Last Thursday (4/7/2016) I spoke at the 2016 NYC CS Fair. Their number one goal is to encourage public high school students who study CS to stick with it, by showcasing all the great opportunities that await them should they pursue a career there. I talked about being a hacker, how to negotiate CS studies in higher education, the difference between CS and software engineering, and the importance of a good mentor. It was a great group of kids, and if even 25% of them go on to become CS students, I think the industry is going to see some positive change.

A couple of weeks ago I did a great fireside chat with Matt Turck at Data Driven NYC.

I’ve always found that the fireside chat is a format with a lot of potential to be boring, but Matt is a great interviewer, and interacting with him on stage definitely adds to the event. For example, when I was talking about the headline features of our 3.2 release, I omitted a significant pair – the BI connector and Compass – and he reminded me to talk about them. It’s things like that which enhance the experience for the audience. At their best, a fireside chat interviewer takes care of the setup, makes sure you’re staying on track, and grabs opportunities to dig deeper.

For the past 6 months, I’ve been participating in the NYC Tech Talent Pipeline Advisory Board, a partnership between New York City and technology companies in New York. From the press release announcing this board’s formation:

Mayor Bill de Blasio today announced 14 initial industry commitments to support the delivery of technology education, training, and job opportunities to thousands of New Yorkers as part of the Administration’s NYC Tech Talent Pipeline initiative. Announced by the Mayor in May 2014, the NYC Tech Talent Pipeline is a first-of-its-kind, $10 million public-private partnership designed to support the growth of the City’s tech ecosystem and prepare New Yorkers for 21st century jobs. The commitments were announced at today’s inaugural convening of the NYC Tech Talent Pipeline Advisory Board, during which Mayor de Blasio and 25 executives representing the City’s leading companies came together to help define employer needs, develop technology training and education solutions, and deliver quality jobs for New Yorkers and quality talent for New York’s businesses.