Geek Girl Manila Meetup

One of the great things I love about being a Google Student Ambassador is that I'm constantly learning new things in the world of technology. Take the word "developer" for example. In lay mans terms, this can be someone who develops something. In the technological world, this is probably a common word for someone who is making the applications ("apps" as we call it) in the devices we are using.

Last October 2012 (yes, it's been a while), Google had its 1st Geek Girl Manila MeetUp at the Globe Telecom Showroom in Makati. I was a little bit nervous going into the event because I didn't know anyone who was going to be there, with the exception of the some Google people I met in Singapore and g|Philippines.

Once I stepped past the automatic opaque sliding glass doors, the first thing I found was a room filled with tables embellished with sequined cloth of bright azure and hot pink colors, and chairs with big tulle (if I remember right) ribbons. The one thing I definitely didn't miss was all the women in the room. It was 95%
women. The 5% being the caterers, the sound-system guy, and a person from Google. I was a little bit overwhelmed. There were all these women who looked so passionate on their smartphones and tablets while talking tech. I chose the table three tables from the door where two women were sitting. They were older than me by about ten to fifteen years. One was a teacher at the arts school of Benilde while the other was her friend. The other tables were filled with Filipino women developers and some students.

Fast forward through the sumptuous Japanese dinner and to the program proper.

The speakers talked about different applications that have been developed. This next part would be a few YouTube videos that were presented to us that show what ordinary people can do with what the developers have made. Different aspects of our lives are touched everyday with their work from games on our tablets, to uplifting other people's lives, to healthcare, to familial moments, and the list goes on.

This first one is my favorite from all that were presented. It's about an interactive billboard which has made "small change making big change for the women in Africa".

Do go watch the short video. It's really inspiring and touching. :)

The next one is a good marketing strategy for McDonalds. The people in the public place get to play an interactive game using their smartphones linked to a billboard to win food from the establishment.

If you're a parent, here are two for you where the first is an app where your kids can virtually drive while you're on the road with them and the second for when they get wounds.

 

This next one is another memorable one from the event. It's about an application for sick children to encode how they're feeling in an enjoyable way.

This last one is a cool invention! Imagine ordering pizza with the press of a (singular) button.

The last speaker was Pepita from Google who talked about how she took computer science and rocked at it. She even made a point using a green colored character where everyone laughed, only for me to figure out it was a character from Star Wars. I think I should go watch the movie.

One of the take-away's that night was for the women to go after what they want. If they want to develop applications, go for it. If they want to take computer science, go and rock at it! She said something in the context of 'don't let the fear that it's known that many men enter into this field hinder you from pursuing it'. According to the talk, in the past years, the statistics of women entering the computer science field rose from 12% to 30%. That's quite big and hopefully it can serve as an encouragement for the girls or women who want to enter it.

I entered the event oblivious to the developers that are behind the technologies that we're enjoying. I knew someone had to be making them but all I cared about was just using them. But on the other end of the spectrum, I came out with so much appreciation for them, their hard work, and for the many apps they have developed and have been developing, especially with all the girl power in the room. In my head, the theme song for that night would be Beyonce's "Run The World (Girls)".

"Who run the world?

Girls."