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Girl Geek Dinners are regular events held around the world for women in technology. The movement was founded by Sarah Lamb in London.
Aiming to make technology accessible and interesting to all people [1], Girl Geek Dinners provide a space for women (and men) to learn from each other and listen to invited speakers talk about topics relevant to them.
Girl Geek Dinners were invented by Sarah Blow and first held in London in August 2005. They now occur in cities around the world, including the UK, Italy, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Malaysia, and the USA.
A typical event will be an informal dinner (often held in a restaurant that accepts group events but it can also be a finger food buffet) followed by a presentation (sometimes more than one) by someone with a depth of knowledge and a passion for their chosen subject area
Men can attend only if invited by a woman, which ensures the balance of males to females is very different to typical "geek" events.
Not feminist
Judith Lewis of GGD London disclaimed the idea as feminist:
- "The feminist movement was incredibly important to people like my mum who had to argue with people like my programming teacher so that I could stay in my course," explained Judith Lewis.
- "To her the word feminist means something different. In a sense [Geek Girl Dinners] is a feminist movement as it aspires to a lot of the same ideals but I don't want it to be seen as something that is feminist as this can be seen as something marginal or negative.
- "We're not trying to be radical or disruptive, but to show that women have a place in technology." [1]
