Brussels Girl Geek Dinner

Yay! Another girl geek dinner in Brussels, and at the Brussels Hard Rock Café no less!

In a nutshell:

Date: Wednesday 17 April 2013

Topic: Creating a Legendary Burger & experience Co-Creation with Hard Rock Café and Lego® Serious Play®

Attendees: 40 (female only this time, sorry guys)

Programme:

• 18:30 Welcome by Hard Rock Café’s Guillermo Castells
• 19:00-19:50 Workshop Lego Serious Play
• 19:50-21:00 Workshop Legendary Burger Hard Rock by master chef Arnel Del Rosario
• 21:15 Announcement of winners in the categories ‘Best Burger’ and ‘Best Tweet’
• 21u45: Grab the goodie bag and go home

Where?

Hard Rock Café Brussels
Grand-Place 12a
1000 Brussels

>> Add your name to the twikilist to get in for free <<

Best tweet okay, but what’s best burger all about? The fact is, a truly good hamburger is hard to cook. As Isaac Tigrett once said:

I couldn’t find a decent burger in London, so I opened the Hard Rock Cafe on Old Park Lane.

Today, Hard Rock Cafes around the globe still strive to serve the best burgers in town. Come to the #BGGD on April 17th
in Hard Rock Cafe Brussels to taste and learn how to cook a delicious authentic American hamburger yourself.

The Hard Rock Cafe’s Legendary Burgers offer a persuasive taste of the restaurant’s know-how and expertise in traditional American gastronomy.
During the Brussels Girl Geek Dinner event on April 17th, Sales & Marketing Manager Guillermo Castells will welcome you and briefly introduce the Girl Geeks on the history of the Hard Rock Cafe brand. Master Chef Arnel Del Rosario will then introduce the chain’s famous range of Legendary Burgers and will even shed some light on the secret behind their burgers’ success.

Del Rosario will also go into detail about the 4 most popular Legendary Burgers at Hard Rock Cafe Brussels: ingredients, preparation and the chef’s secrets will all be discussed. Next, guests will have the unique opportunity to create their own Legendary Burger. The ingredients will be provided, after which participants will decide which Legendary Burger to create and – of course – eat. Certain ingredients (such ingredients that require cooking) will be prepared beforehand by the Hard Rock Cafe kitchen team.

Both the Girl Geek with the best burger and the one with the most original tweet will win a Legendary Meal for two at the Hard Rock Cafe in Brussels and a classic white Hard Rock Cafe T-shirt.

In this growingly hectic world, we tend to forget about our well-being. Come to #BGGD56 & listen to passionate people sharing tips & tricks about topics such as yoga, healthy food habits, color therapy and more. You can even sign up for a free 30 minute yoga discovery class !

All the participants will also get a chance to share their ideas about how technology could support them in balancing their life.

At the end, Microsoft will gather all these ideas and submit them to passionate developers. They will then use this input to develop great platforms that will help people improve the quality of their life.

Obviously a delicious & healthy well-being buffet & goodie bag will be provided. We’re still looking for more stuff to put in the goodie bags. If you have any ideas, add a comment below.

For the yoga discovery class, please sign up on the twikilist for that one too, since there’s a maximum of 25 students for that class. If you’re with the first 25 who also marked “yes” for yoga on the twikilist, bring comfortable clothes that you can change into for the yoga class. Yoga mats will be provided.

>> Please registrer on the Twikilist to get in for free <<

About the 56th edition of Brussels Girl Geek Dinners:

Date & time : Thursday 14 March 2013 18:00-22:00 CET
Location:

Centre les Sources
Rue Kelle 48A
1200 Woluwe Saint-Lambert

We’ve got space for 80 girl and boy geeks this time. If you want to bring your sacoche (male guest), please have him register on the Twikilist too.

Our phones and tablets, even laptops and televisions: they’re finally becoming really interactive, with touch surfaces everywhere. And now Windows 8 has arrived, a revolutionized update of windows, with primary focus: touch.
The 55th BGGD is all about that. We are introducting Windows 8, what a day with windows 8 would look like, how sleek and cool the interface looks and how the store needs apps for you, the ladies.

Plus: we got a really cool location: the brand new Historium museum, right on the market square in Bruges!

We got room for 50 girl geeks this time. If you want to bring your sacoche (male guest), please have him register on the Twikilist too.

>> Register through the Twikilist to get in for free!! <<

Programme:

• 10:30-16:00 Pick up Bruges City Card at JCI Kersthuisje (Simon Stevinplein -
  Christmas Market) (FREE admission to 26 museums, places of interest and attractions
  in Bruges).
• 16:30-16:50 Girl geeks gather at the Historium museum (Grote Markt 1, 8000 Bruges)
• 16:50-18:00 Historium guided tour (in 3 groups)
• 18:00: Welcome at the Duvelorium Grand Beer café with a drink
• 18:15-18u30: Windows 8 sessions:
  18:30-19:00: A day with Windows 8 (Katrien De Graeve, Microsoft)
  19:00-19:15: UX for Windows 8 (Leslie Cottenje, Pureplexity)
  19:15-19:30: Apps for Windows 8 (Elise Daans, 2IT/App Story)
• 19u30-21u: networking with walking dinnerWhere? Grote Markt 1, 8000 Bruges
  Sponsors – big thank you to:
  • Toerisme Brugge
  • Microsoft
  • Historium Brugge
  • Pureplexity
  • Aventix (audiovisuele support)
  • JCI Brugge (Next@Bruges)

Afterwards we can all stay and chat at the christmas market, where gluwein, jenever, irish coffee and more sweet drinks is all around!

We all know Rumble, or rather Ruzzle, Wordfeud, Draw Something,.. Popular social games that entertain thousands of people.
Boondoggle LifeLabs are Belgian online entrepreneurs that developed an exciting and fun new social game that in many aspects is renewing the concept of social gaming.
And 25 girl geeks + sacoche will be the first to discover and play this new social game. So ladies, don’t forget to charge the battery of your smartphone!

To make the gaming night complete, a representative of famous game developer EA Games and the people from SecrID (think wallet 2.0) will also join this BGGD as speakers.

Excited? Then register on our Twikilist: 25 girl geeks and their sacochen can join.

>> register through Twikilist to get in for free <<

 The 54th edition in a nutshell:

Date: Tuesday 25 September 2012

 Programme:

• 19h00-19h30:  Welcome drink + food
• 19h30-19h45 : EA Games weerockets - an iPad and iPhone game that lets kids build their
  own rockets, launch them into space and race through the asteroid field to
  rescue the aliens.
• 19h45-20h00: Wallet 2.0, door SecrID
• 19h45-20h00 : A new social game: YouKnowMe
• 20h00-22h00 : Drinks & Goodie Bag

Where? At Boondoggle LifeLabs, Vaartkom 31/09, 3000 Leuven

Breakfast is mercifully only at 10.30 am. After that, courtesy of VisitOostende, we’re going to walk in the footsteps of Marvin Gaye.
A bit background:

14 February 1981. Marvin Gaye arrives by ferry in Ostend, together with his little boy, Bubby. It marks the start of a fascinating story about Ostend, Marvin Gaye and the relationship between the two.
This documentary walk through the city tells you everything about his comeback and how the monster hit song “Sexual Healing” came to life.
Apart from the voice of Marvin Gaye, there are also interviews with Freddie Cousaert, Mike Butcher and many others. The introduction to the walk is given by none other than Jamie Lidell. He is the ideal representative of a whole new generation of soul musicians, for whom Marvin Gaye was strongly influential.

This year’s is the sixth edition of Filmfestival Ostend, and we’ll be looking up at the stars during the Opening Night on 7 September. The only thing we have to worry about is what to wear.

The opening film is Little Black Spiders, by director Patrice Troye. The setting of Little Black Spiders is Belgium, 1978. Katja, Roxy and a number of other lively girls are too young for love and… pregnant. They are brought to a secret place where they have to sit out the pregnancy until the birth. Here’s the trailer:

Little Black Spiders (Patrice Toye) from Flanders Image on Vimeo.

There are ten rooms booked just for us at the Mondo Hotel in Ostend. Make sure to check in before 7 PM and don’t underestimate the distance to Ostend if you arrive straight from work.
The address:
Léon Spilliaertstraat 1
8400 Oostende

This is very close to the beach boulevard, and about 1,2 km to Kinepolis Ostend, where we’re expected later that night for FilmFestival Ostend opening night. Since we’ll be in high heels, I suggest sharing a cab or assign a bob.

The hotel itself looks absolutely lovely. From their website:

This totally refurbished, 3-star plus hotel has recently reopened as a hip and trendy art deco hotel. Located at a stone’s throw away from Ostend’s sea front, casino, centre and beach, this lovely hotel is “the place to be” in Ostend.
The magnificent Art Deco building dates from 1928 and provides a dose of nostalgia with a dash of modern comfort and a brilliant radiance. The Mondo team look forward to meeting you for both short and long stays. You could stay in one of our cosy rooms, superior rooms or a family suite up to maximum 5 persons. Inspiring meetings can be held in one of our pleasant meeting suites.

Hello ladies,

The stay over editions of Brussels Girl Geek dinner (remember London? Remember Paris?) are always my favourite. I hope you’re still available on Friday 7 and Saturday 8 September, because we’re going to have a fabulous 53rd edition!

Friday 7 September:

• between 14:00-19:00: check in at Hotel Mondo, “the place where today and yesterday fell madly in love”
• 20:00: Film Festival Oostende opening night
  • celebrity spotting at the red carpet
  • opening film “Little Black Spiders” (Patrice Toye)
  • exclusive after party with dj Kevin Major

Saturday 8 September:

• 10.30 am : Coffee & Breakfast
• 11.00 a.m : Marvin Gaye Digital Walkumentary.  This documentary walk through the city will tell you all there is to know about Marvin Gaye’s comeback and how the monster hit song “Sexual Healing” came to life

For whom?
20 girl geeks who register through the Twikilist. Sorry, girls only this time!

Just a quick note that registrations for the 52nd edition of Brussels Girl Geek Dinner have just opened. This time, on Wednesday 20 June, about 60 girl geeks will taste and try Belgian beers and the finger food that goes with them. Register through http://twikilist.com/BGGD52 to get in for free!

We’re still filling in the details about the speakers (all of them female and beer professionals), but in the meanwhile, here’s the building where we’ll be holding the Girl Geek Dinner: the Brewers’ House right on Brussels’ Grand’Place. From beerparadise.be:

The brewers’ guild, founded in the 14th century, buys the “Gulden Boom” premises at the end of the 16th century. In 1695, however, the French army bombs the city of Brussels under Field Marshal de Villeroi. Most houses on the Grand-Place are destroyed. The brewers, however, decide to finance the reconstruction of their house and commission architect Willem De Bruyn to do so.
[...]
In 1951 the Belgian brewers’ association moves back into the house that had been built under the guild patronage two hundred and fifty years earlier, thus giving back its initial function to the former “Gulden Boom”.
The Union of Belgian Brewers, uniting all the breweries in the country, has made the old vaulted basements into a national brewers’museum.

Sorry it took as a bit longer as usual, but here’s all you need to know about our next Brussels Girl Geek Dinner.

In a hurry?

>>> Register through the Twikilist to get in for free! <<<

What:
Is the future white or yellow? Musings about recession vs female trends

• 18:30 Welcome drinks & finger food
• 19:00 Welcome and intro by Stephan De Brouwer, Managing Director of McDonald’s Belgium
• 19.20 Speaker Fons Van Dyck, Branding and Communications Expert. Topic: Trends in society, fashion and marketing.
• 20:00 Dinner & networking
• 22:00 Grab the goodie bag and go home!

@fonsvandyck

Fons is a managing director at Think BBDO (branding and marketing consultancy) in Brussels. He is the author of De kracht van wit and writes a weekly column on consumer trends for De Standaard.

Brussels · http://www.think.bbdo.be