A sprint is a get-together for focused work on a project. Sprints are an important part of Drupal's growth, and are also a great opportunity to get involved, because others are on hand to help you contribute.

At every DrupalCon and many Drupal camps, we hold introductory Get Involved with Core sprints and related trainings to introduce new contributors to the core contribution process. The goal of each sprint is to help participants get set up with tools like a local Drupal installation, git, and IRC, and then to guide them through contributing to Drupal core. Since DrupalCon Denver last year, mentoring sprints have helped nearly 500 people contribute to core for the first time.

Learn how you can help with mentoring sprints, both at DrupalCon Portland's sprint on Friday (May 24) and at your local camp or user group. This session will cover:

What is a Sprint?
The case for core contribution
The solutions used by the core contribution mentoring program and the Drupal Ladder
Tools for your sprint (including the drupalofficehours.org website and multiple training resources)
What tasks work well at sprints (not just coding!)
The sprint planning process
How to be an effective mentor
Call to action!
This session is intended for anyone who'd like to be a sprint mentor (at DrupalCon Portland or a future Drupal event), or for anyone curious about sprints and the Drupal core mentoring initiative. No prior sprint experience is required!

P.S.--We won't actually make you run anywhere, promise!