Last night we held the first meeting for a new software craftsmanship group, in Columbus Ohio. The turnout was tremendous, rivaling some of the more established groups in town. In total, we had conflicting counts between 26 and 28. That was not the point but just shows that the interest in the subject is greater than I anticipated. We met at a restaurant on the north end of Columbus, we over took the back half.
We all had dinner and discussed what about the craftsmanship movement brought us to the meeting, and then discussed some technology specific things at each table. Due to the rapid expansion in attendance we didn’t have the room to pair and really practice like I was hoping. So, that’s the priority for the next event. We had a good amount of diversity in the room: ruby, python, J (jpl), .net, java, android, iphone, collars, T’s, beers, and sodas.
All in attendance were in agreement, that it’s a breath of fresh air to have a group that is more relaxed about format. Having a “nerd dinner “, even though it wasn’t planned that way, turned out awesome. Typically user group meetings seem so “sit and listen” that its hard to get as much participation as I’m hoping for. Everyone seemed to pick up on the vibe and treat it as dinner with old friends, you know your 27 best ones, and look beyond all the usual religious battles that happen on the open internet.
For the next meeting of the group, Matt Yoho has stepped up and would like to host. It will be on more tech friendly turf for pairing. The initial thought is to choose a kata ( maybe bowling kata), and everyone pair on it, and then do a quick retrospective on how it went. This is the group I’ve wanted to be a part of for a long time. I’m excited to do it again. We’re starting a google group and other communication tools, to keep a posted status without tweeting daily.