Parent Driven Development
Episode 014: Conferencing After Babies
00:16 Welcome, Tess (https://twitter.com/GriffinTess) and Sean Griffin (https://twitter.com/sgrif)!
Tess is a Site Engineer at GitHub (https://github.com). Sean is a developer at Shopify (https://www.shopify.com/), renowned Rails committer, the creator of the Diesel Framework (http://diesel.rs/), host of The Yak Shave (http://yakshave.fm/) podcast, and a former host of The Bike Shed (http://bikeshed.fm/) podcast.
02:14 Deciding on Conference to Go To and Speak At
Conferences who offer on-site childcare are very attractive. Shoutout to Ruby Central (http://rubycentral.org/) conferences and Rust Belt Rust (https://www.rust-belt-rust.com/)!
09:56 Evening Childcare
Going through conference organizer recommendations is preferencial because they spend a lot of time scouting the cities, however, services like UrbanSitter (https://www.urbansitter.com/) and Care.com (https://www.care.com/) are options in a pinch.
Conferences that offer child/kid-friendly after-hours activities are also great for parents. It seems like more conferences like that are popping up and opting for less bar atomosphere gatherings. 👍
16:38 Awesome Conference-Provided Amenities / Wishlist Items
Swag Options for Kids (onesies and t-shirts!)
Badges for Kids and Babies
A list of kid-tolerant folks / Babysitting Co-ops for parents amongst attendees / Equipment share (Could be in the form of a Slack channel.
23:34 Having Answers BEFORE Asking People to Commit
Just having people click a box saying they will need childcare but not having any details about what those plans are isn't cool. (It also gives them a great excuse to turn down coming.) Parents want to know from the get-go that there is a solid childcare plan in place before they commit to going to a conference. Remember, the younger the child, the more logistics are involved around needs and stuff (equipment).
Is there a supermarket or supermarket delivery service nearby?
How will I get from the airport to the conference hotel?
Is there additional costs for children?
27:31 Getting Around
Public transportation around your conference is key. 10-15 minutes away from the airport is an ideal distance.
29:26 School-Age Children and Conferences
32:43 Genius / Fail Moments
Chris: Print-and play projects (#Genius)
Tess: Investing in a nice child gate (#Genius)
Allison: Having thoughtful and interactive conversations with your kids (#Genius)
Sean: Teaching babies words is hilarious! 🤣
Follow & Support
Please follow us @parentdrivendev (https://twitter.com/parentdrivendev) on Twitter or email us at panel@parentdrivendevelopment.com (mailto:panel@parentdrivendevelopment.com). Our website is at ParentDrivenDevelopment.com (https://parentdrivendevelopment.com).
We are listener supported. Please consider Supporting us via Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/parentdrivendev) and gaining access to our our kind Slack Community.
Panel
Chris Sexton (https://twitter.com/crsexton)
Allison McMillan (https://twitter.com/allie_p) Special Guests: Sean Griffin and Tess Griffin.
