Press Release: Geek Women Wear The Badge With Pride
On October 14th, 2009 the 3rd Girl Geek Dinner Canberra (sponsored by Google Australia) was held at the Burns Club in Kambah. The keynote speaker for the event was Senator Kate Lundy, who shared her experiences as a woman using technology through her career. Over 50 women (and men) attended the event to make it an outstanding success.The 4th Girl Geek Dinner Canberra is now being planned for February, 2010 and we are seeking women who work with Technology (in any way) to join our community. We are also seeking sponsors for our events to help raise the profile of Girl Geek Dinners, and women who work with technology in the Canberra region.

Girl Geek Dinners Canberra
The Canberra Chapter of Girl Geek Dinners was started in February 2009 by Lana Brindley, a technical writer, when other Girl Geek Dinners started up in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney.

Lana Brindley says “My vision for Canberra dinners is to provide a casual and fun environment, with a variety of speakers on different topics. The dinners provide an opportunity for attendees to network with like-minded people in a relaxed atmosphere. I aim to keep the dinners light hearted, and fun, with a range of speakers on different topics. It's a diverse and interesting group, which comes through in our talk schedule.

What Are Girl Geek Dinners
The concept of Girl Geek Dinners was introduced by Sarah Blow (London UK) 4 years ago when she tired of being one of the few women to attend technical events. The ethos behind Girl Geek Dinners is to provide a platform for learning and networking in an informal environment for geek women (that is, women who use technology). Girl Geek Dinners are always held in pubs, clubs or bars, and there is usually a speaker or three who talk for a short while on a chosen subject for the evening. Men are welcome, of course, but only at the invitation of a Girl Geek – this ensures that the event has a female majority. There are 49 active groups, and another five in the pipeline, worldwide.

Are you a Girl Geek?
If you are a woman who uses IT, you are welcome to join Girl Geek Dinners Canberra. Meet women from all walks of life who use technology in many different ways in an informal and friendly environment.

***

For More Information:
Lana Brindley Ph: 0410 500 659
lanabrindley(at)gmail(dot)com
http://girlgeekdinnerscanberra.blogspot.com/
Announcing: Canberra Google Girl Geek Dinner #3!
NOTE: RSVPs have closed! Please make sure you're on the mailing list so you don't miss the announcement for GGD #4





I am very pleased to announce that the third Canberra Girl Geek Dinner is finally here, thanks to Google!

Date: Wednesday, 14 October, 2009
Time: 6:00pm for a 6:30 start
Venue: The Burns Club, 8 Kett St Kambah, ACT 2902

There will be a sit-down meal, which will be served 50/50. If you require a vegetarian or vegan meal I must know ahead of time. Please mention it on your RSVP.

I'm also on the lookout for lightning talks. These are short five minute talks, and they can be on any topic you're familiar with. It doesn't have to be technical, it just has to be of interest to a whole bunch of girl geeks. Please let me know when you RSVP if you're interested. Also, feel free to use the mailing list for discussion around lightning talks.

This event also has the usual rule about male attendees. Men are more than welcome, but do need to be accompanied by a girl geek. Please email me on loquacities(at)gmail(dot)com if you have any questions.

And now ... set to, and I'll see you all on the night!

29 September: Bumped this post back up to the top of the page. L
8 October: Closed RSVPs and removed form. L
Talk Schedule for Kate Lundy/Google GGD
We have an absolutely amazing talk schedule lined up for you all on the 14th. Of course, our star speaker is the one and only Senator Kate Lundy, who will be giving a talk titled "How the Geek will inherit the Earth". After the Senator speaks, we'll have a range of five minute lightning talks with topics ranging from the Canberra Dorkbot chapter to geek health and wellbeing. There's bound to be something to interest you.


6:35 - 6:40 Welcome by Lana
6:40 - 7:00 Senator Kate Lundy on How the geek will inherit the earth
7:00 - 7:10 Pia Waugh on Being a geek on the hill
7:10 - 7:20 Tracey Benson on Dorkbot Canberra
7:20 - 7:30 Ruth Ellison on Twitter: more than a micro blogging tool
7:30 - 8:00 Dinner served
8:10 - 8:20 Caronne Carruthers-Taylor on Women of UX
8:20 - 8:30 Charly Leetham - Balancing mind and body for Girl Geeks


And, just because I keep getting asked, Google will be covering the cost of your meal.

See you all on the 14th!

Update: We found a speaker for our empty slot! Thanks Caronne :)
Talking up the GGD on 2CC

You might like to tune in to 2CC with Mark Parton tomorrow (Wednesday) morning around 7:30. Why? Because I'll be there, talking up the girl geek dinners!

Radio 2CC with Mark Parton
Senator Kate Lundy, Google, and the Girl Geeks
If you've just landed here from Senator Kate Lundy's website, welcome! You will find all the nitty gritty details about the Google dinner on 14 October, and a form to RSVP, right here.

Please feel free to browse around, and you might want to consider signing up to our mailing list, so you know when the next event is!
Software Freedom Day - 19 September
Saturday 19 September is International Software Freedom Day. Software Freedom Day aims to promote and inform about programs that are freely available to everyone to install and use. You may be using some of these well known programs:

* Firefox - Web browser
* Thunderbird - Mail client
* Open Office - An office suite for word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, graphics, databases and more.
* Scribus - Desktop publishing
* Inkscape - Drawing program
* Gimp - Image editing
* VLC - Media player

To help you become familiar with these and others there are two events organised over two weekends.

Event 1: The Stall

Come to the Software Freedom Day Stall where we’ll be handing out free software as well as demonstrating and discussing the software available. If you have any questions about Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) this is a good place to start. Come and have talk to a local expert, or try one of the programs one one of the demonstration machines. Free CDs will be handed out (while available) and many examples of FOSS software for use on Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Location: Computer Markets, Old Bus Depot Markets
Date: Saturday, 19th September 2009
Time: 10am to 2pm

Event 2: Install Fest
If you want help installing your free software, or just want to ask some more questions, then come along to the install fest. Bring your
computer and your questions to:

Location: Room N101, Ground Floor, Computer Science and Information Technology building, ANU
Date: Saturday, 26th September 2009
Time: 10am to 3pm

For more information:

General information. http://www.softwarefreedomday.org/
Information about the Canberra events http://softwarefreedomday.org/teams/Canberra
Information on some of the programs being given away http://www.theopendisc.com/programs/
Open Source as alternative http://www.osalt.com/
One of the distributions of Linux available on the day http://www.ubuntu.com/
Another distribution of Linux available on the day http://fedoraproject.org/

Contact Details
Organiser Paul Wayper
Email paulway@mabula.net
Phone 6251 5257
Have you missed me?
After a couple of months off, which (due to illness) turned into a couple too many months off ... GGD Canberra is back!

And not just that, but we're back with a sponsor, does it get any better than this?

And so now it's full-steam ahead into planning for GGD #3. Keep your eyes peeled, set up your RSS feed, and make sure you're signed up for the mailing list. Then just hang on for the ride ...

Watch this space!
We have a mailing list
Cast your eyes to the right of this blog post. It's a white box with a hole in it for your email address! Put your email address in, hit the button, and be assured that you will never again miss a GGD Canberra announcement. Yay!
Linux n00bs
Please forgive the shameless promotion, but over at my other blog, I've just posted a poll and an associated blogpost about an idea I'm developing. If you're new to Linux, or just thinking about it, I would love you to head over there and vote on what you think about a series of independent Linux absolute beginner courses.
InstallFest this Saturday at ANU
I'll be there, and would love to see you if you can drop in. There will be a sausage sizzle lunch available, and all the free and open-source help you can take! Bring your hardware, or just bring your expertise. It's a great opportunity to learn about free and open source software, even if you're just dabbling, or to help others grok what it's all about.

Details are available on the Install Fest website.
Beginner CLUG announcement
This is the announcement of this Thursday's beginner CLUG meeting, from the CLUG mailing list. See the next blog post for details of the mini-GGD meetup happening beforehand.

-=oOo=-


Canberra Linux Users Group Meeting - 28th May 2009
==============================
====================

Date: 28th May 2009 (Fourth Thursday of the month)

Time: 19:00 - 21:00 (or when it finishes)

Speaker: Paul Wayper, Lana Brindley and others

Abstract:
The first of many CLUG Linux Learners Meetings!

This meeting is a 'fixfest' and learner session for
people new to Linux or still finding their way around.
(That's most of us!) We'll be having short talks about
a variety of subjects but the majority of the night will
be given over to people helping other people fixing
problems and learning their way around Linux.

Lana Brindley will be starting the night with a talk
entitled "10 Reasons Why You Do Not Want To Install
Linux. Ever." and with a provocative title like that
you can tell it's going to be interesting! Paul will
then give a short talk on tips he's learnt in using
Bash, the current standard command line shell in Linux,
a talk sure to invite tips from the audience.

You're welcome to bring your computer along but please
email me (Paul Wayper) beforehand so I can get an idea
of the numbers of machines involved.

Venue: Room N101
Computer Science and Information Technology Building
North Road
The Australian National University

See http://clug.org.au/ for more directions and a map

Food/drink: Pizza and soft drink/juice. Come hungry, and bring
about $6 to cover the cost of your share if you
want some.

If you would like to give a talk at a future meeting, please email me.

--
linux mailing list
linux@lists.samba.org
https://lists.samba.org/mailman/listinfo/linux
Mini GGD meetup on the 28th of May at ANU
Hi everyone,

It's been a bit quiet on the GGD Canberra front recently (there are machinations afoot, so please hang in there. We'll be back bigger and better than ever in August!).

But, if you've been missing the girl geek love, then why not hop along to a mini GGD on the 28th of May? I haven't pinned down event details yet, but would love to hear from you if you think you could make it.

Here's the details so far ... the Canberra Linux Users Group is holding a "Beginner CLUG" at the ANU on Thursday the 28th at 7pm. Yours truly will be giving a speech entitled "10 Reasons why you do not want to install Linux. Ever". I know of at least one other girl geek who wants to attend the meeting, and we were discussing joining up for dinner beforehand. Of course, there's no pressure to get along to the meeting, but if you want to swing by the ANU after work (around 5:30/6pm) then I'd love to have a few drinks and something to eat with you. Venue to be decided by consensus :)

If you can make it, just drop your name in the comments. I'd love to catch up with you all!

-=oOo=-

Update 19 May 2009:

Just a quick note to say that the CLUG meeting is not a GGD event, anyone and everyone is welcome.

The GGD event is the meetup before the CLUG meeting, and the usual rules apply - open to all women, and men must have a Girl Geek to escort them.

Also, I'm not very familiar with ANU meal options (it's been years since I was last studying there!) ... does anyone have any good suggestions?

You can find out more about CLUG on their website

-=oOo=-

OK, here's the details you've been waiting for!

We'll meet at 5:30 in Union Court at the Sizzle Cafe. We can then eat there, or move on to somewhere mutually agreeable. If you can't find us, then please call my mobile on 0410 500 659.

I would also like to note that there will be pizza offered for a small fee at the CLUG meeting, so you can either eat beforehand (if pizza isn't your thing), or choose to eat pizza later on. Either way, I would love to see you for coffee and conversation.

See you all on Thursday!

-=oOo=-
Thanks Ruth and Happy Easter
Thanks to everyone who made it along to the second Girl Geek Dinner last night, I had a great time and I hope everyone who came along enjoyed the presentation and the dinner. I also wanted to give a big shout out to our speaker Ruth Ellison. Her talk "From Apples to Eye Surgery" was interesting and informative, her passion for her work clear. The staff at Indian Affair also deserve a big thanks, they looked after us well, the food was spectacular, and it was a pleasure to be there.

As I announced last night, Canberra Girl Geek Dinners will be going on a (short, very short!) hiatus, and will be back after the worst of the Canberra winter, so keep your diaries free in August. I'll announce the date as soon as I have one pinned down.

So, have a happy Easter, stay safe if you are travelling, keep warm over the next few months, and I'll see you all again in August.
Second Canberra GGD tonight
Get ready Canberra! The second Girl Geek Dinner is hitting Indian Affair tonight. Ruth Ellison will be speaking for us, there will be wonderful curries, and Easter goodies! See you all there.
Help!
The lovely Paul Wayper is again looking for a sponsor to come along to Saturday's dinner. Those girls who are coming alone, could one of you see it in your heart to 'sponsor' Paul? No need to arrive together, I just need to match his name up to yours on my list :)

From Paul:

I'd still like to come if anyone will sponsor me. I'll also be a little late as I'll just be arriving from a day trip to Melbourne at 7PM.


Thanks!

Update at 10am: Claine has offered to sponsor Paul. Thanks! You guys amaze me!
Canberra Girl Geeks in 3 ... 2 ...
Only three days left to RSVP for the second Canberra Girl Geek Dinner!

Here is my list. If you're not on it, and you want to come, email me at loquacities(at)gmail(dot)com, because time is running out fast!

Rae
Tammy
Meg
Pia & Jeff
Joanna
Estelle & Peter
Lady Bhaal
Manda
KateMc & guest
Zuzu
Claire & Paul
Brenda
Caronne
Octavia
Mary
Kristin & Greg

See you on Saturday!
Canberra Girl Geek Dinner #2: with Ruth Ellison
It's on again! Canberra Girl Geek Dinners #2 will be happening on Saturday the 4th of April. Ruth Ellison will be our speaker, with a presentation titled "From apples to eye surgery: designing useful user experiences".

Date: Saturday, 4 April, 2009
Time: 7pm for a 7:30 start
Venue: Indian Affair, Colbee Court, Phillip
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


From Apples to eye surgery: designing useful user experiences

The phrase 'user experience' has been used with increased frequency over the past few years in relation to system design, but just what is this 'user experience' stuff anyway? In this presentation, Ruth will look at the meaning and importance of user experience and provide some tips on how we can design more useful user experiences.

About the speaker
Ruth Ellison is a user experience person and information architect from Canberra. She takes a holistic approach to her design work, drawing upon her background of accessibility, usability and human-computer interaction. She is extremely passionate about creating accessible and useful user experiences.


We've booked out the restaurant for the night, and I have arranged for a banquet. If you do have any special food requirements, please let me know in your RSVP, or email me at loquacities(at)gmail(dot)com.

Unfortunately, we are still short a sponsor, so again you will need to cover the cost of your own meal. The cost of the banquet is $32.00 a head, so please remember to bring enough cash to cover the food and any drinks you might have on the night. The restaurant is BYO bottled wine only, and some alcoholic drinks are available from the bar.

Of course, if you don't want to have to keep on paying for these, have a chat to your boss, your colleagues and your friends, and encourage them to sponsor a great event!

See you all on the fourth!
Canberra Girl Geek Dinner #2 is coming!
Mark down the 4th of April in your diaries ... more info coming very soon!
The Inaugural Canberra dinner is upon us
If you can't see your name on the list, email me now! We're nearly out of seats, so first in best dressed.

If your name is on the list, but you can't make it, email me now!

My email address is loquacities(at)gmail(dot)com. You can also find me on Twitter with username Loquacities.

We're at the Turkish Pide House in Jamison, at 7pm for a 7:30 start.

Stelle & Peter
Caronnect & Nigel
Rae & Craig
Donna & Donna's daughter
Chisa
Ruth & PaulWay (thanks Ruth!)
Shinydragon
Claine
Nuri & Nuri's boyfriend
Mel & Mel's friend
Pia Waugh & Jeff
Cat
Tracey & Tracey's Husband
Cerri & Cerri's Colleague
Brenda
Mana

Can't wait to meet you all there!
Guest List for GGD #1 Canberra
The RSVPs just keep on rolling in. We only have 13 seats left at this stage, so if you haven't sent in your RSVP, please do so quickly! I've had a report of comments not coming through to me, though, so to make sure that I've got everyone on my list, here it is:

Stelle & Peter
Caronnect & Nigel
Rae
Donna & Donna's daughter
Chisa
Ruth & Ruth's husband
Shinydragon
Claine
Nuri & Nuri's boyfriend
Mel & Mel's friend
Pia & Jeff
Cat
Tracey & Tracey's Husband
Cerri & Cerri's Colleague
Brenda
Mana

If you're not on the list, please let me know! You can find me on Twitter or you can email me on loquacities(at)gmail(dot)com. You can also leave a message on the Facebook group if that's more your style.

One other thing from the comments:

Hi there!

I'm a long-time supporter of LinuxChix and would love to come to the dinner, but I need someone to sponsor me for that to happen. Are there any women who aren't bringing a partner to the dinner that would mind sponsoring me?

Thanks in advance,

PaulWay


If anyone is interested in helping Paul out, please email me and I'll get you in touch. There's no requirement that you both turn up together, just that he have a girl geek 'sponsor'.

And on that note, see you all on Saturday!
Two Weeks to Go until Canberra GGD #1
In exactly two week's time, we will be milling around in the dining room of the Turkish Pide House in Jamison, pouring a glass of wine, smelling the wonderful food cooking in the kitchen, and tapping the mic to make sure it's working.

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!
The Inaugural Canberra Girl Geek Dinner is go!
Here's the news you've all been waiting for ... the inaugural Canberra Girl Geek Dinner has launched!

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!
Canberra Girl Geek Dinners now on Facebook
It's a social networking explosion!

Check us out on Facebook too!
Canberra Girl Geek Dinners now on Twitter
Check us out! https://twitter.com/GGDCanberra
The Girl Geek Dinner Concept
First of all - thanks to all those who have already stopped by the blog, left comments, emailed me, or otherwise shown support for the idea. Wow!

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?
Welcome to Canberra Girl Geek Dinners!
Girl Geek Dinners have been around for a few years now. They were originally started in London by Sarah Blow, and have been gradually spreading all around the world. Last year the Sydney dinners arrived, followed closely by the Brisbane group.

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!
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