DigiGirlz - Empowerment and Hope
hey there!
Yes, we did it - our first DigiGirlz Day in Connecticut. It was a lot of fun (and work) getting 80 students and chaperones into our small office. This was truly a team effort and I'm so thankful to have friends who helped and who care deeply. Based on quick reviews of the feedback forms (thank you!), looks like everyone found the day to be meaningful and time well spent. I'll have all the resources promised very, very soon. For now, here's what I could capture as I ran around like a "bridezilla" - I wasn't that bad, was I?
We kicked off with our state CIO - she was a lot of fun and a real, down to earth person. Her session was lively, upbeat and interactive. Her theme? Empowerment!
She let it be known why we need more women in IT!
We followed with our career panel - made up of inspiring women. My dear friend Karla, emceed the event. What did you think? Next time ditch the power suits for comfy jeans 
?
Lunch? Pizza - hey it's IT!
Even this jaded geek, learnt something from the Internet Safety Briefing - thanks Anissa. We mixed up the rest of the day with interactive technology sessions and thanks to the Zune team, had a listening station to entertain folks. Kevin showed us some pretty amazing MSN Mobile capabilities while Edwin and Aimee facilitated an innovation seminar with teams of students building products they devised. Just brilliant!
Oh yes, we had the Microsoft Across America Truck - and everyone loved it - thank you guys and Intel, our sponsor. I agree, Microsoft OneNote is truly awesome.
My new buddy, Marissa, discussed College Prep - wow, we probably should have dedicated more time to this. Marissa owes us some resources, coming soon.
And we ended (in my humble opinion) on such a high note with Mary Cullinane! My only regret is that we didn't record Mary Cullinane's session. We need a video camera in our office...perhaps for the next DigiGirlz day. Here's some video I did capture, just a glimpse of her conversation with the students:
Her presentation's last bullet point? Have Hope. Indeed!
Here's to many more events for the girls (and the boys)!
P.S. Bob, please thank Riley for coming out and helping with the sound - and thank you, I owe you...er, um...too many!
My other DigiGirlz posts.
