The new groups are as follows:

• Oxford, UK
• Oslo, Norway
• Coffs Harbour, Australia

If you would like to start an event in your area then please read our Starting Out page!

It’s time to get socially dextrous and spend an evening getting serious with Lego and networking through gaming at the upcoming Geek Girl Dinner in Sydney.
Places are limited so make sure you’re quick to register below.
WHEN? Thursday 14th May 2009, from 5:45pm – 9pm
WHERE? Microsoft Building, 1 Epping Rd, North Ryde
RSVP? ASAP through the form below

WHAT’S HAPPENING?

A two-part event, this month’s Geek Girl dinner will take place at the Microsoft headquarters in North Ryde.

Firstly, we’ll be working on the Women Build program using Lego Bricks to start discussions around solutions to a problem facing women in the technology industry. Then we’ll be heading upstairs for the entertainment and networking component of the evening, and get hands on with the Xbox 360 games system. Finger food and drinks will be provided.

Some of the female stars of the IT industry will be coming along to the event, which will be MC’d by the lovely Ashley Jenkins, Fragdoll extraordinaire, site manager for Xbox.com and programmer of the Xbox LIVE interface.

Have you RSVPd yet?

Remember, it’s an open mic night, so don’t forget to bring some tales from the server room, your best customer service lines, and your cadre of Douglas Adams quotes (c’mon, you know we all have those)!

If you’ve RSVP’d on Facebook, please remember to pop over to the blog and RSVP here as well.

See you in a fortnight!

Date: Saturday, 21 February, 2009
Time: 7pm for a 7:30 start
Venue: Turkish Pide House, Jamison, in their private dining room.
RSVP: In the comments for this post – please remember to tell me your name and whether or not you will be coming with a guest

Because it’s the first one we’ve had, it’s an open mic night. No one has to stand up and talk, but it would be great to have a few of you tell us a little bit about yourselves and what you’re in to. I’ll also be giving you a little bit of a run down on the past, present and future of Girl Geek Dinners.

The night is intended to be relaxed and fun, with a technical focus. Anyone is welcome to attend, but guys need to make sure they have a girl to escort them.

We don’t have any sponsors yet, so unfortunately you have to pay for this one. The banquets come to around $20-25 a head, so please bring enough cash on the night to cover the food and whatever drinks you might have.

See you all there!

Check us out on Facebook too!

The main point that has been raised so far is the issue of male attendees. Men are certainly allowed – and encouraged! – to come along to the dinners, all we ask is that you come at the invitation of a girl geek. Every girl geek can bring one friend with them. Remember also that it doesn’t have to be your partner or significant other, it can be a friend, workmate or anyone else who you think will enjoy the event.

Additionally, if there is anyone (of either gender!) out there who has something interesting to speak about, or who can help us out with some sponsorship, I’d love to hear from you!

In the meantime, keep checking back here, and letting me know about your ideas. I’ll be posting information about our inaugural dinner here very soon.

Why not jump along and check out our introduction on the Girl Geek Dinners website?

Parliament House Canberra

————————————————————————————————————-

Australian Government
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Copyright Notice

This work is copyright. You may download, display, print and reproduce
this material in unaltered form only (retaining this notice) for your
personal, non-commercial use or use within your organisation. Apart from
any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, all other rights are
reserved.

Requests for further authorisation should be directed to the
Commonwealth Copyright Administration, Copyright Law Branch,
Attorney-General’s Department, Robert Garran Offices, National Circuit,
Canberra ACT 2600 or posted at http://www.ag.gov.au/cca .

And so it has fallen to me to get Girl Geek Dinners up and running in Canberra. Right now, all I’m looking for is some kind of idea of how many people might be interested in something of this nature. Feel free to post in the comments and let me know what you think, what you like, who you want hear speak, and anything else that comes to mind.

I would also be interested in hearing from anyone who can help in some way (however small) with the organisation of the event, or who might know how to go about arranging some kind of sponsorship (of any variety).

In the meantime, hang on for the ride!

Pia Waugh spoke about Volunteering and why being part of a community group is so rewarding. On the night and during the days to follow, many geek girls told me that Pia and the group conversation following her talk inspired them to start blogging. I sure hope we see more of those blogs in 2009.

There were a lot of cameras, which resulted in a lot of photos of the night. Not too many incriminating ones. If you have some more to share then send me the link and I’ll put them up here or put them up on the facebook group.

Of course, we could not have had the night without our very generous sponsors who have all been massive supporters of the geek girls of Sydney throughout 2008: Geekdom (the venue) and the woman behind the party – Cathie McGinn; Atlassian (the food) and a geek girl who has never missed the one event – Brydie McCoy; Google (the food) and the always present and cheery Alice Boxhall and Narelle Cozens; Microsoft (the drinks) and Catherine Eibner who always pushes us forward; ThoughtWorks (the Santa hats) and my fantastic colleagues Suzi Edwards and Liz Douglass who support me in every way possible; and Andre Pang (the cupcakes) who is a great geek guy who encourages Pia and I always.

There are other people during 2008 who have made GGD Sydney the thriving group it is. You are the ones that got it going and keep it alive: Giles Alexander; Jason Yip; Claudia Jayne Mikaelian; Sun-Hee; Will Blott; Danni McBride; Darci Dutcher; Lindsay Ratcliffe; Sarah Falamaki; Jules Parry; Cyndi Mitchell; and so many more that I have to leave off or I’ll go on for a long long time.

Thanks for 2008. Let’s make 2009 even more fantastic!

The theme this year will focus on transportation.
We are focusing on how to improve the design of transport systems and infrastructure to:
• Better support the people that use them
• Move towards more sustainable forms of transport in the future

Here’s what’s on and how you can get involved:
• Guest speakers / transportation experts
• Interactive workshops & discussion questions
• Photo and design exhibition highlighting transportation challenges and solutions

Cost: Free!!! Just come along – no registration required
Who: Everyone is welcome (including students, usability professionals, people who work with or use transport)
When: Thursday 13 November 2008
Where: University of Technology Sydney
More information: http://www.upasydney.org/index.php?page=wud08
Questions: events@upasydney.org