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The atmosphere was buzzing as I stepped into the Verve Café. It was the second Brisbane Geek Girl Dinner, and it has grown since the last one! There were many familiar faces, and a sea of new ones. My friend Dani and I were  greeted by Bronwen when we arrived, and instinctively made our way to the bar. $5 fire engines? Who can go wrong with that? There were two long tables dedicated to Geek Girls, and the group filled both :). So we parked ourselves beside Jenine – Jenine and I go way back. We went to uni together – specifically she was my tutor – and got me hooked on indoor soccer.

The conversation was flowing, as was the wine. Everyone was waiting in anticipation for Susannah Raub to give us a glimpse on life working at Google. After ordering our meals, the time had come to migrate to the end of the café for Susannah’s speech.

Girls were sitting at the bar, on the floor and standing huddled together – all the while intrigued by Susannah’s story. And an impressive one at that. She was definitely the envy of the night, showing us Google Maps of sites she’s worked at, and places she’s seen. At Google, her career has grown from Google Desktop to Google Maps and mentoring/training – strength to strength. From America to Down Under!

Now based in Sydney, she seems to be absolutely loving it. As would any of the other girls in her position :) Questions were asked about everyday life and her learning’s and everyone was sitting on edge waiting for her replies. Hanging on every word. I mean, who wouldn’t love to work in such a flexible, catered environment. Goes to show, when you treat your employees right, productivity oozes! And with only 6/100 engineers at Google female, we can do better than that ladies ;) But for Susannah - “Go Google Girl” as Kath and Kim would say!

After Susannah’s talk, it was time to “dig in”, so to speak, to dinner. The tables were split into banqueters and individualists. They were filled with gourmet pizzas, pastas and salad – all of which got a massive 10 points from me! As dinner wound down, it was time to head off. But not for long, as with each dinner, I’m happy to report the number of ladies is growing :)

Tim arrived right at the end and snapped a couple of photos also.

Until next time,

Kitty