radamanthus/gist:5095797

## gistfile1.txt
<This is a brain dump. Please forgive any typos>

I'd like to share an idea for a RailsGirls followup activity.

I noticed that having your stuff deployable and out on the net is a very powerful source of inspiration.
For me it makes me keep on working on it, just knowing that other people can see it.

One of the stumbling blocks in learning Rails is deployment. It's an advanced topic that is oddly too often taught in intro courses.
Forget about teaching deployment. Let's just give the newbs a ready-to-use VPS.

So here's my activity idea.
The activity is open to all who are prepared to spend $5/month on a DigitalOcean VPS. (Let's try to get a group discount)
I don't know of a way to share server images between accounts though. So how do we make a standard VPS?

Chef to the rescue!
1st half of the day, say 9am to 12 noon: The mentors prepare a Chef recipe that will setup the VPS.
Chef experts will lead, other mentors will learn. Even experienced folks learn something. More incentive to join.

2nd half of the day, say 2pm to 4pm: The newbs, er, the Girls, come in, setup their DigitalOcean account, buy their domain and point it to their server, and mentors will use chef to configure their server.
Then they'll try to deploy their Rails app (or a blank app).

By the end of the day:
Each mentor will learn how to use chef to setup a Rails VPS.
Each Girl (not really sure what to call them) will have a mycooldomainname.com powered by their very own Rails app, and they will know how to use mina to update their app and they will know how to use mina to deupdate their app.
	<This is a brain dump. Please forgive any typos>

	I'd like to share an idea for a RailsGirls followup activity.

	I noticed that having your stuff deployable and out on the net is a very powerful source of inspiration.
	For me it makes me keep on working on it, just knowing that other people can see it.

	One of the stumbling blocks in learning Rails is deployment. It's an advanced topic that is oddly too often taught in intro courses.
	Forget about teaching deployment. Let's just give the newbs a ready-to-use VPS.

	So here's my activity idea.
	The activity is open to all who are prepared to spend $5/month on a DigitalOcean VPS. (Let's try to get a group discount)
	I don't know of a way to share server images between accounts though. So how do we make a standard VPS?

	Chef to the rescue!
	1st half of the day, say 9am to 12 noon: The mentors prepare a Chef recipe that will setup the VPS.
	Chef experts will lead, other mentors will learn. Even experienced folks learn something. More incentive to join.

	2nd half of the day, say 2pm to 4pm: The newbs, er, the Girls, come in, setup their DigitalOcean account, buy their domain and point it to their server, and mentors will use chef to configure their server.
	Then they'll try to deploy their Rails app (or a blank app).

	By the end of the day:
	Each mentor will learn how to use chef to setup a Rails VPS.
	Each Girl (not really sure what to call them) will have a mycooldomainname.com powered by their very own Rails app, and they will know how to use mina to update their app and they will know how to use mina to deupdate their app.