Brighton Girl Geeks
The Brighton Girl Geeks are a community focused on women with an interest in technology.
We usually have informal gatherings over dinner and a presentation. Though sometimes also meet up for lunches, coffees and just plain socials.
The main rule is that guys are welcome as long as they are invited by a girl :)
DATE: Thursday July 12th from 7pm
WHERE: The Eagle Pub (125 Gloucester Road) in the North Laine area of Brighton.
HOW MUCH: Free
Talk details
The speaker this time round is Denise Wilton (www.kaiusdesign.com/ ) – a graphic designer from the UK startup moo.com
Abstract: Designing a web application with character
In their most basic form, web applications are little more than
process. A step by step list of tasks, leading you on to a hopefully
successful goal. While geeks and engineers get excited about process,
this simple joy is often lost on consumers. There’s nothing to
connect with, to feel passionate about. Nothing to make people feel
special, guide them when they get stuck or reassure them when
something goes wrong. In short, there’s nothing compelling to make a
consumer come back and use your site again.
This talk is about designing a consumer web application with
character. Looking at simple techniques to give your app a little
something extra to spark passion in your users, and create a place to
which they feel loyal, and will return.
Sign up to our mailing list
A Brighton Girl Geek Google Group has been started – please sign up to be kept informed. This will be used to communicate news about Brighton Girl Geek Dinners.
Please feel free to contribute to the mailing list with any related information about geek dinners, technology, brighton and geek girls!
DATE: Tuesday 29th May 2007, 7:00pm – 10:30pm
WHERE: The Eagle Pub (125 Gloucester Road) in the North Laine area of Brighton.
Upcoming: http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/194524
HOW MUCH: Free
Fishbowl Discussion
This is a chance for everyone at the Brighton Girl Geek Dinner to have a say if they want. Under discussion – what it means for us to be Girl Geeks.
Instead of a speaker this month we will be running a fishbowl session so that everyone can get involved in the discussion. A fishbowl session is a structured activity designed to facilitate discussion in larger groups.
In our case we will set up five chairs for discussants. Four of the chairs will be filled with people ready to start the discussion. The fifth chair will remain free. A moderator will summarise the topic: “What it is to be a Girl Geek” and then the four starting participants start discussing the topic. The audience outside the fishbowl listen in on the discussion.
Anyone from the audience can join in the conversation at any time by joining and sitting in the fifth chair. At this stage someone who is not contributing can step out of the semi-circle, leaving another chair free. Anyone from the audience can join the chat if there is a spare seat. If all the chairs are full someone must voluntarily free up a chair by returning to the audience. The audience is not allowed to contribute, only to listen. If you wish to add something you can come and sit in the free chair and join in the chat.
This will just be a chance for us to hear more about the people who attend the dinners and their thoughts on being a Girl Geek. Noone needs to contribute if they do not choose. Although the discussion will be started it will not be led by any one person, it will be formed by all of us – here, we are not listening to expert speakers, we are all the expert speakers.
At the end of the session, when we run out of time, we will all get a chance to reflect on the discussion that we have had.
DATE: Tuesday 24th April 2007, 7:00pm – 10:30pm
WHERE: The Eagle Pub (125 Gloucester Road) in the North Laine area of Brighton.
HOW MUCH: Free
Speakers
Abstract: The Social Life of Virtual Worlds
As Internet technology has evolved, designers have explored the boundaries of human-computer interaction, fostering spaces which are, at least, collaborative communities and at most, significant social spaces. Social interaction is not only possible in today’s connected landscape, but is expected, encouraged and enjoyed by consumers across the globe.
In social virtual worlds, like the popular Second Life, participants engage with one another in enormous online environments for months and years. Arguably, the most compelling aspect of the long-term success of these products is the emergence of social systems previously considered the discrete domain of the offline sphere.
This talk examines the social lives of these spaces, focussing on the online networks which play a role in the development of trends and cultures, examining the roles of key players and offering suggestions for developers wishing to create compelling social environments in the future.
Sign up to our mailing list
A Brighton Girl Geek Google Group has been started – please sign up to be kept informed. This will be used to communicate news about Brighton Girl Geek Dinners.
Please feel free to contribute to the mailing list with any related information about geek dinners, technology, brighton and geek girls!
DATE: Tuesday 13th March 2007, 7:00pm – 10:30pm
WHERE: The Eagle Pub (125 Gloucester Road) in the North Laine area of Brighton.
HOW MUCH: Free
Speakers
Niqui Merret
Abstract: A usability approach to Accessible Flash
There may be hundreds of pages worth of standards and guidelines that are available to developers but most of them ignore or shun Flash. This leaves Flash developers with no information, no guides and no goal to work towards. Even if a Flash developer has the best interests of the users at heart, it can be difficult to work towards non-existent guidelines when you have no real concept of the consequences of your actions.
This session will focus on how different users interact with Flash by demonstrating a selection of both accessible and inaccessible Flash sites. Each site will illustrate challenges experienced by different types of users. Niqui will discuss in detail the barriers that each site poses and will make suggestions on how the issues can be overcome.
Sign up to our mailing list
A Brighton Girl Geek Google Group has been started – please sign up to be kept informed. This will be used to communicate news about Brighton Girl Geek Dinners.
Please feel free to contribute to the mailing list with any related information about geek dinners, technology, brighton and geek girls!
Brighton Girl Geek dinners launched with success. This was the first dinner. We had 40 people attending, and throughout the evening we received positive feedback.
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DATE: Tuesday 16th January 2007, 7:30pm – 10:30pm
WHERE: The Eagle Pub (125 Gloucester Road) in the North Laine area of Brighton.
HOW MUCH: Free
The Event
The event was fully booked with a reserve list and even though some people were unable to attend they were kind enough to remove their names from the list. This meant that some people on the reserve list were fortunate enough to attend the event. A couple of people on the reserve list turned up on the night with their fingers crossed. Whilst this is not a guaranteed way to get in, it seemed to work perfectly and the event achieved the full 40 capacity.
The great thing about the event was the variety of people who attended, from newbies to oldtimers, we all had a comfortable place within the event. The fact that there was a common interest in technology without being dominated by ‘the male species’ made it a very relaxed environment.
Speakers
Rose Luckin
Professor of Learner Centred Design at the London Knowledge Lab
Abstract: Learner Centred Design
Learner Centred Design (LCD) applies participatory methods to the development and evaluation of technology enhanced learning experiences. It is an interdisciplinary approach encompassing education, psychology and HCI and is driven by the needs of the learners and teachers for whom the experience is being designed. In this talk I will give some examples of the way in which the LCD approach has and is contributing to our research and to the design of effective educational technology. I’ll also indicate the ways in which these examples are contributing to the latest technology enhanced learning experiences we are developing.
Sign up to our mailing list
A Brighton Girl Geek Google Group has been started – please sign up to be kept informed. This will be used to communicate news about Brighton Girl Geek Dinners.
Please feel free to contribute to the mailing list with any related information about geek dinners, technology, brighton and geek girls!
Brighton Girl Geeks is a community project where all money raised goes directly back into running costs of the events.
After a while of finding sponsors per event, we are now moving towards yearly sponsors.
Sponsoring for 2009
At the moment we have a variety of speakers lined up to do a range of smaller and larger events. This includes:
- Emily Toop (December 2008)
- Natalie Downe
- Rosie Sherry + Emma Wallace
- Val Cartei (2009)
- Julie Adams (2009)
- Sophie Major (2009)
- Mariam Crichton (2009)
- Plus more to be confirmed soon…
Contact Rosie for more details.
Behind the scenes are girl geeks working hard to make this happen, the current team includes:
- Rosie Sherry
- Emily Toop
- Val Cartei
- Devi Lozdan
Previous helpers:
- Joh Hunt
- Ribot
Brighton Girl Geeks is a community run by local girl geeks. The idea originated from the London version - there are now events worldwide. After 2 years of existence, the Brighton version is evolving.
We all have a varying degree of interest in technology, some at a basic level all the way up to uber geeks. Our events create a social opportunity to relax and have a bit of fun.
