For tech talent, look to Nashville's user groups

On a recent Tuesday night at the Emma Bistro, 20 software developers gathered from throughout Middle Tennessee with laptops and plates of food to learn about a functional programming language, taught by a software developer from Dublin, Ireland.

They came from throughout Middle Tennessee — East Nashville, Gallatin, Hendersonville — to experiment with new software and discover the things that drew them to computers in the first place.

The NashFP user group is one of more than 30 programming groups in Nashville that meet regularly to teach new technology, share challenges they are working on and interact with fellow geeks — arguably the city's most coveted hires. As Nashville businesses clamor for more tech talent and search for ways to build the pipeline, the city's thriving user group community has been at the root of attracting software programmers, retaining them and making them better.

"The businesses not having problems hiring are the businesses involved with the user groups," said Nashville software developer Jacques Woodcock. "They understand the importance of good developer culture and part of good developer culture is encouraging your developers to continue to grow and to expand their knowledge, their skill set."

A handful of user groups in Nashville have been around for at least the past decade, but momentum behind the size and scale of the community has picked up dramatically in the past five years. In addition to the 30 user groups collectively made up of close to 1,000 individuals, Nashville programmers have also built several coding events - HackNashville, CoderFaire, Nodevember, BarCamp, PyTN - that draw people from across the region and, at times, nationally to attend or speak.

For many developers I talked to, the groups and coding events are a lifeline to staying informed about the latest technology in a fast-moving industry. Many rely on those sessions to provide education that isn't typically offered at work. That education is critical for both the developer and the companies they work for to stay competitive, they said.

The developers leading these groups are passionate about their role in the community and some are involved in three or four different groups, dedicating several evenings a month to the meetups. There is even a user group for the leaders of each user group that meets monthly to collaborate on events, share what they're doing and make sure there isn't overlap – like "Game of Thrones'" heads of the seven kingdoms coming together, says John Wark founder of the Nashville Software School.

David Neal, a leading developer at Franklin-based LeanKit, recalls hearing a presentation by Firefly Logic's Chief Technology Officer Bryan Hunter at a user group. Neal applied the principles he learned to his own projects at a previous job and was able to solve a software dilemma. "That kind of opened my eyes to a different world of computing I hadn't really considered up to that point," he said. Since then he has taken on leadership roles at the meetups and become a regular speaker at tech events in Nashville and in other cities.

LeanKit, like several other Nashville companies, has been a sponsor of user groups and coding events and reaps the rewards of having its developers recognized as leaders in the community. It's good public relations to be known as a company that supports this type of growth and it has paid off when it's time to hire, Neal says, who now works remotely from North Georgia.

.Aside from the training, the groups provide a network for programmers to find other professionals with similar coding interests – especially key for people who spend significant time alone with a laptop. Social hours often precede or follow a presentation or lab night, building a community that helps developers find out about job openings and find new coworkers to recruit to their team.

Bryan Hunter organized the NashFP group in 2012 and is confident that the functional programming languages, if nurtured among local talent, will be a game changer for the city. He's trying to educate businesses about its possibilities while helping to grow the number of coders who use it.

"There is no reason that Nashville won't explode in a way that you only hear of things in Silicon Valley or Boston," Hunter said. "The ingredients are here."

The strength of this Nashville user group helped convince software engineer Rachel Reese to accept a job in Nashville when she lived in Burlington, Vt. Such groups have been vital throughout her career, she says.

"It's always been through them that I've found new jobs," Reese said. "When the jobs I have either go badly or when I'm discouraged, it's the community that's still supporting me."

Reese met Hunter at a technology conference after following him on Twitter. Her story is similar to other local developers I've talked to who learned about the city's tech opportunities by hearing Nashville programmers speak at tech events in other cities.

"The user groups in the technical community are attracting developers from outside of Nashville, something that Nashville desperately needs," said Neal. "I've talked to several guys from out of state who contacted me to say, 'I hear about Nashville and about the technology user groups, what can you tell me about your user group?'"

The Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce launched a $400,000 campaign last year to attract more tech talent to the city and the Nashville Technology Council has been developing education initiatives to build the talent pipeline in schools and colleges, all part of an effort to meet businesses' demand for more tech talent. In addition to those efforts, businesses should further support the user group community – a network that already has results when it comes to training and attracting talent.

"We have world class talent here," said Woodcock. "What we need is businesses to invest in this community a bit more."

Reach Jamie McGee at 615-259-8071 and on Twitter @JamieMcGee_.

Upcoming coding events:

BarCamp Nashville: Oct. 18, Deavor, 305 Jefferson St., www.barcampnashville.org

SkyDogcon: Oct. 24-26, Hotel Preston, 733 Briley Pkwy. www.skydogcon.com

PhreakNIC: Oct. 30- Nov. 2, Millennium Maxwell House Hotel, 2025 Rosa L Parks Blvd., phreaknic.info

HackNashville: Nov. 7-9, 429 Event Space at 429 Chestnut St., hacknashville.com

Nodevember : Nov. 15-16, Nashville School of Law, 4013 Armory Oaks Drive, nodevember.org