Monthly Archives: June 2012
Introduction to HTML/CSS: The Mentors!
We are thrilled to be participating in Net Change Week this year and bringing together 120 learners and 30 mentors for a glorious day of learning HTML and CSS. Thanks a million to all our fabulous mentors and to Uken Games for sponsoring this workshop.
Lead Instructor: Mark Reale (@markreale | http://markreale.net)
Chief Culture Officer at BNOTIONS / Founder of Yorkville Media Centre / Professor at Seneca College
What are you passionate about? “My passion for communication and story-telling are what led me to the tech industry. Technology is providing new ways to communicate, and it is a blast to have an opportunity to be on the front-lines as things get pushed forward. Equally, I have a passion for helping people empower themselves through making learning resources as open and available as possible. The Internet is making information easier to find than ever, but it still helps to build a community and resources where people can learn to navigate through all of this information.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “Everything about Ladies Learning Code resonates with the goals of all our Yorkville Media Centre initiatives. Introduce ambitious, curious people to new technologies, and help equip them with tools to build and explore. I love the presence of Ladies Learning Code in the city, and we are more than happy to do whatever we can to help the group flourish.”
Co-Lead Instructor: Aaron Ritchie (@vsmantise )
Senior Developer at BNOTIONS / Instructor at Yorkville Media Centre / President of Harth Records
What are you passionate about? “My passions are fourfold. #1: I have a passion for building cool things, be it a website, application API, or even an interface. Though my role at BNOTIONS is as a back-end programmer, I do consider myself a front-end programmer as well. I love working with CSS and making things look pretty. #2: I have a passion for music. I love playing, composing, and producing a wide range of styles. #3: I have a passion for languages. I’m not talking about PHP, Objective-C, etc., but rather international languages. I have been studying Japanese for the past eleven years, and I have recently begun studying Korean. #4: I have a passion for working with others who share my passions.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “I’ve been an instructor at the Yorkville Media Centre since it’s inception several years ago. I felt that bringing what I have to offer at the YMC to a new environment such as Ladies Learning Code will give me the opportunity to work and share knowledge with new people that I would not have had the chance to otherwise.”
Abigail Cabunoc (@abbycabs | http://www.abigailcabunoc.com)
WormBase.org web developer at Ontario Institute for Cancer Research – I use the web to help scientists do science.
What are you passionate about? “Learning. Creating. Loving.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “When I was a teenager, I never considered becoming a developer – that was just for boys and gamers! But when I fell into it accidentally, I realized that this is what I want to do. I want to help make this field more accessible to everyone, including ladies.”
Tegan Mierle (@teganmierle | www.pilotinteractive.ca)
Creative Director / Co-founder at Pilot Interactive. I oversee all of the designers and lead the creative side of projects. I also am responsible for many of the business aspects of running a company.
What are you passionate about? “Graphic design, user experience design, front end programming, dancing.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “I think it’s great if I can share my skills with others, and the fact that I’ll be helping other girls/women will be a bonus! I think it’s amazing that LLC is making learning to code accessible and fun for everyone.”
Sofia Eydelman (@sofka_e | http://betacyanin.com)
What are you passionate about? “Design, user experience, web development, food, nutrition.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “I think it’s a great idea to help ladies discover this male-dominated world of coding. I’m looking forward to helping out!”
James Costa (@jamescosta | http://www.jamescosta.ca)
Creative Director at The Phuse – I lead a team of designers and front end developers, and work on awesome client projects!
What are you passionate about? “Working with awesome people, and making sure the next generation is the strongest generation yet in everything they do!”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “Awesome cause – there aren’t enough women in our industry, and the ones that are are incredible. We need more good people!”
Inbae Ahn (@InbaeAhn | http://www.hubba.com/a>)
CTO at Hubba. Build things. Love people.
What are you passionate about? “Finding a way back to my home planet.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “LLC’s mission is perfectly aligned with my personal philosophy, that we are born to help each other by empowering one another. The ability to wield technology just happens to be a great super-power to endow on someone.”
Alfred Ayache (@notrswebmaster | http://www.notoriouswebmaster.com)
Independent Web Application Architect/Developer
What are you passionate about? “Technology serving society.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “Helping people learn technology.”
Elaine Wong (@elthenerd)
Digital Newsgathering Support at CBC
What are you passionate about? “Telling stories and getting computers to do my bidding.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “I’ve heard great things about LLC’s workshops from past participants and thought I’ll join in the fun. Also, there’s nothing more exciting than seeing someone realize how much fun coding is!”
Greg Sullivan (http://swivelbase.com)
Principal at Swivel Base
What are you passionate about? “Web design and development, one-page recipes and productivity books I don’t have time to read.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “Women are underrepresented in the development community, and events like these help to demystify a field that should be accessible to everyone.”
Gavin Lobo (http://www.rabidgeek.net)
University of Ontario Institute of Technology, grad student, research assistant, tutorial instructor
What are you passionate about? “Teaching, Science, Mathematics and Programming”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “Coding is so much fun! More women should get involved!”
Linn Øyen Farley (@Linndelicate | http://drollic.net)
Freelance Web Designer – Building websites from scratch for a variety of fellow freelancers, small businesses and arts workers.
What are you passionate about? “Hand-writing code and convincing self-professed “non-technical” people that they can get their hands dirty with code, too.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “I’ve been fortunate to have mentors and friends along the way that encouraged me to get into a technical career, and I’m grateful to have the chance to pay it forward via such an awesome group of ladies! Plus, mentoring is just a lot of fun – this will be my 8th LLC workshop as a mentor, so obviously LLC knows how to keep us comin’ back.”
Harsha Mohan (@HarshaMohanTO | http://www.harshamohan.com)
Employed & Founder at Public Leaf – Worked on various enterprise level IT applications and currently experimenting with a mobile startup at Public Leaf
What are you passionate about? “Technology, Mobile, Community Services and a passion for teaching.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “I have a passion to teach and what better way to contribute what I have learned from my personal experience and from the IT industry then teaching other people. Ladies Learning Code is a great initiative!. It fosters the development of community based learning groups, where people help people. I personally started coding when I used HTML to build IT web pages, which drove me to learn few more computer languages. I believe it is important to train and develop learning groups such as these to build opportunities for people who are willing to learn.”
Andy McIlwain (@andymci | http://www.andymci.com)
WordPress Developer at Jugnoo, a social web product/service startup in Toronto – I work on web projects (front-end coding, web analytics, and admin-type stuff) with our Sales, Marketing, and Services divisions.
What are you passionate about? “Making technology accessible for small and medium-sized businesses.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “1.) Creating something from the ground up is a rewarding experience. 2.) Users walk away with a better understanding of how apps/websites work. 3.) An LLC workshop can be the first step to a second career with a bright future. 4.) I get to nerd out for a day, and lunch is provided!”
Tiffany Shand (@TASDesigns | http://www.tasdesigns.ca)
Freelance Web Designer – Designing websites, widgets, and apps for independent clients.
What are you passionate about? ““Tablet” friendly sites and websites that scroll left-to-right.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “It’s great to come together with other ladies who also enjoy coding and designing.”
Kat Goodale (@katgoodale | http://www.katgoodale.com)
The Linden School – I teach computer studies, grades 7-12, and manage the school’s IT.
What are you passionate about? “Getting girls passionate about technology!”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “Seems like a good fit, based on my skills and views.” 
Kathryn Barrett (@kathryn_barrett | http://kathrynbarrett.ca)
User Experience Web Designer at Bora New Ventures
What are you passionate about? “I am extremely passionate about simplistic interface design and overall user experience within web, mobile and physical environments. The future of technology and experience has always been about taking risks and bouncing ideas off people until something wonderful is created and I think now is the perfect time for more people to get involved and become creators. We live in such a fascinating world with such fascinating tools!”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “Ladies Learning Code proves that you don’t need to learn from a textbook in order to become educated!”
Anusha Chohan (@anushac6)
Front end web developer, focusing on HTML/CSS and JavaScript.
What are you passionate about? “Design and creating beautiful applications/sites.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “It’s a great cause and just want to help others with the skills I have.”
Soleil O (@outsidesphere | http://www.outsidesphere.com)
Web Developer at Grip Limited – Build websites, mobile sites, and Facebook applications. Make things look nice and add nice interactivity to static components.
What are you passionate about? “Aside from programming? I like to climb mountains.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “Women are smart and productive. The web development field needs more women in it.”
Randy Chung (@URLology)
Product Manager at Varicent Software – Developing new ideas based on industry experience and contact with customers, prospects and consultants in the field.
What are you passionate about? “Building on great ideas. I love great ideas that solve real or simple problems, and I love building out solutions that people really love to use.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “I love the idea of enabling more people to get involved with tech. We live in a time where technology surrounds us, but many people need a helping hand with learning how to build things with this technology.”
Kandirra Wilson (@kandirra | http://www.kandirra.com)
Program Coordinator at York University – Web design, project coordination, communications, multi-media production in support of professional development programs at the Centre for the Support of Teaching.
What are you passionate about? “Creative means of communication. I’m an ideas person.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “I decided to get involved because of my love for making connections, networking, and creating community support that facilitates learning and knowledge sharing; something we are most in need of in an industry where women are under-represented.”
Rebecca Dreezer (http://www.cs.toronto.edu/~rdreezer/)
Graduate student in the Master of Science in Applied Computing program at the University of Toronto and current intern at Uken Games. – At Uken, I work on both the frontend and backend of cross-platform games. I am also working on a research project exploring the usability of the games.
What are you passionate about? “I’m super passionate about research! I am very interested in HCI and usability and computer graphics, specifically sketch-based interfaces.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “Women are definitely underrepresented in the industry. I feel that it is important to encourage women to get excited about developing and coding!”
Hamsharan Mahalingam
I work on cross platform games using Html5 and RoR at Uken Games
What are you passionate about? ”Good and clean code.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “I want to encourage more ladies to code. Plus I like to mentor.”
Brendan Seabrook
Web Developer for TorStar Digital (Toronto Star / Rogers)
What are you passionate about? “Teaching!”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “I have female friends who want to start programming, but lack a proper support network. I also enjoy teaching.”
Paul Mennega
Consult/freelance to various companies including LinkedIn – Help companies use technology to enhance the user experience
PICTURE 
What are you passionate about? “Technology mashups, startups.”
I think it’s a great initiative, and the world needs more geeky ladies.”
Ryan Mudryk (@ry)
Freelance Designer & Developer
What are you passionate about? “Herding unicorns, web standards and user experience. Mostly herding unicorns though.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “The generous web community, whether directly or otherwise, is single-handedly responsible for the successes I’ve had thus far in my career. When presented with the opportunity to give something back via Ladies Learning Code, participating was a no-brainer.”
Something New: Our 3D Modelling and Printing Workshop!
What is 3D printing and why is it so useful?
3D printing is a method of making solid, three-dimensional objects from a digital file. The process entails laying down successive layers of a material – often thin, melted strands of ABS plastic – along a fixed set of geometrical coordinates that align with those of the digital file. This technology, especially when used to prototype new designs, is useful in many fields, such as industrial design, architecture, engineering and construction, jewellery making, fashion design, automotive manufacturing, aerospace, dental and medical prosthetic design, education, geographic information system design, civil engineering, and countless others. It’s also just really fun to come up with an idea for something and be able to actually create it in a really short period of time! At this event we will be designing our own small unique “things” using iMacs and a program called Meshmixer and bringing them to life using an assortment of different 3D printers – we’ll have 10 or more different 3D printers on-site!
3D Modelling with Meshmixer
Autodesk meshmixer is a free tool for working with high-resolution 3D mesh models. Unlike many 3D tools, meshmixer is designed to be useful for makers of all ages and skill levels. If you are a 3D novice, you can use meshmixer’s drag-and-drop tools to decorate an existing 3D object, or point-and-click to turn a rough scan into a printable solid. If you are a 3D pro, you can use solid operations to design complex mechanical parts, or use meshmixer’s sculpting brushes to turn a sphere into, well, anything. Combine meshmixer with 3D capture software like 123D Catch and you can turn yourself into a 3D printed action figure, make a family chess set, create a personalized face mask, or make weird Stephen Colbert mashups. Meshmixer is free for Windows and Mac OSX at www.meshmixer.com.
The Ladies Learning Code 3D Modelling and Printing Workshop
This workshop will bring 48 lucky learners together for 4-hours of modelling and printing their own unique things. In order to have this volume of participation, the learners will be staggered in two groups, as follows.
Group 1 - July 14, 2012
10am-11am: Learn about 3D modelling and printing & Autodesk meshmixer tutorial
11am-12pm: 3D modelling with Autodesk meshmixer
12pm-2pm: Print your 3D thing!
Group 2 - July 14, 2012
12pm-1pm: Learn about 3D modelling and printing & Autodesk meshmixer tutorial
1pm-2pm: 3D modelling with Autodesk meshmixer
2pm-4pm: Print your 3D thing!
Registration for these workshops is $50 and opens on Wednesday, June 20th at 7 pm. An additional round of tickets will be available at 9 am on Thursday, June 21st. To register, please visit http://ladieslearningcode3d.eventbrite.com
Our Amazing Lead Instructors
Ryan Schmidt (http://www.dgp.toronto.edu/~rms/)
Ryan is a Research Scientist at Autodesk Research in Toronto, Canada. Ryan’s research focuses on interactive 3D design tools, with the goal of making them more expressive and efficient. As an undergraduate at the University of Calgary, he worked on a spinal surgery simulator and designed the MADBoxes display wall. In his graduate work (MSc UCalgary 2006, PhD UToronto 2010) he created ShapeShop, an easy-to-use sketch-based 3D modeling tool, and started the meshmixer project, which was acquired by Autodesk in 2011. Currently he is continuing to develop meshmixer and exploring new design interfaces in the context of emerging personal 3D fabrication workflows.
Gabby Resch (http://losingtime.ca/)
Gabby is a graduate student at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Information and a member of both the ENCORE Lab research group at OISE and the Mobile and Pervasive Computing Cluster at the Inclusive Design Institute. He studies the development of digital media tools for educational purposes, and is especially interested in those that blur the lines between the virtual world and the authentic material world.
We would like to give a special thanks to Marie-Eve Belanger and the ThingTank team, for their early support in the evolution of this cutting-edge event, and the Autodesk team for your sponsorship and TIFF for letting us use your awesome space.
Ladies Learning Code Success Stories: Emma Jenkin (@indeedemma)
This post was originally published on Emma Jenkin’s blog. You can follow her on Twitter at @indeedemma.
Do you have your own success story to share? We’d love to hear about it! Email us at info [at] ladieslearningcode.com.
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On a beautiful sunny summer Saturday I found myself among almost 80 others up a downtown office tower for Ladies Learning Code. Ladies Learning Code (LLC) is an amazing initiative that makes learning code welcoming and accessible. And yes gentlemen, you are welcome. If you’re interested in coding but largely new to it, LLC is going to be the best entry point.
I had heard buzzings on twitter about how great LLC was, which is how I got to attend my first class on HTML and CSS a few weeks ago. It took me from zero to website over the course of a day, and I was sent home with a free domain name courtesy of Hover and tickets to FITC to keep the learning experience going.
Since that class I have toiled over my very own personal website (still under construction!), relishing in the process of building a site from scratch. Of course, being tech-savvy and all that, I knew I would eventually have to make my website mobile-friendly. Enter LLC’s Mobile Coding class.
The class was set up in pairs, which made the day a lot more fun. I learned a bunch from my partner Marni, who came to the class from a background in computer science and libraries. Turns out, well, coding for mobile isn’t all that tricky. You just create a unique style sheet for when your site is being viewed from a mobile device. Easy, you see? (Listen to me, prattling on like a programmer).
At the end of the class we all presented the progress we had made during the day. It was outstanding what we n00bs were able to accomplish in a matter of hours, having had no experience with mobile coding before! I was absolutely delighted/honoured/chuffed that Marni and my site made it in to the class’ Top 3. The three teams behind the top pages were put in a draw an Apple TV and two tickets to conference tickets (seriously, LLC has got the hookups). While my name was not pulled for the Apple TV (dommage!) I was again so happy to get a conference ticket!
I left the Mobile class with the knowledge to convert my website to mobile, a full belly, a ticket to a conference, and a mind full of inspiration on how to apply my skills in my work and personal life. Again I’d like to extend the biggest thanks to the organizers of LLC, and the people behind Xtreme Labs, who played a huge roll in the success of this mobile class.
Have you been to an LLC class? What’s holding you back? (And if it’s the name, with all due respect, get over yourself. There are men who come as learners, and men who come as mentors. You won’t feel uncomfortable or unwelcome).
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Thanks to Emma for putting together this awesome post about her experience at Ladies Learning Code! It really excites us to hear stories like these. Ready to give one of our workshops a try? Click here to see a list of our upcoming workshops. And follow us on Twitter at @llcodedotcom.
What does it mean to be a Ladies Learning Code Mentor?
One of the biggest reasons Ladies Learning Code workshops have become so popular is because of people we like to call Mentors.
Ladies Learning Code workshops range in size – when we started, our workshops usually had between 30 and 60 participants. Now, some of our workshops are as large as 160 learners (depending on the topic and the space we have available)! We partner with some of Toronto’s most talented developers and designers, such as Pearl Chen, Wes Bos, Mark Reale and Dessy Daskalov and many more, to build the content for our workshops. It’s a big job – leading a workshop involves often involes about 40 hours of content development, in addition to a full day of instructing. The fact that so many of our Lead Instructors have happily returned to lead additional workshops amazes us – we are so lucky to have such wonderful volunteers helping to make Ladies Learning Code a reality.
While our Lead Instructors are front and centre, with a microphone helping them reach the very back of the space, our amazing Mentors are scattered throughout the room. Mentors sit amongst the learners at a ratio of (almost always) 1 Mentor for every 4 learners. (That means that some of our workshops – the largest ones – require 40 Mentors for an entire day!) This supports our effort, and makes it possible for us to provide the collaborative, social, beginner-friendly learning environment that Ladies Learning Code workshops are now known for.
Mentors really are the magic. Rather than wandering around the room and jumping in when people raise their hands, Ladies Learning Code Mentors are actually assigned to four participants. It creates a better experience for everyone. It creates an opportunity for Mentors and participants to get to know each other, and each other’s learning styles. It also creates a semi-customized learning experience for the participants, which is difficult to find at other workshops. Because each Mentor is only responsible for helping four participants, it means that there is someone beside you to answer your questions throughout the day. If you’re falling behind, a Mentor is there to help you. If, on the other hand, you’re catching on quickly, a Mentor can offer additional challenges so that you get the most out of the day. Without Mentors, Ladies Learning Code workshops wouldn’t be the same. We’re so grateful to Toronto (and now Vancouver’s!) tech communities for supporting Ladies Learning Code. And if you’re a developer or designer but haven’t yet been out to a Ladies Learning Code workshop as a Mentor? Join our mailing list here.
What does it take to be a Ladies Learning Code Mentor?
1 – A strong grasp of the subject matter, and experience working with it.
2 – A keen desire to help tech-savvy women (and men) learn something new.
3 – Patience and understanding – and a sense of humour doesn’t hurt.
One of the motivations that keep Melissa, Heather, Breanna and me going is the feedback we get from our learners, as well as our Mentors, after each event. Our learners rave about our Mentors and our Mentors rave about our learners. It’s really quite adorable. What I find particularly interesting is what our Mentors tell us they have gained from volunteering at Ladies Learning Code workshops. Our Mentors leave feeling energized, surprised, and even inspired by the Ladies Learning Code’s communities desire and excitement to learn to code.
What can be gained from being a Ladies Learning Code a Mentor?
1 – Communication and technical coaching skills.
2 – An appreciation and respect for gender diversity in the tech industry.
3 – How to work more effectively on technical projects with “non-technical” participants.
There are reasons our mentors volunteer again and again. The Ladies Learning Code community is dedicated, engaged, fabulous and growing! Join us!
Our Mentors are critical to the effectiveness of a Ladies Learning Code workshop. If you are interested in getting involved (and we hope you are!), please join our ‘tech help’ mailing list HERE for all the updates on upcoming events and volunteer needs.
Mobile Workshop: Meet The Mentors!
After a group of ladies mastered mobile for the first time back in January we knew we would have to do it again! On June 16th, our second mobile workshop will be held at Xtreme Labs and led by Peter Iskandar and Kitty Shum. No one can become a master without a great instructor, and our mentors for this workshop are no exception:
Lead Instructor: Peter Iskandar (@PeteIskandar)
Agile Engineer, Mobile Application Development at Xtreme Labs Inc.
What are you passionate about? “There are several things that I am passionate about but the main two are music and computers/technology. I have been involved with computers since a very early age and my learning has still only just begun.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “I decided to get involved with Ladies Learning Code because I wanted to help people further their knowledge in computers/coding. I think it’s a great cause and I’m glad to be a part of it.”
Lead Instructor: Kitty Shum (@kitty_shum | http://kittyshum.wordpress.com)
Product Manager at Xtreme Labs
What are you passionate about? “The magic of how technology improves our lives has always fascinated me. I’ve been passionate about technology since I wrote my first “Hello World” application. From a technical perspective, I spend a lot of time trying out new technologies, new mobile platforms and building cool products. Outside of the technology world, I enjoy being disconnected from time to time. I play a lot of sports; from snowboarding in the winter to LOTS of football in the summer.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “After working in a male-dominated environment for years, I would love to encourage more ladies into this field. I still recall being able to count the number of girls with one hand for one of my 4th year Computer Science course. Coding and working with technology is not a scary thing, I want to help change that perception. I love technology and love what I do everyday! I want to share that passion with others and support a great community/organization.”
Ankur Jain (@ankurjain185 | http://www.symmetricsolutions.ca)
Front-end Developer at National Post
What are you passionate about? “User experience, web performance and technology. I believe a memorable user experience works hand in hand with highly optimized websites. No one likes to wait.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “Having more women within our industry will provide a fresh perspective as both genders approach and solve problems differently. LLC looks like a great opportunity where I can share my knowledge while helping promote greater diversity within the industry.”
Saman Alvi (@err_sage | www.systemerrorcs.wordpress.com)
Android Software Developer at EnvisionMobile
What are you passionate about? “Clean code.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “It’s a great organization doing fabulous work.”
Sacha Sayan (@sachasayan | http://sachasayan.com)
Freelance Interactive Developer/Designer – I typically design and develop websites and ads for agencies, working with HTML/CSS, JS, Flash, Photoshop, and more!
What are you passionate about? “Designing great, clear user interfaces and experiences. I think we need to interact better with technology, and there’s a huge cultural shift towards that right now.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “I work in an industry that despite so much effort to move in the right direction, lacks diversity. I’d like to fix that.”
Luke Galea (@lukegalea)
VP of Research and Development at Avid Life Media (Ashley Madison, CougarLife, EstablishedMen, etc)
What are you passionate about? “Javascript, Node.JS, Mobile Web Development & Good Beer.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “My baby girl (Maeve) who I someday hope will learn to code.” 
Jonathan Hernandez (@jahndez | http://sascea.com)
Developer at Sascea
What are you passionate about? “Videogames. Also learning new things, creating amazing applications that are simple to use.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “I’ve been fortunate enough to work with a team of great people and learn a lot along the way from them. Ladies Learning Code is a great initiative that wants to do away with the preconceived notion that programming can be difficult to get into. It’d be great to be able to give back to the community and get more people introduced to some useful and very important tech.”
Conrad Muan (@radicalradical | http://www.radicalradical.com/)
Independent Web Developer, front end and server side
What are you passionate about? ”I’m passionate about moving the web forward and creating solid user experiences. I believe that coding is an art form and should be something we learn early on: like arts and crafts time in kindergarten.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? ”I saw an opportunity to spread the thing that I love to do to a demographic that is (unfortunately) not represented very well in my industry”
Nicole Chung (@redconservatory | http://www.redconservatory.ca/)
Freelance Web Developer – My job changes from month to month, but mainly I do a combination of front-end development and videography work
What are you passionate about? “Telling stories and writing code.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “It would be fantastic if there were more women writing code.”
Chris Jones (@jonezy | http://github.com/jonezy/)
Richmond Day – I’m a senior developer focusing on building complete online solutions (web sites, web apps, mobile web sites and apps, Facebook apps, etc). Working at a small company means I get to do all the fun stuff, I don’t specialize in any specific role so I get to everything from db design to css to provisioning servers. Specifically I work with c#/asp.net mvc, html, css and javascript.
What are you passionate about? “Right now my passion is focused on getting people excited about being a developer.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “I love writing code but there’s something about seeing that light bulb happen for someone, when they finally get that layout just right or the project finally compiles. What we do is a great deal of fun and involves a lot of creativity.”
Anne Thomas (@AlfalfaAnne | http://annethomasdesign.com)
Front-End Web Developer at Grip Limited
What are you passionate about? “UX Design / WordPress / Horses.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “Love the idea / Love to help / Love to meet awesome people.”
Susan Elliott Sim (@benevolentprof | http://www.drsusansim.org)
Research, writing, teaching, and iPhone programming at Many Roads Studios
What are you passionate about? “Social justice.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “I spend my waking hours advocating for the dispossessed, empowering women, and challenging power structures. Getting involved in LLC lets me do all of that.”
James Halpern
Engineer at Xtreme Labs – I am an engineer in mobile app development. I am currently responsible for developing the NBA Game Time application for release in the US, and I have previously had experience with web development, specifically for Facebook applications and HP’s WebOS platform (CBS Sports for WebOS).
What are you passionate about? “Technology in general. Tech is cool.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “I have some free time, and so I figured I should spend it volunteering and trying to help out. Would be nice to have fun and help people learn code.”
Andrew Stevens (@andrewstevens | http://andxyz.com)
Software Developer at Orbis Communications
What are you passionate about? “UX, webframeworks.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “The energy and aura of learning environments are great for everyone involved. Volunteering and the act of attempting to explain something with clarity is a reward in and of itself, makes me think of “talking to the rubber duck.” Getting in touch with the co-founder Laura and other mentors are side motives too.”
James Cooper
(Coop) Developer at Xtreme Labs
What are you passionate about? “History, actually; coding is cool and I like it but I’m actually a history major.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “Because I like teaching as well, and it just generally seems like a fun and worthy cause.”
Dwayne Forde (@dwayneforde)
Software Architect at Xtreme Labs
What are you passionate about? “Coding.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “I like teaching people who are willing to learn.”
Hannah Mittelstaedt (@hannahmitt)
Agile Developer at Xtreme Labs
What are you passionate about? “Android design.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “I’m a lady and I love to code! I’d like other girls to be introduced to how much fun it is.”
Nick Manos (@nikosmanos)
Mobile Developer at Avid Life Media – I develop and maintain iPhone, Android, and mobile web apps.
What are you passionate about? “Mobile development.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “Help others who want to learn to program.”
Monica Olinescu (@mochromatic | http://sleekd.com)
Co-founder and Wearer of Many Hats at Discuss.io – My main responsibility is building a kick ass feedback tool for designers.
What are you passionate about? “Using technology to make people’s lives easier.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “By the time I graduated from university there were only about four girls left in my year. I have always wondered why girls shied away from Computer Science, when there seemed to be lots of girls in other science-oriented fields. I am very excited to meet women who are interested learning how to code and share my passion for building things with them.”
Brian Irish (@irishb)
Senior Web Developer at Virgin Gaming
What are you passionate about? “Combining the latest and greatest in programming with a simple, and responsive interface.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “A friend and former colleague brought this workshop to my attention, and I instantly thought it was a great idea!”
Scott Erkkila (@scotterkkila | http://www.sedev.ca)
Agile Developer at Xtreme Labs
What are you passionate about? “Software development, teaching and Tim Hortons double doubles.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “The last LLC I mentored at was a lot of fun. It’s amazing to watch people who had little experience coding turn into coders by the end of the day.”
Much thanks to these magnificent mobile mentors!
For more info about Ladies Learning Code, follow us on Twitter or check out our Facebook Page. If you’d like to join our email list, click here or to volunteer as a Mentor, join our developer email list.
Photoshop Was Awesome
Last night kicked off our June Photoshop evening workshops and what a great kick-off it was! Hosted at the amazing George Brown College Game Design Centre, our first workshop of the three was an Introduction to Photoshop: Photo Editing. After a pizza dinner, lead instructor Angelica Ramos and mentors Ryan Bannon and Erin Morris turned the classroom into a flurry of Photoshop activity – before long the learners were “photoshopping” everything from removing the background in an image to getting rid of Lindsay Lohan’s flyaway hairs.
The workshop covered how to use Photoshop tools such as the magic wand, crop tool, and pen tool, just to name a few. By the end of the workshop our learners discovered how to crop photos, change the background, remove wrinkles, and more! Here’s what our learners had to say:
Where has photoshop been all my life. I just deleted 10 years off my forehead. Loving @llcodedotcom @gbincubator photoshop workshop!
— Bhargavi Varma (@Veggienista) June 7, 2012
Finally learning what all those commands mean in Photoshop–very cool! #ladieslearningcode
— Jess Posgate (@OurOntario) June 6, 2012
I’m full of new ideas after tonight’s Photoshop workshop with @llcodedotcom #ladieslearningcode
— Jennifer Israel (@jenniferlisrael) June 7, 2012
Are you sad you missed it? Well you’re in luck because we’ll be running two more Photoshop workshops next Wednesday and the Wednesday after that. All three workshops are stand-alone Introductions to Photoshop, with different projects a focus. Come to one, two or all three of these events! Next week’s focusses on Creating a Personalized Photo Banner, Collage, using Photoshop and you’ll learn beginner Photoshop skills such as layers and simple effects. We’ll be learning tools that will help you create graphics for business cards, letterheads, and blog banners. Register here now! We hope to see you there!
Announcing Ladies Learning Code in…Vancouver!
Today, we’re excited to announce that we will finally be offering workshops outside of Toronto. Beautiful Vancouver, here we come!
Since our first workshop in Toronto on August 6th, 2011, we’ve been blown away (delightfully surprised, really) by how much interest there’s been in our workshops – and not just from people in Toronto. Since starting up, we’ve received dozens of emails from people asking us to bring Ladies Learning Code to their city, or offering to do the work to start it up themselves! As fun and exciting as it sounded, we always felt it was too soon. At least, until now!
About our Vancouver Workshops
We’ll be organizing two workshops in Vancouver this summer, and we couldn’t be more excited about it! The workshops are sponsored by Simon Fraser University (have you checked out their new Digital Communications Certificate program?), and will be hosted by Launch Academy. Toronto’s own Pearl Chen (who led the first Ladies Learning Code workshop ever!) will be leading these two (identical) workshops in Vancouver.
Workshop 1: Friday, August 24th, 2012 (10 am to 5 pm)
Topic: An Intro to HTML & CSS
Click here to register
Workshop 2: Saturday, August 25th, 2012 (10 am to 5 pm)
Topic: An Intro to HTML & CSS
Click here to register
If you’re from Vancouver, we hope you’ll join us at the end of August! And if you aren’t from Vancouver, you probably know someone who is…so please spread the word!
Thanks again to our awesome sponsor, Simon Fraser University, and to our host, Launch Academy! And also to Sonia Ryan, who put us in touch with Nicole Jasinski at Launch Academy when we were searching for a venue. So thanks to Nicole, too, for saying yes! It’s looking like the tech community in Vancouver is going to be just as supportive of Ladies Learning Code as Toronto’s tech community has been…
See you in Vancouver on August 24th and 25th!