Women in tech for the win!

Something amazing happened December.

Fresh from the excitement of BarCamp Manchester, I met with two lovely ladies, Kelley Muir and Bethany Ross, for coffee at Cafe la Reine to discuss how we can support current and future women in tech right here in Manchester. 

Bethany had already kicked off a group, Future Tech Women, that is mentoring college women at UNH. Kelley and I chatted at BarCamp, as she was interested in fostering interest in younger students and I was hopeful to get a regular meeting for women currently working in technology. 

We decided to join forces (and resources) to work on making it all happen. 

Our working mission statement is that we're aimed at creating and supporting an inclusive community that encourages women and girls in STEM-related fields. Boo-ya! Well, all but that last bit. 

I'm happy to report that the Women in Tech Hangout had its inaugural meeting on Tuesday December 10. Dyn was gracious enough to provide space as approximately 12-15 of us chatted about what technology means to us. 

So, it's official! The Women in Tech Hangout now meets on the fourth Tuesday of the month from 6:30-8pm at Dyn in Manchester, NH. Hope to see you there!


Join us for the January meeting on Tuesday January 29th at 6:30pm. 

Yet another TARDIS

Can one really have too many? Probably not. For those who don't know, my husband built a full-size TARDIS, in front of which we pledged our love.

Then it was smushed by the tree that fell on our house with the Snowicane of 2010. No worries. We'll rebuild one of these days. 

So it should be no surprise that I decided our kitchen needed its own Van Gogh-esque exploding TARDIS painting. I mean really, as a Whovian, how can you not have one? 

So armed with a day off, I created one. As an accent wall. 

The wall was already a pale yellow, so I reversed engineered it to take advantage. I free-handed the outlines onto the wall first using an image in the web as a reference. I did use wall paint by using those nifty wall paint samples you can buy. All told the project was about $20. 

I am not an artist. But I did this and so can you. Start eyeing your own walls and go create your own amazing.

Special thanks to my friend, Bobby, for reminding me that I originally had this idea back in the spring when I was painting the cabinets that beautiful blue. I had completely forgotten I wanted to do this. 

They're here!

Wednesday night, I came home late from day 1 of a two-day off-site work meeting.

I can home with my masterpiece from a fun bonding activity at Muse Paintbar

and this is what I found waiting for me

added bonus from my husband!

A Tech Conference in Manchester? Of course!

• 9:30 am - the board was full of ideas
• 1 pm - the great airplane challenge had found a winner 
• 4 pm - we were full of ideas, a bit tired but wished everyday could be Barcamp 

On Saturday November 9, Barcamp Manchester hosted its 7th annual conference. The folks at Dyn HQ were gracious enough to let the conference use its beatiful space so local technology folks could come and share ideas, unconference-style. 

It was my second Barcamp and feeling more comfortable I chatted with lots of folks: developers, makers, product owners, designers, gamers, etc. I attended sessions on Arduino/Raspberry Pi (for my upcoming Makers in Manchester project), Easter Eggs, Women in Tech (local edition) and Sketchnote. Not surprisingly, I've come away excited about potential projects.

Thanks so much to the Barcamp volunteers, sponsors and attendees for a great conference.

The last word

The Hippo's cover story this week was about the NH comics scene; local artists, local shops, cosplay and the like. While it was being researched, I was contacted as I organize the local women's comic discussion group, the League of Extraordinary Gentlewomen.

Thursday morning, I picked up a copy to check it out. It was great to see Double Midnight Comics sharing their thoughts, along with local featured artists, Jerry Fleming and League member, Emily Drouin.

And yes, not one but two shout-outs for the League monthly meeting. That's the second Thursday of the month for those of you who might be interested.

But the thing that tickled me most? A quote from me ends the story. Silly, I know, but as the mom of a teenager, getting the last word doesn't happen often.

So, be kind and let me revel in it for a teensy bit.

NH Game Jam

Back in May, I decided to make a brand-new game with 2 strangers in 36 hours. Crazy, you say? Just a tad. The inaugural NH Game Jam sounded like a good idea and if not, at least a lot of fun. Even WMUR stopped by for a visit.

I work in software but not a start-up. That means some late nights or early mornings, but I have yet needed to work an all-nighter. And for that, I am very grateful. But even someone who loves sleep can get a bit jealous over tales of Hackathons or a least a bit curious.


So I signed up. 

The first night we were informed of the theme, the number 13. The video game designers can prepared with teams, but the board game folks draw names from a hat to determine with who we would be spending our next 36 hours. That's when I met Tony and Charles and got to work.

Through the night and day and the next night, we crafted what we thought was a quick, fun monster mash-up game. There are several kinds of monsters such as Bogzilla, Giant Ants, Werewolves and Dragons. It was important to us that it be playable by all ages. 

In the end, we wished we had more time and possibly a little more sleep. None of the folks on my team had ever designed a game before and I have to say I'm proud at what we were able to pull off. Also, a sweet touch was that all three of us hand drew the cards for our play-test deck. 

Although it had it's quirks, I think the first NH Game Jam was great. There are a few logistical tweaks, such as a more formal time for everyone to play test each other's games, to work through, but that's just first time event detail work. 

As for me, I'm hoping another one's somewhere on the horizon, now that I've had a chance to catch up on my rest. 

Cosplaying Strong Women Characters

One of my ideas of fun is to challenge myself with costume-making ideas and see how well (or not-so-well) I can execute them. Thankfully, I'm surrounded by creative types, including my Makers in Manchester group. I live in a place that holds events to dress-up for, thanks to my local comic shop Double Midnight Comics. 

Recently for Free Comic Book Day, I dressed as Antonelle "Toni" Chu from an obscure-but-awesome comic called Chew. Toni is a smart, loyal, funny and amazing female character. And she wears normal clothes. No tiny bikinis or princess ballgowns. Just a NASA t-shirt and some capris. 

And quite honestly, it was refreshing. 

Oh don't you worry that this is some judge-y feminist, political, insert-your-activism-here piece. Un uh. No way. Move along, nothing here to see. I've done fitted costumes (love my Wonder Woman so much it's my Twitter pic) and beautiful gowns (see my beautiful Firefly wedding dress) but to be representing a kick-butt female who wears clothes? Somewhat priceless. 

Kinda of neat to live in a world where we can dress up like inspiring real women or those characters who inspire us.