Between our rise to fame in The Philadelphia Inquirer and our collective experiences in science and technology, a traditional play-by-play of GGD PHL #8 “Hacking the Gender Gap: A Hands-On Workshop for Boosting Gender Diversity in Tech” is not going to help us tackle this issue. Instead, here is a super quick recap of where to find more information followed by some ideas for future action that came from our discussion.

Our wonderful speakers, Amy Guthrie and Stephanie Alarcon, clearly introduced the gender gap in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields, showing that while the number of women in these fields has increased, there is still a significant gap. The resources referenced in their talk are available on The Hacktory’s website.

What followed was a thought-provoking exercise that helped us identify this disparity in our own lives, the sharing of war stories, and an interactive experience that spawned some possible action steps. The timeline activity, a staple of Hacking the Gender Gap talks, brought forward our experiences with technology and catalog both the positive (which included a lot of “firsts” and getting things to work on our own) and the negative (which exposed the significant potential for people in authority to put us down). Our experiences will be added to the official online timeline for the project.

The gender gap is a complex problem, and it’s hard to find concrete solutions, but that should not stop us from taking action. Here are some ideas that came up during the presentation and discussion.

For us:

Mentors, role models, peer support are super, super important.

• Surround yourself with positive, supportive people, and look for mentorship opportunities, whether those are formal programs or asking a particular individual or organization for guidance.
• Join communities, such as Girl Geek Dinners, Girl Develop It, and Web Start Women, to gain peer support and find women with shared experiences.
• And finally, consider being a mentor yourself.

If you see something, say something. Ask for antidiscrimination policies at conferences, refuse the status quo, and have comebacks ready to counter the chatter.

Get informed, and attend upcoming trainings on how to facilitate future presentations of Hacking the Gender Gap.

For future generations:
Improve K-12 education: Include earlier spatial training and work to eliminate bias among instructors. Equal expectations yield equal performance.

Equal pay: Ensure women can earn the same as men regardless of field.

More than circuits: Expand the vocabulary of science and technology to show the wide range of opportunities available.

Recap written by Catherine E. Odson

Catherine Odson is a librarian, overly enthusiastic reader, techie in training, and utility infielder for one of Philadelphia’s greatest co-ed softball teams. Born and raised in South Dakota, she recently acquired her first grown-up couch and intends to stay in Philadelphia. She occasionally blogs at http://catherineodson.wordpress.com and can be found at various events around the area sharpening her writing, communications, and UX skills, which she plans to use in libraries in the near future. Her dream job is copy editing the sports references in romance novels.

Photos taken by Lisa Yoder

Lisa is a recent transplant to the greater Philadelphia area, having grown up on a dairy farm in the wilds of Central PA. She spends her days proofreading and her nights reading, writing, learning to code, and dreaming of where to travel next. She aspires to mash up all of these pursuits into something beautiful.

Thanks to The Hacktory and Appzhao for making “Hacking the Gender Gap” newsworthy. Stay tuned for a recap of the event and some resources to help you stay involved!

Girl Geek Dinners Philadelphia is excited to announce the folks from The Hacktory as their Winter 2013 speakers. The Hacktory will present “Hacking the Gender Gap, A Hands-On Workshop for Boosting Gender Diversity In Tech.”

Join us at The Hacktory on Thursday, January 31st, from 6 – 9pm. Space is limited to 25 attendees. In order to discourage no-shows and to offset organizational costs, we will be charging $2/person (NO REFUNDS). If money is a concern, please contact us directly at info –at– ggdphl –dot– com.

This event is lady-geeks (including those who identify as ladies) only. Sorry, fellas!

6:00pm – 6:30 :: Check In / Socializing / Eating
6:05 – 6:15 :: Welcome
6:15 – 6:30 :: Around the World Introductions
6:30 – 7:30 :: Presentation
7:30 – 7:45 :: Q&A
7:45 – 8:00 :: Presentation by our sponsor, Appzhao
8:00 – 8:10 :: Closing
8:10 – 9:00pm :: Socializing

Hacking the Gender Gap
A Hands-On Workshop for Boosting Gender Diversity In Tech
Facilitators: Amy Guthrie, Stephanie Alarcon

Hacking is the art of pulling things apart to see what they’re made of, then putting them together in a new way. In this participatory workshop, Philadelphia’s first hackerspace, The Hacktory, will draw from published research and attendees’ personal experiences to figure out how and why the gender gap in tech emerges. Participants share their experiences with technology–both positive and negative–on a physical timeline; identify patterns in the assembled experiences; and discuss ways to make tech communities more inclusive, and ways that awesome people already have. Attendees leave with greater clarity about their own narratives, a deeper understanding of the anatomy of the problem, and tools for engaging potential supporters and being an effective ally.

At the Hacktory, we break, rearrange, and re-purpose objects and systems to create new meanings and satisfy our curiosity. We strive to create an environment that welcomes people of all backgrounds and skill levels. We’re excited to welcome Geek Girl Dinners to our new home at the Department of Making and Doing, a collaboration with Breadboard and the Public Workshop, at 3711 Market Street. Please pardon our dust…we just moved in!

Location

The Hacktory is located at the Department of Making and Doing at 3711 Market Street.

View Larger Map

Dinner

Our gracious sponsor, Appzhao, will be providing food for us during the evening.

Big Thanks

A big thank you goes out to The Hacktory for hosting and providing speakers for us and Appzhao for sponsoring and providing food.

Can you bring a friend?

Yes! Just RSVP on our meetup.com page so she’s on the list.

About Appzaho (Event Sponsor)

Appzhao is a network of app pages that allows you to share Apps and connect with people all over the world. Find the Apps being used by your favorite actress, famous chefs, or even your teacher! Appzhao can change the way the world uses and finds Apps. We’re giving power to the people to create their own Appstores. Tell us what Apps you like and dislike. Review each other’s Apps and together we can help each other find the Apps that are relevant to us.

If you have any questions or ideas, please reach out to us at info[at]ggdphl[dot]com. We look forward to meeting you!

Check out the article: http://www.flyingkitemedia.com/features/hicks0115.aspx

2012 – What we accomplished:

• Dinners: 4 dinner events
• Huge thank you to our speakers and hosts!
• Speakers: Jessica Ivins, Maggie Avener, Anita Andrews, Mel Ward
• Hosts: Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC, NextFab, Cipher Prime, Zivtech

Others

• 2 Board Game Nights
• 2 Books & Brunches
• 2 Comic / Graphic Novel Nights
• 2 Craft Nights
• High T(ech)
• Sweet Swap
• handful of random get togethers (meet Code for America, Systers, turned 1 happy hour)

2013 – THE FUTURE – ChaCha Changes
Events

• Standard GGD Dinners will remain quarterly
• Next event – details coming soon!

Social Events

• We’d like to throw it out there to any ladies who would like to organize events to let us know! There is small stuff you can help out with, like organizing happy hours and some of our smaller events. If anyone is interested, shoot us a message on Meetup!
• We want more happy hours, more craft nights and more fun! Let’s do it!

Misc

• We will continue supporting/partnering with sister groups/events: Girl Develop It, Py*, Web Start Women, Tech Girlz, Women in Tech Summit, and any others we come across
• Hackathon - targeting Feb/March

Content / Website

• Continue adding to GGD PHL website lady geek recaps of tech events in the area
• We need help with this! If you attend a tech event in the city and are willing to write a short review of it, let us know!

Newsletter

• We’d like a volunteer to help aggregate cool and geeky stuff going on in the city into a bi-weekly newsletter for our group. If you’re interested in helping out, let us know!

Stuff we’d like to accomplish in 2013
Get some flyers/postcards/business cards made and advertise!

Major Changes:

THE BIG NEWS
Organization Change – Tristin Hightower will be stepping back as Co-Organizer, and Karissa Demi will be helping Nicole Kline as Co-Organizer of GGD!

Bio: Karissa is a Web Developer at Drexel University and in her spare time teaches Web Design at University of the Arts. She has a bachelors Degree in Digital Media and is currently working towards an M.S. in Technical Communication. She enjoys brewing beer, watching sci-fi, reading graphic novels, and playing with puppies.

NOW CHARGING FOR MEMBERSHIP
We will now be charging members $5 a year to be a part of the Meetup group in order to cover the costs of Meeup.com as well as buying swag and promotional items. We will be making this change in the next week. If you cannot afford the fee, no problem – we have many volunteer opportunities. We are looking for responsible people to handle some of our events, like board game night and comic book night, as well as someone to write our biweekly newsletter (see above for opportunities). If these sound appealing to you, please contact us and let us know and we’ll set you up right away. Other responsibilities, like writing up events and taking photos/video, will also waive the fee. We are working on an organizer kit to help people create events and make things run as smoothly as possible.

Thanks so much!

Hurricane Sandy, aka “Frankenstorm,” gave the dinner a good push, but on the second try, lady geeks and friends met at Zivtech for dinner, sweets and the presentation “A Sweet Balancing Act” by Melissa Ward.

The Cupcake Friday Project is part of “A Sweet Balancing Act” that Ward performs nearly every week. Ward has a full-time publishing job, a house, cats (who insist on being fed), friends and family. She is also a home baker, bakery apprentice and blogger, constantly balancing her time to manage everything in her life and still have time for herself.

The Cupcake Friday Project began on a snowy January 2011 day with lemon limoncello cupcakes. Her first batch of unofficial taste testers were so impressed they said they would chip in for ingredients if every Friday could be Cupcake Friday. The Cupcake Friday Project has grown into a project to help Ward figure out what she wants and whether she really loves baking and if (and how) she would pursue it. By baking as a side project, she doesn’t have to quit her real job to do her fantasy job, which Ward now does about 12-20 hours a week.

Since the beginning of the Cupcake Friday Project, Ward has created nearly 100 cupcake recipes while blogging and taking advantage of other opportunities, such as baking special orders and entering cupcake baking contests. This year, she challenged herself to create 52 cupcakes in 52 weeks, a number she has already surpassed. Ward also stepped out of her own kitchen for a bakery apprenticeship, a different environment and experience than baking on her own, she said. The apprenticeship also has given her additional knowledge beyond what she can teach herself and the opportunity to see if baking in a professional capacity is something she enjoys.

Through all of these changes, Ward still has her day job, house, husband, and cats, and the challenge is balancing everything. In getting started and facing the time management challenges, focus on simple things, she said. This is not the time to be held back by giant questions that don’t have any effect on your work now.

Ward named two major categories to consider before pursuing a similar project.

1. Passion and drive.
“If you are not passionate about what you want to do, stop,” Ward said, even if you’re good at it. You have to want to do it.

Ward’s first side project was sculpting. She liked the idea she had cultivated and was good at it, but even after investing time and money, she had to decide it wasn’t the right thing for her.

“Just because you have the talent and you’re good at something doesn’t mean that it’s right for you,” she said.

2. Resources.
The two primary resources are time and money. You have lots of responsibilities outside the idea you want to grow, so it is important to find the time. Money is industry- and project-specific. Ward bakes at cost and keeps her project self-sustaining.

So what are her solutions? Support and tools.

Ward’s extensive support network consists of family, friends, and mentors, people who have her back, cheer her on, and can give her feedback on her ideas. For her, these are her husband, her taste tasters, blog readers, Facebook fans, and the greater baking community.

“Having people you can reach out to in the community is key,” she said.

And if you don’t know anybody? Just reach out, she said.

The worst that can happen? “Crickets.”

Ward also uses a number of organizational and social tools to manage her project. The tools can be simple or more complicated as long as they help.

The presentation ended with vegan pumpkin chocolate chip cookies (link: recipe) and mocha espresso cupcakes (link: recipe), which this reviewer rates as excellent and exhilarating.

Ward emphasized that the Cupcake Friday Project and the sugar-filled path she is now on is a direct result of trying something, an idea she emphasized throughout her presentation.

“Give it a shot.”

The Cupcake Friday Project can be found online at @Cupcake_Friday, @melomel and CupcakeFridayProject.com.

Check out Catherine’s Storify for GGD PHL #7 to see some tweets from the event.

Photos of the event, courtesy of Katharine Friedgen Photography, can be found on Facebook.

Recap written by Catherine E. Odson
Catherine Odson is a librarian, overly enthusiastic reader, techie in training, and utility infielder for one of Philadelphia’s greatest co-ed softball teams. Born and raised in South Dakota, she recently acquired her first grown-up couch and intends to stay in Philadelphia. She occasionally blogs at http://catherineodson.wordpress.com and can be found at various events around the area sharpening her writing, communications, and UX skills, which she plans to use in libraries in the near future. Her dream job is copy editing the sports references in romance novels.

Girl Geek Dinners Philadelphia is excited to announce Melissa Ward as her Fall 2012 speaker. Melissa will present “Sweet Balancing Act: Growing a passion into a business while maintaining a 9-5 work-life balance.”

Join us at Zivtech on Monday, October 29, from 6 – 9pm. Space is limited to 30 attendees. In order to discourage no-shows and to offset organizational costs, we will be charging $5/person (NO REFUNDS). If money is a concern, please contact us directly at info –at– ggdphl –dot– com.

Men welcome as the +1 of an attendee identifying as a lady geek. No lady geek, no entrance, no exception.

Girl Geek Dinners Philadelphia Fall 2012 (GGD PHL #7) Details

RSVP is Required
RSVP here: http://www.meetup.com/Girl-Geek-Dinners-Philadelphia/events/87467342/

Sweet Balancing Act: Growing a passion into a business while maintaining a 9-5 work-life balance
Not everyone walks into the career of their dreams. Many of us go to school, do well, find a job and begin working to support ourselves and our families. And there is nothing wrong with that. But for many, it’s not enough. Below the surface is a passion that often comes to light years after the college degree is in hand and the career path is made. Nevertheless, it’s something we want to grow and nurture into something bigger than just a hobby or an occasional freelance gig. But how do you do that when you’re balancing a full-time job, family and social life?

Come hear how Melissa Ward of Cupcake Friday Project is doing her best balancing act, turning her passion for baking and educating others into an eventual business, all the while working a full time job, apprenticing, being a partner to her husband and someone who remembers to feed the cats (most of the time).

By day, Melissa Ward is the managing editor of a Philadelphia-based marketing magazine, but by nights and weekends, she’s the sassy baker behind Cupcake Friday Project, a baking blog focused on sharing recipes, baking knowledge, and encouraging others to dip their whisks into the “baked from scratch” deep end of the mixing bowl.

CFP was launched in early 2011 after some insistence from her friends at work who were treated to cupcakes on a Friday morning (“Can every Friday be Cupcake Friday?”) From that point the blog and Melissa’s baking skills have grown steadily as she opts out of pastry school and into a bakery apprenticeship on weekends, all the while working a full-time job, freelancing on the side and spending time with friends and family.

Location
Zivtech is located in The Philadelphia Building, 1315 Walnut Street, Suite 1500.

View Larger Map

Dinner
Our gracious host, Zivtech, will be providing food for us during the evening.

Big Thanks
A big thank you goes out to Zivtech for hosting and feeding us during the event and Melissa Ward for bringing and sharing her expertise with us.

Can you bring a friend?
Yes! Just RSVP so s/he’s on the list. (Building security will need name at check-in.)

About Zivtech (Event Host)
Zivtech is an advanced open source web development, design, and training shop located in Philadelphia, PA. Our team specializes in building powerful and scalable web applications, implementing enterprise content management systems, and creating beautiful web-based design. We are passionate about Drupal, Alfresco, jQuery, Node.js, and Sass – as well as the entire open source movement.

If you have any questions or ideas, please reach out to us at info[at]ggdphl[dot]com. We look forward to meeting you!

To get this information right in your inbox, sign up for the GGD PHL Announcement List.

Community Announcement
The Philly chapter of GirlDevelopIt is turning one and she is throwing a BIG party with music, games, contests and surprises. Even better? 100% of your ticket purchase will be donated to TechGirlz — a local non-profit organization helping middle school girls embrace the power of technology! So we’ll see you there, right?
[GET A TICKET OR TWO OR SEVEN]

Girl Geek Dinners Philadelphia Updates

• Recap of GGD PHL #6
  A recap of our Summer 2012 GGD event was posted. If you missed it, all the goodness can be found here: http://bit.ly/Osq6nk
  [READ ME]
• GGD PHL Comics and Cookies :: September 11
  It’s our second Comics and Cookies night! We’ll be meeting at Atomic City Comics on South Street and be reading Petrograd!
  [LEARN MORE]
• GGD PHL Lady Board Game Night :: September 25
  It’s time to take over Redcap’s Corner again! We’ll be meeting there to play some board games – they’ve got a huge bookcase full of games, but everyone is welcome to bring their own games as well.
  [LEARN MORE]
• For the rest of 2012….
  We can’t believe it’s already September! There are only 4 more months of activities before 2012 is over and 2013 is here. Where did the year go? Stay tuned for details on events that will take us through the rest of the year, including our PTBYONPL Town Hall meeting. (Warning, October is going to be a little busy!)

Other Happenings

• September 11: Beginning Steel Band
• September 11: GGD PHL Comics and Cookies
• September 12: Agile Culture Conference – Philly
• September 13: Ignite Philly 10
• September 15-16: Hacks for Democracy
• September 17: Victory Brewing: Girls Just Wanna Have Suds
• September 18: Philly Illustrator User Group Meeting: Creative Cloud
• September 19: Content Strategy Philly/PhillyCHI: Margot Bloomstein—Content Strategy
• September 20: The Hacktory: Tour of Longwood’s LED Installations — NEW DATE
• September 22: GirlDevelopIt Philly: Diving into Server Side Programming
• September 24: NOSH: The Cookbook Club – Featuring FARM CITY by Novella Carpenter
• September 25: GGD PHL Lady Board Game Night
• September 26: Android Alliance: Mark Murphy Presents “App Integration: Strategies and Tactics”
• September 27: GirlDevelopIt Philly: One Year Birthday Party
• September 27: Node Philly: September Meetup & Hack Time
• September 28-29: THATCamp Philly (The Humanities and Technology Camp)
• September 28-30: PostCamp East — Wilmington, DE
• September 28-30: Startup Weekend Philadelphia — GGD PHL Discount!
• September 29: GirlDevelopIt Philly: Build a Blog or Site with WordPress
• September 29: NorthEast PA (NEPA) BlogCon — Nanticoke, PA
• September 29: Philly Zombie Prom
• October 2: Pennsylvania Conference for Women
• October 3: Alpha Girls Screening at the Troc
• October 3-6: Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computer — Baltimore
• October 4: Greensgrow Philly Food Swap
• October 5: Making Things Move with CSS and JavaScript
• October 10-14: Design Philadelphia
• October 13: #TECHmunch Philadelphia Food Blogger Conference
• October 15: The Oatmeal Book Signing Tour
• October 20-21: WordCamp Philly
• October 25: Academy of Natural Sciences Mega-Bad Movie Night: You Call It!
• October 27: Philly Zine Fest
• November 10: Barcamp Philly
• April 19-29, 2013 (yes, 2013!): Philly Tech Week
• April 20, 2013 (yes, 2013!): Philly Women in Tech Summit
• June 27-29, 2013 (yes, 2013!): National Homebrewers Conference

Feel free to hit us up if you want your event included in this list!
For a larger list of events in the area, check out Technically Philly’s Event Calendar.

OTHER HAPPENINGS
September 11: Beginning Steel Band
This course requires no previous knowledge of music or any previous musical instrument  study. In Beginning Steel Band you will be introduced to the steel  drum, its history, performance practice, and its role in a steel drum ensemble. In addition, you will study and learn music theory, improvisation, chord reading, note reading, and ear training while learning to play the steel drum.
[LEARN MORE]

September 11: GGD PHL Comics and Cookies
It’s our second Comics and Cookies night! We’ll be meeting at Atomic City Comics on South Street and be reading Petrograd!
[LEARN MORE]

September 12: Agile Culture Conference – Philly
Want more productivity, better products, creativity, and higher quality from your workforce? If you believe that organizational culture is the key to getting all this and more from knowledge workers, this is the conference for you!
[LEARN MORE]

September 13: Ignite Philly 10
Are you ready for Ignite Philly 10? On Thursday September 13th we will again bring you a night filled with inspiring and amazing stories of happenings all around Philadelphia.
[LEARN MORE]

September 15-16: Hacks for Democracy
Do you have an idea for an app that will improve this fall’s election?  What tools do we need to improve citizen engagement?  Is there an app that would get your friends to the voting booth in November?  What app might help mitigate the impact of voter ID laws?  What data would make your local city council and board of elections more transparent? Join civic hackers, election officials, journalists, data analysts and designers to make progress on these and other questions related to elections and politics.
[LEARN MORE]

September 17: Victory Brewing: Girls Just Wanna Have Suds
Attention Ladies! Join us for a mini beer dinner featuring the ever popular Horace Hop Wallop! Each course of the menu will be paired with draft, cask or bottled Hop Wallop showcasing the versatility of one of our favorite beers.
[LEARN MORE]

September 18: Philly Illustrator User Group Meeting: Creative Cloud
Join us to discuss the Creative Cloud. Are you using it? Thinking about it? Learn more at our third Tuesday meeting on September 18!
[LEARN MORE]

September 19: Content Strategy Philly/PhillyCHI: Margot Bloomstein – Content Strategy
Please join us for an evening with content strategist Margot Bloomstein, author of the recently published Content Strategy at Work: Real World Stories to Strengthen Every Interactive Project. She’ll detail some of the case studies that show how organizations with a range of visibility and budgets can apply content strategy to ensure greater success in user experience and interactive consulting.
[LEARN MORE]

September 20: The Hacktory: Tour of Longwood’s LED Installations —  NEW DATE
Your ticket gets you a seat on our charter bus to the garden, covers the entry fee to Longwood, and a picnic dinner. Longwood Gardens has provided some excellent programming, including a discussion about bio-inspired energy by Kristina Lynch, Ph.D., Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Dartmouth College, sparks a discussion about the Northern Lights, and a StorySlam by First Person Arts on the theme “Everyday Magic.”
[LEARN MORE]

September 22: GirlDevelopIt Philly: Diving into Server Side Programming
If you want to make mobile or web application, you’ll need to understand how to program the web server. Servers are what make web services work. This introductory class will give you fundamental skills and understanding for programming in the server environment.
[LEARN MORE]

September 24: NOSH: The Cookbook Club – Featuring FARM CITY by Novella Carpenter
Love eating and reading? Then NOSH is for you. On Monday, September 24th NOSH: The Cookbook Club will meet to savor FARM CITY, scrappy urban farmer Novella Carpenter’s bestselling tale of getting her Old MacDonald on in the vacant lot next to her shabby, but not-so chic, apartment in inner city Oakland.
[LEARN MORE]

September 25: GGD PHL Lady Board Game Night
It’s time to take over Redcap’s Corner again! We’ll be meeting there to play some board games – they’ve got a huge bookcase full of games, but everyone is welcome to bring their own games as well.
[LEARN MORE]

September 26: Android Alliance: Mark Murphy Presents “App Integration: Strategies and Tactics”
Android has a rich palette of techniques for allowing applications to integrate with one another, from simple, hyperlink-style handoffs to full IDL-based IPC. Not all of these are necessarily appropriate for all apps, and choosing ones that make sense is an art as much as a science. This presentation reviews the possibilities and talks about how they are implemented.
[LEARN MORE]

September 27: GirlDevelopIt Philly: One Year Birthday Party
GirlDevelopIt Philly is turning 1 year old and we’re throwing a BIG shindig. With 20 Meetups, over 300 attendees and close to 550 members we have a lot to celebrate.
[LEARN MORE]

September 27: Node Philly: September Meetup & Hack Time
Come join us for our second Node.Philly meetup and Hack Time! We will be at another unique space in Philly with some great talks, demos, food and beer. We are also going to kick off “Hack Time” which we hope will become a strong Node.Philly tradition.
[LEARN MORE]

September 28-29: THATCamp Philly (The Humanities and Technology Camp)
THATCamp, The Humanities And Technology Camp, is a free, open, interdisciplinary “unconference” where humanists and technologists meet to work together for the common good.
[LEARN MORE]

September 28-30: PodCamp East — Wilmington, DE
Once upon a time, there was a little event that two guys started in Boston. Named after BarCamp, they called it PodCamp and expected 50 people to show up. Instead 300 people came and started a movement. Today, PodCamps have occurred on every continent except Antarctica and have helped thousands of people around the world learn, share, and grow their new media skills.
[LEARN MORE]

September 28-30: StartUp Weekend Philadelphia — GGD PHL Discount!
It’s that time again, Philadelphia Startup Weekend 4.0 (PHLSW) is just around the corner! It’ll be held September 28–30 at the University of the Arts Hamilton Hall! Startup Weekend is an intense and invigorating creative event where entrepreneurs, developers, and designers work together to build and launch a startup in 54 hours. Sound crazy? It is! In the best possible way! Use the coupon code GGD to get $40 off registration for a developer or designer.
[LEARN MORE]

September 29: GirlDevelopIt Philly: Build a Blog or Site with WordPress
This class is for beginners who want to use WordPress as an easy, fast way to set up a blog or a website. We’ll guide you step-by-step through all the basic aspects of WordPress development.
[LEARN MORE]

September 29: NorthEast PA (NEPA) BlogCon — Nanticoke, PA
NEPA BlogCon is a day-long, not-for-profit blogging conference that benefits The Arc of Luzerne County and the NEPA Veterans Multicare Alliance.
[LEARN MORE]

September 29: Philly Zombie Prom
Performances from Live Not On Evil and The Young Werewolves and DJs Kiltboy, Dave Ghoul and Mike Saga fill the night! Zombie makeup stations, free Prom Photos and more! Host Robert Drake will crown the Zombie King and Queen of Philadelphia as he rings in the official start of HALLOWEEN season in Philadelphia!
[LEARN MORE]

October 2: Pennsylvania Conference for Women
The Pennsylvania Conference for Women, the largest women’s conference in the state, offers community and connection, information and inspiration, motivation and momentum.
[LEARN MORE]

October 3: Alpha Girls Screening at the Troc
Alpha Girls was a 2012 Philadelphia Geek Awards nominee for Feature Length Indie Film of the Year!
Alpha Beta house is the oldest and most elite sorority in the world. Some of the most influential politicians, celebrities and scientists are Alpha Girl alumnae. After performing long hidden rituals, some of the sisters suspect that their good fortune is tainted by demonic evil. They quickly realize firsthand that the consequences of their curiosity are much more gruesome than any of them could have possibly imagined.
[LEARN MORE]

October 3-6: Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing — Baltimore
The Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing is a series of conferences designed to bring the research and career interests of women in computing to the forefront. Presenters are leaders in their respective fields, representing industrial, academic and government communities.
[LEARN MORE]

October 4: Greensgrow Philly Food Swap
A Food Swap is part silent auction/part village marketplace/part fun-loving open house where your homemade creations (breads, preserves, special concoctions, canned goods, etc.) become your own personal currency for use in swapping with other participants. What better way to diversify your pantry and rub shoulders with friends and neighbors?
[LEARN MORE]

October 5: Making Things Move with CSS and JavaScript
It seems like there are a million ways to make things move on the web these days, which makes the why and how behind your animations even more important! In this workshop we’ll look at how to get the most out of your transitions and animations with CSS. Then we’ll add JavaScript into the mix for even more powerful options.
[LEARN MORE]

October 10-14: Design Philadelphia
DesignPhiladelphia demonstrates, supports and promotes the ability that design has to generate innovation, solve problems, enhance daily life, and influence both the perception and economics of the region.
[LEARN MORE]

October 13: #TECHmunch Philadelphia Food Blogger Conference
TECHmunch is making it’s debut in Philly to serve up tasty strategies for food blogger success! The day-long event is an intimate workshop and interactive conversation that will inspire even the most seasoned food blogger. The goal is to provide the ingredients you need to succeed and pursue your passion.
[LEARN MORE]

October 15: The Oatmeal Book Signing Tour
I’ll be giving a short lecture about bigfoot’s nipple hair and then signing some books.
[LEARN MORE]

October 20-21: WordCamp Philly
WordCamps are different. WordCamp Philly is intended to be the premiere WordPress-related technical conference in Philadelphia. It is a larger, two day event, with a Saturday full of learning opportunities.
[LEARN MORE]

October 25: Academy of Natural Sciences Mega-Bad Movie Night: You Call It!
Join us at the Academy after hours to watch this  ”awesomely awful” movie!  The Academy’s own experts will be on stage to comment on the many scientific absurdities–think Mystery Science Theater 3000!
“You Call It”: Bigfoot, 2012: Ice Age, or 2010: Moby Dick?
[LEARN MORE]

October 27: Philly Zine Fest
The Fest showcases local artists and zinesters, as well as zine distros, bringing DIY, radical, whimsical, and artistic small press publications to the public. Ranging from bike repair to poetry to crafts, the Zine Fest is a great place to go to learn new things, connect with local writers, and get involved with creating new forms of accessible media.
[LEARN MORE]

November 10: Barcamp Philly
[SAVE THE DATE]

April 19-29, 2013 (yes 2013): Philly Tech Week
[SAVE THE DATE]

April 20, 2013 (yes 2013): Philly Women in Tech Summit
[SAVE THE DATE]

June 27-29, 2013 (yes 2013): National Homebrewers Conference
An AHA conference is an amazing confluence of incredible beer, knowledge and community. This guide was created to help you get the most out of your time at the conference. It’s a lot to take in; there’s something going on for 16 hours or more a day. So, our best advice is to have a plan, and don’t be greedy. There will be more beers in the next event…and the next…and the next…you get the picture. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.
[SAVE THE DATE]

At Tristin’s suggestion, attendees and a few shy Cipher Prime Studios employees introduced themselves and, in a few cases, explained their particular interest in social gaming metrics.  (The Cipher Prime Studios staffer working diligently in the studio hidden behind the white curtain on which the evening’s PowerPoint presentation was projected was amazingly quiet!)

After a warm welcome from Tristin, Sepiida CEO Anita Garimella Andrews began her presentation by briefly describing her background as a senior Internet and software product management executive who worked on Facebook application products and social gaming initiatives for companies like Wallop and Nutrisystem.com.

As head of Sepiida, an internet marketing optimization and product management services company focused on gaming, Andrews’ current work revolves around helping clients like Zynga Games Network and Softbank increase monetization in part by better optimizing acquisition, conversion, retention, and reactivation metrics.  She polled attendees on what their specific interests were in the social gaming metrics sphere and then launched a presentation that touched on:

• Client desire to see all launches ‘go viral’
• Data mining with end goal of increasing revenues in short term vs. increasing virality and identifying behavior patterns
• How tiny design and text changes can have a drastic effect on acquisition and conversion rates
• Using Daily Active User (DAU) and Monthly Active Uniques (MAU) ratio to derive churn and identify a minimum threshold figure for a successful DAU/MAU ratio

Attendees, most of whom came to the event straight from the office, gratefully noshed on fresh fruit and pizza provided by our gracious event host Cipher Prime Studios throughout the event. And the delicious cupcakes supplied by Mel and The Cupcake Friday Project were the proverbial cherry on the sundae.

About half of the attendees lingered after Anita’s presentation to mingle, introduce themselves to sister geeks, and meet Will, Dain, and the rest of the Cipher Prime Studios crew. Several luck girl geeks went home with free games from Cipher…and an extra cupcake or two.

Photos of the event, taken by Elise Wei, can be found on Facebook.

To stay connected with all of GGD PHL’s upcoming events and activities, follow GGD PHL on Twitter, like them on Facebook, or join the GGD PHL announcement mailing list today. Want to learn more about Girl Geek Dinners and its Philadelphia chapter? Visit www.ggdphl.com. See you at the next dinner!

Recap written by Yvonne M. Jones: Urban Farmgirl, Writer, Filmmaker
Yvonne M. Jones is a writer, filmmaker, and urban farmgirl. She is the brains and the brawn behind Word Soup, which creates lively social events that deepen our relationship to food, art, and each other. Her first book, No Tea for the Fever, a celebration of the most memorable films by and about black women, will be released in Fall 2012. She is in the process of building a sustainable, 172-square-foot, mortgage-free house on wheels–aka, The Chic Shack.

To tet this information right in your inbox, sign up for the GGD PHL Announcement List.

Girl Geek Dinners Philadelphia Updates

• Recaps of GGD PHL #6 and our recent book and brunch coming soon (honest, we’re waiting on 2 things — 1 that we want before we post)!
• GGD PHL Comics and Cookies :: September 11
  It’s our second Comics and Cookies night! We’ll be meeting at Atomic City Comics on South Street and be reading Petrograd!
  [LEARN MORE]
• GGD PHL Lady Board Game Night :: September 25
  It’s time to take over Redcap’s Corner again! We’ll be meeting there to play some board games – they’ve got a huge bookcase full of games, but everyone is welcome to bring their own games as well.
  [LEARN MORE]

Other Events of Interest

• September 8: Academy of Natural Sciences Bicentennial Scavenger Hunt
• September 8: Second Annual South Philly Garden Tour
• September 9: Confections, Coding and Community: Philadelphia Meetup for ONE K in 1 DAY hosted by AWeber
• September 11: Beginning Steel Band
• September 11: GGD PHL Comics and Cookies
• September 13: Ignite Philly 10
• September 15-16: Hacks for Democracy
• September 20: The Hacktory: Tour of Longwood’s LED Installations — NEW DATE
• September 22: Girl Develop It Philly: Diving into Server Side Programming
• September 25: GGD PHL Lady Board Game Night
• September 27: Girl Develop It Philly: One Year Birthday Party
• September 28-29: THATCamp Philly (The Humanities and Technology Camp)
• September 28-30: PostCamp East — Wilmington, DE — BE A PRESENTER!
• September 28-30: Startup Weekend Philadelphia — GGD PHL Discount!
• September 29: Girl Develop It Philly: Build a Blog or Site with WordPress
• October 2: Pennsylvania Conference for Women
• October 3-6: Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computer — Baltimore
• October 10-14: Design Philadelphia
• October 13: #TECHmunch Philadelphia Food Blogger Conference
• October 15: The Oatmeal Book Signing Tour
• October 20-21: WordCamp Philly
• October 25: Academy of Natural Sciences Mega-Bad Movie Night: You Call It!
• October 27: Philly Zine Fest
• April 19-29, 2013 (yes, 2013!): Philly Tech Week
• April 20, 2013 (yes, 2013!): Philly Women in Tech Summit
• June 27-29, 2013 (yes, 2013!): National Homebrewers Conference

Feel free to hit us up if you want your event included in this list!
For a larger list of events in the area, check out Technically Philly’s Event Calendar.

OTHER HAPPENINGS
September 8: Academy of Natural Sciences Bicentennial Scavenger Hunt
Explore the past, present, and future of the Academy of Natural Sciences as you race through Philadelphia on this celebratory scavenger hunt!
[LEARN MORE]

September 8: Second Annual South Philly Garden Tour
The Second Annual South Philly Garden Tour is a self-guided ticketed event, featuring a new sampling of community and home gardens throughout South Philadelphia – a total of 20 gardens will be open for the tour. All funds raised through this event will support the South Philly Food Co-op’s efforts to bring a member-owned grocery store where high-quality food and products, including locally sourced and organic, can be found for a fair price.
[LEARN MORE]

September 9: Confections, Coding and Community: Philadelphia Meetup for ONE K in 1 DAY hosted by AWeber
Do you have a great business concept, but lack a website? Are you overwhelmed at the thought of creating and launching your web presence? On September 9th, 1,000 women around the world will be getting their website up and running in StartupTrainingSchool.com’s ONE K in 1 DAY event. For an extra dose of community and support, Philadelphia-area women will be gathering at the Huntingdon Valley headquarters of AWeber Communications to work through the steps together, and access the knowledge of local web experts.
[LEARN MORE]

September 11: Beginning Steel Band
This course requires no previous knowledge of music or any previous musical instrument  study. In Beginning Steel Band you will be introduced to the steel  drum, its history, performance practice, and its role in a steel drum ensemble. In addition, you will study and learn music theory, improvisation, chord reading, note reading, and ear training while learning to play the steel drum.
[LEARN MORE]

September 11: GGD PHL Comics and Cookies
It’s our second Comics and Cookies night! We’ll be meeting at Atomic City Comics on South Street and be reading Petrograd!
[LEARN MORE]

September 13: Ignite Philly 10
Are you ready for Ignite Philly 10? On Thursday September 13th we will again bring you a night filled with inspiring and amazing stories of happenings all around Philadelphia.
[LEARN MORE]

September 15-16: Hacks for Democracy
Do you have an idea for an app that will improve this fall’s election?  What tools do we need to improve citizen engagement?  Is there an app that would get your friends to the voting booth in November?  What app might help mitigate the impact of voter ID laws?  What data would make your local city council and board of elections more transparent? Join civic hackers, election officials, journalists, data analysts and designers to make progress on these and other questions related to elections and politics.
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September 20: The Hacktory: Tour of Longwood’s LED Installations –  NEW DATE
Your ticket gets you a seat on our charter bus to the garden, covers the entry fee to Longwood, and a picnic dinner. Longwood Gardens has provided some excellent programming, including a discussion about bio-inspired energy by Kristina Lynch, Ph.D., Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Dartmouth College, sparks a discussion about the Northern Lights, and a StorySlam by First Person Arts on the theme “Everyday Magic.”
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September 22: Girl Develop It Philly: Diving into Server Side Programming
If you want to make mobile or web application, you’ll need to understand how to program the web server. Servers are what make webservices work. This introductory class will give you fundamental skills and understanding for programming in the server environment.
[LEARN MORE]

September 25: GGD PHL Lady Board Game Night
It’s time to take over Redcap’s Corner again! We’ll be meeting there to play some board games – they’ve got a huge bookcase full of games, but everyone is welcome to bring their own games as well.
[LEARN MORE]

September 27: Girl Develop It Philly: One Year Birthday Party
GirlDevelopIt Philly is turning 1 year old  and we’re throwing a BIG shindig. With 20 Meetups, over 300 attendees and close to 550 members we have a lot to celebrate.
[LEARN MORE]

September 28-29: THATCamp Philly (The Humanities and Technology Camp)
THATCamp, The Humanities And Technology Camp, is a free, open, interdisciplinary “unconference” where humanists and technologists meet to work together for the common good.
[LEARN MORE]

September 28-30: PodCamp East — Wilmington, DE | BE A PRESENTER
Once upon a time, there was a little event that two guys started in Boston. Named after BarCamp, they called it PodCamp and expected 50 people to show up. Instead 300 people came and started a movement. Today, PodCamps have occurred on every continent except Antarctica and have helped thousands of people around the world learn, share, and grow their new media skills. 
[LEARN MORE] 

September 28-30: StartUp Weekend Philadelphia — GGD PHL Discount!
It’s that time again, Philadelphia Startup Weekend 4.0 (PHLSW) is just around the corner! It’ll be held September 28–30 at the University of the Arts Hamilton Hall! Startup Weekend is an intense and invigorating creative event where entrepreneurs, developers, and designers work together to build and launch a startup in 54 hours. Sound crazy? It is! In the best possible way! Use the coupon code GGD to get $40 off registration for a developer or designer.
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September 29: Girl Develop It Philly: Build a Blog or Site with WordPress
This class is for beginners who want to use WordPress as an easy, fast way to set up a blog or a website. We’ll guide you step-by-step through all the basic aspects of WordPress development.
[LEARN MORE]

September 29: Philly Zombie Prom
Performances from Live Not On Evil and The Young Werewolves and DJs Kiltboy, Dave Ghoul and Mike Saga fill the night! Zombie makeup stations, free Prom Photos and more! Host Robert Drake will crown the Zombie King and Queen of Philadelphia as he rings in the official start of HALLOWEEN season in Philadelphia!
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October 2: Pennsylvania Conference for Women
The Pennsylvania Conference for Women, the largest women’s conference in the state, offers community and connection, information and inspiration, motivation and momentum. 
[LEARN MORE] 

October 3: Alpha GIrls Screening at the Troc
Alpha Girls was a 2012 Philadelphia Geek Awards nominee for Feature Length Indie Film of the Year!
[LEARN MORE]

October 3-6: Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing — Baltimore
The Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing is a series of conferences designed to bring the research and career interests of women in computing to the forefront. Presenters are leaders in their respective fields, representing industrial, academic and government communities.
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October 13: #TECHmunch Philadelphia Food Blogger Conference
TECHmunch is making it’s debut in Philly to serve up tasty strategies for food blogger success! The day-long event is an intimate workshop and interactive conversation that will inspire even the most seasoned food blogger. The goal is to provide the ingredients you need to succeed and pursue your passion.
[LEARN MORE]

October 10-14: Design Philadelphia
DesignPhiladelphia demonstrates, supports and promotes the ability that design has to generate innovation, solve problems, enhance daily life, and influence both the perception and economics of the region.
[LEARN MORE] October 15: The Oatmeal Book Signing Tour
I’ll be giving a short lecture about bigfoot’s nipple hair and then signing some books.
[LEARN MORE]

October 20-21: WordCamp Philly
[SAVE THE DATE]

October 25: Academy of Natural Sciences Mega-Bad Movie Night: You Call It!
Join us at the Academy after hours to watch this  “awesomely awful” movie!  The Academy’s own experts will be on stage to comment on the many scientific absurdities–think Mystery Science Theater 3000!
“You Call It”: Bigfoot, 2012: Ice Age, or 2010: Moby Dick?
[LEARN MORE]

October 27: Philly Zine Fest
The Fest showcases local artists and zinesters, as well as zine distros, bringing DIY, radical, whimsical, and artistic small press publications to the public. Ranging from bike repair to poetry to crafts, the Zine Fest is a great place to go to learn new things, connect with local writers, and get involved with creating new forms of accessible media.
[LEARN MORE]

April 19-29, 2013 (yes 2013): Philly Tech Week
[SAVE THE DATE]

April 20, 2013 (yes 2013): Philly Women in Tech Summit
[SAVE THE DATE]

June 27-29, 2013 (yes 2013): National Homebrewers Conference
An AHA conference is an amazing confluence of incredible beer, knowledge and community. This guide was created to help you get the most out of your time at the conference. It’s a lot to take in; there’s something going on for 16 hours or more a day. So, our best advice is to have a plan, and don’t be greedy. There will be more beers in the next event…and the next…and the next…you get the picture. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.
[SAVE THE DATE]