Detective Sharon Lloyd to present on WRPS Forensic Indentification

November 20, 2013 by 1 Comment

Our last Dinner of 2013, and we’re taking another look at one of our most popular topics: solving crimes!

This time we head out into the field a bit more with Detective Sharon Lloyd from Waterloo Regional Police Service. She’s a member of the Forensic Identification Unit, and will be presenting on the work they do and how they do it. There will even be a hands-on portion!

We’re hosting this Dinner a little earlier in the month since December gets pretty crazy for everyone. Our last forensics talk was incredibly popular, so we shall do our best to accommodate all interested Girl Geeks (and other geeks) this time around. We’ll be getting together at the Communitech Hub again, starting at 6pm as usual.

Since we’ll have a larger group this time, Google has generously agreed to let us take over their office for the evening. Thanks, Google! So when you get to the Hub, follow the signs and head upstairs to the second floor. Take the door on the right. :)

To get you even more excited for this one, we did let slip that our dinner this time around will be provided by the fabulous and delicious Taco Farm. Mmm… tacos…

Forensic Identification is part of the Investigative Services branch, as their work is intended to strengthen police criminal investigations. Their work can include:

  • fingerprinting offenders
  • attending crime scenes
  • collecting and processing physical evidence
  • identity investigation (fingerprints, footwear, tire tracks)
  • writing reports (lots of reports)
  • testifying in court

Their work may not be quite like CSI or Dexter (but that’s a good thing) and there’s plenty of pretty cool stuff to learn about. :)

So who is this intrepid crime fighter coming to enlighten us? Some more info about Detective Lloyd…

Detective Sharon Lloyd is a 23-year veteran of the Waterloo Regional Police Service and currently assigned to the Forensic Identification Branch. She has worked as a patrol officer, coach officer and detective in the Central, Rural and North Divisions until her transfer in 2004. As a forensic officer, she is trained in the examination of various crime scenes. This includes the collection and preservation of DNA and other physical evidence such as fingerprint, footwear and tire impressions. She was the lead investigator for a Coroner’s inquest and has testified as an expert witness in court.

She is an active member of the Canadian Identification Society (CIS) and the (IAI) International Association for Identification.

She remains dedicated to policing and to the community as a volunteer site coordinator for the annual “Ride for Dad” event for cancer.

Kids are most welcome at this event, and we’ve created a special ticket just for them. Guys are welcome, too.

Tickets are available now. This one will sell out fast, so get yours ASAP!

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Rob Drimmie to present on apps development and App Factory

October 28, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Yep, our speaker will be a dude. Now that we have that out of the way… :)

We have confirmed our Dinner for November, and are most pleased to welcome Rob Drimmie from Apps Factory at Communitech. You may also know him as the husband of Girl Geeks regular Jen.

Rob will be bringing us a three-pronged presentation based on his experience and work with Apps Factory. He’ll talk about the app development process, particularly concept through prototyping. He’ll also discuss team development, particularly in hiring co-ops (who make up a good portion of the Apps Factory team). And Rob will also tell us a bit about Apps Factory itself: how it came to be, what kinds of work they do, and with whom they work.

So aside from being a Guy Geek among Girl Geeks, who is this Rob fellow? Here he is in his own words…

Rob Drimmie is lucky. He has an amazing wife and two awesome kids. He gets to spend his day working with brilliant people helping Waterloo Region continue to be the (second) best place to start and grow a tech company.

Rob began working with the web as a high school co-op student at a small software company in Waterloo in 1994. Today he manages a team dominated by university co-op students at the Communitech Apps Factory, helping anyone with an idea for an application learn what the next steps are and how to take them.

We’ll be getting together on Tuesday, November 19th, starting as usual at 6pm. And we’ll be back at the Communitech Hub for this one, dinner provided.

Tickets are available now, so get yours today!

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Carl Sagan Day, Nov. 9th at the Rum Runner

October 27, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Coming up on Saturday, November 9th, we celebrate Carl Sagan Day. Scientist, author, turtleneck-wearer…

Festivities will be taking place in the Hunt Room at the Rum Runner pub in downtown Kitchener. Not all the details are up yet, so be sure to check back on the Nerd Nite KW site event listing.

In the mean time, there are lots of ways to learn about or brush up on Sagan’s work. Check the Portal!

Carl Sagan quote

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Family Hack Jam this Saturday, Oct. 26th at THEMUSEUM

October 24, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Once again Hive Waterloo is hosting a Family Hack Jam. It’s taking place this Saturday from 10am to 2pm at THEMUSEUM in downtown Kitchener.

This is an amazing event for kids and families to explore media and tech and get their learning on while having an amazing time. It’s recommended for kids 8 and older, and all kids must be accompanied by an adult (so minimum ticket orders are for 2).

The Electronics Workshops are sold out (sorry!) but there are still general admission tickets to be had, which also come with a $5 discount on admission to THEMUSEUM. Might we recommend checking out Surface Tension: The Future of Water exhibit, which is on now.

This is a great way to get any kid excited about tech in a rich and supportive learning environment. (And it’s volunteer-run, so huge props for all their hard work.) It’s an fantastic way to spend family time! Get your tickets right away!

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Check out Carol Leaman’s Techtoberfest keynote

October 17, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Carol was one of the keynote speakers at the first day of Techtoberfest this afternoon, and talked about Axonify, learning, and lessons from building and selling startups.

Check it out!

And of course, Carol is our October Dinner speaker next week on the 22nd. There are still a few tickets available.

Get your ticket now!

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Ada Lovelace Day – Tuesday, October 15th

October 11, 2013 by Leave a Comment

As is well known, we Girl Geeks celebrate all things STEM and female, and so naturally we’re totally on board with the upcoming Ada Lovelace Day celebrations. (If you need a refresher on why the lady was awesome: here you go.)

Our friends at Hackademy have arranged some events for the evening of the 15th in the Victoria Park Pavilion, and you’re invited! (Well, everyone’s invited. Girl Geeks are all about being inclusive.) There will be presentations and activities and more, and it will be kid-friendly as well, so bring out the mini Girl Geeks, too!

Read more information here, and you can register here. Again, it’s free, but it’s good for them to know expected attendance numbers.

Hope to see you there!

Ada Lovelace Day poster

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Carol Leaman to present on online learning and Axonify

October 3, 2013 by Leave a Comment

We have confirmed our October Dinner for Tuesday, the 22nd (and our November, December, and April Dinners, incidentally – w00t!) and are excited to welcome back Girl Geek Dinner speaker alumnus Carol Leaman. Carol last joined us in September 2011 to talk about life as a tech CEO.

This time she joins us to talk about the work of her current startup, Axonify, and how they’re changing the face of corporate training: closing knowledge gaps, keeping employees safer, and saving companies a lot of money using cutting edge brain science and gamification. If you’ve ever sat through painfully dry videos, group classes, or workbooks for “professional development”, you’ll be SO JEALOUS that this wasn’t how you received your training. I was amazed at all the real world applications for this software – and the results.

Prior to joining Axonify, Carol was the CEO of PostRank, which was a web-based software company that tracked where and when online audiences were interacting with content in the social sphere. Carol sold PostRank to Google in June of 2011. She has also been the CEO of RSS Solutions and Fakespace, both tech companies that were acquired. Carol has a finance background and a Masters of Accounting from the University of Waterloo. She loves all things technology, and sits on the boards of many local organizations (including Centre in the Square, whose Members’ Lounge will be our venue once again).

Same as last month, we’ll be starting things up at 6pm, and will be in the Members’ Lounge at Centre in the Square. Catering will be provided, and there’s a cash bar. If you haven’t joined us in this awesome space before, or need a reminder about where to park and where to go to get to the Lounge, see last month’s Dinner announcement. And as before, I’ll put up signs for folks who are new.

Registration is now open, so get your tickets today! Can’t wait to see everyone again.

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New Season! Kate Wilhelm to present on UX Circuit Training

September 3, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Labour Day weekend has passed, and with that, Girl Geeks, fall is pretty much upon us. However! That does mean a return of Girl Geek Dinners, which is always a fabulous thing. (TL;DR? Get your tickets here!)

As you may recall from a year ago, we collaborated a bit with the Fluxible conference organizers, and borrowed two of their amazing speakers for our September Dinner. Well, we’re doing pretty much the same thing again this year.

Our inaugural speaker for this season is Kate Wilhelm from BlackBerry, who’s not only a snazzy UX practitioner, but also a Fluxible presenter and a Girl Geek Dinner attendee alumnus (as is her daughter). You can have a gander at Kate’s planned Fluxible presentation/workshop here: Starting Out or Bulking Up: UX Circuit Training for Any Fitness Level. We won’t be doing a three-hour workshop, but Kate will be riffing on that topic for her Dinner presentation. (I work with Kate; this is gonna be good…)

For those of you who may not have met Kate yet, she’s a part-time ninja (but I’ve said too much…) and professionally has been an Information Architect at BlackBerry for the past seven years, helping make it easier for developers to build apps. She’s always had a passion and drive to evolve her expertise in UX, often by “scrappy means”. So if you’re in an organization that doesn’t yet exalt UX, Kate’s lessons are just the thing.

Kate is an active mentor, champion, and educator on behalf of UX practices within BlackBerry, and has been a World IA Day panel moderator in New York. Kate is also busy with an assortment of local groups, so if you’re interested in learning more about the local UX, design, and tech scene, you might want to bend her ear a bit after her presentation.

We’re also going to be enjoying a new space for this Dinner. We’ll be in the Members’ Lounge at Centre in the Square. It’s a great and funky space, and dinner will be provided. (Hence the moderately higher ticket price.) There will also be a cash bar if you’re so inclined.

Tickets are available now, so register ASAP!

And for those who haven’t been to the Members’ Lounge at Centre in the Square, here are instructions on how to get down there:

  • Parking is available in the Centre in the Square’s private lot on Ellen Street (at the back of the building).
  • Turn onto Ellen Street from Queen Street, drive past Centre In The Square and just before the street turns into a one-way you will see the private lot on your right. Parking arm will be raised (map shows entrance to the parking lot on the right).
  • Walk back around to the Stage Door entrance which is located just past the loading dock (map shows loading dock on left, entrance on right).
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KW Girl Geeks once again invited to the Fluxible conference

August 21, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Fluxible is back for its second year, and they’re gearing up for a great couple of UX-focused days on September 14th and 15th in downtown Kitchener.

They’ve got an excellent lineup of topics and speakers, including plenty of UX-centric girl geeks. Take a look at the program!

Once again, they’ve kindly invited the KW Girl Geeks, offering $200 off registration. Register here to get that great deal, or use the promo code “GirlGeeks” when you register via the main site.

We’ll also have an announcement soon about our September Dinner, which will also have a Fluxible tie-in. Can’t wait!

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Valerie Blackmore to present on real-life forensics

April 30, 2013 by 2 Comments

Update: This Dinner is now sold out. Thank you for the amazing level of interest! We didn’t get enough additional inquiries to move to a larger space, unfortunately. Sorry to those who won’t be able to join us.

We have confirmed our May Dinner, which will take place on Tuesday, May 28th at 6pm at the Communitech Hub, with dinner provided. Tickets are available now!

Our speaker will be Valerie Blackmore, President of Wyndham Forensic Group in Guelph. She’ll be talking about what really happens in a forensic laboratory, compared to what we see on tv. She’ll also delve into some of the challenges executing their corporate vision as a private firm within what has historically been the domain of public laboratories.

Valerie co-founded Wyndham Forensic Group in 2009, and was responsible for startup, establishing the necessary relationships, and applying the requisite skills and competencies to establish and grow the organization. She holds a M.Sc. in Molecular Biology from McMaster University and an Hons. B.Sc. in Biology from the University of Guelph.

In addition to her business development and management responsibilities, Valerie continues hands-on work as a forensic biologist, performing body fluid and DNA analyses and reporting their results, as well as providing expert opinion and testimony when called upon. She began her career at Ontario’s Centre of Forensic Sciences in Toronto in 1997, where she held a number of progressively responsible positions until moving to a private laboratory in 2006. She has been a qualified reporting scientist since 2000 and has been actively involved in the provision of client training throughout this time. Valerie is also a qualified laboratory auditor, with certification from the FBI to perform DNA audits.

We try to cover a wide range of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) topics at the Dinners, and I admit that this one gives me a geek thrill, as forensics is a personal interest of mine (and Valerie came highly recommended by a good friend, also a forensic scientist).

Our May Dinner will be the last one of this season until September, so we really hope you can join us!

Tickets are available here.

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