UPDATE: Eleanor now has the funding she needs to make it to NOLA for RubyConf. Thanks for stepping up, folks. This post is still possibly worth reading for the broader point about conferences and communities.

Hi folks,

I have a favor to ask of you. Please help my friend Eleanor get to RubyConf. She didn't ask me to write this appeal, but I feel like it's necessary to do so, and I'll explain why.

Eleanor has been in the Ruby community a LONG time. She was working with Ruby nearly a decade ago, which means that she was around when I started Ruby back in 2004. Folks who have been around that long represent a very small part of our population as a community, but are very important because they possess historical context that many newcomers lack.

The primary way I've interacted with Eleanor is through conferences. I don't particularly follow her day to day work, and now that we're not hanging on the same mailing lists and IRC channels, I don't bump into her regularly. But I make a point to catch Eleanor at every conference I see her at, because the hallway track conversations I've had with her have been some of the most fascinating that I've had in my life.

I've seen Eleanor talk several times, and the opinions that others have had about her presentation style have been varied. She picks super hard topics that are easy to get lost in, and sometimes that happens. I personally find her style fascinating, but I'd be lying if I didn't say she can ramble on at times, or go off on tangents that seem to lead to place far from where she started. But whether you love or hate her presentations, that shouldn't let you miss an important point: Conferences are about people, not talks. I know there are a lot of deserving people who can't make it to RubyConf, but since I know Eleanor personally, and since she has such a peculiar background, I want you to help her out.

People are often hesitant to donate to things like this. They think that someone else will do it. Unfortunately, Eleanor tried and failed to raise funds to get to LSRC 5, even though she had an accepted talk there. They think that they don't have enough money themselves to help others. However, what people really seem to think is that if they offer $5 or $10, it'll seem like too small a donation to be worthwhile, and they're not comfortable giving large sums. If everyone who had that though just ponied up the $5.00, this pledgie would be closed already. They think it's not their responsibility. It isn't, but again, conferences and communities are about PEOPLE, and helping people is a good way to keep communities strong and make sure our conferences are full of interesting people.

Eleanor is like me: she has given up offers for significant commercial gain so that she can focus on open source and on community. Even if this does not affect you directly, having more people like this in our ecosystem would be a good thing. So please, go to pledgie right now and just give $5 to Eleanor so that she can get to RubyConf. It will be a better conference if you do, and the community as a whole will benefit from whatever mind warping ideas Eleanor puts in peoples heads, both on the stage and in the hallways.

More folks need to adopt a social investment mindset rather than than sticking to the narrow possibilities of economic consumerism. This is one small way you can do that, and I don't think you'll regret it if you do.

Those who would like to help financially, but can't do so for whatever reason: please just show your support by spreading the word on Twitter or wherever else you might find people who can help.