For those who don’t know what a Meetup is, they are sessions, supported in some cases by a platform, to share and promote information, knowledge, best practices, all at no cost for attendees. There are communities of all sorts scattered everywhere, people with common interests coming together to share their knowledge, learn and build up a network of contacts. The aim is to make knowledge accessible to everyone.
Leadership at Leniolabs_ firmly believes that energizing people promotes a culture that encourages innovation, and boosts engagement and performance. The company is already hosting a series of internal talks to spread the wisdom and fosters all employees to come forward and share their knowledge and experiences.
This belief is so rooted in Lenio’s DNA that is not only doing this internally but actively working with groups all over Argentina, particularly from cities in which there are Leniolabs employees, helping users become a community, self organize and establish their own rules.
One of the latest actions was to bring together two of the largest communities of React users in Argentina, the idea was to breach the gap that sets them apart. Organizers from React Rosario and React Buenos Aires invested quite a significant amount of time and effort to organize this Inter Meetup, that thanks to Leniolabs_ ‘ sponsorship was possible.
The Inter Meetup consisted of two events, one in each city. The first event took place in Rosario and after that, it was time for Buenos Aires, with the presence of both user groups and Leniolabs_ on both gatherings. Usually, meetups consist of a couple of technical talk and time for networking and this was no exception.
The first talk by Octavio, from React Rosario, was about React Hooks, covering old and new Hooks. The most important thing he shared was a revelation he experienced: someone simply asked him “why Hooks?” leading him to question everything he knew about Hooks and the reason why he had adopted them. He embarked on a self discovery process and came to the conclusion that before jumping into something that is trendy, you need to consider the ins and outs and truly weight the cons and pros, but also understand that what’s new is not a silver bullet and should not necessarily be used in all scenarios. To gain this level of wisdom requires a deep understanding of the technology.
Second speaker was Carlos Manotas from React Buenos Aires. Carlos is a “chamo” from Venezuela who at the moment is in Buenos Aires. Instead of talking about a subject in particular, he shared his experience and the transformation process he went through, in which he started as a Designer until becoming a Developer.
His story began in Venezuela using Flash and ended up with React in Buenos Aires; during his presentation you could clearly see that he is curious by nature. This way of thinking enabled him to make progress and transform both personally and professionally.
Throughout his career, he took risks and made compromises with his employer at the moment, whether for internal or external motivations, always taking chances and volunteering himself for challenging tasks. His eagerness to learn new things and share his knowledge secured him always the best opportunities at hand.
Not sure Carlos realizes how inspiring his story is. It is a clear example of self growth and career development. Demonstrates that you need to take ownership of your career, stay curious and never settle. Companies need to identify exceptional people like him, nurture, support, give them challenges, and let them be the spark that lights up others in the organization.
