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 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.
Dear Varsha
I’m sorry if this email is a bit intrusive, but I’m looking to get my Kickstarter funded. http://kck.st/zUBGsU I’m about halfway through my time and I only have 1 backer, and he is a neighbor of mine. I’m just looking to raise $500 dollars. I have some pretty cool rewards, that includes comic books, pdf copy of my first book, free copies, autographed copies, and a mention on the acknowledgement page.
I see that you have already backed project on Kickstarter and I was wondering if you could continue the generosity. Please just take 3 minutes to check out the page. I would greatly appreciate it. Even a $1 would help.
Thank you for your time,
Chris Colon
@ComicMetalGames (add me if you like, on Twitter)
Miraz, congrats! Bill, you are ablueotsly right in my mind. As a woman who gets pissed off time after time at the lack of women presenters and participants at tech events, I do often feel it is an us/them issue. I feel that even more strongly when I fail to do a productive job of raising the issue with conference organizers (and I accept that I am half of the problem.)So no, intellectually it is not black and white. Some days, emotionally, it feels that way. So onward we struggle!