One of the major problems facing the technology industry today is a lack of women. Every position from management to the coders are predominantly male and that’s a problem. All the lady geeks I know are fantastic at what they do and bring a vibrancy to their work that I just don’t see often enough in men. That’s why it’s super fantastic that LinkedIn is taking some initiative to encourage women to develop and code.
LinkedIn announced a while back that they would be hosting a global hackday in Mountain View from June 30 to July 1. The event was aiming to inspire women to put their coding and development skills to the test as they work on new projects during the weekend. The excitement and demand for the event was apparently through the roof, so LinkedIn will be holding a separate hackday in Delhi, India during the same weekend.
Both events will be the same – teams or solo participants will have one day to build something great. The event is more about meeting other women developers, but LinkedIn has a few more incentives besides having an awesome night on the code with your fellow ladies. They promise that yoga and prizes will be available as well.
The Mountain View hackday has also announced its four judges. Keeping with the spirit of the event, all of them are major players in the tech industry who happen to also be women. The four judges are Christina Allen (Director of Product Management at LinkedIn), Gina Bianchini (Founder and CEO at Mighty Bell), Megan Quinn (Partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers), and Rashmi Sinha (CEO of Slideshare).
All women of all skill levels are invited to both hackdays. They encourage the experienced developers and designers to be tutors to amateurs and those just starting. It should start the foundation for long lasting relationships that may bud into mentorships. It’s all about getting women more interested in technology and computer science. I hope the events go well, especially the hackday in India.