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Pentalog Tech Events: where every season brings its joy

PentaGuy
PentaGuy
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Have you ever wondered if there is a right time to start a new venture? To go back to school? Pick up a new language? Change career?

For as long as I tried to answer this question, I’ve come to understand that the best time to start something new is right when you find (or make) the opportunity you’ve been searching for to grow, challenge yourself and expand your horizons.

As far as expanding one’s horizons goes, the people at Pentalog symbolically marks the coming of each season with educational tech events aimed those who want to pick up new skills and branch of out their comfort zone. Autumn is associated with an awesome event called “Open Days”, dedicated to students with a technical background – full of exciting presentations, enthusiastic participants and most importantly, an atmosphere of support.

Similarly, Spring makes way for another great experience called “First Lego League” which involves other youth groups – children and teenagers interested in technical challenges and competitions.

At both of these tech events, Pentalog plays an active role in supporting participants by promoting the world of tech, programming and education for all.

“Open Days” for Open Minds

This year, “Open Days” week is taking place towards the end of the October/beginning of the November. Last year, participants under the guidance of new event coordinator, Ion, worked to present various topics related to IT throughout the course of 5 days.

tech events


Presenters held speeches on different subjects, starting with their life experiences and ending with best practices in coding, programming etc.

Each morning a new group of students is invited on a tour of the agency. After a short introduction – show time begins. One-by-one, presenters go in front of students, ready to share their knowledge, skills and honest opinions about being part of such a big IT community.

Here’s what speakers & participants had to say about last years’ event:

  • “It was a really productive day. We saw several practical examples that could be followed, people who started from 0. This was very impressive and demonstrates that human nature can reach an extremely high level.” Gheorghe
  • “I am absolutely impressed with all that I heard today. The way presenters expressed themselves gave me a lot of new ideas. They have motivated me to find something new in the IT atmosphere, start studying more independently and search for different sources of information.” Evelina
  • “It was very interesting to listen all the presentations. I found out that there are people who came from different domains. Some of them even never studied IT, but through a lot of work and ambition have reached the level of professionals and specialists. I also admire that all the presenters have great public speaking skills.” Irina

First Lego League

Similar to “Open Days”, there is another event in which Pentalog participates as a partner and brings a lot of input. “First Lego League” is an international competition in the field of technology and robotics, organized by for elementary and middle school students ages 9–16. The goal of FLL is to inspire and feed young people’s interest in STEM and help them develop invaluable soft skills like critical thinking, problem-solving, creativity, self-confidence. The event is organized by the Moldovan Association of ICT Companies and is supported by the United States Agency for International Development and Sweden as well as other key companies in the IT sector, under the patronage of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research.

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This year was Pentalog’s 3rd in a row as partner and contributor in the organization of First Lego League. This year’s team was composed of team members Elena, Ion, Maxim, Irina, & Vladimir

During “Open Days”, as a presenter, I got the chance to experience the whole process internally. But, First Lego League gave me the unique opportunity to watch all the activities as a spectator.

The competition included 4 main sections: Robot Design, Project, Core Values and Robot Game. The teams were able to experiment and develop skills while solving real-life problems, designing and programming robots, putting both fun and professionalism to work.

It’s always a good time.

Each event brings with it new knowledge and memories for all the people involved in tech events like Open Days, Coder Dojo, First Lego League and all others. You just never know what exactly you might leave the events with – but I can tell you how I left.

Motivated. These events motivate me – a lot! I remember myself preparing to present for the first time for Open Days. As a presenter, I was up 3rd, which made me downright nervous while waiting for my turn. Thank goodness for my colleagues; they gave me so much support, encouragement, and laughs – making me forget any anxiety I had at the moment.

Secondly, each of these activities builds trust and confidence. And challenges us to become more creative and to try to inspire others. It also challenges us to find different, new ways to interact with other people of all ages – children, teenagers, students… and enjoy it.

Fulfillment. Satisfaction. I won’t forget the moment when one of the students asked me what it’s like to be a part of Pentalog-team.

“It looks like you all here are really open and friendly. Like a big family.” I could not find a definition better than that and answer with any other answer than, “Yes, we are.”

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A successful event can’t exist without well-defined goals, a plan and a stellar team.

Luckily, the PentaTeam is always ready to be involved, try something new and have a lot of fun while promoting the world of tech. Whether you’re participating as a presenter, organizer or just supporting the team – it’s always a good time being involved in tech events with Pentalog.

Why Pentalog Tech Events?

While recapping the event with my colleagues I was glad they enjoyed the event and even more pleased they already had ideas for next years’ edition! Each of them shared their thoughts and visions for next year.

  • “I chose to help out at this event because I have a very interesting career path, especially for students who might become motivated by my own experience. I liked that some students, after the presentations shared their ideas about their own projects and asked for advice. During those moments I felt helpful and left satisfied that I actually helped someone.” Victor
  • “This was my first experience at Pentalog’s “Open days” event. The challenge was to select a topic that would be approachable for students. I liked the format of presentation, I liked to see students smiling and to feel that IT in Moldova has a great future.” Roman
  • “I have been contributing to this event for several years now. I keep returning because I like to share my experiences, but also to learn from others, too. I chose a subject this year that represents a real, well known for any developer. We are a company that pays a lot of attention to quality, so quality code should be a first step.” Sergiu
  • “The greatest motivation of participating in this event was the fact that I always get very nervous and emotional when it comes to public speaking. I decided that it was necessary to do something to overcome my fear. Therefore, it was an opportunity to learn how to speak in front of people and at the same time – to communicate with them.” Maria
  • “I enjoy being a spectator at various presentations and I like informative presentations. So, I decided it was time for me to contribute to an informative presentation and provide solid, useful information, give advice to people who are new to the field. I would like to participate next year as well. This year I spoke about PHP, but who knows? Maybe next year I will come up with another idea.” Vlad
  • “It was fascinating. It is exciting to see the students were really interested and attentive as an audience. The presentations of my colleagues were also strong and informative, with a clear demonstrated understanding about the subject area.” Leonid

To me, Open Days and First Lego League are just a few of the events that serve to inspire, motivate and challenge us to grow every day. With strong positive feedback, a growing team and so many good memories, we’ll continue on this path – (while implementing some improvements!)

 

What’s next? So much more. PO Academy, Web Academy, Lean Coffee events and many others. Stay tuned and shout-out to all our open minds at Pentalog!


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