Currently a developer's professional profile is made up two components:
- Github
LinkedIn shows your work history, and Github shows your craft. There is a missing gap between LinkedIn and Github. Punchcard.io is designed to bridge that gap.
It takes a high level of commitment to attend user groups consistently. Almost all user groups meet after work hours, and no one gets paid to attend, yet many people show up regularly. Those regular attendees tend to be versatile developers. This level of commitment should count for something.
At punchcard.io, you can build a track record of attendance for tech user groups. Every time you attend a meeting, you check in, and punchcard.io builds a developer profile for you. This profile helps tell others about what happens between your day job and your side projects. The community and these connections help make good developers wildly effective.
The goal is not to compete with other software and websites that organize user group events. User group organizers do not have to move their group hosting to get the benefits of punchcard.io.
The product is in an MVP stage right now. It does just enough to work. If there is enough interest from the community, more will be invested into the punchcard.io.
If you like the idea, you can help out. The system can only be good if there are users. Check-in to the meetings you attend. If the group you are attending is not part of the pilot, please have the organizer email aaron@forty9ten.com. If you find a bug or want to suggest a feature, you can do it here:
https://github.com/aaronfeng/punchcard-io-feature-requests/issues.
The idea for punchcard.io came from organizing and attending various tech groups in Philadelphia for many years. Many of us have gained valuable technical knowledge by attending tech user group meetings here in the city and the suburbs. At the same time, we have made many important professional connections that have helped shape our technical career to date.