RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Key topics for today’s technology and an active and engaged community from all over Latin America. This is how Nerdear.la 101 can be summarized, the spin-off of the biggest nerd community event in the region, which took place last Friday for free through the sponsorship of companies such as Falabella, Technisys, Microsoft, BBVA and openqube.
With a regional proposal and seeking to attract newcomers to the sector, the more than 50 lectures and workshops in 3 simultaneous virtual rooms were overflowing with participants commenting and wanting to be part of the event.
On the other side of the screen – the event was entirely online – world-class speakers addressed topics such as web development, infrastructure, digital banking, cybersecurity and data science, among many others.
“We are very happy with Nerdearla 101, a proposal we developed particularly for people who are just starting in technology in the region. From Mexico to Argentina, all feedback received was very positive: much gratitude and enthusiasm. Latin America needed an event like this, a proposal entirely designed for those who want to start or are just starting,” explained Nerdear.la’s founder Ariel Jolo.
In line with the spirit of the event, one of the first lectures was given by Maximiliano Firtman, professor of programming courses worldwide since 2001, who talked about the initiation process. “The reality is that learning to program is not a green, flat path where you can see the goal, but instead a jungle you have to cross with a machete, cutting branches and watching where you step,” he explained.
On the other side of the screen participants engaged through chat, leaving their questions and voting on those asked by others. The last lecture session was dedicated to questions from an audience that came mainly from Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru, countries where there is a growing demand for professionals in the sector.
Github’s Technical Program Manager Alexandra Bourne, who came from Mexico, also joined the audience and explained how the tool is used for internal projects. “Github is a program that helps you convert files and codes and makes it more accessible and easy to use. The company hosts the majority of open source projects, where one can join other projects to add experience or learn from them, as well as obtain licenses for open source projects,” she said.
In addition to talks on coding or Github, there were workshops on the latest trends, such as digital banking, chatbots, Visual Studio Code, GIT, first job, Python, and artistic programming.
In addition, there were sessions dedicated to Human Resources professionals with companies actively recruiting also taking part. There was also space for nerd culture, and the Corear Orchestra, which opened and closed the event with its specialty: video game music with classical instruments.
Closing was led by a hero of the nerd culture: Jon “Maddog” Hall, a reference in open source software.
“Why are you sending millions of pesos or reais to pay for code that does the same thing as Linux? Why are you boosting another country’s economy and not employing local developers? Once the money leaves your country, it’s gone. Why are you hiring software and hardware where you can’t inspect malware?” asked Hall, Board Chair of the Linux Professional Institute.
Nerdear.la 101 wrapped up with Hall, which, as Jolo recounted, was an event born out of a request from the community.
“The main feedback from the surveys after last year’s event was that there were many people who were just starting out and didn’t understand all lectures. That’s why we came up with this more compact one-day event, exclusively for them. In October we will return with the usual 3-day edition for the whole community and the call for lectures is already open, for anyone who wants to send their proposal,” Jolo invited.
Source: Ambito
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