womenintechnology.co.uk and the British Computer Society would like to invite you to W-Tech 2009, a FREE one day recruitment, career development and networking event for female technologists including students, postgraduates, experienced professionals and returners to work. The event is taking place on Tuesday 3rd February in central London at Savoy Place, near the Embankment.
The event is FREE to attend and there will be a recruitment fair running during the day alongside a packed programme of career development and technology talks, workshops and seminars covering topics such as managing your online profile, increasing your confidence and improving your influencing skills. Attendees will have the chance to attend up to six of these free career development sessions running between 12pm and 5.45pm.
Daytime Workshop Programme:
12:00 to 12:45
- The Art of Saying No: Develop an understanding of why women feel compelled to say yes and the consequences of doing so. This session will be led by Bridget Grenville-Cleave of Workmad.
- MentorSET: An introduction to MentorSET which is a successful mentoring scheme to help women working in SET (Science, Engineering and Technology). They provide independent mentors who understand the challenges faced and who can provide support and advice. This session will be led by Rachel Tobbell of the UKRC.
13:00 to 13:45
- Getting onto Public Bodies: More information to follow.
- How to Behave in an All Male Team: Following over 30 years of study into the brain and its functions, Whole Brain Technology empirically supports a definite "wiring" difference between men and women. This session unveils the true why's of women's natural intuitive leadership and the hows on making the most of them for your professional success in IT. This session wil be led by Christina Ioannidis of Aquitude.
- Academic Careers: More information to follow.
14:00 to 14:45
- Personal Brand: Building a personal image and brand and identifying what your personal brand is. This session will be led by Salma Shah of Beyond.
- Managing your Online Profile: Online reputation management. Techniques on finding a job using your network, LinkedIn and blogging. This session will be led by Judith Lewis.
- The Magic of Networking: What is networking and when does it happen? What the barriers are to really gaining in confidence upon joining a room of strangers. This session will be led by Heather White of The Magic of Networking.
15:00 to 15:45
- Political Savvy: "Political Savvy for Women in IT" will help females within the technology industry identify their power source, how they are perceived and to read the organisational politics in situations. This session will be led by Michelle Brailsford of the Jupitor Consulting Group.
- Preparing for your Career Break: Looking into the roles of being a mother and a committed IT professional, addressing childcare and working options tailored to individual values. This session will be led by Rachel Tobbell of the UKRC.
- Qualified for Success: Being able to demonstrate that you have the most relevant and up to date IT skills is vital for all IT professionals. One way to ensure you maintain this level of qualification is via ISEB, a qualification for IT professionals in areas such as service management, software testing and business analysis. This session will be led by Wilf Voss of the BCS.
16:00 to 16:45
- Be the Boss You Dreamed of: Women are taking more leadership roles within companies than ever before, and have the potential to be amazing leaders within the IT Sector. What does 'being the boss' mean to you? How are your assumptions about leadership helping or hindering you? How can you build on your strengths to be the kind of boss you wish you had? This highly interactive workshop will use a coaching method to get you to proactively find the right answers to your current challenges so you can grow into the leader you want to be. This session will be led by Suzanne Doyle-Morris of Doyle-Morris Coaching and Development.
- Asking for a Pay Rise: According to the Greater London Authority (February 2008) women are still paid up to 23% less than men, and in part time jobs the figures are even worse. This workshop will show you what YOU can do to achieve short-term and long-term increase in YOUR income. This session will be led by Julia Thrul of V.G.L Ltd.
- Emotional Intelligence: Emotional Intelligence (EI), often measured as an Emotional Intelligence Quotient (EQ), describes an ability, capacity, skill or (in the case of the trait EI model) a self-perceived ability, to identify, assess, and manage the emotions of one's self, of others, and of groups. It is a relatively new area of psychological research. This session will be led by Michele Duke of Management Tomorrow.
17:00 to 17:45
- Confidence and Credibility: This workshop explores how we deal with confidence as women. This session will be led by Elizabeth Kuhnke of Kuhnke Communications.
- IT as a Profession and Career Choice: The scope of the profession is much wider than ever before and is no longer just about technical skills. IT is increasingly focussed on business change and transformation with the trend towards multi skilled IT practitioners who understand the context of the business within which they operate. This session will be led by Adam Thilthorpe, BCS.
- How Smart Women Manage their Careers: Women who manage their careers are smart. We will share with you 5 career management steps to show others how smart you really are whether you are new to employment, thinking about contracting/going permanent, coming back into employment after a career break or wanting to forge on up to the top. This session will be led by Diana Hogbin-Mills of Talentmax.
Evening Networking Event
In the evening there will be a networking event (similar in style to the womenintechnology networking events we run) that's going to be a 'must attend' networking opportunity for everyone interested in and involved with 'Women in IT'.
The evening part of the event will start with a reception at 6pm. The theme will be 'achieving in the technology profession’ and we are bringing together a panel of successful women working in IT who will share their own career experiences and take questions from the audience. Confirmed speakers so far are Lis Astall, MD Public Service in Europe, Africa & Latin America at Accenture, Punita Gajree, Head of Programme Solutions for London 2012 and Kavita Oberoi - Managing Director, Oberoi Consulting (Kavita appeared on Channel 4's hit show The Secret Millionaire in August 2008).
6pm to 6.30pm Drinks reception
6.30pm to 6.45pm Welcome from the W-Tech event directors
Maggie Berry, womenintechnology.co.uk
Jan Peters, BCS
6.45pm to 7.45pm "Achieving as a Woman in the Technology Profession"
10 minute presentations from each our panellists
7.45pm to 8.30pm Q&A with the audience
8.30pm to 8.35pm Thankyou's
8.35pm onwards Networking
People can attend during the day, for the evening networking or for both parts of the event - everyone is welcome but they need to register. Places on the free career development workshops can be reserved during the event sign up process so sign up soon to make sure you can attend the sessions you're most interested in! You can register by clicking here: https://forms.bcs.org/w-tech/prog/index.php
If you have any questions at all or if you are an employer who might be interested in being involved with the event, please don't hesitate to contact Maggie Berry - Director, womenintechnology.co.uk on 020 7422 9214 or mberry@womenin.co.uk
The W-Tech event website can be found here: wtech-event.co.uk
The registration form can be found here: forms.bcs.org/w-tech/prog/index.php
W-Tech on Twitter can be found here: twitter.com/wtech2009
