Happy Belated Ada LoveLace Day
I missed blogging about great women in technology on Ada LoveLace day. I was feeling pretty guilty about not participating. Janet Clarey a researcher at Brandon Hall put me on her list of Role Models in Educational Technology and I felt even more guilty about not blogging on the day.
It's not because I can't think of loads of great women I've met in technology (Mary McKenna, Director of Learning Pool, Clare Dillon and Martha Rotter, Microsoft gurus, Jane Hart, Learning and Performance Technologies queen, Fiona Quigley, an e-learning expert in Aurion, Belfast and Sabrina Dent - a crankypants web diva, to name just a few (sorry - I could go on and on).
I also met the inspirational Alison Malloy (Eastman Kodak) at the ACE unConference in Derry - her story of teeter-tottering for years between bankruptcy and riches before selling her company to Kodak was just amazing. But I struggle to name other role models - as did Maryrose Lyons of Brightspark Consulting in her Ada LoveLace post.
Maryrose's post got me thinking. I've got tired of being referred to as the token female for some of the classes, events or talks that I attend. A fellow Girl Geek summed it up comically at a Belfast Girl Geek Dinner - 'Sometimes you just feel like you're the only Girl in the Village'.
It's really not like this always. But some events make me feel a little like I'm drowning in a sea of suits. And because I'm small, stand-up networking events irritate me - there's always a whole conversation going on above my head while I get a crick in my neck from looking up. That's why I'm a real fan of sit-down networking or perching on a high stool to talk with someone - we get to be much more on the same level.
Anyway! Karen Virapen has heard my woes and sent me this lovely lovely Muppet Ladies clip. It has cheered me right up, and given me an urgin to go be a great surgeon! Watch and enjoy :)
It's not because I can't think of loads of great women I've met in technology (Mary McKenna, Director of Learning Pool, Clare Dillon and Martha Rotter, Microsoft gurus, Jane Hart, Learning and Performance Technologies queen, Fiona Quigley, an e-learning expert in Aurion, Belfast and Sabrina Dent - a crankypants web diva, to name just a few (sorry - I could go on and on).
I also met the inspirational Alison Malloy (Eastman Kodak) at the ACE unConference in Derry - her story of teeter-tottering for years between bankruptcy and riches before selling her company to Kodak was just amazing. But I struggle to name other role models - as did Maryrose Lyons of Brightspark Consulting in her Ada LoveLace post.
Maryrose's post got me thinking. I've got tired of being referred to as the token female for some of the classes, events or talks that I attend. A fellow Girl Geek summed it up comically at a Belfast Girl Geek Dinner - 'Sometimes you just feel like you're the only Girl in the Village'.
It's really not like this always. But some events make me feel a little like I'm drowning in a sea of suits. And because I'm small, stand-up networking events irritate me - there's always a whole conversation going on above my head while I get a crick in my neck from looking up. That's why I'm a real fan of sit-down networking or perching on a high stool to talk with someone - we get to be much more on the same level.
Anyway! Karen Virapen has heard my woes and sent me this lovely lovely Muppet Ladies clip. It has cheered me right up, and given me an urgin to go be a great surgeon! Watch and enjoy :)
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