--- title: 'Ruby on Rails Manchester: Let’s meet up at NWRUG' teaser: It will soon be NWRUG's February 2025 meet-up on Thursday, 20 February. tags: community,events,manchester,meetup,news,uk author: Rob Whittaker published_on: 2025-02-12 --- It will soon be North West Ruby User Group (NWRUG)’s February 2025 meet-up on Thursday, 20 February, at [Colony, One Silk Street][]. This month they are doing lightning talks! That means you have an opportunity to give a short talk, somewhere between 5 and 10 minutes (note: they can be way shorter) on a Ruby-related subject of your choosing. Giving a lightning talk is a great way to try your hand at public speaking, and they encourage and support first time speakers. Lightning talks don’t have to be super-polished, or anything ground-breaking or world-changing. It could simply be about something interesting or surprising you’ve learnt recently. Perhaps you’ve been working with a new feature in Rails, or a particular gem, or you’ve been trying a new technique/pattern and have some learnings you can share. For an idea of the sort of things they're talking about, check out some of their previous lightning talk events: - [February 2020][] - [February 2019][] - [May 2018][] They're very happy to help with advice and help on things like: what to talk about; how to structure your talk; rehearsals; or anything else you might need to help you prepare and feel comfortable giving a short talk. There are also some helpful links in the [help with speaking section][] on their website. They are always looking for people to give talks in person or via The Internet. Email if you would like to give a lightning talk or have any questions. Please read [their code of conduct][]; [full event details][] are available on the NWRUG website. Reach out to thoughtbot’s UK team for questions. We would love to work with you on your Rails app. [Let’s talk][]! [colony, one silk street]: https://colonyco.work/one-silk-st [february 2019]: https://nwrug.org/events/february-2019-lightning-talks [february 2020]: https://nwrug.org/events/faster-than-lightning-2020 [full event details]: https://nwrug.org/events/february-2025-lightning-talks [help with speaking section]: https://nwrug.org/participate#help-with-speaking [may 2018]: https://nwrug.org/events/may-2018-lightning-talks [their code of conduct]: https://nwrug.org/code-of-conduct [Let’s talk]: https://thoughtbot.com/london