DDD7 Call for Submissions is open. With a prize for girls | The Coffeehouse

The DDD7 call for submissions is open.

This year I decided to try to encourage women to submit topics; and so am offering an 1 year MSDN Premium Subscription as a prize. For details see the girl geek dinners blog.

Maddus Mattus

Nice initiative, nice topics,.. too bad I dont live in the UK Smiley

and blowdart,

seriously,

there has got to be a better way to meet women!

blowdart

In reply to Maddus Mattus

#Jun 19th @ 3:06 AM

I'm actually an honourary girl WRT the girly geek dinners.

I don't know if that's good or bad.

Jaz

Will you be offering a prize to black speakers? Asian speakers? how about midgets or dwarves or whatever is the PC name for that demographic.

I really really hate this prejudice we have in the industry to favour women because they are seen as a minority. Do you know how many women i work with compared to the amount of black people i work with?

I can use 3 fingers for the latter and 2 hands for the former. The majority of those women are in the most senior positions of our IT department.

I think it's a disgrace and utter waste of time that all the IT industry does is pander to women, we have a shortfall in IT graduates (whether we believe degrees mean anything over experience or not), we should be targeting all walks of life. And you know what, the majority of women i've talked to about this agree with me.

I look forward to getting my prize when i make a submission for having Ginger hair.

Maddus Mattus

In reply to Jaz

#Jun 19th @ 4:16 AM

Goverments are doing exactly the same thing.

If the candidates skill set is the same, women, handicaped or people who belong to minority groups get preffered.

That's racism in a nutshell. But hey, as long as you are discriminating the majority; it's all right. /sarcasm off

Still, I would like to see more women in IT. We need someone to tell us when colors mismatch,... And I'd rather look at a geeky girl instead of the geeking guys I am working with Wink

And don't ruin blowdart's only night out with a woman,..... Wink

Maddus Mattus

In reply to Jaz

#Jun 19th @ 4:16 AM

Edit: Double post, server is acting up?

blowdart

In reply to Jaz

#Jun 19th @ 4:16 AM

Except we don't (generally) have a problem with racism in the industry, we do have a problem with misogyny. Plus frankly women bring a different perspective, and it ought to be encourage. Plus I only have 1 subscription to give away, and tough, I can do what I want.

Anyway, everyone knows that ginger people are evil and ought to put exterminated.

Maddus Mattus

In reply to blowdart

#Jun 19th @ 4:54 AM

You've been watching too many Southpark episodes Smiley

Colin A Mackay

In reply to blowdart

#Jun 19th @ 4:54 AM

Blowdart wrote:
Anyway, everyone knows that ginger people are evil

What's wrong with ginger people? I know some very nice ginger people.

ben2004uk

In reply to blowdart

#Jun 19th @ 4:54 AM

I agree with Blowdart. The industry is definitely more male oriented than female, especially within the UK community, whatever we can do to encourage more women to join is a good thing!

Plus blowdart needs a date.... if MSDN subscriptions are his chatup line then he truly is a geek.

blowdart

In reply to Colin A Mackay

#Jun 19th @ 5:17 AM

Well ginger *girls* are hot ....

Anyway; the coffeehouse has already driven off quite a few posters; some of which were girls (but it's ok, they weren't single girls). When any group drives people away some introspection should happen.

ben2004uk

In reply to Colin A Mackay

#Jun 19th @ 5:17 AM

Dup sorry.

Maddus Mattus

In reply to ben2004uk

#Jun 19th @ 5:25 AM

Girls like different stuff then guys.

It's only natural.

That's why we dont have many women in IT. Trying to change that, is asking girls to go against their nature. And going against onces nature is always a bad move. Guys want to know how stuff works, they take a screwdriver and start investigating. Girls just want stuff to work and really dont care how. On the other hand, girls have a much more caring nature. That's why in healthcare almost all nursus are female. You dont see them promoting the adoption of more men?

I dont understand why we have to force everything, if women dont like IT, let them be. It's their choice. Respect it.

Colin A Mackay

In reply to blowdart

#Jun 19th @ 5:20 AM

Blowdart wrote: "Well ginger *girls* are hot ...."

Especially with a soft Irish accent...

Colin A Mackay

In reply to ben2004uk

#Jun 19th @ 5:25 AM

ben2004uk wrote: "Dup sorry."

I don't see any duplicate post.

blowdart

In reply to Maddus Mattus

#Jun 19th @ 5:30 AM

I don't think it's a question of forcing (or sweeping generalisations); it's more that the girls that do try encounter way more attitude problems from their colleagues than anyone else. Women may well like IT; but when IT doesn't like them, then that's a problem.

I know one girl geek who, when at conferences, has everyone assume she's in marketing. Admittedly this makes me laugh; but it's hardly good.

Maddus Mattus

In reply to blowdart

#Jun 19th @ 5:41 AM

I can remember we had this discussion before,...

I never heard of any woman in the IT getting beef because she is one. I do hear stories of women giving men beef in women oriented occupations.

Women are not as fragile as you think. If they wanted a position in the IT, you betcha azz they would take it.

blowdart

In reply to Maddus Mattus

#Jun 19th @ 5:52 AM

Ah well if we use "I've heard" I can point at quite a few. One of which used to post here. However Kathy Sierra's experience is probably a good example; although it's arguable if that was because she was female.

Itslloydhere

In reply to blowdart

#Jun 19th @ 4:54 AM

We need a comment from SaraJo Tongue Out

Minh

In reply to Maddus Mattus

#Jun 19th @ 5:30 AM

Maddus Mattus wrote:
I dont understand why we have to force everything

I agree. We shouldn't force a laizzes faire attitude towards recruiting women into IT.

BevH

In reply to Maddus Mattus

#Jun 19th @ 5:30 AM

Oh soooo not true.

This girl can show you 5 blokes who are completely clueless for every airhead female you can find.

And Blowdart is exactly right - it's the "females don't understand and need to be patronised attitude" which really gets to me... for example at a University Library last month I was trying to get on to the student network (I just started a phd) and they run a nice little thing that checks your updates and your AV and then allows you on the network... but didn't recognise my AV. Spoke to the help desk via phone - no problem they will add it. So 5 mins later as suggested, I tried to connect and the browser displayed 500 internal server error.

The help desk person returned at that moment, so I decided to ask him. He told me it was my laptop's problem and that it worked fine (on his wired pc). I explained that the server error displayed in the browser was possibly because they needed to restart Tomcat having updated the database as the ejb in the stack trace wasn't found. He blinked at me and took my laptop off me (with out asking) and began to use it. I took it back off of him before he did something stupid and insisted he phoned the server guys.

He did, he whined at the server guy that I wouldn't let him look at the laptop, he failed to mention the error message. I asked to speak to the server guy and told him the error and he said he would restart the server and to give it 5 mins. I duly did and it worked.

There was no telling this errmmmm (looks for suitable adjective, can't find one, gives up and types) male help desk person that I knew what I was talking about. I then spent the afternoon watching him. Every girl who asked for help he tutted and sighed and rolled his eyes and used condescending tones. Every male that asked for help he displayed no such tendencies.

This is why girls don't go into IT, because every time they try, they are patted on the head and told they don't understand. Since girls (that I know) don't like to rock the boat, they go find something else to do instead. Me? If I know I am on firm ground, I will make a fuss, get accused of being a whiney * then win the argument based on straight technical knowledge.

Blowdart, the competition for girls is a nice idea, it's just a damn shame that it's needed.

La Bomba

In reply to BevH

#Jun 19th @ 10:35 AM

Is being a women in IT a disadvantage? Yes. But maybe it's more societal issue than just IT?

If you like IT enough, you'll have to fight through it, eventually people will have to concede you know what your doing. You have to overcome the predigious out there. Enough women start standing up for themselves and knocking down the doors is the only way to get ahead.

What i'm saying is, don't expect men to change.... Big Smile

Bas

In reply to La Bomba

#Jun 19th @ 2:04 PM

I think the way women are treated in IT has more to do with most people in IT being socially awkward than being male.

Of course, I work in an all-male IT environment, so my opinion is worth exactly zero on these matters.

BevH

In reply to Bas

#Jun 19th @ 2:09 PM

On Radio 4 the other day they were broadcasting a history of women in the House of Lords.... women in the gallery were seen as a "distraction"...

Is that a euphemism for men are so weak minded that they are distracted by a woman's face that they can't concentrate on the task at hand?

It would explain "social awkwardness" Big Smile

Bas

In reply to BevH

#Jun 19th @ 2:55 PM

If men in politics have the same social skills as general people in IT? Yes. Tongue Out