Introducing the Code for Asheville Newsletter

At the suggestion of several members we will be sending out a newsletter at least monthly with announcements, information on upcoming events,  volunteer opportunities, news from the national network, and more!

Announcements

Brigade Action Teams - Work with our national council
Check out the latest news from the National Advisory Council. Along with an update with their own plans for 2017, the NAC is starting a bunch of Brigade Action Teams that offer brigade members anywhere in the country to participate in the national effort. Action team topics range from trust to collaboration to fundraising to badges and recognition. Check out the post and, if interested, sign up on this form.

Upcoming events & opportunities

Monthly Community Meetup
Our next monthly community meetup will be at 5:30pm on February 9th at the Montford Recreation center. This will largely be a social event, but we will have a mini-class on working with Github for anyone interested. For more information, check out the Meetup event. 

Open Data day is on March 4th. Mark Your Calendars!
We are excited that the City of Asheville will be sponsoring our annual Open Data Day event! This is an opportunity to work with City staff and community leaders on issues that are important to our community and to learn what the City is doing to make it easier to access public information. We will have more details in the near future. In the meantime, sign up here.

Opportunities to Contribute
A big focus this year is to make it easier for members to contribute in ways both small and large. Here are some areas we could use help with in the near term.

• Help draft an introductory email about Code for Asheville and how to get involved - to be sent whenever someone signs up for this newsletter. Top qualifications: you're new and would like to find out the stuff in this email :).
• Help develop step-by-step guidelines for someone who'd like to start a project with us in the community. Top qualifications: you're interested in seeing us work in a new area and want to help us figure out how to make it happen. Doesn't matter if you code or not.
• Help produce this newsletter! Top qualifications: you write well and want to be the one most in the know.
• Contribute to our new statewide reentry resources hub project. We recently developed the Buncombe Reentry Resources Hub for people reentering the community after prison or with a criminal record. We're now working with Code for Greensboro to take it statewide. Top qualifications: you code or you write well. We have opportunities for both experienced and junior developers and for writers to help craft content. Check the project out here.

News from @code4asheville

Review of January 12th Community Meetup
The January meeting focused on discussion of what the group should work on in the coming year (2017). Economic opportunity seemed to be most popular, but a number of other areas evoked interest, including education, mental health, and support for families, women, and children. 

For a full list of the topics and suggestions discussed, refer to this page. 

February 1st Captains Meeting
The captain's meeting mainly focused on how we can use this newsletter to communicate with our members, as well as what we can do to ensure that our members have ample opportunities to participate, and to make sure that the captains are delegating tasks.

We also discussed what we should focus on for the upcoming Open Data Day (March 4th). The city has generously agreed to fund this event, as well as provide us with a space for it.

We are currently working out the details on the format, as well as who will be speaking and what topics we will cover.  

News from the network

Big news from our neighbors in Greensboro!
Code for Greensboro has been awarded official 501(c)(3) status from the IRS. The Greensboro Brigade partnered with the Elon Law School Small Business Clinic to draft organizational by-laws, and other documents needed to be recognized as a non-profit entity. The non-profit status will allow Code for Greensboro to be more effective when pursuing community fundraising opportunities, and will allow them to apply for various grants. The brigade held their first annual Board of Directors meeting in January.