The R Consortium recently interviewed Eli Eydlin, a dedicated member of the R community who has been instrumental in establishing an R User Group in Haifa, Israel. With a background in physics and a recent shift into the biotech industry, Eli was motivated to create the group after noticing the absence of a local R community in his new city. Despite Haifa’s relatively small size, it boasts a diverse R community, including professionals from high-tech companies, academia, and startups. Eli shared his experience organizing their first Meetup, which featured speakers from vastly different backgrounds, and his plans to make future events more inclusive. His story highlights the importance of community building and the impact of taking the initiative, offering inspiration for others looking to contribute to their local R communities.

Please share about your background and involvement with the RUGS group.

I’ve been working in a biotech startup for nearly two years. My background is more on the pharma side, but I decided to dive into this new field. When I moved, I noticed that there wasn’t an R User Group in the area, even though I knew of other groups in different cities and countries that were doing great things. I didn’t like the idea of not having one here, so I decided to start one myself. We just had our first event, and I’m really excited to be a part of this initiative.

Can you share what the R community is like in Haifa? 

One of the reasons I started this was to meet new people who are also R programmers or users. I already know that the community is really diverse. My city isn’t huge—around 300,000 people—but has much to offer. There are big high-tech companies like Microsoft and Amazon here that support their R&D departments, and I’m certain that some of our members are involved. Like in many places in Israel, there are hundreds of small startups. What I find interesting is that people come from all sorts of backgrounds—mostly from academia, as usual, but now also from government, traditional companies, and small businesses. I’m excited to see where this leads.

You had a Meetup on August 6th, 2024. Can you share more about the topic covered? Why this topic? 

We have two completely different topics and two amazing speakers. Sofia Nazarova is a marine biologist at Israel Oceanographic & Limnological, who also organizes private guided tours. She teaches people about plants and animals, so she’s not a programmer. However, she co-authored the first-ever R textbook published in Russian, which makes her experience unique. Typically, I work with people who are programmers or data scientists, but she’s out there in the field, literally working with marine life.

Our second speaker was Adi Sarid, the CEO of Sarid Institute LTD, a data science company focusing on production and consumption. He’s also writing a book on R, this time in Hebrew. It’s a completely different experience—he’s a business leader working with governments and large firms, and he showcased some fantastic examples of practical applications in his talk.

I deliberately chose speakers with very different backgrounds because that interests me. While organizing the group, I thought about what I wanted to learn and the connections I wanted to make.

Who was the target audience for attending this event? 

To be honest, there wasn’t a specific target audience for this event because I didn’t know anyone. I just tried to reach out to whoever might be interested in participating. After the first event, I noticed a big jump in interest, but only one woman attended. So, for the next event, I want to specifically target women and try to figure out what went wrong. It seems like many women are using R, but for some reason, they didn’t show up. We’ll address that and improve things moving forward.

Any techniques you recommend using for planning for or during the event? (Github, zoom, other) Can these techniques be used to make your group more inclusive to people that are unable to attend physical events in the future?   

We didn’t use anything for the first event, which we may do with the future in mind. We wanted to stay connected, especially since we’re in Israel, and it’s important to support each other under pressure. The event went well, but after it was over, I started receiving messages from people saying they couldn’t attend because they needed to spend time with their kids or were afraid of potential security issues.

I realize how important it is to offer in-person meetings, but I now acknowledge that it’s not feasible for everyone. So, for the next event, we’ll make it easier for people to join remotely, perhaps through Zoom or a similar platform. We’ll also hold events in more secure locations. It’s clear that while in-person events are valuable, they aren’t always possible or suitable for everyone.

We would like to get to know you more personally. Can you please tell me about yourself? For example, hobbies/interests or anything you want to share about yourself.

First of all, I have a physics background and a master’s degree in it. I recently transitioned into the pharma and biotech industry, which has been a new and exciting challenge for me. My interests have always been diverse, and I’m particularly fascinated by this field, as well as by the natural beauty of Israel, especially its trees. On a different note, I’m also a harmonica player, which is another passion of mine. 

Please share any additional details you would like included in the blog. 

I want to take the initiative with the R Consortium and contribute to its efforts. I see how cool and relatively easy it is to organize such a group. Focusing on developing countries is important, but it’s also relevant here in Israel, even though we’re relatively wealthy. What motivated me was seeing others take action, and I realized that I needed to step up and organize a group as well. The tools and support provided by the R Consortium are incredibly helpful for bringing people together. So, I just wanted to say thank you for that.

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 68,000 members in 33 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.

The post Building Bridges in Haifa, Israel: How the New R User Group in Haifa is Establishing a Diverse R Community appeared first on R Consortium.