Spring came and went and we didn’t host She’s Geeky in DC. One of the reasons was a timing conflict with Nonprofit 2.0. We are checking with the community to find a good time that won’t conflict with other key events.

If you are interested in She’s Geeky and encouraging us to come to your city please use this form.

You can see the complete set of results on our wiki – here are some highlights for the blog:

Friday, November 13th, 2009

As a result of today….

I was part of conversations I’m interested in hearing and contributing to

I’ve learned that the DC area has a amazing group of talented and smart women and I feel so honored and happy to have met them

I am more confident in my geekiness

I learned that if you ask questions you will learn about options available

I feel a stronger sense of community

I feel less isolated

I am more affirmed in the vision that I have in harnessing the power of technology and community to create and bring forth energy to make personal goals and dreams a reality – thank you

I feel a part of a welcoming community that does and will do amazing things with technology

I realized I really can and do move mountains on tiny, itty, bitty boulder at a time

I am more committed to determining what kind of entrepreneur I want to be

I feel creative, centered and confident. Thank you!

I expanded my personal and professional network – I feel more empowered and more conscious of women’s issues in the technology industry

I learned about a cool open source project I never would have known about – met women with similar interests as well

I feel more connected to a vibrant community of strong women leaders

I found a community

I have new allies who can help me move my vision into reality – thank you for opening my perspective

I see a lot of power in this room!

Saturday, November 14th, 2009

As a result of today….

I’m getting more women to consider designing Apps

I’m going to be more involved in supporting girls in tech

I realized that you have to do what you love and you’ll have a great time

I will work toward truly contributing to my technical field by finally presenting topics of expertise

I may have a job and I definitely have a new perspective

I feel empowered to take more chances and be more aggressive in my goals

I know that I need to will speak the ‘language’ to get results

I feel like I have a safe space within the online community of women to speak my mind, ask questions I might otherwise be too embarrassed to ask, foster ideas and more knowledge

As a result of today I am pledging to give 5 talks this year and support those who also make this pledge

The first session I attended had was entitled “Women on panels at conferences: Should we employ affirmative action or not?” The group presented challenges that have historically faced women becoming “accepted” experts in their field. We then discussed strategies to create the self esteem and confidence needed in order to be comfortable marketing ourselves to conferences.

Day 2 was an adventure. We found out when we got to the venue that something had happened and the power to the whole building had been cut the previous evening.  With over 70 people coming and a whole wall of windows along the lobby we decided we could make a go of it.  Her post on Con-Techie is here.

Acts of Faith covered it today on her blog.

I thought it was interesting how we could have dozens of women of all backgrounds here but the biggest tech conference organizers claim they can’t “find” any women speakers. Now Mashable claims they can’t “find” any bloggers of color to write for them. Uh oh somebody’s nose is growing…

The American Association of University Women attended and posted this last week:

In many sessions, attendees expressed the concern that, although women and girls have made significant progress in STEM, they are still underrepresented in certain fields and that barriers to their full participation remain. This position was validated during a session focused on women in technology. Many participants said they have attended other tech conferences and found that speakers and panelists are predominantly men. There was a resounding plea for recruiting women to present at technology conferences.

AAUW is committed to improving the number of women and girls in the STEM fields. We work with the National Girls Collaborative Project, which brings together organizations that are committed to informing and encouraging girls to pursue careers in STEM. AAUW’s other partners in the project include the Puget Sound Center for Teaching, Learning, and Technology; Assessing Women and Men in Engineering; and the Education Development Center.

AAUW’s upcoming 2010 research report will highlight key findings from recent research on women and girls in STEM at three stages: in middle and high school, in college, and in the workplace

#1 explaining how unconferences work  & summary of session covering digital natives &

#2   honoring the young women attending

During the conference she did several great interviews with women at the conference.

• Kety Esquivel - who works for our venue host – National Council of La Raza
• Lovisa Williams -  Department of State – deputy of innovative engagement
• Christine Miller from Toronto & SEIU Canada. Embracing her “inner geek”
• Kaliya – founder of She’s Geeky
• Heidi Nobantu Saul – explaining how she got involved with she’s geeky
• Shana Glickfield – from NextGenWeb & DC Concierge
• Daudi Gardner – to learn about unconferences and connect to women geeks
• Gabriela Schneider – from sunlight foundation – open up gov using internet
• Jennifer Ehidiamen – young nonprofit leader from Nigeria
• “DeeNice” Rhodes – taming the technology tiger.
• Maxine Teller – Mixt Media strategies founder – Gov 2.0 leader.
• Kate Bladlow -enjoying she’s geeky
• Faith Dow-  great to be in a supportive environment learning

You can see the full twitter stream on our wiki here.

We went through and selected some highlights that reflected the spirit of the event. Enjoy!:

@mixtmedia: It’s going to be interesting to see % of sessions related to “she” versus “geeky” #shesgeeky

@ClaudiaAAUW: Loving the free flow of ideas for sessions at #shesgeeky

@abkitsme: #shesgeeky – and the wall is now going up! What fun this day will be!!

@hthompson: Building the agenda at #shesgeeky unconference. About 50 women here, creating the day’s schedule on the spot.

@dcconcierge: So many great session ideas at #shesgeeky!! Women getting outside the box w/ ideas like yoga for computer users, overcoming burnout, etc..

@merici: At #shesgeeky with lotsa ladies. First unconference I’ve been to in awhile where I actually want to go several panels.

@ClaudiaAAUW: Unconference could be my new favorite format for learning. My ADHD has a home. #shesgeeky

@moarinternets: so many awesome topics – how does a girl decide?! #shesgeeky

@tericee: This #shesgeeky unconference is so interesting I didn’t realize lunch time was about to pass me by.

@debbieweil: Love that #shesgeeky DC is girls only. Different discussion. Sorry guys @corbett3000 @semanticwill @technosailor @JustinOwen

@ClaudiaAAUW: Having a great organic learning experience at #Shesgeeky. I wish my colleagues could have had this experience. Watch out for my blog!

@debbieweil: Awesome group of tech women at #shesgeeky & v. well organized. Thoroughly enjoyed it, esp. session on entrepreneurship led by @el_que

@tempest1970: RT @lovisatalk: RT @kat_rose: how do you help other women in technology from getting burned out? #shesgeeky

@Kickstand447: After todays session @ #shesgeeky…I remembered how much I LOVE live-tweeting!

@anandaleeke: had a great day at #shesgeeky in DC. What a great group of #socialmedia and tech women. Taught a yoga class too! OM Yummy!

@mammaloves: Awesome day at #shesgeekyDC Met incredible women. Re-inspired and then chatted #barcampdc folks for happy hour.

@anandaleeke: is still excited about all of the things I learned today at #shesgeeky in DC. One thing is for sure … I am a unconference agenda believer!

@anandaleeke: I also love #shesgeeky unconference format because it was organic and intuitive. I loved how we all created the agenda.Our needs were met.

@lovisatalk: Great to see daughters today! RT @KetyE: rt @nextgenweb Day 2 of #shesgeeky under way with ironic twist –a power outage!! #shesgeeky

@dcconcierge: Am I at the wrong conference? Women debating best captain on Star Trek here at #shesgeeky!!

@Afine: Wish I was there! RT @WomenWhoTech: Looking forward to @ShesGeeky DC today. Awesome day yesterday – will be even better today!

@lovisatalk: Once again will be hard to choose sessions at #shesgeeky today.

@amandare: There’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help women – M Albright #shesgeeky

@KetyE: Yea! rt @raylab The little #shesgeeky ladies are talking about use of facebook. I can’t imagine facebook as a middle school student.

@raylab: There has to be basic education about digital identity w young people. Wish somebody had told me to be intentional about it. #shesgeeky

@moarinternets: What are the options for programmers over 40 who don’t want management jobs? #shesgeeky

@KetyE: its inspiring 2 c the power, beauty & creativity in the #shesgeeky young ones (under 16 crowd ) it’s been amazing having them here.

@KetyE: blue-eyed/brown-eyed experiment & how it translates in2 gender dynamics- inequity/entitlemen/womyns strugle yesterday vs 2day #shesgeeky

@uniongal: “I try to engage my husband in active listening” you go Rachel! #shesgeeky

@uniongal: How do women empower women to do whatever they want to do in life? How can we do better and more for other women? #shesgeeky

@debbieweil: @donnafenn your new book (“Upstarts! GenY Entrepreneurs”) was perf reference for #shesgeeky convo about women & entrepreneurship.

@moarinternets: I have learned that I can live without electricity but not the internets and awesome smart geeky women. #shesgeeky #fb

@Beatricity: I’m still processing all the information I just learned about open id, oauth, and related issues #shesgeeky

@tericee: Hoping there are some geeky folks or corporations out there willing to sponsor @shesgeeky around the country!

@anandaleeke: had an amazing weekend with the women and girls at #shesgeeky unconference held at the National Council of La Raza in DC.

@anandaleeke: is really basking in the joy of being a part of #shesgeeky. Had a great time videotaping amazing women. Will post videos in next few dys.

@tiffani: @digitalsista heyy Shireen! It was ultra-cool to finally meet you! Had loads of fun tonite! Thanks for #shesgeeky too!

@digitalsista: RT @ActsofFaithblog: Watching @digitalsista being interviewed by 1 of the young girls attending #shesgeeky. The future looks bright// YES!

@digitalsista: at #shesgeeky got women to seriously consider the apps they have thought up to design, pitch & next bring to market! #tech #socialmedia #wmn

@TraceyHolinka: @KetyE #shesgeeky unplugged was great. Thanks for such a great space!

@WomenWhoTech: At ShesGeeky# we had brief convo on term personal brand. Love it or hate it – bottom line it’s impt 2 define what u want 2 be known 4 IMHO

@WomenWhoTech: My closing statement at #ShesGeeky yesterday was to push through obstacles & take action & I would support wmn & help anyway I can.