A threat of Coronavirus; Standing against all odds

-with Kocharlakota Srinivas, Sr Engineering Manager @ Oracle

“Discontinuing the meetup was not an option”, Both Srini and I were clear about it. So the only question was how to deal with this unexpected situation coming from corona virus (COVID-19). Earlier this March, the place where we used to gather was closed for large gatherings and consequently all the public meetups got suspended. To cope up with the challenge and the reality of health scare, we started considering other alternatives. Keeping in line with the advisory of COVID-19, it seemed that the best of the practical ideas is conducting meetup via Video Conferencing. We had concerns around how well it would go since a lot of companies were resorting to tele-commuting including FANG. So video conferencing infra structures would be over-loaded and quality of experience might be compromised. In spite of all our fears, the first online meetup on March 2nd, 2020 was successful! Thank you every one for making this happen.

Being an engineer, working in Bay Area, it is very difficult to find work-life balance. Hi-tech is ever-evolving domain. Work and family have almost become competing priorities. It’s become even more important than ever to stay current with the latest tools and as well to stay firm in the market. One is expected to constantly increase the range of knowledge. Acquiring a job as a fresh grad in Bay Area is relatively easy. On a flip side there is a huge expectation from experienced engineers. It is far more challenging to get promoted or switch to a better job. Engineers spend most of their time fixing bugs in existing products and are not exposed to the architectural design of a new product. So companies expect senior guys to step up and contribute in designing new architecture and take product decisions.

It all started back in 2015, when we decided to upgrade our skills. A regular cadence for weekly meet up was the idea, where everyone could ask questions and share experiences. Thus we built a social network or call it a ‘human chain’ where together we could accomplish collective learning.

Our first ground was Srini’s garage, and the results of this meetup were surprising. Right from the first week, we realized that there are lot of engineers who are facing difficulties in remaining relevant in the field and going up the ladder. But we lost the place after about a year, as Srini had to move from his home to an apartment. The quest of finding a suitable place started again, we talked to Local Libraries, offices, temples, mosques etc., and finally landed at iBridge co-working place in Fremont. The officials were kind enough to waive off all charges of using the site. Our meetup sessions continued there for almost 3 more years. We lost the place again to end up at Hacker Dojo, another co-working place in Santa Clara. But quite recently Hacker Dojo decided to close for public events because of the novel Corona virus. This situation of losing space is not new to us, but this time, we decided to switch to video conferencing.

Tracking our journey all the way till now, the difference we together made in each other lives technically is very evident. We came out stronger and more equipped with the relevant skill sets. Due to the effectiveness of the meet ups we generally always are over-booked with adjoining waiting queues. It feels great when someone attributes their outstanding performance and success to the meetups. Whenever we face a hurdle, we are clear about one thing - that we will continue to honor the adversities but still keep marching ahead on our quest for betterment through our meet up.

*Srini and I are organizers of iBridge Interview Preparation Group (https://www.meetup.com/iBridge-Interview-Preparation-Group/) , a community of 1300+ San Franscisco Bat Area Engineers. We meet once a week to discuss the latest and greatest on the technology front.