Another very successful Girlgeek Dinner held at the informatics building in Edinburgh University last night. Emma McGrattan from Ingres gave a hilarious account of her rise to success while Lesley Eccles gave a candid talk on taking risks and managing your own business and family life.

This is the third Girlgeek dinner I have attended and I am impressed at how much it has taken off in such a short space of time. Most of all, I am impressed by the variety of attendees and how passionate they are about IT and all things digital.

With the Speaker series being launched earlier this year, the organisers have really stepped up to the mark. I unfortunately missed the first of these events, but if last nights event is anything to go by, I think they have come up with a recipe for success.

Both speakers were fantastic. Emma McGrattan, VP of Engineering at Ingres, the leading business open source database, is sure to inspire aspiring female software engineers with her childhood tales of rejecting Barbie for code and carving out a career in IT despite adverse opinions that women wouldn’t be taken seriously in such a profession. She also gave a hilarious take on how some of her more controversial comments, such as “women write better code than men” have landed her in trouble, sparking a media war and a campaign to get her fired!!!

Lesley Eccles, Marketing Director of Edinburgh based Hubdub gave a more sober speech focussing on how to set up and run your own business while managing the family home, a new born and a “troubled toddler”. Lesley is living proof that it is possible to succeed in all areas of life if you remain focused on what you want to achieve and why you want to achieve it and this too should inspire any budding entrepreneurs that want to have it all.

Can’t wait till the next event!