Girl Geek Dinner Cape Town

When I received the invitation for the Cape Town Girl Geek Dinner (@ggdcpt) and it was on the same day as Silicon Cape (25 Jan), literally a kilometer or three away from La Med, how could I refuse?  A few geeky girls I knew were already going to be there, and I was very interested to hear what they are planning for the year. I find the notion of involving the actual girl geeks in the planning and proposals for future meetings refreshing and I think this is going to be a network to take note of in Cape Town geek circles.

This meeting was purely a planning event for the future of GGDCPT and Mariska handed out questionnaires (with handy little pencils) for everyone to give their opinion on issues such as venue, time, cost, etc. Further to this and a short talk from Mariska, it was over to coffee, treats and networking… who can shut up a group of women with the same or similar interests?   Guys are welcome when accompanying a girl from the network, and I reckon this is a great way to bring the guys in too.  It was great to catch up with long lost girl-geeks such as @MaxKaizen, network queens such as @GwenKloppers and @AbigailK_, and also to meet new additions to the social media crowd such as @Gabriellala. I particularly enjoy actually meeting the girls I know from Twitter or other social networks or blogs such as @MariskaZA and @MandyJWatson.  I have also invited a few more geek girls I know will just love the experience to talk geek with other girls!

The venue, Salt Restaurant at the Ambassador Hotel in Bantry Bay, is always a treat with views to die for, valet parking, excellent coffee and delicious snacks.  The restaurant was cool and refreshing in the heat of the day and the staff were very professional, friendly and attentive. I think Mariska’s idea of always making the venue something special for these meetings is going to proof to be a very wise one.  There’s nothing like getting to know another special venue with every meeting – both as advertising for the venue and to allow Capetonians a reason to visit the gems in their own city.

I will be back at this network and have even offered to arrange a meeting!  I’m looking forward to get to know the girls (and guys) at the next meetings!

The next meeting is on 8 March – watch the Girl Geek blog and twitter account for details –> Cape Town Girl Geek Dinner (@ggdcpt)