Sacha Chua - tag - socialtechbrewing Emacs, sketches, and life https://sachachua.com/blog/tag/socialtechbrewing/feed/atom/index.xml 11ty 2006-06-20T07:40:00Z Thoughts from the Social Tech Brewing org meeting 2006-06-20T11:40:00Z 2006-06-20T07:40:00Z https://sachachua.com/blog/?p=3619 Although it wasn't easy dragging myself away from what I had planned
for the day, I'm glad I attended the Social Tech Brewing planning
session for the upcoming topic: women in technology.

Jane and Nadia are thinking of putting together a workshop right
before the Social Tech Brewing August event. The workshop will teach
foreign-trained IT professionals the basics of (social) networking,
giving them greater confidence and helping them make the most of the
session. I'd love to help out with that!

There _are_ cultural barriers. I'm lucky because I can speak English
clearly and confidently. I'm lucky because school gives me a natural
opportunity to get work experience – that all-important Canadian
experience that people look for. I'm lucky because networking is fun
for me. I like connecting with people.

Not everyone is that lucky, and hey, I struggle with cultural
differences or self-doubt from time to time…

In this, too, I want to be an evangelist. Evangelizing IT and
inspiring confidence in women isn't a matter of talking _at_ them, but
rather I need to listen to people's concerns and tell people stories:
stories about other people who've faced similar problems, stories of
approaches to try, stories of who they themselves can be in the
future…

You can e-mail me at sacha@sachachua.com.

]]> Social Tech Brewing 2006-06-02T10:25:00Z 2006-06-02T06:25:00Z https://sachachua.com/blog/?p=3566 Last night's Social Tech Brewing social was lots of fun.
(Notice how lazy I getabout linking? ;) )

  • Phillip Smith arrived shortly after I did. He told me about CopyCamp, a copyright and art get-together on September 28, 29, 30. All sorts of luminaries! Lawrence Lessig, Cory Doctorow, Michael Geist… Awesome lineup. I totally have to be there and blog it.
  • Jason Doucette came next. Phillip asked him if he was into podcasting, and it turned out that Jason podcasts for the Toronto Vegetarian Association, which is at 17 Baldwin St. I should take a look at that. Phillip is vegetarian, and I'm a semi-vegetarian-wannabe. (I want to learn how to cook vegetarian food!) TVA's attendance has been dropping off, but their podcasts attract attention from people from other cities. Their podcasts are generally 20 minutes long.
  • Phillip Smith knows about a progressive podcast host / aggregator which might be interested in the vegetarian podcasts. Other interesting links: http://veganlunchbox.blogspot.com , http://www.veganporn.com ,
  • Liam O'Doherty of avoid.net came too. He mentioned the Personal Propaganda Kit (T-shirts, stickers, etc) tie-in with avoid.net. He's partnering up with OCAD people to produce that, I think.
  • Phillip recommended a few books: Ingenuity Gap, The Upside of Down.
  • We also chatted about ideas for a Toronto wiki, something to collect information about Toronto. Interestingly, Rob Hyndman owns the domain. Good model – Davis wiki. (Hey, Himy would be a great fit for a project like that. He'd fill it with so many interesting stories!)
  • Colin McGregor mentioned a group called Serial Diners. They're making their way through a phonebook of restaurants, and currently at K.
  • Judy Chicago is with Women's Space.
  • Gabe Sawhney's into the memory project and T.Ode.
  • Jonathan found Social Tech Brewing through upcoming.org, as did Jason and Gabriel. So did I, for that matter.
  • Introductions: Tempted to have “Hello, my URL is…” nametags. Reprogrammable nametags also sound interesting, as suggested by Colin.
  • Jonathan's involved with Habitat for Humanity, which is somewhat interested in moving to open source.
  • Introductions protocol idea: three words / tagline, name. Putting the description before the name makes it easier for people to hear interesting things and pay extra attention.
  • Social Tech Brewing modeled on501c tech clubs, nonprofits.
  • New network: Mobile Mondays.
  • Jane attended DrupalCamp and is with DigitalEve, which is based in Lawrence West
  • Chatted about Linux Caffe and social spaces. Seattle has free wireless in cafes, even to the point of having tables for two with outlets. People addicted. Some cafes turn off internet during weekends…
  • Net neutrality
  • Gabe mentioned that Dory of Wireless Toronto and a few other people are working on “Turn off the internet day”.
  • Jonathan's into $100 laptop, too. Pays attention to news.
  • Chatted about gender segregation in bars, funny anecdote from Judy: “Don't be scared.”
  • Phillip described freegeek, an open non-profit computer part reclamation thing that's now self-funding. Break computers apart into components for melting into gold, assemble computers from working parts, keep one.
  • Toronto Hydro goings-on

Updates:

You can e-mail me at sacha@sachachua.com.

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