Yesterday, I had the pleasure of attending Girl Geek Sydney Meetup at the Atlassian HQ in Sydney. It was my first time attending a Girl Geek event because well, in the evenings, I have important personal committments, such as making dinner for my daughter, bathing her and putting her to sleep.    
But, there is always a but. I have heard good things about Girl Geek events and being a woman in technology, I know how nice it is to get support from fellow women so I made time yesterday evening to attend.  Besides, as I'm doing more speaking engagements and on the look out for collaboration opportunities this year, I thought I might learn a few things from the event. And I wasn't disappointed. There were pizza, drinks, inspiring talks and a room full of intelligent women (and a few men) in technology. Now, I'd like to share my main takeaways from the three talks that evening. 

 
  
  
Georgie Luhur - How to let go of the fear of failure and make better goals

Georgie talked about performance goals vs learning goals and that was my main takeaway. I liked that she shared a lot of facts and researches and also shared her personal story that many of us can relate to, getting burnout because we tend to push ourselves too hard in the beginning in order to achieve success that we have in mind. My takeaway was to think about a better version of yourself when you are setting goals and not worry too much about success or failure.  

Sera Prince McGill - Sera's going on a Job Hunt

Sera is a true character and she took us through her journey of looking for a job that aligns with her values. She was funny and entertaining. My main takeaways were mind map/value map and referrals. She talked about how helpful it was to have a mind map of yourself and referrring to it often as well as tapping into the power of networks and people that you know to support you and keep you going during job hunt. Definitely something that I will think about when I am looking for my next role.  

Leanne Yong - Debunking the myths about following your passion

I really enjoyed Leanne's talk, she is funny, articulate and clearly very passionate. She talked about her two great loves and how she is following her passion. Her talk and Georgie were somehow related in my opinion. We are sometimes too hard on ourselves and care too much about what other people, the society might say or think. My main takeaways from this talk were that it is ok to take a break, it is ok to feel frustarted sometimes and it is ok to lean into supportive people around you when you're following your passion.  

All in all, great talks and a great event. We need more meet ups like this and I hope to particpate more in the future. Kudos to the organisers and presenters for their amazing efforts and dedication.    It was an evening well spent for me and it was also a bonus to check out the Atlassian HQ.   

Atlassian Sydney Office

A few people have requested to see photos of the Atlassian Sydney HQ so I've added them below. The Atlassian  was the generous host of the October Girl Geek Sydney event. The event was held on Level 6 of the office so my photos are of Level 6 only. Apparently, an Atlassian employee said that it gets better with each level. Perhaps, some robotic stuff?  J/k.