Women in Tech on Caktus Group

Caktus Clicks: November Link Roundup

Wed, 24 Nov 2021 13:28:39 +0000

We’re thankful for many things around here — our customers, our followers, our growing team, our community. We’re also thankful for a wealth of information available online that educates, inspires, and entertains!

Caktus Clicks: October Link Roundup

Fri, 29 Oct 2021 13:09:47 +0000

October brought with it a (slight) change in the weather as well as the return of DjangoCon! In between our usual fall routines, here are some of the interesting things we have been clicking on — a nice mix of food for thought and actual food! Click for yourself and see what you think:

Continuing My Sales Tech Career: A Promotion and Professional Development

Mon, 25 Oct 2021 18:47:28 +0000

This blog is a continuation of my last post about my professional background and transition to a new career at Caktus Group. As an update: I still dig it here.

Caktus Clicks: September Link Roundup

Thu, 23 Sep 2021 10:00:00 +0000

We’re reviving a blog series from a few years ago in which we compile and share the things Cakti are clicking on — articles, videos, podcasts — whether it’s tech-related, an idea for social good, or just something interesting or amusing that caught someone’s eye. Have a look at this recommended reading and let us know what you think:

Becoming a Sales Tech Sponge: Transitioning to My Dream Job

Fri, 30 Jul 2021 18:48:17 +0000

This is a blog post about where I come from and where I’m headed as a team member at Caktus Group. I’ll only be on my soapbox for a few paragraphs, pinky promise.

Uniqueness is an Advantage

Wed, 17 May 2017 13:30:00 +0000

Back in March, the organizers from the Women in Tech summit asked if I’d like to collaborate on a panel on diversity in technology at their Philadelphia summit. Back in October, I had created a panel on “Staying a Women in Tech” and was excited for the opportunity to speak on such a significant topic in my hometown of Philadelphia. I was introduced to Brigitte Daniel, who had submitted this new panel, and we began putting the panel plans together. Brigitte would moderate the discussion and I would be a panelist along with three other dynamic women in tech: Elise Wei, Jumoke Dada and Gulrukh Ahanger.

Caktus at PyCaribbean

Wed, 01 Feb 2017 13:00:00 +0000

For the first time, Caktus will be gold sponsors at PyCaribbean February 18-19th in Bayamon, Puerto Rico. We’re pleased to announce two speakers from our team.

Bake the Cookies (PyCon 2016 Must-See Talk: 5/6)

Wed, 10 Aug 2016 17:29:12 +0000

Part five of six in our annual PyCon Must-See Series, a weekly highlight of talks our staff especially loved at PyCon. With so many fantastic talks, it’s hard to know where to start, so here’s our short list.

My First Conference Talk: Reflecting on Support and Inclusivity at DjangoCon Europe 2016

Mon, 13 Jun 2016 12:00:00 +0000

The environment at Caktus is, above all, one of encouragement. I experienced that encouragement as an intern and continue to experience it as a full-time developer. In addition to providing workplace mentorship, Caktus encourages all of its employees to submit talks to conferences. My manager Mark Lavin and mentor Karen Tracy encouraged me to get over my concerns about being new to the field and to start submitting talks.

From Intern to Professional Developer: Advice on a Mid-Career Pivot

Wed, 13 Apr 2016 12:00:00 +0000

A few weeks ago, Rebecca Conley attended DjangoCon Europe 2016 in Budapest, Hungary. The event is a five-day conference that brings together Django lovers from all over the world to learn about and share each other’s experiences with Django.

Caktus Internship Fuels a Career Re-Launch

Thu, 24 Mar 2016 13:28:53 +0000

What is it like to be an intern at Caktus? I am finishing up as the spring Django intern (though I didn’t actually use any Django), so I’ll share my experience.

Django Girls Workshop Recap

Thu, 08 Oct 2015 12:00:00 +0000

This past Saturday we had the pleasure of holding a Django Girls RDU workshop at Caktus in downtown Durham, NC. We hosted 22 students and 10 coaches for a free, all-day coding workshop. Aimed at increasing diversity in tech and encouraging women to gain the skills they need to fall in love with coding, Django Girls is a global nonprofit that provides the framework for these workshops. In regular Django Girls style, the day was part party, part coding marathon and every student left having deployed their very own website!

Announcing Django Girls RDU: Free Coding Workshop for Women

Wed, 05 Aug 2015 18:02:23 +0000

We’re incredibly excited to announce the launch of Django Girls RDU, a group in NC’s Triangle region that hosts free one-day Django coding workshops for women. Django Girls is part of an international movement that’s helped 1,600 (and counting!) women learn how to code.

PyLadies RDU and Astro Code School Team Up for an Intro to Django Workshop

Fri, 05 Jun 2015 13:00:00 +0000

This past Saturday, Caktus developer Rebecca Conley taught a 4-hour introductory level workshop in Django hosted by PyLadies RDU. PyLadies RDU is the local chapter of an international mentorship group for women who love coding in Python. Their main focus is to empower women to become more active participants and leaders in the Python open-source community.

Durham Women in Tech (D-WiT) Starts Strong

Thu, 28 May 2015 14:55:27 +0000

This past Tuesday we held our very first gathering for the new Durham Women in Tech (D-WiT) Meetup group. There was a huge turnout and a lot of enthusiasm for the community we’re seeking to support and build. It was particularly wonderful to see our recently opened Astro Code School space full of people.

Announcing the New Durham Women in Tech (DWiT) Meetup

Tue, 19 May 2015 18:18:30 +0000

We’re pleased to officially announce the launch of a new meetup: Durham Women in Tech (DWiT). Through group discussions, lectures, panels, and social gatherings, we hope to provide a safe space for women in small and medium-sized Durham tech firms to share challenges, ideas, and solutions. We especially want to support women on the business side in roles such as operations, marketing, business development, finance, and project management.

From Intern to Professional Developer

Wed, 15 Apr 2015 19:51:05 +0000

Quite often, people undertake internships at the beginning of their career. For me, it was a mid-career direction change and a leap of faith. In order to facilitate this career move, I took a Rails Engineering class at The Iron Yard in the fall of 2014. I had limited experience as a developer and no experience in Django prior to my internship at Caktus. Because of the structure and support Caktus provided and my enthusiasm for becoming a developer, my internship turned out to be the ideal way for me to make the transition from a novice to a professional developer.

DiamondHacks 2015 Recap

Thu, 02 Apr 2015 13:50:21 +0000

_{Image via Diamond Hacks Facebook Page}

This past weekend, Technical Director Mark Lavin came out to support DiamondHacks, NCSU’s first ever hackathon and conference event for women interested in computer science. Not only is NCSU Mark’s alma mater, but he’s also a strong supporter of co-organizer Girl Develop It RDU (GDI), of which Caktus is an official sponsor.

Reflecting on Challenges Faced by Female Developers

Wed, 18 Jun 2014 11:36:28 +0000

Karen Tracey, a Django core committer and Caktus Lead Developer and Technical Manager, recently participated in TriLUG’s panel on Women in Free and/or Open Source Software. Karen was one of five female developers who discussed challenges women face in joining the open source community. We recently caught up with Karen to discuss her own experience.

Caleb and Rebecca at this Month’s Girl Develop It Intro to Python Class

Fri, 25 Apr 2014 17:35:45 +0000

One of Caktus’ most pedagogically focused developers, Caleb Smith, will be teaching a class to a group of local budding Pythonistas tomorrow, Saturday 26th, and Caktus’ Rebecca Lovewell will be contributing as a teaching assistant. You can read more about it, and sign up via the meetup page for the event. The class is run by the local chapter of Girl Develop It, a group focused on improving the landscape of women in tech via women focused (but not exclusive) educational opportunities.

Congrats to PearlHacks Winners (Including Our Intern, Annie)!

Tue, 25 Mar 2014 14:01:01 +0000

Caleb Smith, Caktus developer, awarding the third place prize to TheRightFit creators Bipasa Chattopadhyay, Ping Fu, and Sarah Andrabi.

Many congratulations to the PearlHacks third place winners who won Sphero Balls! The team from UNC’s Computer Science department created TheRightFit, an Android app that helps shoppers know what sizes will fit them and their families among various brands. Their prize of Sphero Balls, programmable balls that can interact and play games via smart phones, was presented by Caktus developer and Pearl Hacks mentor Caleb Smith as part of our sponsorship. PearlHacks, held at UNC-Chapel Hill, is a conference designed to encourage female high school and college programmers from the NC and VA area.

Caktus is Sponsoring Pearl Hacks

Thu, 20 Mar 2014 13:41:49 +0000

Caktus is excited to further encourage young female programmers through our support of PearlHacks, a two-day hackathon and conference hosted by the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill. This weekend, March 22-23rd, over 200 young women from local high schools and universities in Virginia and North Carolina will arrive for the conference.

Narrowing the Gender Gap in the Open Source community

Thu, 24 May 2012 20:44:57 +0000

Diversity is important in a workplace environment. Having different points of view from people with different life experiences brings creative new ideas and innovative solutions to the software development process. As a team of web developers that designs and builds custom web applications, creativity and gender diversity, I would argue, are closely tied and both crucial to the success of our projects.