Go on, speak to a geek – they’re OK really!

Here’s a chance to get something for free – technology expertise from some of the best in the region.
Various north west techies have decided to offer up their skills to help the voluntary sector with a Speak to a Geek panel event later this month.
One of those behind the initiative is Guy Dickinson who is part of the region’s thriving Geekup community of web experts, developers and programmers.
He explained: “I realised the GeekUp community were an assembled ‘brain trust’ who had a real insider view of how to get IT done (particularly on the cheap using Open Source software), and make a living charging commercial orgs lots of money for expertise and skills.
“But we never really get a chance to share this knowledge with non-profits; so I thought we could ‘beta test’ (to borrow IT parlance) an event where we can get decision makers in non-profits in the area to get an inside view on IT from industry experts.”
For two hours, the expert panel will host 20 minute ‘micro-consultancies’; candid insights and expertise in response to audience questions and challenges..
The panel has years of commercial and voluntary sector experience in areas that are highly useful to a voluntary sector organisation such as:
* Strategies for using Facebook, Twitter and other Social Media
* How to build effective online communities
* Using open source software for (non) profit
* How to ‘do’ internet marketing properly
The first prototype event, ‘Speak to a Geek’, will be held on the afternoon of Friday 27th February 2009 at Manchester Digital Development Agency (MDDA)’s meeting space in Portland Street, Manchester.