Tanya McGinnity

Way back in 2007, I was a girl with a plan. The plan to bring ladies together in their love of technology and geekiness. What came out of this was much more than I ever expected. Collaborations formed. Friendships started. Confidence gained.

I can’t begin to explain how much starting this group has helped me to break out of my comfort zone and I hope has done the same for many of the speakers.

But I was always just able to give the group (and community) 75%. I’m the kind of gal that doesn’t just have one full plate – but a whole cupboard full and while juggling planning the events, finding speakers, promotion and all of the community work that comes with being the gal to contact (ie: helping folks promote their cool events, lending a hand to gals looking for work…), I was also taking French classes, studying and teaching Buddhism, blogging about Buddhism, doing social media campaigns for non-profits, raising wild pugdogs and maintaining a boyfriend who morphed into a fiance and now a husband. Yeah… I’m sure I missed some things in that list.

I’ve decided that it’s time to hand over the keys to the Montreal Girl Geek Dinners group to change things up a bit – both for me and the group.

Your new navigator is Alexandra Dao and you are in exceptional hands. Alex is a born organizer and community cultivator. She comes from startup culture and loves her some internet memes. She is a geek. A girl geek. Huzzah!!! She’s full of great ideas, boundless energy and is just freaking frakking nice. I look forward to what she’ll bring to the group and like a Mama Grizzly, I’ll be around to lend a hand if she needs it.

Georgiana Laudi will be helping Alex out and has already provided me with support on several events in the past. Gia gets social media, goes to a zillion local events and is a huge asset to the group.

Me? Well I have a few other projects cooking up but I’m really looking forward to having the time to meet you. Let’s have a girl geek tea sometime and catch up.

Sometimes you need a does of truthiness. I’ve read a few blog posts over the past day that made me pleased to see the gospel of truthiness being spread.

The first post was from Blaise Grimes-Viort on the topic of “Why Community Management is Still Misunderstood” and is a must read for anyone thinking of hiring for this position or those who are considering this as part of their career path. It’s funny because later that evening, I read a post titled “Your First Marketing Hire” which comes from a startup-oriented CFO which I weighed in a bit on and then was met this morning again with Blaise’s post on “Your Community Manager is not a glorified marketeer: Value trust” which further demonstrates:

A) Businesses don’t really understand the role of the Community Manager

B) Some businesses want a Community Manager/Marketing hybrid

C) Some Community Managers can or want to do both

D) Some Community Managers can’t or don’t want to do both

All in all, I think that there’s some level of truthiness that has to occur. Businesses have to be honest with themselves and determine if they are looking for a marketer, social media expert or community manager and those who practice these disciplines need to be honest as to what kind of results they can deliver.

I’ve been brutally honest before with one previous position where I had said point blank, “You don’t need a Community Manager” when their needs were obviously more towards advertising sales and management. I’d prefer to be let go from a job than to try to deliver an expectation that is little more than a pipe dream.

The second bit of truthiness comes from a blog post by Rachel Happe on The Community Roundtable’s blog titled “Avoiding the Community Clique” and takes me into Glee territory (yes I watch it, don’t be a hater).

Rachel speaks of the problem of exclusion that can come about in a community when it’s members have their own shared stories and experiences, leading to newbies feeling like outsiders. Much the same feeling as a slushie facial in a high school hallway, as depicted to the left.

The post speaks to many techniques that can be used to help communities ‘keep it real’ and many of these I would encourage my fellow members of the Montreal Girl Geek Dinners to adopt in extending the pleasures of our group to those who have recently joined in. With the more manageable events, I do my best to welcome everyone to the events and to speak to each person who makes it out. As I drone on about all the time, I was a teenage outcast so I know all too well how it feels to be left out and the MTL GGD group is my way to make sure that everyone feels like they have a place at the table.

A very wise dude tweeted this about a week ago and I made sure to save this advice. Very applicable to community participation. Try it.