Code Collective Newsletter - April 2025

Dearest Code Collective Members,

You are receiving this newsletter because you attended a Code Collective event some time during the Fall or Spring sessions. If you would like to be removed from this email list, please respond to this email with the message "UNSUBSCRIBE".

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In this newsletter:

Upcoming Events
Recap of Fall and Winter Events
Edunx Certification Fraud Exposed!
The Future of Code Collective

Upcoming Events

Tech Unity Cookout

We would like to host a Tech Unity Cookout to bring together all the groups like ours in the Baltimore area! Please RSVP on our Meetup.

STEM Rebellion

Esteemed members of the STEM Rebellion, come hang out with us at Revielle where we will be rerunning our 3D Modeling with OpenSCAD and Version Control Certification workshops as part of a Star Wars themed event! May the 4th be with you!

Labor Council

We will be scheduling virtual events to bring together Tech personnel from around the world! Keep an eye out for these multilingual virtual events.

Survey Data Workshop (external)

Anthony Damaco, currently on his knowledge tour, has once again graced the Edgar Allan Poe room at the Enoch Pratt Main Branch, teaching a workshop on proper Public Data analysis in R. I'm afraid this session has already passed, but look for more of these in the future!

Recap of Fall and Winter Events

Congratulations to Victoria Thomas for obtaining her Version Control Basic Proficiency Certificate, alongside five other students! This brief course got students more familiar with how to use Git to collaborate on high quality code.

Since its foundation last Fall, Code Collective has been aggressively trying out a variety of event programs, with the intention of improving professionalism and computer labor quality. We began with some networking and targeted discussion on labor, alternating with development sessions on General AI in the Fall. This past Winter we hosted a series of workshops highlighting skills in Git, React, and Arduino.

Edunx Certification Fraud Exposed!

As part of our commitment to virtue, we are taking a stand against the rampant fraud in the tech industry. I have written a brief article on the fraudulent EDUNX certification process, in which the customer pays a company to take the certification exam on their behalf by screen share. Drive this dishonesty out of the hiring process!

The Future of Code Collective

Looking forward, we will be focusing less on individual skills, and more on what steps can be taken to improve labor conditions for American developers of hardware and software products.

As it stands, USA techologists are often overlooked in favor of inexpensive foreign labor because of the significant costs associated with hiring American workers. Furthermore, our reliance on Government Contracting positions has slowed down our pace both individually and collectively. Now with federal agencies experiencing budget cutbacks, the Baltimore Metropolitan area – a recognized hub for government tech contracting – could face significant shifts. Code Collective hopes to make this transition work in our advantage through petitions, alerts, and advocacy for USA technologists.

Thank you all for your continued support and participation. Together, we'll shape a better economy for ourselves and our people.

Stay tuned for more updates!

The Code Collective Team