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Sign-up for rainbowR buddies
The rainbowR buddy scheme is designed to connect LGBTQ+ people who code in the R language. We hope it's fun for the folks who take part, and that it helps foster the community. We envisage this buddy scheme as primarily social -- you don't have to talk about R, though it will be something you have in common. Any experience level with R is welcome! 

How the scheme works
  • Folks opt-in via this form
  • Buddy pairs are randomly assigned
  • E-mails are sent to each pair making the introduction, sharing the information provided in this form.
  • If you've taken part before, we'll match you with a new buddy on each subsequent run (but be sure to sign-up with the same e-mail address)
The process is automated in R. There's more about how it works at rainbowr.org/buddies. Here's the script on GitHub, for the curious!

What happens next
This form will close on Monday Sept 1st, 2025 and we'll send the emails the next day, on Tuesday Sept 2nd, 2025. We trust that you'll want to communicate with your buddy, so please get in touch with each other via email or other indicated channel. We anticipate that you'll arrange a meet-up (most likely online), though there are no firm expectations/requirements that you do so. Maybe you'll just meet once. Maybe you'll become friends for life! To get the conversation started, in the form we ask you to say a little about yourself and things that you'd be interested in talking about or doing together (we give some examples below). 

And after that?
We match new buddies every three months, to introduce participants to new folks. You'll need to opt-in for each run and we'll publicise details of how to do so each time. Towards the end of the three months, we may contact everyone who takes part to ask for feedback on how it's going and anything you think we can do to improve subsequent runs.

Additional information
We want the scheme to be fun and safe for everyone, so it operates under the rainbowR code of conduct. All the information you enter here is confidential. It is seen just by me (Ella Kaye, the organiser of rainbowR) and your assigned buddy. There is a GitHub repo for the implementation of the scheme, but no personal details will ever be checked in there. If you're interested in taking part but have any questions or concerns, please email hello@rainbowr.org and I will do my best to address them. 

Although we expect that buddies will want to be in touch with each other (otherwise, why sign-up for the scheme) we appreciate that sometimes things don't go as planned. If, after a month (October 2nd, 2025), you have had no contact from your buddy, you can email hello@rainbowr.org and ask to be assigned someone new. I can't promise this will be possible - it depends how many people are in this situation - but I'll try. The scheme will also run again in another three months.

For more about rainbowR, see https://rainbowr.org. At the end of this form you can also opt-in to the rainbowR Slack and/or mailing list. We're also on Mastodon, Bluesky and LinkedIn. 
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Email *
First name *
Last name *
Pronouns
If you'd prefer to connect with your buddy via a channel other than email, please say which here, and give the corresponding contact details.
To help get the conversation started, in the next couple of questions please say a little bit about yourself and your interests. The text you enter here will be copied into the email sent to your buddy.

For things you're interested in talking about or doing together, it might be good to suggest a mix of R-related topics/activities and other purely social ideas. (Please note that buddies are assigned randomly, not on mutual interests).

A few ideas of things you could consider:
- Discuss/get feedback on a project you're working on (either R-related or something completely different)
- Explore a tidyRainbow dataset together
- Work on some Advent of Code puzzles together
- Do some pair programming (though probably with screen sharing rather then in person)
- Play some online games, e.g. some of those listed here

Please don't over-think this! A couple of sentences for each question is fine. You also don't have to do an activity. General chat is fine too! 
About me *
Some things I'd be interested in talking about or doing together *
To help find times that might be mutually convenient for you and your buddy to meet, please say which time zone you are in, what times of day are usually best for you, and any times that are usually difficult for you.
Would you like an invitation to join the rainbowR Slack? *
Can we add you to our mailing list and occasionally email you about rainbowR events, initiatives and meet-ups?
 *
By submitting this form, you agree that you are a real person, owner of the account you are setting up, and that the information provided in the verification text box is true. You also agree to follow our code of conduct (available at https://rainbowr.org/coc) and to not solicit other members inappropriately.
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