When you’re underground- Montreal’s unsung web heroes…

Sometimes the shy, unassuming kids aren’t the ones always raising their hands in class.

I know I’ve been a late bloomer when it comes to confidence, but partially because I’m not so comfortable in the spotlight. I’ve always used my quick wit and snappy comebacks to save me in social situations where I felt awkward and much of my decision to start the Montreal Girl Geek Dinners group was to force myself to become more social as well as give back to the community.

I won’t bore you with the psycho-social reasons why I was so socially inept. Maybe I was more comfortable chilling in the womb, alone with the amniotic fluid rather than gurgling with the other babies in their cribs. Hard to say.

Fast-forward to now and although I get a little wonky in new situations, I feel much more grounded and comfortable in my skin. These certainly are better days .

Today I almost fell off of my chair when I saw that I was mentioned on a list of ‘Underground Web Celebs Made In Quebec” by NVI, a local web development and digital marketing company. Believe me, I often felt that the same (although well-deserving) people have been mentioned in the context of “Top Web Stars”/ “Social Media SuperHeros” and so on.

Not to take away from these folks who do kick ass work, but it feels awesome when you’re a not expecting to be recognized for your efforts. I’m honored to be named with people on the list who I think are doing amazing things in the MTL tech space such as: Sean Power, Katheline Jean-Pierre, and Heri Rakotomalala among others.

Well it only seems fitting to ‘pay it forward’ and mention some of the people who inspire me, make me laugh, cause me to think and inhabit this Quebec digital microcosm along with me. This list is by no means exhaustive but just a sampling of those folks who rock my world whether by Tweet, by blogpost or by being either personally or digitally connected to me

Aleece Germano – Web consultant, Project Manager, eCommerce specialist, musician and philanthropist, Aleece is cultured, wayyyyy smart and gave one of the most professional talks ever given in the history of MTL Girl Geek Dinners. She is nice to the nth degree and involved in many organizations and events such as hosting an annual clothing swap, promoting events at Montreal’s coworking space Station C and launching a a legal campaign to help Mile End dépanneur owner Tammey Lau.

Jackie Ng – Web Marketing / Social Media Consultant at Jacoutofthebox. Jackie was so quick to lend a hand when she heard about the Montreal Girl Geek Dinner group and although we’ve yet to meet, her tweets inspire and educate me as she’s always sharing links that are well selected and relevant which demonstrates to me that she ‘gets it’.

Peter Bailey- Consultant with Flow Ventures, Peter is one of the most polite and friendly people I’ve ever met in my life and certainly provides the best career advice I’ve even been privy to. A strong supporter of local tech events, Peter always has a smile on his face and an awesome attitude towards life.

Tamu Townsend-Tamu seems to know every single person on this planet and when I mention her name, they always seem to get the hugest smile on their face as they speak so positively of her from either working with her, buying comics from her or meeting her at various Montreal events. Tamu’s dedication to raising awareness for bone marrow & stem cell donor registration inspires me to no end. She’s also one of the coolest sci-fi, animation fans and comic book girl geeks I’ve ever met.

Rommil Santiago- User Experience and Web Design Expert. Rommil possesses a wealth of knowledge about the web and was someone I did an interview with a million years ago for a ‘design a thon’ that he threw. He was one of the first people I knew of in Montreal to host an event with the primary goal to give back.

Martine Pagé- Screenwriter, reporter and overall wordguru, Martine is one of the first bloggers I followed back in back in the ‘early days’ and can be credited with being part of the inspiration for me starting the Montreal Girl Geek Dinners group. She’s a strong advocate for women on the web and in technology, creative thinking and has the best hairstyle/haircolor this side of Mile-End.

Shout out to my old CloudRaker peeps like: Aran Rasmussen, Antoine Girard, Stephanie Troeth, Stefan Dukaczewski, Stephane Caron, Yanick Proulx, Anile Prakash and Twist Image folks like: JF Fortier and Matt Fogel. These are smart, smart people that I’ve worked with. If we ever started a web design shop, this town would fall to its feet.

I should really write a list like this more often. It feels awesome to share such positivity and realizing that I could go on and on is really a good sign