Apologies to Tracy Mayfield (@PaintedGhost) that it has taken me so long to get these up. Unfortunately they still frown on human cloning, so I have been really busy lately. Here are her excellent photos of our first event where Susi O'Neill gave a fantastic talk about Social Media for Business.
Thanks to Tracy, you can see more of her work at www.paintedghost.co.uk
Sei una Girl Geek e stai pensando di avviare un nuovo business in ambito tecnologico?
Hai le idee ma non sai come tradurle in atti pratici: la parola Business Plan ti mette l’ansia dell’ignoto?
Il Venture Capitalism ti sembra lontano come un orizzonte tropicale?
Hai letto dell’iniziativa del Comune di Milano per favorire la creazione e lo sviluppo di imprese innovative nel settore delle tecnologie per l’informazione e la comunicazione e hai pensato che hai un’idea ma non sai se ne hai le capacità?
Leggendo della Start Cup ti chiedi da che parte puoi cominciare?
Contatta il GGD team di Milano - pr /at/ girlgeekdinnersitalia (.) com mettendo come oggetto : “[GGD]donne innovative”. Possiamo organizzare qualcosa per aiutarti a sviluppare le tue idee !!!
[ca]
Totes estem d’acord que al proper BCN GGD hem de trobar-nos en un lloc que puguem estar de peu per poder conèixer-nos millor i saber que estem fent. M’he posat en contacte amb Citilab, penso que pot ser un bon lloc per reunir-nos, a veure que diuen!
La setmana del 21 al 25 de setembre, és una bona data per poder reunir-nos una altra vegada?
[es]
Todas estamos de acuerdo que en el próximo BCN GGD tenemos que encontrarnos en un lugar donde podamos estar de pie para poder conocernos mejor y saber que estamos haciendo. Me he puesto en contacto con Citilab, creo que puede ser un buen sitio para reunirnos, ¡vamos a ver que pasa!
¿La semana del 21 al 25 de septiembre, es una buena fecha para poder reunirnos otra vez?
[en]
We all agree that the next BCN GGD should be held in a venue where we can be standing, to enable us to get know each other better & find out what everyone is doing. I have contacted Citilab, which I think would be a good choice. Let’s see what happens!
Do you remember our poll in February? Nokia turned out to be the most preferred mobile phone brand with girl geeks. And we promised to give away one for free.
Some of you managed to get their hands on one months before they shipped, on 10 March during Brussels Girl Geek Dinner #11. But today I got good news: Nokia is giving away one (white) N97 [NL-FR] to Belgian bloggers. Here’s what you have to do to win this gorgeous superphone:
Thanks to Gail Purvis for this review
The first Edinburgh Geek dinner was originally planned for 40 people and held last week at the Edinburgh Informatics Centre. Three weeks before the launch it had sold out and had to increase the numbers to 50 so the next is planned for October 1 at Edinburgh Napier University.
Browse ‘Geek’ and you will find it defined originally as a ‘carnival performer, often billed as a wild man’ The the word equates to nerd, gimp, dweeb, or dork, though it seems there’s been a shift in implication to ‘a person who is interested in technology, especially computing and new media.’ And a move from being the provenance of boys and men, to the emergence of the “Geek chic” now being adopted by girls and women.
If you go hunting websites, you will find Geek Girls (with a plain English guide to Computing) and you will also find Girl Geek Scotland, or a networking community for technically minded women. It all began in London with Girl Geek Dinners a few years ago, and now there’s a network throughout the UK and Europe, where Jan Van Mol’s cross-over creative cross-over Addict Creative Lab, with more than 4,000 registered creatives from all over the world and from 32 disciplines (fashion, photography, architecture, cooking, design, textile, music, advertising, branding….) might be considered a creative Geek sparking point.
Geeks Girls in Scotland originally emerged in Dundee with Morna Simpson (involved in the start-up through to programme review (2008) of the BSc in Interactive Media Design, at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design at the University of Dundee): Mel Woods, (interested in convergence of visual, text and sound based media through interdisciplinary research in optics) and Sarah Kettley (artist researcher working in the field of wearable technology, collaborating in the Speckled Computing consortium designing wearable devices and developing lo-tech design to smart materials, mapping the space between handhelds and wearables.)
The Edinburgh Girl Geek committee: (R-L)Sarah Kettley, Caroline Turnbull, Jenny Tizard, Allison Johnstone, Kate Ho and Bonnie Webber.
Opening the meeting, executive director of Scotland IS, Polly Purvis declared “The idea behind the Girl Geek movement is great and it is tremendous to see the enthusiasm with which it is being taken up in Scotland.”
Though, good researcher that she is (and confirmed shoe addict) she noted that in London, Girl Geek sponsers, Silicon Stilettoes, were adding a fashion note to the term Geek, and shr concluded in wishing all Edinburgh Geeks, ‘diamonds on the soles of their shoes’.
Changing the image of IT
Purvis (left) confesses she is “constantly perplexed that computing,.. instrumental in breaking down information barriers, through broadband communications, the internet, and the web; which helped unlock the complexity of DNA; provides us all with a mobile computer in our pockets, and is creating a paradigm shift in community building, through social networking, is so little understood, and appreciated.
“Ten years ago who’d heard of Skype, twitter or iphone? In the interim, social networking has become a business tool, instant messaging has replaced email for many, and blogs are now more powerful than the press,” she noted.
“To set the context, the software and ICT industry is one of the powerhouses of the Scottish economy, employing around 100,000 people. Not only a knowledge industry in its own right, it underpins so many other industries, is a vehicle for transformation across business and the public sector, and breaks down the barriers created by our geographic location.
“It is a high skilled industry, providing exciting, challenging and demanding careers and we need talented people to join it. In an increasingly competitive world market we cannot afford to be complacent about the skills base we have. We must raise our game to attract talented people and that means many more women. So how do we do that?”
Top priority she feels is “Collectively we need to do much more at schools, ensure access to up to date informed careers advice raise the profile of the industry.
At school,” she feels, “young people and girls in particular are turned away from an interest in computing, partly because what they are being taught is not what they experience on the web, and doesn’t match their knowledge of the technology interfaces they use – their phones, their games consoles and the internet.
“Making sure careers advice is up to date is in itself a major challenge. The growth in new industries and disciplines, new specialist roles, such as procurement professionals and environmental scientists, nanotechnologists, sports scientists,the list is endless…
“I think we can all help in developing a suite of materials that will provide detailed information about the variety of job roles and opportunities the industry offers, using the latest media such as YouTube.”
The third factor to be addressed she feels is that “downsizing in the electronics industry and the high profile offshoring of jobs has led to a view that there are no jobs in technology. We must dispel these myths, provide careers advisors with regular updates on opportunities and requirements and a concerted effort to promote the industry to everyone.”
Asked for her reaction to the Borders moves to cutting computing lessons in a bid to save cash, she expressed real concern. “At ScotlandIS we have queried whether computing should continue to be taught in schools because the current curriculum is so seriously out of date. Currently schools tend to equate ICT to word processing and spread sheets, and this is turning young people away from an interest in computing. What a tragedy!
“Computing is the corner stone of information technologies, is an essential skill set for Scotland’s economic health, and we need to ensure that our young people are highly skilled in its use. Increasingly ubiquitous, IT will impact all aspects of their lives. Understanding how to maximise its potential to benefit work, rest and play is increasingly important.”
Scottish Geek network hopefully should be a move to compute enthusiasm for creative IT into our schools.
Thanks to Gail Purvis for this review
The first Edinburgh Geek dinner was originally planned for 40 people
and held last week at the Edinburgh Informatics Centre. Three weeks
before the launch it had sold out and had to increase the numbers to
50 so the next is planned for October 1 at Edinburgh Napier
University.
Browse ‘Geek’ and you will find it defined originally as a ‘carnival
performer, often billed as a wild man’ The the word equates to [...]
E non intendo vacanze in villaggi o in gruppo: no no! Dalla a alla zeta, da soli, con lo zaino in spalla (o la trolley, quella ve la concedo), trasformandosi nella propria agenzia di viaggi, dove tutto è permesso e non ci sono commissioni (o quasi) 
L’anno scorso abbiamo organizzato 2 settimane in giro per il Marocco prenotando tutto da casa, così come quest’anno stiamo facendo per il giro in Scozia.
I siti della Lonely Planet e della Routard (per chi sa il francese) sono i migliori e i più completi al mondo per quanto riguarda le guide turistiche storiche.
Il sito della Lonely Planet, oltre ad avere le informazioni di base per ogni paese e un efficientissimo e-commerce dove le guide appena uscite costano il giusto (non ci sono le commissioni dell’esportazione), la spedizione è onesta e arrivano in una settimana massimo, con la possibilità di scaricare i singoli capitoli delle guide, pagandoli molto meno che l’intera guida cartacea. Non solo: l’indice e un capitolo per ogni guida sono scaricabili gratuitamente.
Questi siti rappresentano solo la punta dell’iceberg di tutte le informazioni che si possono trovare online su qualsiasi meta. Basta anche solo partire dal sito dell’ufficio del turismo del paese o della città che si vuole visitare, per iniziare a farsi un’idea di cosa è assolutamente imperdibile. Moltissimi siti sono corredati da fotografie favolose, in modo da capire ancora meglio se una città della Cina profonda o un parco nel bel mezzo della Germania sono proprio quello che stiamo cercando.
Senza dimenticare Flickr e il suo motore di ricerca.
. Per i traghetti è sempre meglio acquistare direttamente dal sito della compagnia prescelta, ma ci sono anche svariati meta motori.Le tipologie di sistemazione variano da paese a paese: la Francia in campeggio o gites o chambres d’hotes, il Regno Unito in B&B (sconsiglio vivamente il campeggio: piove troppo), il Marocco in riyad… Individuata la tipologia di alloggio che preferite, affidatevi alle community di viaggiatori.
La più affidabile è, secondo me, Tripadvisor: ci sono decine di recensioni per la singola struttura che vi faranno capire se quello che avete visto dal sito corrisponde o meno alla verità. E poi i blog di viaggiatori o i blogger che vi raccontano le loro esperienze di viaggio.
Potete condividere i vostri viaggi anche prima di partire, con dopplr per esempio, ma quando tornate tocca a voi arricchire il mondo: parlate della vostra esperienza, lasciate una traccia di ciò che avete provato e di ciò che pensate del paese in cui siete stati. Farete felici chi dopo di voi vorrà andarci.
E tu come organizzi le tue vacanze online?
Che tips hai per noi?
I've just returned from Nottingham's Girl Geek Dinners and I am really pleased. Everyone was lovely and a huge thanks to everyone who came out. A big thank you to Susi O'Neill for her excellent presentation on 'Social Media for Business' the presentation is on Slideshare now: http://www.slideshare.net/susioneill/22-06-09-girl-geek-dinners-social-media-for-biz
I've read through the feedback and there is some really useful comments in there and I will do my best to implement as much of it as possible. Some of it is newbie mistakes and easy to fix, so thanks for the feedback. Yet it was all really positive and I am really pleased that my first ever event went so well. Everyone was really supportive, it was a great atmosphere.
If anyone has anymore feedback they would like to leave, feel free to leave a comment or email/twitter me. Does anybody have any feedback on the venue?
Photos should follow shortly (thanks to @Paintedghost)
