Be a buddy

This section goes out to the Summit alumni. You’ve been there, done that, and got the t-shirt. Remember how unexpectedly amazing your first Summit was? Maybe you can recall your apprehension or ponder a few things you wish you had known beforehand. Now think about your whole IT career.

Regardless of how long it is, there are probably plenty of things you wish you knew back at the beginning. No, don’t give me that Imposter Syndrome BS. You know your stuff, and people could benefit from that knowledge. Especially someone new to the industry. Especially someone new to Summit. And especially someone new to both; someone who is about to spend a few days having their brains exploded by the likes of Jason Helmick, Jeffrey Hicks, Joel Bennett, Justin Grote, and Kevin Marquette.

So we created the buddy program. We assign a buddy to a specific individual from our entry-level OnRamp track. As a buddy, you’ll still attend all of your normal Summit sessions and functions; we just ask that you sit with your student during our Monday general sessions, and during lunches. While in their company, try to answer any queries they might have and guide them through Summit.

We also ask that you attend evening events with them (both formal and otherwise, like inviting them along to dinner with others) and introduce them to others, to help “on ramp” them into our community. OnRamp is about making a strong technical professional, but buddies are about making strong new members of our community.

You don’t need to be a guru; you just need to give someone a helping hand!

We suggest that only Summit alumni volunteer to be a buddy, as you’ll already be familiar with how Summit works. If you’re interested, jump in the #onramp-buddies channel in our Slack team. You can also show your willingness on your registration form (whomever registered you can change that at any time).

We’ll make buddy introductions a couple of weeks before Summit, and we’ll help arrange your face-to-face meeting on Sunday evening or Monday morning of Summit.