djangogirls

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DigitalOcean joins as Django Girls' global partner!

As we begin our fundraising campaign for 2024, we are excited to announce another great company joining us as a global partner - DigitalOcean!

DigitalOcean simplifies cloud computing so businesses can spend more time creating software that changes the world. With its mission-critical infrastructure and fully managed offerings, DigitalOcean helps developers at startups and growing digital businesses rapidly build, deploy and scale, whether creating a digital presence or building digital products.

DigitalOcean combines the power of simplicity, security, community and customer support so customers can spend less time managing their infrastructure and more time building innovative applications that drive business growth.

DigitalOcean is pleased to support the Django Girls' mission to empower women and girls with technology. They are joining us at the Diamond sponsor level.

For more information, visit digitalocean.com.

Thank you DigitalOcean!

#codewithkindness #digitalocean #djangogirls

[djangogirls]

OddBird joins as Django Girls Global Partner!

Happy New Year!

We are excited to start the year by announcing a great company joining us as a global partner - OddBird!

OddBird collaborates with teams at mid-size and large companies to plan, design, and develop custom web applications and design systems. As thoughtful experts, they love to help their clients improve team workflow, lower maintenance costs, and solve problems with technology that help people. They provide the full range of services from brand design, user research, and project management, to Python on the backend, CSS/Sass on the frontend, and JavaScript.

OddBird was founded in 2008 by three siblings with a vision for human-centered software design and development on the web, especially focused on accessibility, performance, integrated design systems, and long-term sustainability. Since then, OddBird has become an industry leader – from our work on Django, Sass, and Susy, to the W3C, Mozilla Developer Channel, Object-Oriented UX, and in-depth conference talks on front-end architecture, workflow, component libraries, testing, and documentation. 

Their clients get to know their tight-knit team on a first-name basis. OddBird is intentionally small, enabling them to move nimbly and integrate with teams at larger companies like Adobe, Google, Mozilla, and SRAM for a big impact. They all learn what makes each project special, and strategize together – keeping the backend, frontend, and design integrated for a shared understanding of each company's goals and user needs.

OddBird staff frequently give conference talks and workshops, write articles and speak on podcasts to teach people how to create more resilient web applications and design systems – improving team processes, communication, site performance, and accessibility.

OddBird has supported us in the past for years through Patreon and we are excited to have them back as our Silver sponsor. 

Thank you OddBird!

Django Girls Foundation is looking for more corporate sponsors to join as global partners. For more information on our corporate sponsorships, please see our sponsorship deck or email [email protected]. You can also visit our Patreon page for monthly donations. 

[djangogirls]

RunCode joins as Django Girls Global Partner!

We are excited to announce another excellent company joining us as Django Girls' global partner, RunCode!

Software development is made easy with the emerging Cloud Development Environment systems. RunCode.io is always trying to make developer lives easy by providing pre-built ready-to-code workspaces. Now anyone can start coding with the click of a button.

They mainly focus on: 

Live collaboration

Isolated development environment

Security first

Code from any device

Pre-built environment ready to code with the click of a button

Connect with your favourite git hosting (GitHub GitLab, BitBucket).

Developers around the world spend hours setting up their development environments, laptops, and machines, resulting in expensive upgrades, and all the efforts may be for nothing if a single hardware error occurs. The solution to this problem is the - ”Cloud”! Imagine how wonderful it would be if we have the same development tools in the cloud, with almost zero installation/setting-up efforts at a very attractive and economical price.

RunCode has taken up this challenge, and brings the “RunCode cloud development environment”. RunCode is a cloud-based, robust, secure, ready-to-code developer workspace, that provides a high-performance & fully configurable coding environment to developers. Their browser-based platform enables seamless collaboration between teams across operating systems and devices on a real-time basis, at the click of a button. 

RunCode Workspaces support over 40+ Linux-based programming languages, 11+ databases, and 22+ frameworks thereby opening up a world of opportunities for the code-indulgent folks. RunCode Workspaces are powered by 8 core CPU, 16 GB RAM, 30 GB cloud storage, and VS Code IDE or Jupyter lab for data science and more to come.

Spinning up a workspace is straightforward, the user simply has to open https://runcode.io/ and click on the pre-configured templates, or by adding one line anchor tag to the readme.md file, users can open their repositories on RunCode Workspaces. Real-time collaboration and access from any device are the added advantages of the platform.

They are investing heavily in the open-source ecosystem by offering unlimited access to eligible developers under our open-source contributor program. Likewise, they have students, educational institutions, startups, and incubators programs.

Thank you RunCode!

Django Girls Foundation is looking for more corporate sponsors to join as global partners. For more information on our corporate sponsorships, please see our sponsorship deck or email [email protected]. You can also visit our Patreon page for monthly donations. 

[djangogirls]

PostHog joins as Django Girls Global Partner!

We are excited to announce another great company joining us as a global partner in 2022 - PostHog!

PostHog offers a suite of product analysis tools, including funnels, heat maps, session recording, and experimentation, all in one easy-to-use platform. They are open-source, so you can host it on your own infrastructure. This means you have greater control over who has access to your data, and makes regulatory compliance a breeze because you don't need to send user info to third parties.

PostHog's plugin system works seamlessly with tools such as data warehouses, both for importing and exporting data. This allows you to bring data across your tools into one place and easily understand user behaviour across a range of touchpoints.

PostHog joined our Patreon campaign in March 2022.

Thank you PostHog! We are happy to have you support our work.

Django Girls Foundation is looking for more corporate sponsors to join as global partners. For more information on our corporate sponsorships, please see our sponsorship deck or email [email protected]. You can also visit our Patreon page for monthly donations.

[djangogirls]

Flatirons Development joins as Django Girls Global Partner

We are once again excited to announce another great company joining us as our global partner - Flatirons Development!

Flatirons Development is a software development and full-service design firm that specializes in moving early-stage software companies from point A to point B. They are focused on building SaaS products, multi-user applications, marketplaces, and complex systems that balance user needs with critical business goals.

In 2020, Flatirons Development launched their investment arm, Flatirons Fund, to encourage innovation during a troubled economic climate and the years beyond. They are dedicated to supporting and advancing a new wave of software developers and founders, particularly women and people of color who have traditionally been underrepresented in the space. By investing product development and design talent in early-stage companies, their goal is to get founders to a place where they can go out and successfully raise funds or hit their next big milestone.

Flatirons Development is about to release their first consumer-facing product built for developers, Flatirons Fuse. Flatirons Fuse fixes the headache of data onboarding with an embeddable CSV import tool. With just a few lines of code, developers can provide their customers with a powerful data onboarding experience, including AI-powered column matching, frontend data validation and cleaning, and backend data validation support.

They joined our Patreon campaign this month. We are so excited to have them on board, supporting our work.

Thank you Flatirons Development!

Django Girls Foundation is looking for more corporate sponsors to join as global partners. For more information on our corporate sponsorships, please see our sponsorship deck or email [email protected]. You can also visit our Patreon page for monthly donations.

[djangogirls]

Six Feet Up joins as Django Girls Global Partner

As the year ends, we are excited to be introducing another great company joining us as a global partner for Django Girls - Six Feet Up!

Six Feet Up, Inc. is a Python and cloud expert consulting company that helps innovative tech leaders build apps faster, innovate with AI/ML, simplify Big Data, and leverage Cloud technology.

Using modern technologies and processes, their mission is to Make Anything Possible™ for their clients. They are committed to completing 10 IMPACTFUL Projects by 2025. IMPACTFUL Projects are defined as projects that are impressive, purposeful, and transformative. To date, Six Feet Up has had the privilege to work on 4 IMPACTFUL Projects — ranging from space exploration to lightning strike predictions, forest fire management, and genetic engineering. The company is well on its way to achieving this goal.

At Six Feet Up, their can-do mindset keeps the team focused on making anything possible for their clients. Whether they’re learning new tools or collaborating with competitors to combine thier expertise, they will explore every avenue to meet joint goals. After completing an especially complex project, one client gave them a toy pig with wings saying: “With Six Feet Up, pigs truly can fly.”

They work hard at promoting best practices and automation. To this end, They have founded industry-leading events including the Python Web Conference, the largest worldwide event for web developers; IndyPy, the largest Python meetup in Indiana; and IndyAWS, Indiana’s fastest-growing cloud meetup.

Six Feet Up is a certified Women-Owned Business. They are also a gender-balanced software company and we couldn’t be happier to partner with such a great company!

Thank you Six Feet Up.

Django Girls Foundation is looking for more corporate sponsors to join as global partners. For more information on our corporate sponsorships, please see our sponsorship deck or email [email protected]. You can also visit our Patreon page for monthly donations.

[djangogirls]

Free coding lessons for Django Girls alumni from Webucator starting January 2022

Are you a former Django Girls workshop attendee? We have great news for you. One of our global partners, Webucator, is offering free Python, Django, and HTML lessons to former Django Girls workshops attendees through a partnership with Django Girls.

The aim is to provide follow-up workshops that supplement the content in our Django Girls tutorial and provide more content for free for those who wish to continue learning to program after attending one of our workshops.

These follow-up workshops will be 100% remote, with the first one scheduled for January 22, 2022, from 10:00 to 16:00 ET, and will be facilitated by Noah Alorwu.

Noah Alorwu is a Software Engineer based in Ghana. He has been involved with Django Girls since 2017. He has coached and organized numerous Django Girls across Ghana and beyond. Currently, Noah is part of the Django Girls Foundation Advisory Board which helps to shape the future of Django Girls.

Noah loves to contribute his quota to the development of the tech ecosystem. He believes in bridging the gender disparities in tech and loves working on projects that help solve a problem. He is excited to be leading these fantastic workshops with Webucator and hopes to see you there!

For more details on the course content, please visit this link. Click here to apply for this amazing opportunity.

Best wishes with your coding journey!

[djangogirls]

Webucator joins as Django Girls Global Partner

We are very excited to announce another awesome company joining us as Django Girls global partner, Webucator!

Webucator provides high-quality onsite and online training on technologies such as Python, Django, SQL, JavaScript, Java, SharePoint, Microsoft Office, Azure, Windows, Adobe, and much more.

Webucator’s Chief Information Officer, Nat Dunn, is the author of two books, Actionable Python and Actionable Django. Webucator is also a proud sponsor of The Python Software Foundation and The Django Software Foundation. You can read more about that and other things they support here.

Join the 14,985 organizations that have trusted Webucator with their training needs.

Django Girls Foundation is looking for more corporate sponsors to join as global partners. For more information on our corporate sponsorships, please see our sponsorship deck or email [email protected]. You can also visit our Patreon page for monthly donations.

[djangogirls]

Caktus Group renews as Django Girls Global Partner

We are once again excited to have Caktus Group renewing their sponsorship as Django Girls global partner!

Caktus Group builds sharp web apps and prides itself on doing development the right way with a diverse and talented team. Using agile processes, they innovate, iterate, and deliver on time and on budget. Check out their blog for a variety of Django tips and helpful how-to’s.

Caktus is proud to support DjangoGirls and its mission to empower women and increase diversity in the tech industry. They are always on the lookout for talented Django developers to add to their close-knit team. Current job openings are listed on their careers page. Before the COVID pandemic, the team enjoyed working together at the Caktus headquarters in Durham, North Carolina. While all their work is done remotely, they regularly connect online to collaborate and have fun! 

Founded in 2007 by Django developers, Caktus specializes in custom web app development for a variety of businesses as well as healthcare, higher education, government, and nonprofits. Their projects positively impact millions of people worldwide.

Caktus Group supports the local community through a charitable giving program and by sponsoring tech meetups. They contribute to the broader tech community with various open source projects and by annually sponsoring events such as DjangoCon and PyCon. If you ever run into them at a conference, stop and say hello! You can also engage with Caktus on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and GitHub.

Django Girls Foundation is looking for more corporate sponsors to join as global partners. For more information on our corporate sponsorships, please see our sponsorship deck or email [email protected]. You can also visit our Patreon page for monthly donations.

[djangogirls]

Potato joins as Django Girls Global Partner

We are so excited to announce another awesome company joining as Django Girls global partner, Potato!

Potato is an award-winning digital product development studio with offices in London and San Francisco. They strive to build a supportive and inclusive environment where everyone can learn and grow while building and launching innovative, scalable products. 

Open Source and Django are fundamental to the architecture of their products, and Potato regularly releases and maintains the Open Source tools and libraries at the core of the highly scalable apps they build on Google’s Cloud platform.

Potato is currently looking for experienced Django developers to join its agile development team Read more here on the Potato jobs page.

Django Girls Foundation is looking for more corporate sponsors to join as global partners. For more information on our corporate sponsorships, please see our sponsorship deck or email [email protected]. You can also visit our Patreon page for monthly donations. 

[djangogirls]

We are fundraising!

Happy New Year to you all! 

We are at the start of another new year and we are fundraising! 

We went through some big changes in 2020. Our founders, Ola and Ola stepped down from running Django Girls, to pursue new ventures, and five new Trustees stepped up to continue running the Foundation. We also added support for remote workshops. With the COVID-19 pandemic affecting the whole world, we have suspended in-person workshops to ensure the safety of our organisers, volunteers, and participants, and have updated our resources to provide guidelines for organising remote workshops to allow our work to continue.

Our focus and mission for the upcoming year is in improving diversity and inclusion in Django Girls, ensuring our workshops are accessible to all, specifically including those from marginalised groups. 

We are looking for new sponsors to join our global partners, so if you have been thinking about it, now is your time to partner with us and support our work. There are many ways you can support us. These include once off donations through PayPal, monthly or annual donations through Patreon, or an annual corporate sponsorship. 

If you would like to join us as a new partner, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us.

[djangogirls]

Your Django Story: Meet Anna Siwack

This is a post in our Your Django Story series where we highlight awesome ladies who work with Django. Read more about it here.

A brief biography, two to three sentences, about who you are, where you’re from, and the work you do.

Hello, I’m Anna. I’ve lived in Wrocław, Poland, all my life. I’m 23 years old and I graduated from the IT faculty of Wrocław University of Technology this year. I’ve worked as a programmer in Mirumee Software for over a year. It is a fast-growing company specializing in e-commerce. I write code in Python using the Django framework.

How did your story with code start?

My first steps with programming (apart from playing with HTML in elementary school) were at high school. I joined a specialized mathematical-IT class in which we learned C++ language, and I found that programming came to me quite easily. My classmates and I competed on the SPOJ platform, trying to solve as many problems as possible, as well as taking part in contests organized by Wrocław University. IT was an obvious choice for university and I knew it was the career for me—and that is just the way it worked out!

What do you love the most about coding?

I like doing things that can help make other people’s work easier, and programming lets me make that difference. I also love seeing the effects of my work immediately. Of course, it’s not always a quick process. Sometimes it takes a couple of hours or even days to solve some complicated problem, but finally achieving it gives me great satisfaction.

Why Django?

I came across a lot of languages and frameworks during my studies. I liked C++ at first. It was the first language that I worked with and I appreciated its obvious syntax (even if it’s sometimes hard to understand at first glance) and it’s well-organized code. It was a good background to gain a deeper understanding of the wider concepts of programming. I even worked as a C++ developer, but it was not my dream job.

My path changed when I came across web applications. It showed me the ‘other side’ of programming. I tried many languages but Django impressed me with its simplicity and ease of use. It’s written in Python and they both have a number of helpful packages that speed up work, as well as a large and engaged community of people providing answers to common problems. And I like how quickly-written code can generate fast, visible effects.

What cool projects are you working on at the moment/planning on working on in the near future?

The most interesting project was Saleor, an e-commerce platform written in Django and JavaScript. It’s an open-source project and it was really important to write high-quality code. I learned a lot during the 8 months I spent working on Saleor. I’m now working on another interesting, fast-growing e-commerce project. The online store was based on the older versions of Python and Django and we are in the process of migrating to the newest versions, so I am getting a good insight into the past and future of both technologies.

What are you the most proud of?

It’s not always easy to find a great job in your chosen field straight after graduating, but I’m very proud that I managed to do so. I really recommend the path I took. Working in IT is a very desirable career option nowadays; there is a relatively low chance of finding yourself without work, it offers a stable life, and there is also the chance to spread your wings if you want to explore some remote job offer in another country ;)

What are you curious about?

I love cooking after work. I used to be passionate about baking cakes (even some fancy, decorated ones) and other sweets, but now I’ve discovered savoury food and I’m trying out some more or less classic recipes.

I recently got to be a mentor for Django Girls Wroclaw at their workshop. It was a fun and rewarding experience in helping other people start out on their journey with coding. It was really nice to give something back to the community.

And, like other programmers, I love cats!

Do you have any advice/tips for programming beginners?

Don’t be put off by rough beginnings; they are always difficult. And don’t be afraid of asking. A programmer’s work is a continuous learning process and every programmer has doubts from time to time. If you have experienced people around you, make use of their knowledge. Ask for a help if you have any trouble. You’ll find that most people are only too happy to assist you.

[djangogirls]

Niteo joins as Django Girls Global Sponsor!

We are once again excited to announce another great company joining us as Django Girls Global Partner, Niteo GmbH! 

Niteo is a remote-first SaaS company with team members from the US, Slovenia, Ukraine, India, Norway, Guatemala, Japan, and the Philippines. They live and breathe Open Source and you can see their releases and contributions here https://niteo.co/projects.

Niteo is a remote-working company who are passionate about building relationships between colleagues. As such, they arrange bi-annual in-person meetups where the team go away together for a week and have some fun! These in-person meetups have been vital to Niteo as they have grown, as they believe that building quality relationships between staff makes a huge difference to the experience of remote working during the rest of the year.

Read more about the company and how they work on their public Handbook and on their site.

[djangogirls]

Help shape the future of Django Girls

Would you like to help shape the future of Django Girls? We are looking for people to join our advisory board and help us do exactly that!

Our focus for 2021 is on improving diversity and inclusion. This means ensuring our values, our mission, our website, our workshops and our processes are accessible to everyone, especially those from marginalized groups. To help us do this, and to make Django Girls continue as an organization who leads the way for diversity and inclusion, we need to make sure that marginalized voices are heard, and have a pivotal role in shaping our community.

Who can join the advisory board

Anyone aged 18 or over can apply to join, but we especially encourage applications from marginalized groups. 

This could mean that you are a person with disabilities, you are trans or non-binary, you are a person of colour, or you come from a developing country where there might be additional barriers to accessing programming education or jobs in technology. 

You don’t have to already be a member of the Django Girls community, but it helps if you are at least familiar with our work and what we do.

What does a member of the advisory board do?

Trustees try to hold update meetings at least once every 3 months, and members of the advisory board are invited to join us (although you don’t have to come to every meeting). 

Agendas and actions from meetings will be shared with all members of the advisory board and members are free to provide additional comments, recommended actions or items for discussion at future meetings.

At any time members of the advisory board can contact trustees with concerns, suggestions or advice, and can request a meeting with trustees to discuss this.

Are advisory board positions paid?

No. All advisory board members are volunteers. Becuase of this we try to keep our time requirements low.

How long do I have to agree to join the board for?

We would like everyone to commit for a minimum of 6 months. After 6 months, members will be asked if they would like to continue, and are given the option to step down if they wish to do so.

How many positions are available on the board?

The number of positions is not firmly set. We don’t want to have to reject applications from people who can help make a difference because there aren’t enough spaces. We will offer positions to people who can best support us and help us grow.

How will my application be assessed?

Applications for the advisory board will be processed in a similar way to how we process workshop applications. Applications will be anonymised and trustees will review all applications separately, scoring them from 1 to 5. Scoring will be based on the following criteria;

What is the benefit to Django Girls?

Does that applicant really want to be more involved with Django Girls?

Does the applicant provide insight into a specific area of diversity and inclusion?

Does the applicant have specific ideas on how to improve or shape the future of Django Girls?

What is the application timeline?

The deadline for applications is the 18th December 2020 and we hope to contact applicants with a decision in January 2021.

How can I apply?

You can complete our application form here and you can answer in any language you prefer. If you have difficulty accessing the application form, or would prefer to apply using an audio or video application then please contact [email protected].

[djangogirls]

Ola & Ola step down from Django Girls Foundation

Me and Ola decided to officially step down from running Django Girls Foundation and to welcome a new team of trustees: Anna, Aisha, Claire, Leona and Rachell ❤️. 

From now on all decisions - both administrative and brand-related - will be made by the new team and me and Ola waive our decision making-power in the organisation. 

💡 We want to make space for new ideas… and rest

Stepping down from the organisation was on our minds since last year. Our life and careers were taking us in different directions, our interests and passion shifted to new areas. At some point we discovered we have less energy and time to spend on building and improving Django Girls. 

We care deeply about Django Girls and wanted to make sure that it continues to thrive. We also realised we both are a blocker for change and improvement. That’s why we decided it’s time for us to officially step down and make a space for people who can take the organisation to the next level. 

We can’t express how thrilled we’ve been seeing Anna, Aisha, Claire, Leona and Rachell agreeing to take on the responsibility for the foundation. They’ve been building the Django Girls community for years already and we can’t wait to see where they will take Django Girls as trustees.

🙏 We are so grateful for everything we got from the community

Running Django Girls was a once in a lifetime opportunity for both of us. In the past five and a half years we had a chance to build a fantastic and caring community. Django Girls grew from a modest 45-people one-time workshop to a movement spanning across 98 countries and giving thousands of women around the world an opportunity to fall in love with programming (22,000 attendees to date!). 

That’s impressive and a bit unreal… even after 5 years! We will always be grateful for all the love and support we’ve received from the Django and Python community in the past years. We hope you will all welcome Aisha, Anna, Claire, Leona and Rachell as our new leaders as warm as you welcomed both of us 5 years ago. 

Thank you ❤️.

[djangogirls]

From Nothing to Something!

This blog post was written by Manasvi Jain. Thank you, Manasvi :)

I am Manasvi Jain. I am 22 years old from Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India and currently in final year pursuing Bachelors of Engineering degree, in the field of Information Technology. 

I love to explore new technologies and have a great interest in the tech world. I have always been a keen learner, getting my hands dirty at every new technology that entices me. I think everyone should learn to code irrespective of their professions because it gives a fresh perspective to solve any problem by enhancing one’s logical and analytical thinking capabilities.   

Wanting to utilize the extra time of lock-down period for more productive activities, I started discovering new channels to explore more and in this search, came across Django girls. I knew python programming language but never implemented it in any project hence I decided to use it for developing websites with Django framework. I started following the tutorial for building a blog and very diligently, following every step. The well-illustrated tutorial solved all my queries as I progressed in the tutorial and the others were systematically addressed by the Django Girls community, which is a huge network of geeks from around the world who stay connected at all hours to help you out.

Django Girls tutorial was like finding the last puzzle piece in my incomplete puzzle. It kept me glued to the laptop until I finished the project. Completing every chapter motivated me to continue to the next and by taking those baby steps, I landed up developing a blog of my own! Creating something, which was beautiful, functional and up on the internet built my confidence enormously making me believe that I could take up and excel in any technology. You can check my blog at http://jmanasvi.pythonanywhere.com/

During the course of the project, I learned the skill of being patient. I understood that there would be syntax errors, sometimes there will be issues in the versions of different platforms and other times I would just forget to save the changes! However, staying patient with the spirit of trying it once more really helped me find the solution and faster than I imagined. 

I plan to dive deep into Django and develop an online portal with this framework. I am also looking forward to collaborating with Django girls and contribute my bit in equipping women with knowledge of technology and the power to make significant differences in the world with their skills and abilities.

Although there are a plethora of resources you could refer to kick start your journey but most of them focus only on teaching theory not demonstrating the real-world applications, whereas Django Girls tutorial emphasizes on the learning-by-doing philosophy and helps you develop concrete fundamentals along with its usage in live projects. I would recommend this tutorial to everyone who is passionate for coding and or want to explore the coding world. This tutorial would inspire you to pursue your journey in mastering the technology. All you need to do is to take that first step. You Go, Girl!

Django Girls is a non-profit that teaches programming to women all around the world. Want to help us? Support us!

[djangogirls]

Organizing the first-ever Django Girls Workshop in Gandhinagar

This post is about my first ever experience as an organizer of a technical event. I’ve attended numerous workshops and also volunteered in helping the organizers a couple of times. I’ve been part of Django Girls for the last two years - as an attendee and as Outreachy community partner. I always wanted to bring this fantastic workshop to my city. And after closely observing other organizers for a while, I was ready to do it this year.

About Django Girls

Django Girls is a non-profit organization and a community that empowers and helps women to organize free, one-day programming workshops by providing tools, resources and support. It is a volunteer-run organization with hundreds of people contributing to bring more amazing women into the world of technology. Their goal is to make technology more approachable by creating resources designed with empathy.

Since 2014, an army of 2017 volunteers in the Django Girls community organized 872 events. Django Girls workshop has been organised in 502 cities in 90 countries. Yes! It is international :). A total of 20339 incredible women attended these events and started their tech journey :).

Format of the Django Girls workshop

[Source - Django Girls Gandhinagar Flicker Album]

Django Girls provides a unique learning experience. You work in a small group of just 4 to 5 attendees. A coach is assigned to each group, and your coach works closely with you throughout the day to help with any problems that you may have. You work at your own pace, assisted by your coach, so you don’t need to worry about keeping up with others.

Learnings at a Django Girls workshop

The workshop refers to Django Girls Tutorial which includes an Introduction to Python, Introduction to Django, Introduction to git and GitHub, Introduction to HTML and CSS, How to integrate a database with your website and How to deploy your website. At the end of the workshop, you have your own blog up and running on the internet and the coaches help you in achieving this.

Organizing Django Girls Gandhinagar

[Source - Django Girls Gandhinagar Flicker Album]

I am also a member of the Developer Students Club(DSC) at my institute. I, along with Tikam(another DSC member), attended Django Girls Workshop at Bhavnagar in July this year. We both were pretty excited to bring the extraordinary learning experience to our city - Gandhinagar. 

We discussed the idea with our DSC lead Shadab, and we decided to organize it as a club activity. Our annual technical festival - the iFest was also around the corner. iFest was the perfect time to conduct this workshop as students don’t have academic commitments during the fest. We also had support from Harsh (iFest committee member) to help us in coordinating our workshop with other iFest activities. Soon, we figured out all the logistics and applied for permission to conduct the workshop from the Django Girls Organization. We received the permit within a week.

[Source - https://djangogirls.org/gandhinagar/]

Django Girls have a comprehensive organizers manual which helped us a lot. We also made sure that all of us were well informed regarding the status of organizing activities. We had numerous things to be done well on time like PRs, bringing sponsorships, finding coaches, handling social media accounts, updating our website, opening registrations, accessing the application and selecting attendees, arranging food, beverages, goodies and certificates. We maintained shared ToDo lists and kept all our conversations at the same place (a what’s app group for chatting and an organiser’s account for emails). This helped particularly when I got the dengue fever and was hospitalized for a week before the workshop. I’m so proud of our team for managing everything flawlessly when I was away.

[Source - Django Girls Gandhinagar Flicker Album]

We found fantastic coaches who came from different cities to help our participants in learning Django and web development. We also collaborated with the organizers of the DevFest Gandhinagar as their event was also taking place on the same day and at our university. 

[Source - Django Girls Gandhinagar Flicker Album]

This gave us the opportunity to arrange a lightning talk by Siddhant Agarwal - program coordinator of Google Devs India. 

[Source - Django Girls Gandhinagar Flicker Album]

We could also introduce our participants with some industry professionals attending the DevFest which created a good networking opportunity. 

[Source - Django Girls Gandhinagar Flicker Album]

The workshop day was packed with intense learning, lightning talks and a quiz :). 

[Source - https://djangogirls.org/gandhinagar/]

Last but not least, we got support from our fantastic sponsors. Microsoft stepped in as our first major sponsor. Python Software Foundation and Django Software Foundation also sponsored our event. GitHub and StickerMule sent us stickers to distribute at the workshop. A big thank you to all our sponsors.