I’ve been a member of Women Who Code San Diego for nearly a year now and have attended a variety of wonderful events. I even attend events that I know absolutely nothing about because I truly enjoy meeting more and more of the incredibly talented and friendly women that make up our San Diego network.
So when I saw the event page for the “Tech Book Club”, I thought to myself, “What happens at a tech book club?” and then later thought, “What happens at a book club in general?”.
Out of sheer curiosity, I RSVP’d for the event and realized (to my surprise) that I had never attended a book club before. This was surprising because I am a self-proclaimed wordsmith and lover of words on pages.
Growing up in a small town north of San Francisco, we didn’t have a library. The neighboring towns were too far to access the city library after school but we had the next best thing- a book mobile. For those of you who didn’t grow up in the 80’s, a book mobile is basically a school bus converted into a library on wheels. It came to our corner of the small town every Thursday and only for an hour. It was my favorite day of the week. I was always the first on the corner waiting to greet the bus and hop on board. I didn’t want to miss one minute on that bus.
As an adult you can find me happily tucked away in a cozy corner with my nose stuck in a book. I can’t even Netflix and gave up on Game of Thrones two episodes in because I was getting anxious to get back to reading. So yeah, I sort of assumed I would have attended at least ONE book club by now. Alas, no. And as I packed up my things and drove to the event, I had so many questions brewing.
What books would we read?
Some kind of coding manual?
How many members would attend?
Would we get a copy of the book at the end of the event?
So many questions! I was eager to arrive.
The event took place at the Lytx (think analytics for pronunciation) headquarters; a modern, incredibly well designed and functional corporate office. I was greeted with smiles by all the women at the reception desk doing the check-in. It was a very welcoming experience and everyone was so kind.
As I stepped into the event room it was clear most people felt as welcome as I did. Many small pockets of members were chatting and eating. The lineup of pizzas, salads and beverages were ever-enticing. Before I sat down with a plate of deliciousness, I chose to take part in the next office tour led by Victoria Majcher (Lytx’s Talent Acquisition Partner). Her enthusiasm was contagious! Her passion for her company was evident as she led us through the numerous departments that make up Lytx HQ. I wondered if other employees of Lytx shared that same enthusiasm and as the event went on, the answer was a resounding yes.
They started the event by introducing us to the women on their engineering team. Each woman spoke a bit about themselves, how long they worked at Lytx and their overall feelings about what it means to be a woman in tech at Ltyx. I plan to interview a few of them for future blog posts- standby on that one! What this gesture did was fill the room with pride and inspiration. I also felt a sense of hope knowing that more and more companies exist that are helping women feel valued, included and motivated to reach their career potential as a woman in tech.
Next, we were on to the books.
Upon entering the event we were all given a packet of information on three books of choice. We would vote for one at the end. Each book was introduced by a WWCode-SD member which spoke more to why this book was a great choice for the book club.
The first book option was Lean In, the second was Cracking the Tech Career and the third was The Pragmatic Programmer. Oh boy- this was a hard choice! I had read Lean In at two different stages in my adult life and while I agreed with a lot of the book the first time I read, I dramatically changed my opinion on the book once I became a mother and tried to navigate my career from then on. So I agreed with the presenter of this who said this would be a great choice because it was a book that started out strong, but then received debate and criticism over the years. A good discussion-starter for sure!
I had not heard of Cracking the Tech Career and so it seemed really interesting because I knew I could learn tips that I would be able to share with the members I meet that are bootcamp graduates or completing their degree. As for the Pragmatic Programmer, well- I really had no opinion to help me decide whether to vote for it. It sounded cool, but I wondered if it would be interesting enough for me to complete as an active book club member. I wondered if it would end up on the pile of books on my bedside table waiting for attention.
So which book won? The Pragmatic Programmer of course! Now what happens?
Well, you can order your copy online, borrow from your local library or download a PDF version for free. The book club will soon post virtual meetup dates where we will discuss the book at different checkpoints. The best new is- you can still participate!
So grab your copy and join us!
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More information and pictures from this and future events can be found on the event page.
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