Welcome to Project Codex's Networking Basics!
- So what is Networking?
- Why is Networking important?
- Okay, where can I go in Orlando?
- I can't make it to the meetups
From lexico.com:
The action or process of interacting with others to exchange information and develop professional or social contacts. ‘the skills of networking, bargaining, and negotiation’
Networking is a way for Developers to reach beyond themselves to find resources in the community. This can be through digital communication or personal communication, but personal communication has an added bonus of establishing rapport with others, and in many cases - strong friendships and possible employment opportunities.
Here's a great intro by Marcell Lipp in Dev.to:
7 good opportunities to do networking as a software developer
Since Project Codex is pretty heavily based in Orlando, we can definitely help you out.
To start, make sure you create a Meetup account on Meetup.com.
Next, you can search for the term "Tech" and tighten the criteria to be within 50 miles of Orlando, FL.
Another option is to jump over to an already curated list, like the one hosted by Dwayne at otech.events and then go to the Groups tab
Finally, if you just want a quickstart grouping, check these Meetups out:
- Project Codex: Orlando Junior Developers
- Orlando Developers Group
- Front End Orlando CodePen
- Code For Orlando
- The Orlando Python User Group
- OrlandoJS
- ONETUG - Orlando .NET User Group
- iOS Orlando
- Central Florida Android Developers Group
After you have looked over the list of available Meetups, go start attending them! Make it a goal to meet at least 3 new people at each one. You will find your circle of colleagues will grow tremendously.
Once you meet people in the community, ask to be invited to the OrlandoDevelopers Slack group. You'll need to provide an email address that you want registered, but this opens a whole new area of opportunities with many channels available in various tech interests.
Keep an eye out for User Group conferences like SQLSaturdayOrlando, Orlando Code Camp, and DevFest. All of these are opportunities for you to network and grow within the community, and often contain not only technical resources, but jobs by way of recruiters and sponsors as well.
That's ok! Many people have family or other life events that keep them from going to Meetups. You can still learn and get to know the community. Many Meetups are being streamed and recorded to be posted on otech.events or Orlando Devs Community Youtube
One of the Orlando Developer Board Members also runs a monthly webinar viewing that is recorded for future use as well at Certified Fresh Events
Get out there and meet people!