It’s official! Geek Girls Guide will not be speaking at SXSW.
We submitted a panel on Creating a User-Centered Culture and, while it made it through the first round of judging and was well-received during PanelPicker voting (it’s still listed on the trending topics page!), we didn’t make the final cut.
So, why bother blogging about it? Two reasons:
First, because we want to thank everyone that took the time to vote for our session and help us promote it. We received such kind comments both privately and on our SXSW proposal page, and we truly appreciate everyone’s encouragement, support and help. So, thank you. The Geek Girls Guide is a labor of love: it’s something that Nancy and I have to make time for in between our day jobs, volunteer commitments and being parents of young kids. Hearing that people are inspired by what we’re doing makes the late nights, early mornings, and extra effort worth it. So, once again, thank you.
Second, we wanted to give props to SXSW for such awesome communication. From submitting our initial proposal through their final selections, they communicated clearly about what was happening, what was coming next and how decisions were being made. So, while it didn’t end up working in our favor, we certainly appreciate understanding the process and being treated with respect and openness along the way.
So, for those of you going to SXSW this year: have fun. We won’t see you there, but we hope you have a marvelous time!
And, if you are reading this, thank you for your support. We really appreciate it!
Check out a full list of the panels submitted by other Minnesotans over on the MNPR blog. (I bugged @karyd today to see if she’d do a follow-up post to see how many made it in. Go, Minnesota!)