Girl geek dinner in Coffs Harbour

Women involved in the IT industry will have a new opportunity to hear from speakers and exchange ideas at the inaugural ‘Girl Geek Dinner’ in Coffs Harbour on June 5, organised by Southern Cross University.

Girl Geek Dinners originated in London and are now held throughout the United Kingdom, Europe, Canada and Australia, as a way of encouraging women in an industry largely dominated by men.

Carolyn Seton, a student in the Bachelor of Information Technology at Southern Cross University’s Coffs Harbour campus, is one of the organisers of the event.

Having worked in the IT industry for more than 30 years, before returning to University to upgrade her qualifications, she is enthusiastic about providing a new opportunity for women already working in the industry and for those who are considering it as a career.

“It’s designed to be a very informal forum to swap ideas, meet other people in the industry and to get updates on new technology,” Ms Seton said.

“I have been running my own software development business from home since I moved to the area almost 10 years ago. You can get quite isolated. Most of my clients are in Sydney or Melbourne so I do tend to work on my own quite a lot. This will be a great way of getting women in technology together.

“I’m also very passionate about the industry and encouraging more women to be involved.”

And, while it is a called a ‘Girl Geek Dinner’, men are definitely able to attend as a guest of a woman attending the dinner.

Guest speakers at the dinner will be: Frieda Gorman, technology teacher at Bellingen High School; David Ford, managing director of Coffs Computing; and a representative from Janison, a local software developer.

The dinner will be held at the Sanctuary Resort Rainforest Restaurant on Saturday, June 5. Tickets are limited and must be purchased before the dinner. Details of the event are available at girlgeekdinnerscoffs.wordpress.com or email girlgeekdinnerscoffs@gmail.com

Photo: Carolyn Seton, left, and Megan Kellar are studying the Bachelor of Information Technology.