TGGD #8: Amber MacArthur talks Personal Brand

We're thrilled to have Amber MacArthur, aka Amber Mac as our guest speaker at Toronto Girl Geek Dinner #8 on October 29, 2008.

Amber is a new media journalist and web strategist. She creates and co-hosts a video podcast called commandN and co-hosts net@nite. She also works for Toronto's CP24 as New Media Specialist. Learn more about Amber.

The theme for Amber's talk is how to build (and maintain) your personal brand.


Over a decade ago, Tom Peters wrote:

It's a new brand world.


That cross-trainer you're wearing -- one look at the distinctive swoosh on the side tells everyone who's got you branded. That coffee travel mug you're carrying -- ah, you're a Starbucks woman! Your T-shirt with the distinctive Champion "C" on the sleeve, the blue jeans with the prominent Levi's rivets, the watch with the hey-this-certifies-I-made-it icon on the face, your fountain pen with the maker's symbol crafted into the end ...


You're branded, branded, branded, branded.


It's time for me -- and you -- to take a lesson from the big brands, a lesson that's true for anyone who's interested in what it takes to stand out and prosper in the new world of work.


Regardless of age, regardless of position, regardless of the business we happen to be in, all of us need to understand the importance of branding. We are CEOs of our own companies: Me Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called You.

To get the conversation started, Amber will share her experiences, insights and the tools she uses to manager her own personal brand.


We're heading back to Fionn MacCool's, a pub at University and Adelaide. The good folks there take good care of us! We'll kick off with drinks and some nosh (cash and carry) at 7:00 p.m. and ask Amber to start her talk around 7:30 p.m.

You guys know how this works. Cruise on over to the Toronto Girl Geek Dinner wiki to sign up to participate on October 29. Don't forget to hit up our Facebook Group, give us some love on your blogs, post some tweets on Twitter and help us get the word out about our event on October 29.

Microsoft Canada's TechDays 2008

Our friends at Microsoft Canada have given me the scoop on TechDays 2008 which is Microsoft's largest technical education conference series for IT Professionals and Developers in Canada, ever. The multi-city series promises to provide skills development through deep technical training, a place to connect with peers and the opportunity to learn and evaluate across a wide range of technical sessions.

D'Arcy Lussier wrote on his blog, TechDays 2008 promises to be, "All Thriller. No Filler. This is *NOT* a marketing tour! It’s a one to two day conference (depending on your city) that focuses on learning and using Microsoft technologies. Think of it as a Microsoft focused code camp of sorts."

The education at TechDays is delivered by Microsoft and their partners along with industry experts. The gang at Microsoft have been working hard to bring this high-quality event to Canadians.

Here are some highlights of Microsoft TechDays 2008:

• Technology training conference for Canadian IT Professionals and Developers
• Coming to Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Winnipeg, Calgary, Halifax and Vancouver
• Forty skill strengthening sessions – with a customizable agenda
• The latest technologies – Including Virtualization
• All attendees receive a learning kit valued at approximately $1,000 plus bonuses
• A tour to spark your passion for technology
• Connect with Experts and Peers
• Apply what you learn
  

Miguel Carrasco writes, "If you are a software developer, you should email your boss or team lead immediately and ask them if you can attend the event in your city. Not only will you get a chance to participate in some amazing technical presentations, but you’ll also get a ton of free stuff!"

TechDays 2008 are going social. For Twitter, please use #TechDays_CA as the hashtag. Also, you can follow http://twitter.com/techdays_ca for tweets and information. There's also a Flickr group (please tag with TechDays_CA) and a Facebook fan page.

Get more information and sign-up for TechDays 2008.

Report on TGGD #7 with Sandi Jones

I think I can safely say that last night's Toronto Girl Geek Dinner with Sandi Jones from Rogers was a resounding success.

A special thank you to our sponsor Microsoft. It was good to hear about all the impressive initiatives for women in technology that Microsoft Canada is working on. If you're interested in being involved in the mentoring program Qixing spoke about last night, please leave a note in the comments and I'll send along her contact details.

Last night's discussion (wonderfully facilitated by Sandi, don't you think?) about the fundamental shift in technology from big business to the consumer was great. Here are just a few of the examples you shared last night of how we're doing neat things with consumer technology:

• At Jack.fm radio personalities are using Twitter for audience interaction.
• Heather is getting a grassroots project up and running with free wiki + FriendFeed + Twitter
• Allison who works for a publishing company is overlaying their subscriber data with Google maps to help them decide where to hold events
• Julia worked on a Facebook application that overlays Google Maps to show people where to find dog parks. She's also pitched a pharma company on using Twitter + Facebook ads.
• We are using Google Docs for a side project to collaborate (cheap & easy)
• Meredith is using Google Calendar to keep track of remote employees and share schedules
• Qixing at her team at Microsoft Canada are applying social bookmarking features to three big technical resource sites and so users can easily save, find and share useful information
• I know we had a bunch more examples, feel free to leave the ones I missed in the comments!
  

A big thank-you again to Sandi. I think you'll all agree that this is an exciting time to be in technology. And that being smart about the tools and technology options available for you (in your personal and business lives) is a great advantage for Girl Geeks.

Update:

Roxana Vidal-Shand took some great photos. She says, "they capture the camaraderie of the evening..." Thank you for sharing, Roxana. View the rest of her photo set on Flickr.

Tomorrow's Girl Geek Dinner - Sponsored by

Just a little over 24 hours to September's Girl Geek Dinner, and we're pleased to announce a sponsor. Microsoft Canada has stepped up to the plate and agreed to cover event costs AND provide dinner for ten female students.

If you are a student, please visit the wiki and move your name under the student heading and enjoy a free meal on Microsoft, if you're not, visit the wiki anyway since we still have about 7 spots left for tomorrow's dinner and about 15 people on the waiting list.

Thanks again to Microsoft Canada for their support of this great tech community event!

It's alive - Get the Toronto Girl Geek blog feed

I've created the Toronto Girl Geek Dinner Blogs feed using RSS Mixer. Check it out.

If you'd like to have your blog added to our mix, please add your name to the wiki and I'll update the feed.

Let me know if you notice anything wonky about the feed, or if you've got any feedback.

Update: Last night at TGGD #7, Eden reported strange behaviour with the feed not showing her latest posts. Please let me know if you experience any RSS strangeness. I just added 4 more blogs to the feed. RSS Mixer is an Alpha service, so there may be bugs.

Two More Sleeps until our Toronto Girl Geek Dinner

All 50 spots for Thursday night's Toronto Girl Geek Dinner are booked! If you're on the waiting list, watch the wiki closely. If you're on the list and can't make it, please be sure to remove your name from the list so someone else can take your spot!

See you Thursday Sept. 10 at Fionn MacCool's, 181 University Ave, at Adelaide. Drinks and food are cash and carry. Sandi Jones from Rogers will start her talk at 7:30 p.m.