Semantics aside, what I appreciated was seeing so many folks in the audience who were interested in hearing our thoughts, sharing their own and asking questions. It struck me that not enough outreach has been done with my franco-girlo-geeko community here in Montreal and I’m looking into ways to change this (including ramping up my French classes).

I left the session and had an inspiring chat with one of the volunteers at the event who came up to me and said that he thinks that what I’m doing with the Montreal Girl Geeks is awesome. It left me tearing up because after some of the knocks I have taken in my life as the underdog, the goofy geek with glasses -  his shared story of not feeling like he fit in made me feel that I had found my people at this event.

I was thrilled to see an event as the Festival de Geek as it featured such a diversity of information, booths and interests. A heartfelt thanks goes out to the organizers, volunteers and exhibitors and sponsors for bringing the community together.

Oh and to the whole question of “Where the @#$% are the Girl Geeks?” – I came out of pre-internet society, but I still found a way to find like-minded folks to be inspired by – even living in small town New Brunswick. I joined groups, I created groups, I had pen pals who wrote zines (yes, I’m old) and traded cassette and video tapes with them. Life wasn’t as easy as it is now kids. Chances are that if you’re a pagan, Buffy fan over the age of 50 who prefers Star Wars to Star Trek, there’s a group out there for you to be a part of. Connect with folks- online and offline and chances are you’ll find someone who’s just as interested in your passions as you are and from this, a community will grow.

Where the girls are. MTL Girl Geek Dinner. Photo by Simon Law

I’m part of a panel discussion on this topic at the Montreal Geek Festival this weekend and I can’t really guarantee I have any answers to this question.

I know they’re out there and I’m stoked when I meet them.

I’ve always found t-shirts fascinating, as they give a glimpse inside the identity of the wearer. Many conversations have started on the basis of finding someone in a crowd who shares the same interest as I do. I guess you can think of them as the Twitter of the fabric world.

Yup. This one is on my list. Kinda speaks to how I feel.

It’s been a tough road in balancing my online life. I manage 3 twitter accounts and 3 blogs, take Buddhist classes, run the Girl Geek Dinners, coordinate Buddhist events, connect communities and am trying to negotiate what my next career move will be. Unemployment is a bitch but it’s helped me to put a lot into perspective.

These days I’m reworking my participation and consumption in the online sphere. I’m looking to bring back a balance in my life and reduce my digital dependence. As a Buddhist, I’m encouraged to evaluate what’s going on in my mind and examine feelings, attachments and emotions. I’m not doing this effectively these days and it’s time for me to start to cultivate these practices. I thank sites such as The Mindfulist and Zen Habits for being great supports on the path.

You can check out the first episode here and take a break from all the hectic.

Many thanks to the fine folks at Studio XX and the National Film Board for collaborating to deliver a top-notch series of speakers as part of their First Person Digital program. I was fortunate to have captured two of the sessions and felt compelled to post about the last one in the series which featured a virtual presentation by Free Range Studio’s Executive Producer Erica Priggen on the topic of “Creating Content For Change”.

Free Range Studios, are an award-winning creative agency that builds campaigns for social change, many which I’m sure you’re quite familar with such as The Meatrix series and The Story of Stuff. I can’t emphasize enough how they are living my dream of encouraging social change and action via creative efforts. Do check out the “Resources” section on their website for valuable information related to online promotion for social change.

I get chills. Chills from excitement. Excitement at seeing a group be able to elicit positive actions in society.

Erica gave a spirited presentation which hinged on the power of storytelling to encourage social change. She recounted that “We don’t see the world, we see stories. This is our filter.”

I think my main takeaway from the session was that rather than use the traditional fear-based method of screaming “The Sky is Falling and we’re all $%$%-ed” so take action on issue XYZ, she suggested taking a more humorous approach featuring archetypes such as the hero, villain, nemesis and so on. Erica recommended that it’s worth “showing the world you want to see.” It’s much easier to identify with what is presented to us than statistics and hornblowing. She made the point that “it’s hard to motivate people to take action on what they can’t directly perceive.”

Erica noted that it’s important to evaluate the moving issues and values to get people excited about and examine what meaningful action you are seeking to encourage. At the end of each story, consider what the catalyst for action is. This is the core of edutainment and the narrowcast model that the internet presents us with in that we are all co-creators.

Mention was made to how to make stories viral and Erica took the group through the DIY process around storytelling and the manner in which they spread the word about the successful “The Story of Stuff” campaign. I’d say it’s successful in that it’s become a movement for change, rather than just another viral campaign that slipped into obscurity.

It’s heartening to be able to hear the stories of those who are leading the charge and as Free Range Studio’s tagline asserts “Creativity with a Conscience.” These are the stories often overlooked in our society but they are essential to our very survival.

Whoa. I got a bit heavy on you there. Here’s some levity, with a message.

The first time I recall being freaked the frak out was back in grade school and I was to recite “In Flanders Fields’. The night before my presentation, I was beside myself. My mom wasn’t able to console me and I sobbed, barfed, shook and gasped my way through the night, with visions of failure, mass-laughter and my untimely death rattling around my head like gunshot. Morning came. I stood in front of the school, delivered a pitch-perfect recitation of the poem and then rushed off the stage to gulp mouthfuls of metallic-tasting water from the larger than life water fountain. And it was over.

It was hardly worth the amount of torture I put myself through and I remember my mom trying to soothe me by saying ‘What’s the worst thing that could happen?’ For a child’s imagination, that opened up a whole treasure trove of possibilities involving rabid rogue muppets and a front row of Bic-sponsored peashooters.

I’ve grown better with public speaking, but that doesn’t mean that I’m a pro by any stretch of the imagination. I think I’ll always be that self-conscious kid who fears the worst and thinks that they could always do better. To get me primed, I picked up Scott Berkun’s book “Confessions of a Public Speaker”. I’m already a ‘Berkun-fangirl’ due to my love of his book “The Art of Project Management” which was my bible during my digital web project management days.

Here’s a video that summarizes why Scott wrote the book, why he’s qualified to give advice on this topic and his wish for how folks will use the information that he provides.

I’ll be posting a review of the book shortly but suffice to say, I’m already loving it. Oh and this fangirl let out a squee when she received this Tweet yesterday…

Rock on Scott!

This program has the goal of bringing together teams of women to collaborate on original projects realized through teamwork and mentoring. I can’t begin to share with you how jazzed I am about this and am working to put together a pitch for an idea that I have rolling around in my head.

If you’re interested in more information on this production program, do check out the FPD website. Keep in mind that the call for proposals is on now and the deadline is March 1, 2010. Six teams will be selected to create an interactive work that will be shown live at the HTMlles Festival and distributed by the NFB.

I was able to meet several of the organizers of this program and their enthusiasm in being able to deliver this opportunity was a thrill to experience. Connecting with a passionate and dedicated group of people is something that nourishes this creative’s soul, but add digital / tech to the mix and I can’t begin to describe the feeling of community that ignites from this.

February is the shortest month. Don’t you think it’s suffered enough. Always getting picked on for being so little. The last one chosen to make the team. No. Heap an overblown holiday like Valentine’s Day onto it’s tiny little frame.

Meanies!

Check out more great comics from http://www.nataliedee.com

I’ve been trying to keep up with the daily calls to participate on The Mindfulist but have been doing a meh job of it all. I had the dimly powered idea to go back and try to pack some mindfulness all in one post but that is really sucking all of the participation, sharing and community engagement out of the project.

So I’m not going to dwell on the past and will set a reminder to post daily and if I miss posting that day, well, the moment is gone. No biggie.

In other news, I’m still working on figuring out where I’m headed. There’s been a lot of buzz around the book “Escape from Cubicle Nation” by Pamela Slim and a new “Open Letter to my Cubicle” on McSweeney’s so one might take that as some kind of sign. Or maybe not…

How many of you are like me and are serial book starters? I have countless books scattered around the house all with tell-tale bookmarkers showing how far along I am in finishing them off. Some sit there for a while once a shinier book jacket comes into my home and knocks them off of their privildged spot on the shelf.

I do appreciate Gretchen’s tip to always keep some reading material on hand as I always appreciate when I have a book or magazine tucked away for those moments that I’m stuck with nothing else to do.

I hope to be this kicky when I’m her age!