---
title: Let's get ready to rummmmmmmble
teaser:
tags: news,web
author: Matt Jankowski
published_on: 2009-08-21
---

Well it's that time of year again - time for the [rails
rumble](http://r09.railsrumble.com/).  The magical weekend of coffee filled
nights and panic-filled days enjoyed by web developers and designers alike each
and every fall since time immemorial.

## The Man

Here at thoughtbot, we're proud to have Mr Kevin Burg in our employ as a web
designer.  If you don't know, Kevin's sort of a big deal - having won the first
Rails Rumble in 2007 with [Tasty Planner](http://tastyplanner.com/) - and won
the "Best Appearance" award last year with [Jotly](http://jot.ly/).  Kevin's a
real champion of the people.  I only mention it 'cause sometimes there's a man
-- I won't say a hero, cause what's a hero? -- but sometimes there's a man.  An
inspiration to young rumble participants.

Following on this success, Kevin has decided to "go out on top", and not
participate in this years Rails Rumble.  I sat down with him to learn what makes
him tick, and maybe offer a nugget of wisdom up to aspiring rumblers of the
future.

## The Interview

**Kevin Burg, as a two time award winning rails rumbler who has decided to step
aside and let some new blood take a crack at the belt, what advice would you
offer first time rumblers?**

Work as long as you can on an empty stomach. The rumble seems like a perfect
opportunity to snack and drink beer but these things will slow you down and
subdue the fear of failure. Fear is your only real motivator during these 48
hours. Try not to have fun.

**What about designers specifically, how do they engage in the FAST PACED
weekend that is the rumble?**

During the first night while developers are sleeping a designer needs to produce
mockups and get the design in order. If you do mockups in Photoshop try moving
to <abbr title="HyperText Markup Language">HTML</abbr> sooner than you typically
do and worry about tweaks or improvements later on. Rails Rumble doesn't require
drug screenings so use of steroids is encouraged if you want to maintain
endurance and peak performance.

**What tasks do you get stuck on?  How do you get out of a rut when the pressure
is on?**

In 2007 I spent far too long dealing with a color scheme. My goal was to do
something new but I learned a valuable lesson: in the Rumble you should stick
with what you know. Avoid being too volitionally experimental because under the
pressure and time constraint you will encounter unique solutions naturally
without needing to force them. Embrace stock icons and stock names. You don't
want to become entrenched in thinking up believable names such as "Art Bunsen".

**What app would you like to see in this year's rumble?  Are there ideas that
are "too small" or "too big" to RUMBLE with?**

I want to see an app that can measure arbitrary events and predict how those
events will recur over time.

**Do you consider yourself, in some ways, to sort of be the Jay-Z or the Michael
Jordan of the rails rumble?  Do you think anyone can top what you've done?  Are
you going to play minor league baseball for a year and then attempt a
comeback?**

I'm more like the Wreckx-n-Effect of the Rumble.

<object width="425" height="344">
  <param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/iKKONgfNONU&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;"
    />
  <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/iKKONgfNONU&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;"
    type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="344" />
</object>

## The Secret Sauce

Speaking of [Stock Names](http://stocknames.info), here's a little nugget of
code you can use in those tense moments when you're searching for a fake name to
use on a mock to hand your developers.

<script src="http://gist.github.com/172119.js"></script>

## Rumble away

Well that concludes our Rumble interview.  Good luck to all rumblers.  We are
once again sponsoring a professional wrestling style championship belt, because
hey - why not?  Here's a reminder about some "get going quickly" tools available
from thoughtbot:

* [Suspenders](http://github.com/thoughtbot/suspenders/tree/master) - basic
  rails template with sensible defaults - get up and running quickly.
* [Clearance](http://github.com/thoughtbot/clearance/tree/master) - don't write
  your own user auth, just use clearance.
* [Paperclip](http://github.com/thoughtbot/paperclip/tree/master) - easy file
  attachments.
* [Pacecar](http://github.com/thoughtbot/pacecar/tree/master) - generated
  named_scopes and helper methods.
* [Shoulda](http://github.com/thoughtbot/shoulda/tree/master) - Test helpers
  that <abbr title="Don't Repeat Yourself">DRY</abbr> up common Rails' test
  cases.
* [Factory Bot](http://github.com/thoughtbot/factory_bot/tree/master) - Easy
  test data generation without the headache of fixtures.
* [High Voltage](http://github.com/thoughtbot/high_voltage/tree/master) - Fire
  in the disco, fire in the taco bell.  Don't write a pages_controller, just
  drop in your pages.