider attending the following sessions on April 18 in Columbia:

All keynote / plenary sessions

April 18 – 8:45 – 10:00 am ET / Main Stage
Keynotes and featured sessions are specifically structured to address important topics of general interest and be applicable to wide audiences. Students need to hear these. A few of keynote topics this year include:

  1. The need for inclusion and diversity in open source/tech
  2. Open source at Twitter – delivered by the head of Open Source at Twitter itself
  3. From Contributor to Co-founder: Building a career and company on open source

The Anatomy of an Open Source Project

10:30 am – Contributing/Consuming track
Every student should have a solid understanding of the pieces and parts of an open source project. Why? Because context matters when attending later sessions on specific individual topics.

Making Your First Open Source Contribution

11:30 am – Contributing/Consuming
Many students never contribute to open source projects, and enhance their marketability and GitHub account in the process, due to one simple reason – they don’t know how. This session is designed to take attendees step-by-step through the process.

Making a Career out of Open Source

12:30 pm – Trending / Emerging
If you’re wondering what a career in open source might look like this session is for you. Delivered by a long-time open source entrepreneur and acknowledged expert, the value is guaranteed to be considerable.

How to Undo (almost) Anything with Git

2:30 – 4:15 pm Developer
Delivered by Lee Faus of GitHub, this is a can’t miss session. Git is another foundational concept in development and code and a basic understanding should be Step 1.

Note: This is an extended session (1:45 hours) to allow a deeper dive and more time for Q&A.

Advanced Git

4:30 – 5:15 Developer
Once you’ve got the basics then it’s time to move to more advanced concepts that can save you time, deliver better code, and generally be used to deliver better technology.

Register Now

Published
March 18, 2019