[15:00] <czajkowski> aloha
[16:01] <pleia2> hi everyone, welcome to the Ubuntu Women Career Days session with czajkowski
[16:01] <czajkowski> Thanks for having me here today, it's nice of pleia2 to ask me to attend.
[16:01] <pleia2> if anyone has any questions during the session, please ask them in #ubuntu-classroom-chat and prefix your question with QUESTION:
[16:01] <pleia2> for instance
[16:01] <pleia2> (see in -chat)
[16:01] <ClassBot> pleia2 asked: do you like pugs?
[16:02] <czajkowski> I do!!!
[16:02] <pleia2> :)
[16:02] <pleia2> alright, czajkowski - all yours!
[16:02] <czajkowski> so I'll start by how I got involved and then talk about what I'm currently up to these days.
[16:02] <czajkowski> I've always loved technology I grew up around it and for me it was an easy decision to study at a later date.
[16:02] <czajkowski> Studied Computer Science at college, loved it, although looking back it focused a lot on  evelopment which I did but don't enjoy and wasn't till the final 2 years where I
[16:02] <czajkowski> found engineering, testing
[16:03] <czajkowski> , documentation, requirement that I found what I love doing the most.
[16:03] <czajkowski> *development
[16:03] <czajkowski> How I got involved in open source was via the computer society at college, I got more involved in the running of the society and just liked being able to contribute.
[16:03] <czajkowski> I started off as a treasurer and the was the president of the society
[16:04] <czajkowski> that in itself was interesting as the person controlling the purse strings in a male dominated society it was often viewed as the token female by some.  But I did introduce new events, like talks workshops and even ran my first conferene skycon.
[16:04] <czajkowski> I got involved in Ubuntu around 2007, and loved being involved in the community and having a having a voice.
[16:05] <czajkowski> I found it different from others that were active around then perhaps it was because I knew people starting off but I think a lot of it was I had an interest in the desktop.
[16:05] <czajkowski> any questions?
[16:05] <czajkowski> When I finished college I worked at a Software Tester for an Irish Software House in Dublin and it was here I got further involved in Ubuntu, it was anything but open source but did allow me to be able to irc at work so I could keep being involved and got to know more and more people!
[16:06] <czajkowski> sometimes you may not get the perfect job on your first attempt but view it as the stepping stone or gaining experience to move on in your career.
[16:06] <czajkowski> Put in the time and the effort and people will respect you in the long run has been my experience.
[16:06] <czajkowski> Back then I started to be involved in the Ubuntu-IE LoCo
[16:07] <czajkowski> went along to a few workshops and a few meet ups
[16:07] <czajkowski> it was nice to mee people face to face outside of IRC
[16:07] <czajkowski> I heard about UDS Karmic and thought it sounded interested and took a weeks holidays and went o see what it was all about.
[16:07] <czajkowski> I was hooked – from there I got involved in Ubuntu teams, eventually got my membership and so began my jouney into Ubuntu, 2 years on the Membership board, 4 years on the LoCo Council and now on my 2nd term on the Community Council.
[16:08] <czajkowski> I've made great friends along the way, many of which I keep i contact with outside of Ubuntu, and I think this is what keeps our community alive
[16:08] <czajkowski> any questions?
[16:09] <czajkowski> I moved to London on 2010 and in 2011 I started to work for Canonical as Launchpad support. It gave me a view into how various people use one system so differently, not just for code hosting, but translations and not just for Ubuntu projects.  It was great and I really enjoyed my time there!
[16:09] <czajkowski> So what do I do now:
[16:10] <czajkowski> I'm the EMEA Community Manager at MongoDB, http://www.mongodb.com/ and I've been here since June '13. the Community team is broken down by territory and we work together as a team to help the community with the tools they need, we worked on a community kit this year which has been useful and we're looking for more people to help translate it.  http://blog.mongodb.org/post/64205973285/introducing-the-mongodb-community-kit
[16:10] <czajkowski> So some of you may not have heard about MongoDB
[16:10] <czajkowski> and others may wonder why I blog about it
[16:10] <czajkowski> Ubuntu and MongodB do work together
[16:11] <czajkowski> and without people talking about the different technologies which I like doing, people won't know about new cool tools to use!
[16:12] <czajkowski> you can download MongoDB from the software centre, there is also the JuJu Charm for MongoDB https://jujucharms.com/bundle/~charmers/mongodb/5/cluster/ and also in the Charm for MongoDB https://jujucharms.com/bundle/~charmers/mongodb/5/cluster/ and also in the Ceilometer package in OpenStack  http://docs.openstack.org/trunk/install-guide/install/apt/content/ceilometer-install.html
[16:12] <czajkowski> I think one that that has helped my career is taking the time to read about different projects
[16:12] <czajkowski> not become an expert in them but know that we often use parts of projects within one project
[16:13] <czajkowski> If you like technology and it's someting that always changes you need to keep learning
[16:13] <czajkowski> so what do I do at work
[16:13] <czajkowski> well I work from home in Guildford and I look after the community. which is rather broad.
[16:13] <czajkowski> I look after our MongoDB User Groups – MUGs and I currently look after 70 of them, I continue
[16:14] <czajkowski> to nurture them and make sure they are growing, I look at ways I can help take their feedback and see where we can improve of give credit where credit is due and pass along the thanks!  I recently launched a survey in EMEA for our community  and with that feedback help where necessary.
[16:14] <czajkowski> without seeking feedback you can't know if you're doing the right thing and if you are that's great and if you're not where can you make it better.
[16:14] <czajkowski> I spend time with each of our organisers making sure they feel supported.  Sometimes it's a call, or a hangout just to  see if their last event went well
[16:15] <czajkowski> or if they need extra support, making sure they have some swag if they need it and generally supporting them for their advoacy in the community.
[16:16] <czajkowski> Making sure we have people at events that have requested us to be there.  I get many many many! :) requests to have us at events, I try and make sure we're either speaking at events or there or we do send MonogDB Masters - like MoTU to the events on our behalf
[16:16] <czajkowski> Part of my role is to talk about and bring MongoDB to the community which may new, interested in learning more or haven't had the opportunity to meet one of our experts so I run our MongoDB Evenings in EMEA, this week I'm just back from Italy where we had two such events and in two weeks time I'll be in Barcelona
[16:17] <czajkowski> I am very privileged that I get to meet the community face to face and get to hear what people want from MonogoDB, but also it's great to hear what people are doing and the enthusiasm spreads.
[16:17] <czajkowski> I recently started my training, which is nice and anyone can do it! I'm doing the Python 101 course but if you prefer Java there is also on there and we work with the community to make sure it's up to date. https://university.mongodb.com/
[16:17] <czajkowski> so I am still learning in this role
[16:18] <czajkowski> and I've found the best way is to talk to people
[16:18] <czajkowski> sometimes that's just via twitter you strike up conversations or on irc
[16:18] <czajkowski> but that's what is like for me each day
[16:18] <czajkowski> talking about open source and mongodb and where we all fit together in the great wider open source community
[16:18] <czajkowski> :)
[16:18] <czajkowski> I love it!
[16:19] <czajkowski> I get to do what I do best talk to people about something I am passionate about
[16:19] <czajkowski> You can follow me on twitter @czajkowski
[16:19] <czajkowski> MY G+ page https://plus.google.com/u/0/+LauraCzajkowski/
[16:19] <czajkowski> or email me czajkowski@ubuntu.com
[16:20] <czajkowski> an that's really me :)
[16:20] <czajkowski> Any questions ?
[16:22] <ClassBot> pleia2 asked: Do you have any recommendations for other people who are looking for similar types of work?
[16:22] <czajkowski> I'd look at some of the communities out there and see what they are offering
[16:23] <czajkowski> a good idea would be to see if there are any job openings if you are attending events
[16:23] <czajkowski> many people love talking and it's not until you actually talk to them at a booth do you make a connection  and find out about possible roles
[16:24] <ClassBot> pleia2 asked: Have you faced any particular challenges in your career that others might learn from?
[16:26] <czajkowski> Yes, people assume once you work with community you're not tecnical, I find this insulting. My only advice is always continue to learn and read. While you won't be an expert in the field, ask questions don't be silent people asusme silence means you don't know anything, show your interest by asking and engaging.
[16:27] <czajkowski> Thanks folks
[16:50] <ClassBot> There are 10 minutes remaining in the current session.
[16:55] <ClassBot> There are 5 minutes remaining in the current session.
[17:00] <ClassBot> Logs for this session will be available at http://irclogs.ubuntu.com/2014/04/05/%23ubuntu-classroom.html