Talk:Ada Lovelace Day 2012

It's Ada Lovelace Day on 16 October and I think this is a day we should note in some way. The day exists to celebrate the contributions of women in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. As you may know, Ada Lovelace is considered the first programmer, due to her work on Charles Babbage's analytical engine. As such, she's someone we can very much hold up as a role model. It's a really good opportunity to do something outreach-related I think. Share your thoughts below! --Stevie Benton (WMUK) (talk) 12:30, 21 August 2012 (UTC)

Suggestion

• Copied over from Wikimedia Outreach - Smithsonian - women in science editathon AND Woman at Princeton biographies. It occurs to me the latter event could work brilliantly with a cambridge college or two, and we of course have quite an active volunteer community there (although of course, it could work equally well at any historic institution) Katherine Bavage (talk) 17:39, 20 August 2012 (BST)

Cambridge will be horribly busy in early October (first couple of weeks of term) - which isn't to say it won't work, but you'd better talk to them soon :-). A possible organisation to approach would be the Whipple Museum or Whipple Library, both history of science oriented. Andrew Gray (talk) 12:41, 21 August 2012 (UTC)

Women in Red

Correcting gender bias isnt just for one day. Why don't we introduce our editors to this. These are just normal notable people who are lucky enough not to have a Y chromosome. :-) We put the picture of the person who did the most edits or their nominated "woman in red" on the front of the uk wiki. This way everyone can do it irrespective of where you live etc etc Roger Bamkin (talk) 20:19, 20 August 2012 (BST)

Love, love, love this idea. Absolutly brilliant. Let's do this anyway, whether we do it for Ada Lovelace Day or not. Genius in its simplicity. Powerful, too. --Stevie Benton (talk) 21:13, 20 August 2012 (BST)

Can we produce a list of fifty notable UK women in STEM not yet covered? Andrew Gray (talk) 12:42, 21 August 2012 (UTC)

Possible partners

I've been working on this event in the background for a while now, unfortunately the partner I was developing a relationship with to set this up - Women's Library in London - is having financial problems and cannot cooperate with us. I am still talking to them but knowing that they may move out by October it is not an ideal situation. It would be great to link up with an institution that could offer resources needed for editing - so Women Institution is a possibility for a partner, but they may not have the resources. Isabelle has been looking into this recently. I was also in touch with Manchester Girl Geeks and as much as they are committed for the programme in October, we have a possible event scheduled for November. Daria Cybulska (talk) 08:54, 21 August 2012 (BST)

Really like the idea of the Women's Institute. I wonder if we're too late to arrange for someone to speak at their conference? I think they'd particularly enjoy a visit from Chris or Richard. --Stevie Benton (talk) 10:17, 21 August 2012 (BST)

I've contacted the WI in the London area, awaiting replies. A potential host for an event could also be the Feminist Library in Westminster perhaps? Isabelle Yates (WMUK) (talk) 12:57, 22 August 2012 (UTC)

Another possibility that I am working on is the Royal Society. I think if we get too much interest we could either run two events, follow up with the other organisations in the future, or actually invite some representatives from the contacted organisations to attend the event that eventually gets shaped up. Daria Cybulska (WMUK) (talk) 13:18, 22 August 2012 (UTC)

If we do get quite a lot of interest we could perhaps have a celebratory dinner, sell tickets, and have speeches in Ada's honour. Proceeds could be split between WMUK and a fund promoting women in science and technology. Jimbo could give a keynote, and notable women in technology and science could present as well. We could even bring in someone like Sarah Stierch (who is excellent). --Stevie Benton (WMUK) (talk) 13:37, 22 August 2012 (UTC)