Report from TGGD #15: Sarah Prevette, founder, Sprouter

Text and photos by Jessie Bonisteel.

Sarah Prevette founder of Sprouter, spoke to a room full of Toronto Girl Geeks on September 29th about the many lessons she has learned as her life as an entrepreneur. Sarah has been involved with the tech industry since the start of her career. Her insightful and humorous talk was no doubt an inspiration to all of those present.

One key message of Sarah's talk was don't let your ego get in the way of your potential success. If you have an idea for a project make sure you build a network of knowledgeable people around you, do your research and don't be afraid to ask for help. Once you get to the launch phase of that project, you will find yourself better equipped with the resources you will need to make it a success. Sarah's experience with her first start-up, Upinion.com, and the hurdles she faced lead her to found Sprouter.com - a networking application to help entrepreneurs connect, share ideas and support one another.

Other key lessons from Sarah's talk were:

Network actively

Don't just collect business cards, follow up with people and ask how you can help them. Sarah randomly picks 5 business cards out of her stack and thinks about ways she could connect with and help this individual. When you make a new connection ask them 'who else do you know that I should talk to?'

Don't be afraid to promote yourself

Canadian entrepreneurs should engage in self-promotion more actively, and not be shy about trumpeting their successes. Be classy - not spammy.

Launch fast and fail fast

The best way to see if an idea has legs is to get it out there in the community. Don't let perfectionism and endless tweaking hold you back. Get your idea out there fast, be prepared to fail and try again.

Engage your community

Become actively involved in the community your product or idea is geared towards. Don't just listen to what they are saying but engage them and have an active dialogue with them.

Sarah's experience growing Sprouter.com and becoming involved as an organizer with Twestival lead her to create her three 'A's' of community engagement:

1. Amazing: be amazing, add value and enable the success of others

2. Accessibility: be accessible, don't ignore negative feedback or comments, respond as quickly as you can

3. Authenticity: be transparent - if you don't know the answer to something, admit it.

Sarah concluded her chat with a question & answer session, followed by a chance for Girl Geeks to mingle.

Keep your eyes on the blog for announcements about our next TGGD event. Special thanks to our volunteers and to our sponsor Hover. Head on over to hover.com for all of your domain name registration needs.

Win a pass to meshmarketing on October 22

As we announced at last night's event, we have a ticket to give away to a TGGD member. meshmarketing is October 22 at Circa. This draw closes on Friday, October 2. If you have a ticket already, please enter anyway as you can give your prize away to someone else.

meshmarketing is a one-day event focused on insights, tools and tactics to help you win customers' hearts and minds, online. An insightful keynote will lead us into a series of engaging conversations and "show and tell" presentations, as well as in-depth workshops.

meshmarketing brings together people who are passionate about the potential of the Web to change how we live, work and play. This day is not just about the stage. Like our other mesh events, meshmarketing will be a highly interactive experience where we will continue the dialogue and explore the next generation of ideas, leaders and companies at mesh.

How to enter:

1. Write a tweet in 100 characters "why it's great to be a geek girl at meshmarketing"
2. Send the Tweet to Sheri @s_moore with the hashtags #meshmarketing and #TGGD.
   
3. The most creative answer wins a complimentary ticket to meshmarketing October 22 at Circa.
4. Get your Tweet sent by October 2. The prize is transferable.
   

Girl Geek Dinners - a remarkable movement

I'm getting my notes together for my MC duties for tonight's Toronto Girl Geek Dinner. We're expecting 50 or so women (and a few men) from the Toronto technology community to come out to reconnect with friends, meet new people, and be inspired by the ideas and perspective of our featured speaker, Sarah Prevette, founder and CEO of Sprouter.

When Maggie and Jenny started Toronto Girl Geek Dinners in 2007, we were the first location outside of the UK. Now, there are Girl Geek Dinner communities in over 40 places worldwide. That's pretty phenomenal, don't you think?

Tonight is our 15th event. Which is pretty cool. Looking back, we've welcomed an incredible list of speakers including:

Sandy Kemsley
Leila Boujnane
Leigh Himel
Kate Trgovac
Malgosia Green
Ali de Bold
Jayne Hoogenberk
Sandi Jones
Amber MacArthur
Connie Crosby
Candice Faktor
Michal Berman
Sarah Prevette

We're always on the lookout for speakers and ideas for themes and topics. If you're in Toronto, please check out our blog, wiki, Facebook and Meetup.com group. If you're elsewhere and want to get involved, please visit Girl Geek Dinners for a list of global groups.

What do you value most from participating in Girl Geek Dinner events?

Enter to Win Free Pass to "Poised for Leadership" Professional Coaching Workshop

What are you doing on September 18? If you're a high-achieving professional woman, who wants to fast-track your transition into a leadership role, I suggest you take a look at this workshop.

There are two opportunities for Toronto Girl Geeks. We have a free pass to give away (see details below to enter) and there's a discount available too.

The Poised for Leadership Workshop features Jo Miller. Jo is CEO of a leadership coaching and seminar company, Women's Leadership Coaching (WLC). She helps women create roadmaps to leadership positions in business with seminars, webinars and individual coaching programs. Jo blogs at Women's Leadership Coaching and tweets as @Jo_Miller.

The Poised for Leadership Workshop is a great opportunity if you are:

• a high-achieving professional
• early to mid career
• interested in fast tracking your transition into a leadership role
• looking for a remarkable day of networking, peer-to-peer counseling, reflection and planning
• wanting to learn proven strategies for adding value to your organization, gaining recognition and credibility, communicating with confidence and authority
• working to establish your brand as a leader, expand your sphere of influence and accelerate your career development

Every participant will leave with a personal action plan for breaking into a leadership position. Are you ready to explore your leadership potential?

Enter a draw for a free pass
If you are available on September 18 to attend the Poised for Leadership Workshop with Jo Miller, leave us a comment sharing your thoughts on leadership development and this great workshop with Jo Miller. We'll draw for a winner and announce here on the blog on September 16, so please check back.

If you don't win our free pass, you can still participate in the workshop at a reduced rate. Members of TGGD get $75 off the fee to attend the September 18, 2009 Poised for Leadership coaching workshop. To qualify for this special TGGD rate, please write the code "TGGD" on your registration form. Download the event brochure.