Rated
May 04 2009
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1 review
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internet, technology conference, geek girl camp, science, cape cod, geekgirlcamp
• capebusiness.net
From the page: "Q&A with Leslie Fishlock
by Leslie Fishlock
What is Geek Girl Camp?
Geek Girl Camp is on a mission to educate every woman on technology and learn not to be afraid of it! We do this through a series of events, Web presence, and recently, full-day Tech Boot Camps on the South Shore and Cape Cod. The Boot Camps are technology â€oeunconferences” for women of all ages and knowledge levels where they can go and immerse themselves in workshops on computers, the Internet, marketing, consumer electronics, hardware, software, social media, Photoshop, blogging, podcasting, digital photography, video and more. Itâ€s a taste of the technology world, providing attendees an idea of whatâ€s out there, whatâ€s hot and what they need to know, and get them excited to take the initiative to do it.
Why did you create it?
I was getting frustrated that so many women were not as Web and computer savvy as they should be, especially in a world right now where if you are not online, you are soon out of business. I soon realized there was nothing out there that could help women become more aware of all these things, so a year ago I held the first Geek Girl Camp â€" a 3-hour event with 6 workshops that attracted more than 120 women and sold out in 3 weeks. It was a huge success and we had our â€oeaha” moment.
How do you market the events?
This was a real learning curve. Because I am â€oein the business” with my web company, we went full out with viral videos, blogging, Web, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, online event sites, you name it. We had social media covered. However, we needed a low-tech and even no-tech approach as well, because that is where some of the audience was. We reverted back to oldfashioned networking. We attended luncheons, drove around from Provincetown to Boston to put flyers up, and passed out postcards to everyone. It was interesting, in the end we got an article in the Boston Globe due to our social media contacts, and we got a Channel 5 television interview through Facebook contacts. We used a little bit of both worlds, which shows that tenacity and hard work, whether in new or old media, does pay off.
Whatâ€s the No. 1 takeaway you want attendees to have?
Do not be afraid of technology! Embrace it, learn it, buy it, play with it. Never stop learning. Keep attending events, presentations, workshops, etc. Donâ€t take everything as gospel, listen to the source and see what fits for you. Take what you need and leave the rest. Even people at the top of their fields in tech still learn new things everyday. Itâ€s definitely a never-ending journey, because technology changes every day.
Whatâ€s your current tech obsession?
For the Internet, I have been a Twitter freak for almost two years. That is definitely the hottest Web application, and there are great Twitter derivatives such as StockTwits.com, which is a real-time community for investors and traders. Everyone should seriously consider getting a Twitter account. For hardware, Mac is always hot and is definitely gaining more market share with great new MacBook Pros and iMacs â€" and Iâ€m never without my iPhone. Iâ€m also addicted to StumbleUpon, and cannot live without my Dropbox, Basecamp, Skype and IM every day for work. â- "