Why Local Techie Women Are Cool

Last month, I attended my second BarCampRDU (@BarCampRDU), a great one-day unconference that covers a very wide range of ad-hoc technology topics. What I love about the unconference is that you meet a ton of new people and get into some great conversations and discussions – the kind that you might have in the hallways or near the water cooler at work. One thing that was noticeable during last year’s as well as this year’s conference is that there’s a pretty big lack of female attendees. I believe that this year, there were only about 10 girls out of around 70 or 80 people total. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with this, @ncsumarit, who helped to organize the barcamp this year mentioned that some more females in attendance could really help to diversify things and provide an even richer learning experience for all of us.

This got me thinking about the many women and technology organizations and events in the RDU area that we have. There are a lot more than you think, which is why I’m listing them below. I find it fantastic that there are this many opportunities to network and learn from local female techies. I’ve only checked out a few of these organizations, but am hoping to join more in the next few months. Some of them are not exclusively ladies or techie groups, but all of them are cool and deserve a mention. Here’s my list:

Triangle Web Women

Ladies Programming Club

tweetdivas

FemCityCary

Triangle Social Media Club

TriangleTweetup

Triangle Interactive Marketing Association

Feel free to add to this list by commenting on this post. And, please join any of these organizations if you’re interested. With a list of organizations and groups  like this, you’ve got to admit, local techie women are just plain cool.