Manchester Girl Geeks & Wikimedia UK present an introduction to editing Wikipedia
SpacePortX 24-26 Lever St, Manchester, M1 1DZ [Map]
10am-4pm, Sunday 23th November 2014

Practically everyone uses the free encyclopaedia to find out about the world – but have you ever tried adding to it?

Women are sorely under-represented in editing and contributing to Wikipedia articles, and we aim to shift the balance.

Helpers from Wikimedia UK and Manchester Girl Geeks will be on hand to help you learn and develop editing skills.

There will be support on hand for beginners and for those who already have some editing experience.

If you’re new to wiki editing, trainers will be on hand take you through the basics of logging in and editing, as well as give you some ideas of how to contribute.

If you attended our event last year, or you already done some editing, there’ll be a an area where you can get stuck in and get help on more advanced topics.

Feel free to bring along your favourite sources and add to the body of knowledge together.

The day runs from 10am-4pm, and refreshments and lunch will be provided. Please let us know if you have any special dietary requirements.

What to bring:

• A laptop / computer, on which to edit; if you don’t have one you can bring, please get in touch beforehand and we can sort something out.
• Reference materials on topics you’d like to write about, such as books, papers or journals (optional).

Do you have a passion for technology?

What gadget could you not live without? What wonder of science do you think the world should know about? Come to the next Manchester Girl Geek Tea Party and share your knowledge with girls (and guys) who want to know more.

We’re having another of our famous Girl Geek Show and Tell tea parties, and you’re invited to come along, learn something new and teach us about the things you find fascinating. Science, engineering, technology, maths, or anything geeky – wherever your interest lies, you’re welcome to talk for 10-15 minutes (or less if you’d rather) on a subject of your choice.

If you don’t have anything to share then just come along for the talks, a cup of tea and some cake. Feel free to bring some homemade cakes if you want to share the love, too. There’ll be a relaxed atmosphere where you can share your thoughts and ideas with like minded ladies. If you’re new and just want to learn more, then come to listen and meet some great people.

Tickets

This event is free, including tea and cakes/biscuits – although donations to our lovely hosts MadLab are very welcome. Get your *free* ticket here.

What To Bring

• A short talk/presentation (optional) plus laptop/slides if needed (remember it’s only 10-15 minutes!)
• Your favourite mug
• Your delicious baked goods, if you’re in a baking mood
• Your friends, sisters, mums, cousins, daughters, colleagues, etc who might be interested in joining us!

On the day the first 15 minutes will be set aside for tea, biscuits & booking your time slot. There’ll be a list of slots available when you arrive and we’ll allocate them on a first come first serve basis. We look forward to seeing you there!

Review by @ZoeEBreen

This month’s cheerful Sunday tea-time event (23rd June) came to us courtesy of game theory expert Sara Krenicky. Sara shared with us the mathematics behind games like Rock, Paper, Scissors – rules you can learn to give yourself a good game-playing advantage.

To get everyone in the mood a few choice titles were plucked from MadLab’s extensive library (OK, suitcase) of board and other table-top games, plus games brought along by attendees, including:

Blokus – a game for two to four players with pieces reminiscent of Tetris (they are in fact all “free polyominoes“).

Gobblet – a two-player game in which larger pieces can “gobble” up smaller ones.

Ticket to Ride (Europe edition) – a railway-theme German-style board game.

Other games that proved to be a hit were Rubik’s Race – a 2D take on the classic puzzle, and RoboRally – a board game with cards and robots.

A fabulous afternoon of games and maths was consumed along with typical Girl Geek baking (dinosaur gingerbread anyone?) and of course washed down with lots of tea.

We’d like to thank everyone who came to our Show & Tell session / Tea Party at the end of September. The event encompassed a veritable smorgasbord of interests including:

• mathematical card magic
• games design
• body chemistry as patchwork
• researcher migratory patterns
• e-textiles with LEDs
• the ‘Art of Subduction’

There were also mentions of upcoming BarCamps (user-generated tech conferences) and ScienceGrrl, a network of female scientists dedicated to raising the profile of women in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM for short).

One Girl Geek newbie wrote on the Virturealz (Web and Open Source) blog:

“This was my first geek tea party and I was amazed by what a two hour talks over an afternoon tea could bring.”