May
19

WordPress with Wes Bos

Back by popular demand!

Why WordPress?

Whether you want to start your own blog, or your company website is run on it, WordPress allows you to update and create content easily, while allowing for your own style and customization. You don’t need to be technical to use it, but it can be really powerful if you get your hands dirty and work with the code. In this workshop, Wes Bos is going to show you how to install WordPress, what it all means, and of course, how to edit a theme to make it your own. This is our third time offering Wes Bos’s “Intro to WordPress” workshop – last time, the workshop sold out within minutes, and there was a waitlist of 140+ within two hours! Both workshops have had rave reviews, so we’re thrilled that Wes has agreed to come back and lead the workshop once again.

Join us on May 19th, 2012. Tickets go on sale May 2nd at 7 pm – another round will be available on May 3rd at 9 am.

Registration is $50, and includes catered breakfast and lunch, a full day of learning, and a 4:1 ratio (or better!) of students to instructors – so there’s always someone there to answer your questions! We’re able to keep the cost of attending a Ladies Learning Code workshop accessible because Toronto’s tech community is amazing and incredibly supportive.

May 19, 2012
10:00 - 6:00 pm
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June
6

Photo Editing Using Photoshop

Why Photo Editing?

Many first impressions happen online (before we go to a job interview or attend an event). The Photo Editing Workshop is an opportunity for you to start developing the online identity you want while learning to use basic Photoshop tools. We’ll start with a picture of you (or any picture you select). We will optimize it for web, do some colour correcting and erase details or imperfections you don’t like. We’ll also learn to use selection tools to change the background to create a simple photomontage.

This workshop is intended for anyone who is ready to start creating with Photoshop, while having some fun with the basics of photo editing. Not only will you have a better understanding of the software and its potential but you’ll also end up with a brand new profile picture for your digital self.

Note: Computers and software ARE provided for this workshop! No need to bring your own laptop for this one!

About this Workshop:

The Ladies Learning Code Photoshop workshops are so popular we’ve decided to bring Photoshop back in a different format! This evening workshop takes one aspect of our one-day workshop and expands it into it’s own event. If you have attended our Photoshop workshop in the past, this is not for you.

At this evening workshop, you’ll learn from three ultra-talented members of Toronto’s incredible design community: Lead by Angelica Ramos and Mentored by Ryan Bannon and Erin Morris.

Tickets will go on sale on Thursday, May 17th at 7pm. Registration is $40, and includes pizza dinner, an evening of learning, and a small ratio of students to instructors – so there’s always someone there to answer your questions! We’re able to keep the cost of attending a Ladies Learning Code workshop accessible because Toronto’s tech community is amazing and incredibly supportive.

June 6th, 2012
George Brown College Game Design Centre
6:15 pm - 9:30 pm
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June
13

Creating a Custom Facebook Cover Photo Using Photoshop

Why Create a Custom Facebook Cover Photo?

Do you love Facebook as much as we do? Whether is staying connected with family and friends, or leveraging the social media tool to promote a group or organization, we can’t deny its power.

Do you want to create a rockin’ FaceBook Cover Photo but Microsoft Paint is no longer cutting it? Need to spruce up your online presence? Join us for a hands-on workshop and learn the basics of Photoshop, some basic design theory, and enough design fundamentals to render your Cover Photo pixel perfect.

Note: Computers and software ARE provided for this workshop! No need to bring your own laptop for this one!

About this Workshop:

The Ladies Learning Code Photoshop workshops are so popular we’ve decided to bring Photoshop back in a different format! This evening workshop takes one aspect of our one-day workshop and expands it into it’s own event. If you have attended our Photoshop workshop in the past, this is not for you.

At this evening workshop, you’ll learn from three ultra-talented members of Toronto’s incredible design community: Lead by Erin Morris and Mentored by Angelica Ramos and Ryan Bannon .

Tickets will go on sale on Thursday, May 17th at 7pm. Registration is $40, and includes pizza dinner, an evening of learning, and a small ratio of students to instructors – so there’s always someone there to answer your questions! We’re able to keep the cost of attending a Ladies Learning Code workshop accessible because Toronto’s tech community is amazing and incredibly supportive.

June 13th, 2012
George Brown College Game Design Centre
6:15 pm - 9:30 pm
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June
16

June 16th: Mobile Workshop

This workshop is back by popular demand! Read about the last time we offered this workshop here.

For this workshop we believe two heads are better than one! We will be taking the “paired programming” technique and using it to teach you mobile. We are going to be taking a super crazy, complicated website and make it mobile friendly using HTML5 and CSS. It helps if you have a previous understanding of HTML and CSS, but it’s not a requirement.We will be teaching you how to design for multiple screen sizes, select content that makes sense for mobile and of course, unmask the mysterious yet widely discussed HTML5.

By the end of the workshop, you will have finished something similar to this:

Tickets for our June 16th Mobile Workshop go on sale on May 30th at 7 pm, so save the date! A second round of tickets will go on sale the next morning at 9 am.

Registration is $50, and includes catered breakfast and lunch, a full day of learning, and approximately a 4:1 ratio of students to instructors – so there’s always someone there to answer your questions. We’re able to keep the cost of attending a Ladies Learning Code workshop accessible because Toronto’s tech community is straight-up amazing.

(Please note, you do not have to have a pair to come to this workshop. It’s an opportunity to make new friends!)

June 16th, 2012
Xtreme Labs (Yonge & King)
10:00 am to 5:00 pm
Registration coming soon
June
20

Creating a Personalized Twitter or Website Background

Why Create a Personalized Twitter or Website Background?

Your computer, your website, your Twitter account: They all have backgrounds. Whether it’s a simple colour, a subtle pattern, or something with a little more flare — you use them. In this workshop you’ll learn the Photoshop basics as well as enjoy a surprisingly painless exploration of some of it’s more powerful tools and features. At the end of the evening you’ll be leaving with newly acquired knowledge and a shiny new Background for your website or twitter page.

Note: Computers and software ARE provided for this workshop! No need to bring your own laptop for this one!

About this Workshop:

The Ladies Learning Code Photoshop workshops are so popular we’ve decided to bring Photoshop back in a different format! This evening workshop takes one aspect of our one-day workshop and expands it into it’s own event. If you have attended our Photoshop workshop in the past, this is not for you.

At this evening workshop, you’ll learn from three ultra-talented members of Toronto’s incredible design community: Lead by Ryan Bannon and Mentored by Erin Morris and Angelica Ramos.

Tickets will go on sale on Thursday, May 17th at 7pm. Registration is $40, and includes pizza dinner, an evening of learning, and a small ratio of students to instructors – so there’s always someone there to answer your questions! We’re able to keep the cost of attending a Ladies Learning Code workshop accessible because Toronto’s tech community is amazing and incredibly supportive.

June 20th, 2012
George Brown College Game Design Centre
6:15 pm - 9:30 pm
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May
12

Mother-Daughter Hack Days

Join Ladies Learning Code for an introduction to HTML & CSS – designed for complete beginners. Learning some HTML & CSS basics is the perfect starting point for anyone interested in learning more about how the web works, because they are the backbone of all websites. When creating for the web, we use HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) to “tag” text so that computers understand how to display the content for others – it’s almost like telling your computer, “This is a heading” or “This is a list.” Then, we use CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) to make web pages look pretty. With CSS, you can change colours and fonts, or add margins or other formatting. These days, lots of non-developers use HTML every day, especially people who blog, because it’s the easiest way to format blog posts to stand out. Of course, as you learn more about HTML & CSS, you’ll be well-equipped to begin using your skills to do even more – even creating fully-featured websites.

For more information about this workshop (including information about what you’ll create), check out this blog post.

We’re offering two Mother-Daughter workshops in May:

Mother-Daughter Hack Day For Girls 9-17 Years Old (and their Moms)
Sunday, May 6th: 1 pm – 4:30 pm
Want to sponsor this workshop? Contact us. 

Mother-Daughter Hack Day for Women 18 and Up (and their Moms)
Saturday, May 12th: 1 pm – 4:30 pm
Thanks to our sponsor, Polar Mobile!

Registration

Tickets will go on sale on Wednesday, April 18th at 7 pm, and an additional round will go on sale the next morning at 9 am. Registration is $25 ($50 for the pair), and includes catered breakfast and lunch, a full day of learning, and approximately a 4:1 ratio of students to instructors – so there’s always someone there to answer your questions! We’re able to keep the cost of attending a Ladies Learning Code workshop accessible because Toronto’s tech community is amazing and incredibly supportive.

May 12, 2012
1 pm - 4:30 pm
This event is sold out
May
3

Community Night & Fundraiser

We love bringing together the amazing people who make up the Ladies Learning Code community: the women and men who attend our workshops, the developers and designers who lead and mentor at them, people from companies and organizations who sponsor us, and the broader tech community in Toronto who support what we’re doing. Truthfully, we don’t bring this awesome group of people together to just have fun often enough! Well, we’re going to fix that on May 3rd, 2012, because we’re inviting everyone who supports Ladies Learning Code to a Community Night & Fundraiser at Brant House!

We hope you’ll join us. Tickets are $20 and include a free drink and appetizers! Plus, you’ll be supporting a good cause. Plus, it will be really fun! Promise.

The Cause: Help us buy a PA system!

Proceeds from this event will help us to purchase our very own PA system. (Sorry, Long & McQuade Rental Department, you’ve been great but it’s time for us to move on and get serious.)

Event Details:

Date: Thursday, May 3rd, 2012
Time: 6:30 pm
Tickets: $20 (includes a free drink + appetizers)
Venue: Brant House ($3 drinks before 10 pm!)
Address: 522 King Street West

We hope to see you on May 3rd!

May 3, 2012
Brant House
6:30 pm
This event is sold out
April
28

Intro to Python for Beginners

Why Python?

Python is a great language for beginners. Its beautiful and clean-looking syntax means you’ll spend less time being confused (it looks sort of like English!), and more time understanding and applying the fundamentals of programming. Plus, even as a beginner, you can do fun things with Python, like make games and draw shapes!

In this Introduction to Python workshop you will create an app that sells tickets, a “Guess the Number” game (Price is Right, anyone?) and as part of your final project, you’ll re-create the schoolyard classic, Hangman.

This workshop is being led by the talented Juan Musleh, and is being sponsored by FreshBooks.

Tickets will go on sale on Wednesday, April 11th at 7 pm, and an additional round will go on sale the next morning at 9 am. Registration is $45, and includes catered breakfast and lunch, a full day of learning, and approximately a 4:1 ratio of students to instructors – so there’s always someone there to answer your questions! We’re able to keep the cost of attending a Ladies Learning Code workshop accessible because Toronto’s tech community is amazing and incredibly supportive.


April 28, 2012
The Centre for Social Innovation
10:00 am - 5:00 pm
This event is sold out
April
14

Intro to Photoshop

Why Photoshop?

No matter what stage you’re at when it comes to developing your technical skills, you’ve probably realized that Microsoft Paint just isn’t going to cut it forever. Whether you need to crop or resize a photo, want to create a logo for your blog, or have a more significant design project in mind, at some point, you’re going to need an introduction to the Adobe Creative Suite. And since Photoshop was such a popular workshop when we offered it in February, we’ve decided to bring it back! So, on April 14th, 2012 Ladies Learning Code is happy to introduce a repeat of our popular design-related workshop, an Introduction to Photoshop!

At this full-day workshop, you’ll learn to use Photoshop and a bit of InDesign (plus as much design theory as we can reasonably fit in) from four ultra-talented members of Toronto’s incredible design community: Ryan Bannon, Angelica Ramos, Erin Morris and Christopher Appleton.

Tickets will go on sale on Wednesday, March 28th at 7 pm, and an additional round will go on sale the next morning at 9 am. Registration is $45, and includes catered lunch, a full day of learning, and approximately a 4:1 ratio of students to instructors – so there’s always someone there to answer your questions! We’re able to keep the cost of attending a Ladies Learning Code workshop accessible because Toronto’s tech community is amazing and incredibly supportive.

April 14, 2012
George Brown College Game Design Centre
10:00 am - 5:00 pm
This event is sold out
March
31

Ruby for Absolute Beginners

(Note that this workshop requires absolutely no experience with programming. Beginners, this one’s for you!)

For this workshop we say goodbye to the web browser and hello to our computer, literally. Ruby is one of many languages your computer understands and that you can use to speak to it, but is known for being more elegant and natural compared to other languages. Ruby doesn’t need semicolons, preventing those annoying errors that seem to happen for no reason, and requires fewer lines of code to accomplish the same thing as other languages. In this workshop, you will learn how to speak to your computer and tell it to do things for you. We will be re-creating popular word and math games, and also tell you what this “Ruby on Rails” thing is that you keep hearing about.

At the end of the workshop, the following code will make complete sense to you (among many others):


This workshop is being led by the incredibly talented Dessy Daskalov. You can find her on Twitter – she’s @dess_e!

Tickets will go on sale on March 21st at 7 pm, and an additional round will go on sale the next morning at 9 am. Registration is $45, and includes a catered lunch, a full day of learning, and a 4:1 ratio (or better!) of students to instructors – so there’s always someone there to answer your questions! We’re able to keep the cost of attending a Ladies Learning Code workshop accessible because Toronto’s tech community is amazing and incredibly supportive.

March 31, 2012
The Centre for Social Innovation
10 am to 6 pm
This event is sold out