Posts Tagged Geeks
Web Scene #3 overview and pics!
So Wednesday 4 June was the third Cardiff Web Scene Meet-Up at 10 Feet Tall and what a great night it was!
We were really pleased to see both familiar and new faces, mingling and chatting about the latest happenings in the web and the industry. We were even happier to hear that some of you made some great connections and even potentially got some new work from the event!
We were very lucky to be joined by Matthew Cashmore, Senior Research Producer for the BBC who invited everyone to Mashed at Alexandra Palace on 21 June (and also provided some free BBC goodies … We love you Matt!). For those of you who were unable to come to the meet-up but still want to take advantage of the free Cardiff to London (and return) ‘Mashed’ bus, you may still be able to sign up for your place online.
You can also keep up to date with the latest ‘Mashed’ and backstage news at Matthew’s Backstage blog.
Unfortunately our second speaker, Tim Holmes from Cardiff University wasn’t able to attend the meet-up, but we’re hoping he’ll join us to talk about journalism and writing for the web and one of the next events.
So that’s it for another couple of months, if you’ve got any questions or comments about the last or the next meet-up, or would like to speak at the next one, please let us know. We’re already thinking about Meet-Up number 4 which we’re planning for September and maybe even a festive meet-up in December.
If you want to keep up-to-date with our plans and progress you can join the Facebook group , sign up to the mailing list or watch this space…
*** Claire
Add comment June 6, 2008
Geek is the new black
Continuing with the BBC connection, we’re really pleased to announce the first speaker for the next Cardiff Web Scene Meet-Up. Matthew Cashmore, Senior Research Producer for BBC Future Media and Technology, Research and Innovation who will be talking about ‘BBC Backstage’ and ‘Mashed’ at Alexandra Palace and just another quick reminder that you’ll also have the opportunity to sign up for the ‘Cardiff Mashed Bus’ which we will be organising for anyone who is interested in free transport to the event on June 21st.
Organising the next event has given us a warm fuzzy feeling that we’re doing something nice and good for the web industry and we hope that everyone who comes along will feel the same. As I’ve mentioned before, networking events and recognition for those that work in the web are few and far between however, thankfully ‘Geek Meet-Ups’ seem to be springing up all over the world from Oxford to Leeds to Boston.
Hopefully it will give the industry the bit of a boost that it needs, for example the BBC Innovation Lab that we recently attended follows a similar pattern to the last two web scene meet-ups in that the male to female ratio was about 15 – 1, and I bet Mashed will be the same. Why are women in the web in such a minority?
Is it to do with reputation? I’m not sure that terms such as ‘Geeks’ and ‘Nerds’ have helped promote the industry in the best light. Perhaps schools teaching ‘IT’ should get kids involved in the web a bit more and show them the funky stuff you can do with Flash and AJAX as well as the Word and Excel basics that are drilled into them on a daily basis. And not just the web, but games development, 3D graphics and simulation too.
Let’s all do our bit to show what a stimulating, fun and sexy industry the web is to work in – it can only be a good thing. It’ll help with recruitment and job prospects, more recognition and cooler events, bigger and better improvements in technology, and your mum and dad won’t keep asking ‘so what is it exactly that you do?’.
The future is not just bright, it’s luminous!
*** Claire
Add comment May 21, 2008
