Category: announcement

Girl Geek Dinners Logo with new tagline -Inspire, Encourage, Educate

What’s Happening with Girl Geek Dinners?

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Hello, Girl Geek Community!

Girl Geek Dinners has a long history of bringing women in technology together. Since our first gathering in 2005, we’ve created a welcoming space for women and allies in tech to meet, network, and learn from each other. Over the years, our community expanded globally, hosting events in cities around the world. In recent years, we took a step back as other initiatives emerged to support similar goals.

Now, as many of those communities struggle to maintain momentum, we see an opportunity to step up once again and fill the gap. We’re excited to announce that Girl Geek Dinners is back and ready to support the tech community in a renewed and meaningful way.

A Pause and a Fresh Start

For those who are new to Girl Geek Dinners—or returning after some time—you may have noticed our events took a hiatus. During this period, many new groups outside of our network emerged to support women and minorities in tech, driving inclusion, career growth, and community building. While these initiatives made a strong impact, many are now facing challenges, reducing opportunities for women to connect, learn, and grow together.

Recognizing this gap, we decided to re-launch Girl Geek Dinners with a renewed focus on providing the space, resources, and support our community needs.

What Girl Geek Dinners Offers

Girl Geek Dinners has always been about more than just dinner. Our events bring together women and allies in tech to build genuine connections, share knowledge, and create an inclusive community. We remain committed to breaking down barriers, dispelling stereotypes, and fostering an environment where everyone can participate.

Our mission is to inspire, encourage, and educate women and allies in technology through:

• Global Events – There will be no change for existing groups still running and will be restarting Girl Geek Dinners in select cities, with plans to expand. We’ll bring back the format that made our events impactful: networking, inspiring speakers, and discussions on tech and career growth.  Our sponsorship model is currently under review, and we’ll brief existing and new chapter leaders as they onboard over the coming months.

• Inclusive Spaces – We welcome everyone in tech who believes in equal opportunities for learning and career growth. While our primary focus is creating a safe space for women, we also welcome men who support our mission and attend as guests of female attendees. Anyone across the gender spectrum is welcome—this is about breaking down barriers, not building them.

• Local and Global Support – We aim to support women in tech at both local and global levels. As we rebuild our network, we’ll work closely with chapter leaders to tailor events to the unique needs of each community.

Rebuilding for the Future

This re-launch marks an exciting new chapter for Girl Geek Dinners. With our global network reactivating, we’re bringing back a community that has supported so many women and allies over the years. Our focus will be on helping our members learn, network, and grow , with fresh opportunities for engagement.

As we move forward, we’re open to collaborations, partnerships, and support from organizations that share our values. However, we are taking a more strategic approach to sponsorships in light of shifting political landscapes that threaten support for those who need it most. Together, we can bridge the gap in tech, strengthen our industry, and foster both personal and professional growth.

Join Us on This New Journey!

Whether you’ve been part of Girl Geek Dinners for years or are just discovering us, we’re excited to have you with us. Our community thrives because of passionate, driven people like you who believe in a more inclusive tech industry.

With new events, growing chapters, and more ways to connect, Girl Geek Dinners is here to continue supporting and inspiring women in tech.

Thank you for being part of this movement. Here’s to a future filled with growth, support, and innovation for all in technology!

Sarah Lamb

Ps. Book updates can be found here.

Girl Geeks wanted. Help Needed.

Reading Girl Geek Dinners needs volunteers to help us to keep the group going in 2016. We have big plans but little time to execute them and therefore we need some interested Girl Geeks to become a part of a team and work with us to deliver great events in 2016 and beyond.

You can give a lot or a little of your time. Anything you can do to help us is a brilliant contribution to the Reading Girl Geek Dinners chapter. You will help to grow our community and allow us to continue encouraging women into STEM roles. Your contribution will also help to support women who are currently working in STEM roles and aim to keep them growing in these roles.

We will meet once every few weeks either over coffee, a meal, a drink or Skype if time is tight so we can discuss our events, activities and share tasks. We can always stay in touch over the phone, email or face to face in between those times. It’s about being flexible and enjoying the tasks that we fulfill. It’s also about making new friends and contacts too.

The tasks that we need to fulfill include (to name a few):

  • Locating venues for events
  • Attracting sponsors for events
  • Co-ordinating and promoting events
  • Locating speakers for events and working with them to ensure their talk is a good fit for our group
  • Promoting Girl Geek Dinners via Twitter or Facebook
  • Writing blogs for our website promoting STEM careers
  • Locating Guest Bloggers for our website and working with them to help their blog contributions are a good fit for our group

To be a Reading Girl Geek Dinner team member, you don’t have to work in a STEM career. You simply need to have an interest in meeting other interesting people and having a fun time learning new things and a desire to build a community.

Contact us at [email protected] for more details.

 

We look forward to getting Girl Geeky with you.

 

 

Blog with us.

MotherOnSofaWithLaptop_2

Reading Girl Geek Dinners are looking for inspiration and words of wisdom about your life as a Girl Geek.

We’re seeking guest bloggers to write for us so that we can share your blog with the Girl Geek Dinners community, not only in Reading but around the world.

This is an opportunity to share your thoughts and words with a global community of Girl Geeks and a chance to share with others your experiences and knowledge.

We’re happy to help with ideas for topics and inspiration if writers block gets a grip on you. In return, we will promote your article via our social media channels to thousands of readers.

Please email us with your blog post at [email protected] and please include a photo of yourself and a short summary about you. We will contact you to confirm that we have your article and to advise publishing date.

We look forward to working with you.

5th Anniversary Dinner – 23 September


[tweetmeme source=readinggd] We’re thrilled to announce our September  2010 Reading Girl Geek Dinner, which is also Girl Geek Dinner’s 5th Anniversary, at Glo in central Reading. This event is kindly sponsored by DediPower.

You can come any time from 6.30pm with some networking; dinner will follow and we will have some more time for networking after the meal.

Being the 5th Anniversary, we are delighted to have a great speaker: none other but the founder of Girl Geek Dinners, Sarah Blow.

The topic is “Where It All Began”.

The event will commence at 6.30pm; dim sum dinner will follow from 7pm and we will have some time for networking during and after the meal.

As usual, come prepared to share ideas, be inspired and meet like-minded people. In a nutshell: join us to have a great evening.

Thanks to DediPower for supporting this event.


Full Details:

  • Date & Time: Thursday, 23rd September, 6:30pm for a 7pm start
  • End Time: Late
  • Venue: Glo, Reading
  • Hosted by: Girl Geek Dinners
  • Food & Drink: Dim sum, buy your own drinks
  • Subject for the evening: Where It All Began
  • Format: Reception, Dinner, Conversation
  • Capacity: 40 people
  • Attendees: As ever, boy geeks are welcome to attend if invited by a girl geek although on this occasion we do stress that there are few and limited spaces so more boy geeks = less girl geeks.

If you’d like to attend on 23rd September, please sign up via the Register Now button below, and we’ll see you at the event!

23 September Reading GGD: 5th Anniversary

We hope you are enjoying the summer – despite the occasional rain!

Some of you know already, but Girl Geek Dinners is turning five this year! At Reading Girl Geek Dinners we want to have our Anniversary dinner, and this is set for Thursday, 23rd September.

Eventbrite site for registration will be up very soon.

Sponsors Wanted
In the meantime, we have a great opportunity for a sponsor willing to support this next event. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you are interested and/or want some more information: @readingggd or post a comment here.

Thank you and we look forward to seeing many of you on the 23rd.

Thank You and Dates for May

Thank you to those who came along on Thursday, despite the weather and the traffic! It was lovely to see you all at the April Reading Girl Geek Dinner.

Special thanks to our speaker Rachel Cooper and, of course, our sponsors Microsoft UK – without whom this event would not have been possible.

The next event will take place on Thursday 20th May and the registration page will be up very soon.

If you are interested in speaking at any of our upcoming events, or know of someone who is, please let us know. If you wish to support Reading GGD in any other way (including sponsoring one or several dinners), please do get in touch.

Have a lovely Easter!

The Reading GGD Team

April Reading Girl Geek Dinner – and the Team

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[tweetmeme source=readinggd]We are setting up regular Reading Girl Geek Dinners for this year: we are holding them on the THIRD Thursday of each month after this session. We are always interested in your opinion, what you would like to hear about and, of course, if you wish to sponsor the event.

We are also delighted to announce that Natasha O’Brien has joined the Reading GGD team.


Our next event is Thursday 1st April (no joke!) and it is sponsored by Microsoft UK. We will be going back to La Tasca in central Reading.


The event will commence at 6.30pm; a lovely tapas dinner will follow from 7pm and we will have some time for networking during and after the meal.


The theme of the evening is “Dedicated to Ada Lovelace”. We will have a very interesting and entertaining speaker: Rachel Cooper, from Graphico – who will be talking about how she started in IT and about the amazing figure of Ada Lovelace.

Full Details:

  • Date & Time: Thursday, 1st April, 6:30pm for a 7pm start
  • End Time: Late
  • Venue: La Tasca, Reading
  • Hosted by: Girl Geek Dinners
  • Food & Drink: Spanish tapas, buy your own drinks
  • Subject for the evening: Dedicated to Ada Lovelace
  • Format: Reception, Dinner, Conversation
  • Capacity: 40 people
  • Attendees: As ever, boy geeks are welcome to attend if invited by a girl geek although on this occasion we do stress that there are few and limited spaces so more boy geeks = less girl geeks.

If you’d like to attend on 1st April, please sign up via the Register Now button below, and we’ll see you at the event!

December 10th – Reading Girl Geek Dinner


[tweetmeme source=readinggd]We’re back just before the Holidays: our December Reading Girl Geek Dinner, sponsored by our friends at Symantec, is back at La Tasca in central Reading.


The event will commence at 6.30pm; a lovely tapas dinner will follow from 7pm and we will have some time for networking during and after the meal.


The theme of the evening is “Be Inspired “. We will have a very inspiring group as guest speakers: Millennials from Microsoft will be talking about how they use technology, what they expect from it and how it is likely to change the way we live and work. We are very pleased to have these speakers join us. As usual, come with your ideas and ready to ask questions, network and be inspired.

Full Details:

  • Date & Time: Thursday, 10th December, 6:30pm for a 7pm start
  • End Time: Late
  • Venue: La Tasca, Reading
  • Hosted by: Girl Geek Dinners and Symantec
  • Food & Drink: Spanish tapas, buy your own drinks
  • Subject for the evening: Be Inspired
  • Format: Reception, Dinner, Conversation
  • Capacity: 40 people
  • Attendees: As ever, boy geeks are welcome to attend if invited by a girl geek although on this occasion we do stress that there are few and limited spaces so more boy geeks = less girl geeks.

 

If you’d like to attend on 10th December, please sign up via the Register Now button below, and we’ll see you at the event!

Reading Girl Geek Dinner 3 Announced

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[tweetmeme source=readinggd]We’re thrilled to announce our second 2009 Reading Girl Geek event which is sponsored by Symantec and will be held at La Tasca right in the middle of Reading.

The event will commence at 6.30pm with some simple networking so do remember to bring your business cards with you.

The theme of the evening will be Local Networks: What do you get from networking? How do you build your network? what do you get from networking? Are social and work networks truly independent?

This is expected to be a fun, practical way of sharing your ideas.

When you head off you’ll also receive a fun little goodie bag… I’m not going to tell you what’s in it… that’s a surprise… all part of the fun of goodie bags!


Many thanks to Kate from Symantec and her team for arranging the goodie bags and sponsorship!

Full Details:

  • Date & Time: Monday, 23rd March 2009, 6:30pm for a 7pm start
  • End Time: Late
  • Venue: La Tasca, Reading
  • Hosted by: Girl Geek Dinners and Symantec
  • Food & Drink: Lovely Spanish Tapas food, buy your own drinks
  • Subject for the evening: Local Networks
  • Format: Reception, Dinner, Conversation
  • Capacity: 40 people
  • Attendees: As ever, boy geeks are welcome to attend if invited by a girl geek although on this occasion we do stress that there are few and limited spaces so more boy geeks = less girl geeks.

If you’d like to attend on 23rd March, please sign up via the above Register Now button, and we’ll see you at the event!