Brussels Girl Geek Dinner

A quick overview of the Brussels Girl Geek Dinners we’re planning:

• Thu 21 October 2010 18:30: Art/performance, Subtle Mob, Ghent.
• Wed 3 November 2010 18:30: Livingroom entertainment, Kinect, Forest/Vorst (Brussels)
• Sun 14 November 2010 10:30: Coffee, Brunch, Brussels.
• Wed 16 March 2011 19:00: Fashion, Swishing, Ghent.

If you got any ideas for goodie bags, let me know in the comments.

Honda got us an extra Honda CR-Z Hybrid for our roadtrip next week so now we’ll be Looking at *22* female car geeks who’ll be driving to Paris.

I also got news from the Dolce hotel in Chantilly, where we’ll be staying. It has a swimming pool, and the possibility to order massages (or, “remise en forme”, as they call it).  Here are the availabilities – make sure to book well in advance for the massage sessions:

Looking for 20 female car geeks to test drive 10 Honda CR-Z Hybrids all the way from Brussels to Paris (Paris Motorshow!) and back. With  dinner and a night’s stay at the gorgeous Dolce hotel in Chantilly in between.  Time slot: from Tuesday 5 October 09:30 until Wednesday 6 October 16:00.

Sounds like a plan?

Put your name on the wiki to get in for free:
http://bggdroadtrip.pbworks.com/

And please, no wiki chick fights. Don’t steal locks, don’t remove other people’s names, put your name with the reserves if the list is full. There will be many many more exciting Brussels Girl Geek Dinner events!

This afternoon we’ll open registrations for another great BGGD road trip (to Paris, on 5 & 6 October, in ten brand new cars).

But first: a little contest for all those who can’t join us. During the BGGD road trip, the girl geeks will try out how many of them fit into a Jazz (with its doors closed). The first one to guess the correct number below in the comments can have the new Honda Jazz for one weekend – as soon as it’s launched in Belgium somewhere in Spring 2011. We’ll be able to see who won on 6 October, when the girly car geeks get back from their Paris trip.

this is where we got the idea from:

From Xpats.com Portraits – Clo Willaerts:

By establishing the Brussels Girl Geeks, I wanted to highlight other women who are using technology and I also hope to encourage girls to go for careers in IT. Our network goes far and wide beyond Brussels, including French-, Dutch- and English-speakers, and many of our meetings are not exclusively female because our members often bring their men along too.

We have a core of about 150 members, who are very active, and a larger group of about 500 who participate from time to time. They range from students in their twenties to career women in their fifties. Most are professionals working in creative jobs using technology, such as PR, marketing or programming. What we all have in common is our love of discovery and communication.

Perhaps the greatest strength of the group is that it’s never static. We constantly see new faces at our dinners as the word spreads. It’s very rewarding to stand at the entrance and welcome not only old friends, but also newcomers. That’s what keeps us dynamic and fresh.

Hello ladies,

Next Brussels Girl Geek Dinner is on Wed 15 September 18:30 in the amazing Living Tomorrow in Vilvoorde. This time you can bring a male guest if you like, with up to 50 seats available.

Sponsored by:

• Fedict (venue, catering, goodie bag)
• Anaxis (goodie bag)

Course of the evening:

• 18:00      Doors
• 18:30     Welcome drinks
• 19:00     Speaker  Peter  Strickx (CTO at FEDICT) about Fedict‘s missions and ambitions
• 19:15      Speaker Bart Gysens (@wadje12 & eGov at Anaxis) about the project Brand en Burger
• 19:30    Tour around Living Tomorrow – focus on eID applications
• 20:30      Networking, drinks and finger food (thx Fedict)
• 22:00    Grab the goodie bag and go home

Put your name on the wiki to get in for free:
http://brusselsgirlgeekdinner34.pbworks.com/

Greenlight for Girls (@green4girls) is an NGO with a mission to encourage girls of all ages to pursue a future in math, science, engineering and technology.

For their upcoming event on November 20th in Brussels, Greenlight for Girls will be bringing together 300 young girls, including my 11 year old daughter Mayke, to learn from role models and mentors.

This free event, targeted at 11-15 year-old Dutch-, French- and English-speaking girls in Belgium, aims to encourage young women to take up careers in science (math, engineering, technology, etc.), by emphasizing the link between science and fun careers, especially those with a creative “bent.”

The event is designed to progress in workshop form, with each workshop leader conducting a workshop for three groups of ten girls.  There will also be a “fun-lab” with activities/entertainment for the girls, including a project display space for event sponsors; and lunch will be served.

You heard the word: sponsors.

Got any ideas or contacts to keep this event free for all participants? Contact fellow girl geek cheryl (at) zendigital (dot) be or @roningirl, as we know her in Twitter.

Thanks!

Last year, at the start of Klarafestival, we had our first BGGD night out (with Gavriel Lipkind!) in Flagey Studio, Brussels.

This year, international Brussels music festival KlaraFestival starts today 7 September, with concerts and specials until 17 September.

I’m going to the  Club K project on Wednesday 15 September 21:30-23:59 in  Club K-Nal.
Course of the evening:

• 21u30 : Concert Invisible + Visual Kitchen
• 22u30 : American classical and jazz pianist and composer Uri Caine + Visual kitchen
• 23u15 : Mauro Pawlowski + Visual kitchen
• 00u : Shameboy

Want to join me? Let me know in the comments and I’ll arrange to have your (real)names on the guest list.  Feel free to bring a guest – just make sure his/her name is mentioned below. List closes at 30 BGGD names…

See you on the 15th!