This year’s challenge, ULTIMATE ASCENT, is played by two competing alliances on a flat, 27 x 54 foot field. Each Alliance consists of three robots, and they compete to score as many discs into their goals as they can during a two-minute and fifteen-second match.  The match ends with robots attempting to climb up pyramids located near the middle of the field.

The open house event will be located in the Dogwood Building on the Asheville AB Tech, Room 119.  Contact team coach Maryann Butchko for further details at maryannbutchko@yahoo​.com.

If your firm is currently looking for technologists, please send us any job descriptions that are currently not already actively listed on our web site. We will be happy to add them to our job list, and ensure that candidates know of your opportunity. These positions could include web developers, help desk, programmers, analysts, graphic designers, web designers, database administrators, or others. We will only be able to collect resumes, if we can make some arrangements for you to pick them up if you would like us to do that for you (we are all volunteer after all).

We are happy to list any opportunities that are technical in nature, however, we are not equipped to help with other types of opportunities (sales, marketing, financial positions, etc.). Also, if you know of other companies who may be looking for technical assistance, please feel free to forward this on to them.

From the experience at the 2012 job fair we are aware of at least 4 professionals who secured positions with local companies as a result of Meet the Geeks & the job fair. Keep us in mind if we can help either now or any time in 2013.

The job fair is on 1/3/2013 from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm.  For more details or if you have any questions, contact jobfair@ashevillechamber.org.

“Asheville is not just a place with cool buildings and nice scenery,” Lewis said. “We have people who are passionate and committed.”

Read the article here: http://www.citizen-times.com/article/20121226/NEWS/312260019/Lewis-connecting-cool-people-WNC

Turn your passion and expertise into a winning robot for local kids who can learn a great deal from you.

Even if you don’t have that particular expertise you can help in many other ways.

This program could use financial support and volunteers to help with the competition being held on the Campus of AB Tech on November 3.

This is the second year for this program in our local schools, last year one of our teams went on to the state competition. It was fun and motivational.

Please contact us a info@meetthegeeks.net if you would like to help and we’ll help get you in touch with one of the team coaches or mentors.

So, what do you have to do to make your résumé̒ to the top of the pile? The answer? Its not only what you know, but how you “package” it.

Jane Falter, a certified résumé̒ writer, will share key résumé̒ “secrets” that professional writers use in their craft. There will be an opportunity to apply some of the principles yourself during class. Bring your current résumé̒ for a free critique.

Jane Falter, ACRW, SPHR, CPC, is a career coach and certified résumé writer with 30+ years experience in human resources and a background in multiple industries including manufacturing, distribution/sales, non-profit, and pharmaceutical. Jane has worked in mid-sized companies (less than 350 employees) as well as a multi-billion dollar organization. She started her career as a teacher—so she understands what it takes to change careers or re-enter the workforce.

Jane has been a regular contributor to a local (Asheville NC) magazine where she featured individuals looking for work or starting their own business. A sampling of Janes résumés can be found in “Same Day Resumes,” written by nationally recognized résumé experts Louise Kursmark and Wendy Enelow.

24 TEAMS OF 9-14 YEAR OLDS COMPETE IN THEME BASED CHALLENGE!

In its twelfth season, First Lego League (FLL)  is a global robotics program, operating in 55 countries and inspiring approximately 200,000 kids aged 9-14. This year the Robotics Opportunity Committee of Western North Carolina invites you to the Western Region Tournament to be held in Asheville.

What to expect at the tournament: Teams spend the first half of the day in closed judging sessions presenting their research, demonstrating and discussing how the Core Values informed the work they did together, and explaining how they designed and programmed the robot.  The afternoon is filled with back to back rounds of table competition.  Teams square off at back to back tables, and compete both against their own best scores and in cooperative and competitive tasks that involve the other team. Each round last only 2.5 minutes and teams keep the best score from their three opportunities to compete.   The afternoon is a fast-paced and exciting.  The competition is free and open to the public.

The tentative tournament day schedule includes:

7:15am Team Check-in
8:00am Coaches Meeting
8:30am Judging Begins
12:45pm Parade of Teams & Opening Ceremony
1:15pm – 3:15pm Robot Runs
3:45pm Awards Ceremony

This year’s tournament at UNCA is a qualifying event, and the teams that score the best across all areas of competition will progress to regional competitions and then on to state-wide competitions.

Each year, FLL identifies a real-world problem that today’s scientists and engineers are trying to solve. For 2012 the theme is Senior Solutions, and encourages kids to think about the issues facing their grandparents, and all of the seniors who call Western North Carolina home.   Teams were challenged to identify a Senior Partner and to investigate the challenges their partner faces in terms of living “Independent, Connected, Engaged.”  Teams design, build and program an autonomous robot using LEGO© MINDSTORMS© NXT to compete in a robot game based on the theme.  They also research solutions to the specific challenge they choose and design an innovative solution.  Teams are challenged to present their research findings and solutions publicly prior to the tournament and to engage mentors from the community to help them throughout the season.  Teams operate under FLL’s Core Values, including Gracious Professionalism®, Coopertition® and having fun!

This year kids from across the region have become involved with teams through schools, through 4-H, through Girl Scouts and through groups of neighbors and friend who believe that getting hands on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) education programs in the hands of future generations is a worthy goal.  Mentors and presenters from the local community have stepped up as well.  Mission Hospital, Simply Home, Deerfield Episcopal Retirement Community, Mountain Adaptive, Care Partners, the Buncombe-County Extension, the Health Adventure and other local companies and organizations have supported the teams along the way.

Where?  The qualifying tournament will be held at the Justice Center at UNCA.

Who to thank?  There will be 24 teams at the tournament at UNCA.  A lot of coaching, work and organizing go into an event like this.  Each team has its own list of supporters, coaches and sponsors that help make their season possible.  To that, we would like to add a special thanks to those supporting the tournament directly: UNCA, Buncombe County 4-H, the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce and the Asheville-Buncombe County Economic Development Coalition , the Asheville Chapter of SCORE, Asheville Pizza, Carolina Farm Credit, Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Meet the Geeks and the many others who have provided financial support, in kind donations and volunteers for the event.

Event admission is free. Food will be available for purchase.

This month’s meeting focused on how to help and support our local Open Data Day being sponsored by the City of Asheville’s IT Director, Jonathan Feldman.  This will be a great event for brainstorming and problem solving on ways to better use existing government data.

We are working on our class for October, the class date and subject will be announced soon.

Additionally, we are having discussions on how to better organize for continued success to meet the needs of our region.  We do have openings for 2 additional board members, skills that would be helpful are marketing, PR, and assistance with sponsorships.

Finally, our jobs board continues to be very active,  don’t forget to check it periodically if you are looking for work, have friends looking for work, or are looking to add people to your staff.

Our jobs board continues to be very active, in the last month we have added 7 new positions, most right here in Asheville, one in Greenville.  Companies are looking for social media gurus, web developers, network and systems administrators, and more.  If you are looking, or have friends who are looking check back often to see what is new.  We hope to be engaging even more businesses in the coming months to improve the value of this resource to you.

We are expecting to have a couple of volunteer positions opened in the next few weeks.  If you have a couple of hours a month and spend time on the web (not gaming) then you might be just who we are looking for.  The role is for identifying content that may be of interest to our WNC tech community to be used on our site and in our newsletter.

The FIRST robotics program is getting started for the second year.  There will be opportunities to volunteer to work with kids in several age groups and see if we can send another team or two to the finals.  We believe that engaging kids early will encourage them to become involved in some way to a profession that MTG is here to promote.

Finally, we had a great class at the end of August, we want to thank Justin Belleme and Sarah Benoit from JB Media for some great tips on how a business can take a concept for a web site and work effectively with the professionals (us) to get what they want and need, when they want and need it.  Keeping a project on time and budget makes everyone involved happy and successful.  Some of the key tips were for business owners to clearly know the role and expectations for their site, and for the professionals to clearly articulate what it will take to meet those expectations.  If the project doesn’t start off with aligned expectations, the end will probably not be pretty.  Special thanks to Evolv for hosting refreshments for this class and to UNCA for providing the meeting space.

If you have thoughts on how to improve the value that Meet The Geeks provides our community, please send them to info@meetthegeeks.net.

Our sessions are proposed by community volunteers. The official schedule will be based on feedback by members attending the camp, specific topics proposed, and availability.  In other words, this is YOUR camp and will be a full day of sessions chosen by you. Pick only the sessions that you plan to attend when compiling your own ultimate schedule. The sessions with the most picks will make the cut. See something you like? Add it to your schedule! What if a session doesn’t make it? Don’t worry… we’ll have lots of room for BoF’s too!

Camp registration is now open for signups! Signup today for only $20 dollars.

Visit https://2012.drupalcampasheville.com for more details.