Girl Geek Dinners Ottawa

At our most recent dinner on April 16^th, Shari Graydon, founder and catalyst of Informed Opinions, presented “Overcoming anonymous in search of more fully clothed role models.” Shari stressed the importance of the female voice; drawing awareness to the obstacles faced by influential women who speak up. Shari reminded us that we all have informed opinions, knowledge and experiences worth sharing. The unfortunate truth is women are more likely than men to give up the opportunity to voice an opinion when given the opportunity. When Shari polled our attendees if they ever declined the chance to speak because “they weren’t the right person to ask” or because “someone else would be better suited to comment,” more than half of us raised our hands.

Sometimes it seems we are our own worst enemy, allowing self-consciousness and doubt prevent us from expressing our opinions. Statistically speaking, men’s opinions out-number women’s at least four to one in the media. Empowering women to express themselves is not only important for the individual, but also for the collective. Shari spoke from the heart when she said “it’s a sad day when a woman remains silent.” Women experience things differently from men – in regards to sexuality, appearance, safety and maternity ­– which need to be considered in public discourse.

However, operating in a position of influence and having a strongly informed opinion isn’t a walk in the park. There’s still gender-specific challenges which affect influential and opinionated women today. Shari offered a number of examples of inspirational women who chose to speak up, be powerful in their own right, and influence others. While these “fully clothed role models” are an inspiration, their presence in the media reveals that strong and opinionated women still face gender discrimination – gender-specific criticisms, harassment and cruelty – not typically experienced by male counterparts. Female leaders contend with public focus on their looks and wardrobe, rather than their opinions. Marissa Mayer, President and CEO of Yahoo! was heavily scrutinized for taking her position during her pregnancy. Hilary Clinton was slammed in the press for her wardrobe choices. Sexism is still prevalent, despite living in these “modern times.”

The good news is, as more women choose to have a public voice, the more these opinions will become the focus of discussion. We all benefit from women in power. When women are included in senior corporate positions, companies perform better and operate with higher ethical practices. In countries where women are educated, the quality of life is raised for everyone.

Shari inspired us to find our voice. As Alice Walker once said, “The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.” The next time you have the opportunity to speak, be confident that your voice is as strong as those around you. If you have an informed opinion, share it. What if you really are the best person to ask?

If you’d like to purchase Shari’s book I Feel Great About My Hands…And Other Unexpected Joys of Aging, please contact Ashley Armstrong at ashley(at)informedopinions(dot)org.

You can also check out photos from the event on our Facebook page and read what attendees posted on Twitter.

Our Sponsors

A special thank-you to our sponsors for their generous door prize donations:

And, congratulations to our door prize winners!

Kate Wetherow

Camille De Baets

Jennifer Turner

Lysanne Sacoutis

Lara Bender

On Tuesday, April 16, join us at our next Girl Geek Dinner as award-winning author Shari Graydon shares how her organization, Informed Opinions, is building women’s leadership through media engagement and bridging the gender gap in public discourse.

Shari is a former newspaper columnist, TV producer and commentator for CBC. She also served as press secretary to a provincial premier and as president of MediaWatch. As the founder of Informed Opinions, Shari now focuses on bridging the gender gap in public commentary and enhancing the quality of public discourse by expanding the diversity of perspectives that inform Canada’s policies and priorities.

Named one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women by WXN in 2007, Shari received the Governor General’s Award in Commemoration of the Persons’ Case for her advocacy work on behalf of women the same year. She has taught communications and presentation skills at Simon Fraser University, written speeches for public officials, and delivered communications and media training to public and private sector organizations across the country.

Her best-selling media literacy books for youth, Made You Look – How Advertising Works and Why You Should Know and In Your Face – The Culture of Beauty and You were both honoured with children’s choice award nominations and other book prizes. Her most recent book I Feel Great About My Hands – And Other Unexpected Joys of Aging, a collection of essays by 41 women, will be available for purchase at the event.

REGISTER HERE!

Date: Tuesday April 16, 2013

Location: Johnny Farina restaurant (216 Elgin St.)

Agenda:

Doors open at 5:30 p.m.

Food order at 6:00 p.m.

Presentation to start approx. 6:30 p.m.

Thank you to our event sponsors!

What do you get when you put a group of smart women in a room with LEGO, food and a microphone?

A Girl Geek Dinner Geek-fest!

On Tuesday March 26, we hosted a Geek-fest in lieu of a traditional dinner. This fly-by-the-minute event idea turned out to be a huge success and it seems attendees want more! Check out photos from the event on our Facebook page.

Thanks to Ellen Grove, everyone had the chance to take part in LEGO® Serious Play® (LSP).

What is LSP?

LEGO® Serious Play® is a powerful thinking, communicating and problem solving technique that can help you and your team do serious work through structured play activities using a popular and playful 3D modeling toy. Through a facilitated process of building models that, storytelling and reflection, every person at the table is engaged and actively participating in the discussion. Whether the topic is individual aspirations, team relationships, developing a new product or solving a wicked organizational problem, everyone builds and everyone tells their story, unlocking new perspectives and exposing the answers already in the room.

Nine attendees completed three builds: a warm-up, one to answer the question “what made you happy in the past week?” and a final build on the topic of “what do you get out of participating in Girl Geek Dinner Ottawa?” It was great to hear some of the responses such as “an opportunity to meet and learn from successful and talented women,” and “this is my first time coming to GGDOttawa. I’m glad I joined,” and also “constantly learning new trends and hot topics to help me in my career.”

If you participated in the LEGO activity, feel free to leave a comment about your experience or if you’re interested in learning more, you can email Ellen at ellen(dot)grove(at)gmail(dot)com or send her a Tweet @eegrove.

Although LEGO was a huge highlight of the evening, we still kept some tradition with door prizes, community announcements and a good ol’ mind trap question for a grand prize:

Q: What is unwanted by the maker, not used by the buyer, and never seen by the user?
A: Coffin

Congratulations to Patricia Saravesi for knowing the answer and winning free access to a webinar courtesy of The Conference Board of Canada.

Congratulations to the other door prize winners:

Olga Dewar – two vouchers for The National Arts Centre.

Yayoi Akita-Brunet, Janet Hockey and Basia Vanderveen – $30 gift card for CanvasPop.

Mary Beth Baker – $25 gift certificate for Rinaldo’s Spa Services.

Lisa Leves – 50% off coupon to Crepella’s.

And last, but not least, save the date for our next event! We also asked our GGDOttawa community what’s coming up in Ottawa, so why not save all these dates!

Next GGDOttawa event:

Speaker: Shari Graydon, founder of Informed Opinions
Date: April 16 (to be confirmed)
Time: 5:30 p.m . to 7:30 p.m.
Location: (to be confirmed)

Ladies Learning Code is hosting a workshop on Saturday April 6 called “Introduction to App Design for Beginners”. If you have any questions, you can contact Nicole Belanger by email at nicole(at)ladieslearningcode(dot)com or on Twitter.

IABC Ottawa is hosting their final professional development event for the season on April 11 at the Black Tomato restaurant. “A Successful Lesson in Social Media Crisis Communications” will be presented by Melissa Carroll, the wizard behind the Montreal’s Police Service (SPVM) Twitter account who communicated with civilians of all stripes and in both official languages during the 2012 student protests.

OpenData Ottawa is also planning an event in April. No date has been confirmed just yet, but you can follow their blog for updates http://blog.opendataottawa.ca/ or follow them on Twitter.

Canadian Public Relations Society Ottawa chapter is hosting their National Conference June 9 to 11 which features a combination of keynote speakers and workshops.

Have a great long weekend!

‘Til next time,

Your GGDOttawa Organizers

We’re so excited to announce the following past speakers will be joining us on March 26! If you haven’t already registered, click here.

Ellen Grove, agile coach and software tester.Click here to learn more about Ellen and her past presentation. She will also be “testing” us, so bring your thinking caps! Here’s a hint: LEGO.

Hana Abaza, founder of Wedding Republic. Click here to learn more about Hana and her past presentation.

Hilary Little, founder of Ideation and Design. Click here to learn more about Hilary and her past presentation.

Mary Beth Baker, founding member of Open Data Ottawa. Click here to learn more about Mary Beth and her past presentation.

Laura Wesley, lead-web usability at Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat. Click here to learn more about Laura and her past presentation.

Click here to learn more about our next event taking place on Tuesday March 26 at 5:30 p.m. @ The Fox and Feather Pub (283 Elgin St.)

Follow us on Twitter @ggdottawa. Hash tag for events is #ggdottawa. You can also join our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ottawa-Girl-Geek-Dinners/232230386913090

We hope to see you!

Thank you to our door prize sponsors!

Hello Girl Geeks!

We’re back again with another event, but this time we’re switching it up and making YOU our guest speakers.

Ok, in all honesty we weren’t able to book a speaker for this month (who knew March Madness really existed!) So, we decided to improvise.

On Tuesday March 26, join us for a Geek-fest to mix and mingle with your fellow Girl Geeks and past speakers and sponsors. Did you miss an event and topic you wanted to learn about? This is a great opportunity to connect again or for the first time with past speakers and learn more about their expertise. Unlike past events, we will provide food instead of ordering individually from the menu. If you register and have dietary restrictions or preferences, please email us at info@girlgeekdinnersottawa.com. And as always, we will have amazing door prizes!

So, how are YOU the guest speakers? We’re giving the mic to anyone who would like to announce a local event, fundraiser, workshop or initiative/project in the making. If you’d like to speak, email us your topic and a few details. Please refrain from sales and marketing tactics. We’re not afraid to yank the mic out of your hand!

Would you like to promote your company’s products/services? Be a door prize sponsor! Email us at info@girlgeekdinnersottawa.com.

When: Tuesday March 26, 2013

Where: Fox & Feather Pub (283 Elgin St.)

Time: Doors open at 5:30 p.m.

REGISTER HERE!

Thank you to our door prize sponsors!

spydergrrl

The idea of hacking has a very specific — and wrong — definition in present culture. Born at MIT, hacking was originally a mindset shared by an intellectual community to infuse creativity and an element of fun into their lives. Somewhere along the way, this message got lost.

For Girl Geek Dinner Ottawa’s next event, Tanya Snook (a.k.a. spydergrrl) will teach us the core tenets of hacking and how it can be applied to non-hacking uses. Whether you’re a developer, a designer, a project manager or even an accountant, spydergrrl will seek to either convince you that you’ve been hacking all along or that you really should be adopting a hacking mindset.

Bringing 5 principles of hacking and a ton of real-world examples, we will explore when and how you can hack challenges and opportunities to infuse some creativity and fun both at home and at work.

When: Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Time: 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Where: The Lunenburg (14 Waller St. – downtown)

Agenda:

5:30 – Doors open

6 – 6:30 – Introduction and food order

6:30 – 7 – Speaker presentation

7 – 7:20 – Q’s & A’s

7:20 -  7:30 – Closing remarks and announcements

REGISTER HERE!

Thank you to our event sponsors!

Would you like to promote your business or products/services? Contact us about being a door prize sponsor! info@girlgeekdinnersottawa.com

When Amanda Shendruk took the stage, she wasted no time by showing us the good, the bad, and the ugly of data visuals. We were hardly experts on the matter, but the audience could unanimously agree on the infographs that we understood, and those that left us staring blankly. That’s because regardless of its effectiveness, its purpose was clear. Data visualization is about helping the audience understand complicated concepts- at a glance. What we would learn was this carefully considered tool strikes a balance between creative design and data integrity. It manages to be accurate and objective, but also fun and underwhelming.

Most of us social media users think of data visualization as the marketing infographs we’ve seen on Twitter or Facebook. However, good data visualization avoids stating an opinion, lets the data do the talking, and the viewer explore the information. While the concept seems simple enough, Amanda taps into a background in journalism and her knowledge of psychology and design theory to put it all together. Thankfully, she has this process down to an art and provided us with a list of considerations she calls, the six pillars of infographic design…

6 pillars of infographic design:

1. Know the purpose, know your audience. Are you telling a story? Have a question that you’re trying to answer? Visualize what would work best for your audience. Don’t make assumptions about your audience. Rather, make it appealing to a large group. It should be fun to look at and not overwhelming. It’s complex information and it needs to compete against the 8 hours of data we’re exposed to in a single day.

2. Maintain the integrity of the data: think about the form that you’ll use to present your data. However you jazz up your infographic, the focus should be on the data. Consider its appropriate format: line chart, pie graph, histogram, plot, etc. One thing is for certain, she tells us to leave the pie in the kitchen! Pie charts are difficult to accurately represent data and compare to other charts. Almost anything in a pie chart can be better shown through a bar graph.

Also, don’t forget some of those basic rules that we all learned in elementary school. Ensuring your numbers actually add up makes all the difference to properly educating your audience. This means your pie graph shouldn’t add up to over 180%. You may laugh- but we’ve seen it.

3. Balance form and function: should a graphic look pretty or be accurate? How do you balance design with accuracy? We know from a Poynter Institute EyeTracker study that, on average, readers will overwhelmingly ignore plots and graphs, and are exceptionally drawn to visualizations, and infographics. We also know from academic studies that the most accurate way to present data is usually the most boring: bar chart, and scatter plots. Unfortunately, these do not make pretty graphics.  Some are of the philosophy that, “the data doesn’t matter if people are not looking at it”. This is where chart junk comes into play.

Chart junk is the visual elements in charts and graphics that are unnecessary to understanding the information. This type of cluttering can detract from your message but, “chart junk is okay sometimes. People will remember more of the data if some chart junk is used”, says Amanda. However, please use discretion.

4. Allow for exploration: the best infographs allow for exploration of data. She believes everything should be gained “at-a-glance”. Work with colour, form and annotation to ensure that your audience doesn’t have to work too hard to get something out of it. But from there, let them explore! Infographics and data visualization aren’t about simplifying concepts, which is a common misconception; it is about clarifying them.

5. Work with the brain, not against it: In 1956, Gelsault published a paper that suggests the number of objects the average human can hold in working memory is seven, plus or minus two. So don’t make it difficult for people because they have a limit on the information they can process. Help them by using what we know about how the brain perceives visual information.

6. Keep it Simple- keep it basic: The Data itself is beautiful, so let it speak for itself. You’re not doing it any favours by cluttering it with useless images or suggestive adaptations.

While there continues to be an aesthetics vs. analytics debate, it all comes down to knowing your purpose. Data visualization cannot express everything, nor are they meant to. The purpose of it is to offer those quick representations of data but not the whole story.

Amanda left us with her inspiration when she said: ”not every story needs to be conveyed through word”. Thank you Amanda for a fantastic presentation.

For more information, visit her website Aesthetic Intelligence and see the power of infographics for yourself. We’ve also put together tweets of the night for you to check out.

Our Sponsors

Special thanks to our sponsors Canvas Pop, the National Arts Centre and Kinki/Mambo for donating amazing prizes for our Girl Geeks! We won’t see you again until January so have a very safe and happy holiday.

Join us for the first event of the season on Wednesday, November 21, 2012 for a discussion about “big data” with Amanda Shendruk, founder of Aesthetic Intelligence and a leading expert in data visualization.

In an age of “big data” and “information overload”, the ability to use compelling graphics to accurately represent complicated concepts is increasingly valuable. When well executed, easily digestible visuals can provide at-a-glance comprehension while revealing significant connections and relationships. And, they can be fun!

Using examples primarily from the journalism industry, we will explore some of the considerations that go into making an effective infographic, learn how to avoid visual lies with data, and learn how to balance aesthetics (and Lady Gaga references) with practicality. Amanda believes data is a driving force to decision-making and it should reflect visual creativity to improve understanding and clarity.

When: Wednesday November 21, 2012

Where: The Black Tomato, 11 George St. (directions)

Agenda:

5:30 – Doors open

6 – 6:30 – Introduction and food order

6:30 – 7 – Speaker presentation

7 – 7:20 – Q’s & A’s

7:20 -  7:30 – Closing remarks and announcements

REGISTER NOW!

Thank you to our event sponsors!

*** Please be advised that photographs are taken at our events for use on the Ottawa Girl Geek website. By attending any Ottawa Girl Geek event, you consent to having your picture taken and for Ottawa Girl Geek to use your image and likeness on this site.***

Sponsor Appeal:

GGDOttawa launched in 2009 and since then, has attracted over 1,300 women in the Ottawa area with a special interest in business and technology. Although our events are focused around bringing women in technology together, our unique topics and speakers have also attracted women from other fields including non-profit, government, agency, hi-tech and small business’.

As a volunteer-run non-profit group, GGDOttawa is in need of in-kind or cash sponsorships to help support our events.

To help facilitate every event, we require AV equipment such as projectors, screens, mics and speakers. We’re also very lucky to have such amazing and talented speakers to volunteer their time, so we like to treat them to a courteous gift. We would also not exist without our loyal members, so for every event,  we like to draw names for door prizes as a token of our appreciation.

Sponsoring GGDOttawa is a great way to showcase your company and its products or services, and to target 1,300 women across many industries.

Sponsors of any kind will be promoted on our website two times per event, will be mentioned in two email blasts per event, will be promoted on our Twitter, and will be displayed at the event.

If you would like to sponsor or for more information, please email the GGDOttawa organizers at info@girlgeekdinnersottawa.com

In September 2009, three ambitious women launched Ottawa’s first Girl Geek Dinner. Melany Gallant, Kelly Rusk and Veronica Giggey spent months preparing and collectively used their expertise to form a Girl Geek community Ottawa could call its own. Three years later, these women were able to build a community of 1,300 Girl Geeks and it continues to grow with each passing season. They’ve been dedicated to organizing these events so women can meet and learn from some of the brightest women in the city, over good food and great company.

While it’s been an amazing three years for the team, Melany, Kelly and Veronica  are passing their dinner plates over to a new set of inspired Girl Geeks: Samantha Hartley, Dynimul Mao, Nyree Costello, and Amelia Stein. Working with a strong foundation in place, these women will make up the new GGDOttawa planning team:

Samantha Hartley is a second-year co-organizer who had the pleasure of working with and learning from the original three musketeers. By day, she works at The Conference Board of Canada as a direct marketer and by night, she also volunteers for Big Brothers Big Sisters Ottawa and the International Association of Business Communicators Ottawa Chapter. Samantha loves writing and playing sports, and she’s very excited to hang out with the Girl Geeks for another season.

Amelia Stein is a past volunteer for GGDOttawa and a huge fan! She’s a tech-comms junkie and research enthusiast, working at Ramius Corporation as support for its online qualitative research software.  As a self-professed foodie, she’s pumped to try the different restaurants this season has to offer.

Nyree Costello has been a professional communicator for over 10 years. She is an active blogger (thepublicistdiaries.com), photographer and mother to two dogs. In her free time she plays competitive roller derby, volunteers with the Canadian Public Relations Society and plays a mean air guitar.

Dyni Mao is studying at University of Ottawa and will be graduating soon with joint Honours in Computer Science and Mathematics.  She’s a member of the IEEE-WIE and loves to play badminton, soccer, and beach volleyball. She’s excited to lend a hand to a good cause and looking forward to having fun in the process!

On behalf of the new planning team, we’re very passionate about kicking off the fourth season and it’s shaping up to be interesting and engaging! To give you a little sneak peek, our first event will feature Amanda Shendruk, founder of Aesthetic Intelligence and a leading expert in data visualization. Amanda believes data is a driving force to decision-making and it should reflect visual creativity to improve understanding and clarity.  Save the date for our next event: Wednesday November 21, 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Black Tomato. Stay tuned for our official event announcement in the next couple of days.

We’d like to leave you with a video of GGDOttawa’s claim to fame back in 2009. Thank you again Melany, Kelly and Veronica for putting food on our plates and knowledge in our brains!

Kelly’s note: Huge thanks to new volunteer Amelia Stein, who was instrumental in the organization of this event, and wrote this event summary for us. Thanks again Amelia! 

This month’s Girl Geek Dinner, held at Grounded Kitchen & Coffeehouse, offered kim chi pork ribs, risotto cakes, and Hilary Little’s illustration of User Centred Design (UCD) as a clash between User-Centred-Design Girl and her arch enemy, Bad Design Dave. We heard cases in which Bad Design Dave prevailed, from innovative vehicle features to the layout of election ballots. She showed us that design is everywhere, and stressed the importance of implementing an iterative design method prior to casting an emergency UCD Girl signal in the sky.

The tricky part, explains Hilary, is that Bad Design Dave often goes unnoticed. He cloaks himself in misconceptions; user-centred design is too expensive, it takes too long, it’s irrelevant to knowledge of users, or that the users were given exactly what they asked for. It’s time we start to recognize the Bad Design Dave in our own work environments, and take the UCD girl identity as our own. When you apply the UCD techniques, the [return on investment] could certainly elevate you to hero status.

What you need to know in order to succeed is that good design requires high usability: meeting specific effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction metrics. Pledging to fight against Bad Design Dave requires that you stand true to the fact that, “you don’t know if it’s usable until it’s tested with users.” Keep strong to the process…

1. Have an early focus on users and tasks: analyze the tasks, goals, environment
2. Empirical testing with users: quantitative/behavioural testing (NOT asking what they want)
3. Iterative Design process: design->evaluate->refine repeat!
4. Rely on data for design decisions and not assumptions or best guesses.

Making progress with user-centred design in the workplace is still an ongoing battle. So dig out those leotards and capes, find out where UCD fits in your line of work and get everyone involved to strengthen the cause.

Special thanks to the guest speaker Hilary Little for her insightful presentation, and congratulations to our winners who left with fabulous gifts from our sponsors:

• Laura Wesley & Helene Pauze- winners of homemade fudge provided by Fudge Face.
• Mary Durning- winner of NAC show tickets.
• Lina Bonapace- first-timer Girl Geek and winner of a gift certificate to Grounded Kitchen & Coffeehouse.

View Hilary’s slides…

For additional resources on user-centred-design contact: hilarylittle@gmail.com.

And finally, Kelly created a storify–a round up of tweets from the event: