Purpose

To discuss activities happening in the tech community and to share ways we can better communicate what’s going on in each organization.

Attendance

  • Jason Arend, Eagle Speak — MATA, SGF Web Dev Group
  • Myke Bates, The Alchemedia Project (TAP) and Eagle Speak — SGF Web Dev Group, Atlassian Group
  • Sherry Coker, OTC Workforce Development — MATA Founder
  • Paige Oxendine, The eFactory — The eFactory, MATA Board Member
  • Greg Johnson, Atrilogy (Tech Recruiter)  — MATA, Hack 4 Good (H4G), Software Bootcamp, HR Conference
  • Jason Klein, Logic Forte — AITP, AWS Group
  • Jimmy Ledbetter, Jack Henry — Shop Talk Group, Nixa City Council, Nixa JTSD Magnet School PTA
  • Shannon McMurtrey, Drury University — Cybersecurity Group
  • Deb Wilson, O-STEAM — Ozark Maker Faire

January Agenda

  • Tech Group Updates
  • Software Developer Bootcamp (Greg)
  • Code for America Brigade (Sherry)
  • Developer Conference Progress (Myke/Tom)
  • Meeting Recording and Live Streaming updates (Myke/Jason)
  • bit.ly/sgf-web-devs-youtube
  • bit.ly/sgf-aws-youtube
  • Excellence in Technology Awards (Biz417/AITP – Dave/Jason)
  • Game of Codes High School Competition (Biz417/PaperWise)

Welcome New Tech Leaders

  • Jimmy Ledbetter

Discussion

O-STEAM (Deb Wilson)

  • Maker Faire scheduled for Saturday August 25th 2018
  • Looking to connect with anyone who specializes in wearable technology
  • Maker Faire date may change in 2019 to avoid conflicts with KC, Wichita events.
  • NWA hosts tech event combined with WIT event and maker summit
  • Considering organizing Women in Technology (WIT) and Maker Summit events the day prior to TIO (Tech IT Out)
  • Considering hosting small Maker Faire events at local schools (students open, not public) so that students can show off their projects. Would like to host this type of event at a local maker space, but we do not have one (yet).
  • DreamIT MakeIT, Drury, and OTC each have a maker space on their radar.

MATA (Sherry Coker, Jason Arend)

  • Welcome new Board President – Jason Arend
  • Events: CS Girls Bolivar 01/18, CS Girls Springfield 01/25
  • OTC funding up for renewal on the ballot this year. If funding increase, manufacturing focus may include a maker space.
  • High School Computer Science Curriculum in Missouri
    • MATA formed as 501c6 so political advocacy/lobbying would be allowed.
    • In past 9 years, no technology legislation except broadband laws.
    • KC Tech Council and Code.org are promoting CS education reform in State of Missouri K-12 system. MATA and CSTA advocating for Missouri to legislate CS course work be allowed in K-12 system and count as Math or Science credits.
    • Focusing on HB 1623 (http://house.mo.gov/BillContent.aspx?bill=HB1623&year=2018&code=R&style=new).
    • Coached by KC Tech Council. Met with Lt Gov, Senators Dixon, etc.
    • More participation from SGF (25%) than STL.
    • Learned most states already have more advanced CS curriculum.
    • Learned MO has 10K tech jobs, only graduating 1900 CS students per year.
    • Springfield Representation
      • Bolivar Public Schools – Brad Sterling (Technology Director)
      • Camdenton Public Schools – Doug Starkey (Technology and STEM Education Director)
      • Humansville High School – Lisa Perkins (CS teacher)
      • Republic High School – Robin Robertson (CS teacher)
      • Southwest Baptist University – Tim DeClue
      • MATA – Sherry Coker
      • O-STEAM – Deb Wilson
      • Springfield Chamber Public Affairs – Emily Denniston, Alex Greiwe
      • Audio Acoustics – Bob Graham
      • Classy Llama – Kurt Theobald, Jonathan Hodges
      • Duck Creek Technologies – Andy Yohn
      • Eagle Speak – Jason Arend
      • JMark Business Systems – Tom Douglas
    • Visit MATA advocacy page for updates.
  • MATA encouraging organizations to support MATA for $300 to help cover costs to promote Springfield Technology Community (e.g. print materials, banners, etc)
  • Hack 4 Good
    • First Weekend in November
    • Considering a monthly event to refine and expand project that came out of the annual Hack 4 Good competition.
    • Code Brigrade – Join Slack channel #codeforamerica to discuss whether or not we are interested in Hack 4 Good participating in their program. Feedback from group suggests program may be too limiting. Myke suggested discussing with Tulsa group that participates in this program.

SGF Web Devs (Myke Bates)

  • Meeting Recaps
    • Last major meeting of 2017 featured Mozilla with about 100 attendees.
    • Last two meetings of 2017 were “hack nights” focused on building app for group (e.g. Check into meetings, door prizes). App about 60% complete.
  • Goals for 2018
    • Legal Entity (Non Profit) to accept funds for a local/regional Developer Conference, for meeting sponsorships, etc.
    • Consider connecting with MATA or CFO to handle funds?
    • Jimmy had problems getting multiple people paid from an account.
    • Sherry recommend Barbara Houser KPM for non-profit accounting advice and tax filings.
  • Developer Conference
    • Targeting event in late 2018.
    • Working to establish entity, begin planning venue, speakers, sponsors.

The eFactory (Paige Oxendine)

  • Accelerator Cohort 3 applications are open. Program will run from May-August 2018. Injection of $30K capital. Up to 10 companies. Program is now once per year over summer.
  • Spin66 scheduled for Friday May 11th. http://spin66.org/
  • The eFactory Office Space @ 100% capacity.
  • Currently scheduling Speaker Series and Lunch & Learns for April and May.
  • Hosting a special Tax Reform event with BKD in May.

Software Bootcamp (Greg Johnson)

  • Roundtable discussion went well, with about 20 in attendance and many who sent regrets but would like to participate in the future.
  • Meeting with CoderCamps CEO in PHX to discuss Springfield event for Steve Wozniak (WasU) (http://www.woz.org/).
  • Also meeting with ThinkFul (https://www.thinkful.com/) and Dev Mountain (https://devmountain.com/) to discuss Springfield event.
  • Chamber tired to bring Launch Code STL (https://www.launchcode.org/) to SGF last year. Going to discuss with Chamber and may try to connect with Launch Code again.
  • Contact Greg if he should connect with any other existing bootcamp programs!

AITP Shop Talk for Technical Managers (Jimmy Ledbetter)

  • Jimmy Ledbetter and Jordan Phillips began leading group last fall. Prior group leader Vickie Hensley resigned due to work schedule conflict.
  • Recent sessions on generation gaps and understanding millennial.
  • Upcoming session will discuss recruiting.
  • Needing to connect with more technology managerial types.
  • Considering rebranding with new name.

Meeting Recording and Live Streaming (Myke Bates and Jason Klein)

  • Myke and Jason are recording SGF Web Devs and SGF AWS meetings.
  • Working through hardware, software, technical, content issues.
  • Myke is writing a guide to help other groups get started.
  • Subscribe to their YouTube channels:
  • bit.ly/sgf-web-devs-youtube
  • bit.ly/sgf-aws-youtube

FWD/SGF Technology Event Calendar for Springfield Missouri (Jason Klein)

  • Moved tech calendar from AITP website to dedicated website.
  • No longer limited to Star Chapter software capabilities.
  • Using WordPress “Twenty Sixteen” theme with “The Event Calendar” paid plugins to setup recurring events and automatically import events from Meetup, Facebook, etc. (https://theeventscalendar.com/bundles/)
  • Working to add missing groups/events
    • Deb asked to add O-STEAM and link to O-STEAM calendar. (done)
    • Girl CS day Today 11am-1pm @ Bolivar HS, Contact Gina Greene CSTA
    • Girl CS day Next Thursday 01/25 11am-1pm @ The eFactory, Contact Barbie Kolb GO CAPS
  • Working to implement search capabilities, improved iCalendar subscription options (currently all or nothing), subscribe to weekly email digest, and forms to submit event information.
  • Short term plans include recruiting several other community leaders to help maintain events, establish guidelines for event content and formatting.
  • Long term plans including posting feed of upcoming events and event changes to Twitter.

Upcoming Events – Spread the Word!

  • Biz417 Excellence in Technology – March 1st
  • Biz417 Game of Codes (High School Coding Contest) – March 29th
  • OTC Student Led Hackathon – April TBD

Action Items

  • Send Barb Houser KPM contact info to Myke, Greg, Jimmy
  • Barb Houser <bhouser@kpmca.com> 417-882-4343
  • Send link to MATA Tech Group brochure (Google Docs) to Sherry
  • https://goo.gl/56Ctr8

Group Leaders – Please join the discussion in our #TechLeaders channel on Slack (https://matasgf.slack.com/). Not a member? Request an invite from Sherry Coker or Jason Klein.

Refer to the Springfield Tech Calendar at FWD/SGF (https://fwdsgf.com/) for event details and/or links to group pages. Group Leaders – Please be sure to post your upcoming events to the calendar! Send events to Jason Klein.

Adjourned 1:15pm

Next Meeting: Thursday February 15th 2018 @ Springfield Brewing Co. Save the date!