NERD Summit in Amherst

Posted on September 7, 2015 By Hilltown Families

NERD Summit: Helping to Raise the Next Generation of Innovators, Creative Thinkers, & Technologists!

NERD Summit is back! All are welcome to a free weekend of workshops, training sessions, presentations, youth activities, and more, September 11th-13th at UMass Amherst’s Conference Center.

Want to learn CSS or HTML? Ready to turn your app idea into a real app? Perhaps you’ve been wanting to make 3D drawings using SketchUp or itching to learn about LEGO EV3 Robotics? Look no further than the NERD (New England Regional Developers) Summit, a 3-day learning camp focused on helping people build coding, web design, and related skills, and to welcome everyone into this interesting industry.

Many sessions at NERD Summit are intended for self-directed teens and life-long learners; and there are lots of great FREE facilitate workshops for kids at the NERD Summit 2015.

♦ NERD Summit has something for everyone — from beginners to advanced professionals. Friday and Saturday have more than 50 workshops, training sessions, and panel discussions. Keynote speakers include Becky Wai-Ling Packard of Mount Holyoke College on Friday and Drupal experts Jen Lampton and Nate Haug on Saturday. Saturday also features a full track of workshops for high school students and kids ages 7 and up. Saturday will culminate with a party with food, drink, live music, and fun NERDy activities while you mingle.

Sunday at NERD Summit is a community contribution day. Come learn how to contribute to open source projects or help local nonprofits with Hack for Western Mass. Family-friendly options on Sunday include a Makerspace and LEGO robotics.

You can find the full list of kids workshops at nerdsummit.org. (Childcare for younger kids not quite ready to start hacking is available as well.)

All workshops are free, but space is limited, so be sure to register for the youth workshops to let them know you are coming. Age ranges vary by workshop, but are generally appropriate for either 7+ or 12+. Some laptops are available to borrow for the day as well.

Find out more at nerdsummit.org!

Volunteer at NERD Summit! They are looking for some volunteers to make the summit happen smoothly. If you are interested in helping out, please contact andrew@elytra.nete.