On Wednesday, I ventured forth into the Big Smoke to partake of bevvies and snacks and geekiness. I've been a lurker on the Toronto Girl Geek site for almost a year, but it was last month when i bit the bullet and decided to participate.And it was good.
Quite Good.
I didn't sign up because of an interest in the speaker [although, the fact that the speaker ended up being phenomenal was just gravy], but because I figured it was time to discover other like minded chicklets. And besides, you can't go to soccer games every night of the week.
The speaker happened to be Jayne Hoogenberk, the mastermind behind the e.community for Harlequin Romance. No, she didn't really talk about product, but all about the technical ins and outs of creating on-line communities, being responsible for the care and feeding of an on-line brand and some of the best practices she used in cultivating a successful online community. There were bits and pieces of her discussion that any industry could take away and incorporate into their own on-line strategy. Stellar and very applicable.
And just guess who's going to be the speaker for their next dinner? Sandi Jones. Yup. That's right. One of the greatest thought leaders in the Canadian Internet Industry. I think you've got to go.