NERD Summit 2021

NERD Summit is an inclusive, community building tech event in New England.

In 2021 we will be virtual again, but are changing the format.

Friday (3/19) will be a normal day of sessions - presentations given by speakers.

Saturday (3/20) will be open discussion sessions, which are commonly called "BOFs" ( Birds of a Feather), people coming together to discuss a topic of interest. These meetings will have a leader who will structure the discussion with 3 or so discussion questions around the topic to be discussed.

Sunday (3/21) will be a Training Day - an opportunity for people to come together and learn from each other.

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NERD Summit has been an incredible success thanks to excellent presenters, generous sponsors, and an enthusiastic community. Sponsor packages are designed to help your organization with brand awareness, talent recruitment, and networking with potential partners and customers!

Become a sponsor

Mission

The mission of NERD (New England Regional Developers) is to collaborate with the regional community to ensure that the annual Summit and events throughout the year offer everyone, regardless of background or finances, a diverse curriculum for relevant skill building and valuable networking opportunities. This supports our vision of creating positive and supportive learning opportunities for people who work or want to work in web and related technology. Too many smart, passionate people have been traditionally excluded from tech careers, and we're changing that.

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HOW DOES THIS VIRTUAL SUMMIT WORK?

Virtual NERD Summit is like the in-person summit, except that session rooms are virtual (a Zoom session) rather than physical.

Find the session you wish to attend in the schedule below.
Click the JOIN * link ~5 minutes (or less) before the session is scheduled to start.
IMPORTANT: All the rooms are password protected. All ticket holders will receive the password by email. Make sure you registered here ti.to/nerd/nerd-summit-2021
The sessions are recorded. Mute your audio and/or turn off your video if you do not want to be in the recording.
Please stay muted unless you are asking a question.
To ask a question, use the raise hand feature in Zoom, and you will be called on.
When the session or BoF is over, you can leave that Zoom room, or stay if your next session is in the same Zoom room.

If you do not already have it, download the Zoom Client for Meetings *
* You will be prompted to do so when you click a JOIN link if you do not have it, but it is better to do it in advance.

Each room color has a Zoom link:

HANGOUT sponsored by Common Media and Acquia
KEYNOTE sponsored by Last Call Media
RED sponsored by Last Call Media
BLUE sponsored by BigVooDoo
GREEN sponsored by Tiny Pilot
YELLOW sponsored by FIT Staffing
ORANGE sponsored by Talking Drupal
PURPLE sponsored by Hilltown Families and MontagueWebWorks

Nothing is scheduled for HANGOUT, it is just a Zoom room to hang out in. Also KEYNOTE is the same Zoom link as RED, simply named differently.

Look for the app on the iOS App Store, thanks to Lou Franco.

FRIDAY March 19 Sessions

All times are Eastern Time Zone (ET)

SATURDAY March 20 BoFs

All times are Eastern Time Zone (ET)

NERD Summit 2021: Training Day on Sunday!

Welcome, curious coders! Are you hoping for a career in creating with code? Are you looking for something fun and educational for all ages? We offer training in several programming languages with a pay-what-you-want ticket!

For those more adventurous, we will help you build a portfolio piece with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript which you can use for your next College or Job Application. And for the visual learners and those looking for a youth-focused experience, we also coach programming in Scratch (a visual programming language by MIT).

Learn at your own pace and ask questions to our professionals! With several free online courses to take you from wherever you are to where you want to be, and with the help of our volunteer mentors, we can and will help you take the next step in your journey to become a professional programmer. Join us in this exciting industry, and start a career you can enjoy for the rest of your life!

NERDS Training Day has material suited for Adults, Teens, and Youth ages 8 and up. All you need is a ticket, Zoom, and a slack account -- we also recommend you have the slack desktop client as well.

NERDS2021 Training will take place on Sunday, March 21st from 9am until 3pm EST. We will close with an opportunity to demo anything you’ve created, if you want, and to provide feedback so we can improve for next year! All day, Mentors will be taking questions, pair programming with individuals via screenshares, and checking in to see if they can help.

We will be using this Zoom link as the primary one: RED ...so join that link at 8:45AM on Sunday.
The passcode to get in will be sent to you if you signed up by getting a ticket (see button below).

We look forward to meeting you! March 21 at 9:00AM :) See you soon!

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Become a sponsor

New England Regional Developers

NERD Summit is a product of New England Regional Developers (NERD). NERD creates positive and supportive learning opportunities for people who work, or want to work in web and related technologies in the New England area.

Code of Conduct

Attendees are encouraged to read the NERD Summit 2021 Code of Conduct.

The NERD Summit 2021 team

Organizers

Kelly Albrecht
Rick Hood

Volunteers

Abby Bowman
Steve Brewer
Erik Britt-Webb
Mike Brooks
Stephen Cross
Lili Dwight
Lou Franco
Stephanie Fuda
Chad Furman
Barbara Hebert
Lisa Huang
Joan Joly
Andrew Pasquale
Aubrey Sambor
Gabe Smith
Heidi Stanclift
Molly Taaffe
Jen Wahlund

To volunteer, email Rick Hood at [email protected].

To stay up to date on NERD and NERD Summit, subscribe to our newsletter.

Prepare for NERD Summit 2021 takeoff, March 19-21!

2021 Program