I think I was waiting in line for the restroom at the Webby Awards back in 2001 when I was rendered cognizant of the fact that I was somewhat of a novelty in the then-budding internet industry: a girl. The line to the men’s room was about a mile long, but I was able to swing right in to the women’s. It was a little disorienting, especially having recently graduated from Wellesley.

It got me thinking: Was it the preconceived notion that computer science was a boy’s-club secret language that pushed the glass ceiling lower – or were women innately disinterested in all things tech? The former probably applies to most industries. And the latter, well, didn’t make much sense. But it did cross my mind that women might not have been as diligent about sufficiently spinning our own web around, well, the web.

Girls in Tech is our opportunity to do just that: Tie together a growing powerhouse of enterprising, tech-savvy women to rally around what interests us most. (Woah. That’s a mouthful.) But seriously, we’re not a soapbox (not that we’d shut you up), but rather a means to exchange ideas and opportunities. And maybe even a little gossip and champagne.

So welcome! And, by all means, take advantage of our upcoming networking functions, round-table discussions, social engagements, and recruitment events. And there’s a lot more where that comes from, since, y’know, it all comes from you (well, that’s not completely true; without the marketing and PR mojo Adriana and LaurieAnne throw in, we’d just be a bunch of women hanging out, which isn’t all that bad, but still).

In case you’re wondering, we’ve been around since Feb of ’07, but, hey, we won’t hold it against you if you’ve thus-far referenced us as the hot new thing. Because we kinda are.

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Yay! More info (we know you love it, you wicked smart ladies):

Created in February of 2007, Girls in Tech was founded by technology, marketing and PR mavens Adriana Gascoigne and LaurieAnne Lassek. GIT was born to further support girls in an industry that, traditionally, has been primarily, well, mostly full of guys. GIT believes that we’d all be better off by developing improved resources, cultivating stronger relationships and celebrating our achievements more often.

Girls in Tech is an organization which caters to intelligent, professional, and influential young women working in the technology industry. The organization is membership driven and aims to provide tools and information to empower, as well as encourage innovation, inspiration and involvement among, its members. At the same time, GIT seeks to collaborate with like-minded men in the industry.

Girls in Tech offers a variety of resources to women to supplement and further enhance their professional careers in and around the technology industry. Some of these resources include networking functions, round- table discussions, social engagements, and recruitment events.

Posted on Behalf of Adriana Gascoigne, Girls in Tech!

Girls in Tech is working in conjunction with Girl Geek Dinners as we both share the same goals and vision. (Sharing the experience of girly geekdom around the world!)

About Dr Mariann Hardey

I hold the position of Lecturer in Social Media Marketing at Durham Business School. I also spend too much time enjoying social technologies, media+ stuff. That'll make me a Geek then. And a gal.

This entry was posted on Friday, August 10th, 2007 at 5:13 pm and is filed under Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.