Merge pull request #180 from RConsortium/sancarlos

adding san carlos rugs blog

posts/conectaR-podcasts-and-datathons-san-carlos-r-user-group-in-costa-rica/index.qmd

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+---
+title: "ConectaR, Podcasts, and Datathons: How the San Carlos R User Group in Costa Rica is Connecting 
+Latin America’s Data Lovers"
+description: "Frans van Dunné, the organizer of the San Carlos R User Group, recently discussed with 
+the R Consortium the development of the R community in Costa Rica and the broader Latin American (LATAM) region."
+author: "R Consortium"
+image: "![FransvanDunne](FransvanDunne.png)"
+date: "10/23/2024"
+---
+
+[Frans van Dunné](https://www.linkedin.com/in/fransvandunne/), the organizer of the [San Carlos R 
+User Group](https://www.meetup.com/san-carlos-r-user-group/), recently discussed with the R Consortium 
+the development of the R community in Costa Rica and the broader Latin American (LATAM) region. He 
+also talked about the growth of events such as the ConectaR conference and the success of the 
+[Data Latam podcast](https://www.datalatam.com/), which he co-hosts to delve into data science in 
+Latin America. Additionally, Frans highlighted the challenges of building a data-driven community 
+in a rural area and the creative methods they've employed to connect people through R.
+
+
+![](FransvanDunne.png)
+
+
+**Please share your background and involvement with the RUGS group.**
+
+I have a background in biology, and during my PhD in tropical ecology, I encountered some 
+statistical questions that I needed to solve through programming. That's when I started learning 
+to program, initially with Perl. Eventually, I discovered that I enjoyed solving data-related 
+problems through programming, and that led me to R. It was around 2001 when I first started 
+programming in R.
+
+Eventually, I married and emigrated to Costa Rica (my wife is Tica). Knowing no one in the area, 
+I started an R User Group to connect with people and navigate the area.
+
+Very soon after arriving in Costa Rica, I established my town's San Carlos R user group. Initially, 
+we held our meetings in-person, but I soon discovered that some attendees traveled for hours by bus 
+to reach San Carlos. Realizing the impracticality, I decided to move our meetings online, and to my 
+surprise, it worked out well. This change occurred even before the pandemic, and we began to see 
+people from Peru and other distant locations joining our group. San Carlos is a small rural area 
+with a population of around 50,000, so having individuals from different parts of Latin America 
+join us was truly amazing.
+
+![](SanCarlosRUGsmeeting.png)
+_One of the first San Carlos R User Group meetings - February 2016, Ciudad Quesada, Costa Rica_
+
+We had to stop our online meetings because Meetup informed us that, according to their policy 
+before the pandemic, we wouldn't be able to use their platform if we didn't hold physical meetings. 
+The world is different now, but that was the situation back then.
+
+**Can you share what the local R community is like in San Carlos? **
+
+
+![](ConectaR2019.png)
+_Participants of ConectaR 2019 - January 2019, San José Costa Rica_
+
+We collaborated with the University of Costa Rica to organize an event that brought together 
+industry, academia, and citizen science professionals for a conference focused on R. The event 
+is called [Conecta R](https://journal.r-project.org/news/RJ-2019-2-conectaR/). We started in 
+2019 and held the latest edition this year, [Conecta R 2024](https://www.meetup.com/san-carlos-r-user-group/events/299265414/?eventOrigin=group_events_list). 
+When we started, we wanted to understand R's current status and usage in the LATAM region. It 
+only confirmed that R is widely used in academia. Most statistics courses have transitioned 
+from licensed software to R. R is also used widely in industry.
+
+
+![](ConectaR2024.png)
+_Participants of the Tidymodels workshop during ConectaR 2024, March 2024, San José, Costa Rica_
+
+At [ixpantia](https://www.ixpantia.com/en/), the company I co-founded, we work with clients in 
+various industries, such as consumer packaged goods, retail, oil and gas, and energy production. 
+Additionally, a significant number of clients utilize our financial services.
+
+**Would you like to tell us about your recent events?**
+
+We've resumed our monthly online meetings for the San Carlos R user group. The meetings now take 
+place on the first Saturday of the month in the morning, and anyone is welcome to join through Meetup.com. 
+Our last meeting was held recently, and it was great to see familiar faces returning. 
+
+Additionally, we have a podcast called [Data Latam](https://www.datalatam.com/), which covers topics 
+related to data science, not just R. We aim to release a new episode every month. We run this podcast 
+in parallel with meetings, serving a similar purpose. It's about providing examples and even role models 
+of professionals working with data to show that you don't need to be an IT professional or a programmer 
+to work with data.
+
+**Please share more about the Data Latam podcast. How did you come up with the idea of starting it? 
+Would you like to highlight a few of your favorite podcasts from this series?**
+
+The story behind the Data Latam podcast is funny. The co-host, [Diego May](https://www.linkedin.com/in/diegohmay/), 
+and I met through an R Package I wrote to access data from an open-data platform he had developed. 
+We shared an interest in using data and data science to help the development of LATAM and agreed to 
+start a podcast to get to know each other better. Within two months, we had the first opportunity 
+to start a project, and that is when we founded ixpantia, which brings best practices in data 
+science, data engineering, and data strategy to LATAM.
+
+We have done 110 podcasts to date! It seems like a lot, but we learn so much from every conversation 
+that it hardly feels like an effort. Some of my personal favorites that are related to R include 
+Episode 109 with [Noam Ross](https://www.linkedin.com/in/noamross/), where we talked about 
+[rOpenSci](https://ropensci.org/), episode 98 with [Sherly Tarazona](https://www.linkedin.com/in/sherlytarazonatocto/?originalSubdomain=pe) 
+about her work and [R-Ladies Lima](https://www.meetup.com/es/rladies-lima/), episode 85 with 
+[Tareef Kawaf](https://www.linkedin.com/in/tareefk/) from Posit and episode 75 with 
+[Jorge Ahumada](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaahumada/) about the work they do at 
+[Wildlife Insights](https://www.wildlifeinsights.org/). I could go on, but pointing to the 
+complete list at [www.datalatam.com](http://www.datalatam.com) makes more sense. I’m sure there 
+is something for everyone interested in data there.
+
+**Do you recommend any techniques for planning for or during the event? (Github, Zoom, other.) 
+Can these techniques be used to make your group more inclusive to people who cannot attend physical 
+events in the future? **
+
+Online events are great. I live in a rural area, and attending a physical event, even here in Costa 
+Rica, requires a long three-hour drive to the capital. We have done that and will do it again, but 
+having the option to go online is much more practical and has a broader reach. 
+
+When we started our first online meetings, we used Google Hangouts, which would fry my laptop 
+after one hour. These tools have improved so much over the last few years, largely pushed by the 
+boom in remote work during the pandemic. We still like [Zoom](https://www.zoom.com/) and its 
+functionality for setting up and executing events, including registration. 
+
+
+![](ConectaR2024.png)
+_Participants of the Datathon 2019 in San Carlos, August 2019, Santa Clara, Costa Rica_
+
+We have organized two datathons (similar to a hackathon but focused on data) that were incredibly 
+enjoyable and well-attended. The key to their success was our partnerships. One datathon was 
+organized in collaboration with the Costa Rican government, and the other involved two local 
+universities: The University of Costa Rica (UCR) and the Costa Rica Institute of Technology (TEC). 
+I still meet people who attended these events and have fond memories of them.
+
+
+## How do I Join?
+
+R Consortium’s R User Group and Small Conference Support Program (RUGS) provides grants to 
+help R groups organize, share information, and support each other worldwide. We have given 
+grants over the past four years, encompassing over 75,492 members in 39 countries. We would 
+like to include you! Cash grants and meetup.com accounts are awarded based on the intended 
+use of the funds and the amount of money available to distribute.
+
+[https://r-consortium.org/all-projects/rugsprogram.html](https://r-consortium.org/all-projects/rugsprogram.html)