#TechHer held her inaugural event on Friday, 28th August at the Exhibition Hall of the Shehu Musa Yar'Adua Centre. The bi-monthly event was conceived and organized by CC Consulting Services Limited. It aims to involve more women actively and productively in the ever-growing technology space in Nigeria and even the world at large.
“Women still need a solid support base in order to help them get a foothold in the tech industry”, said Huffington Post about #TechHer, and the event did that and more. It provided a platform for women to connect, interact and share experiences about how technology positively influences their everyday lives. The women who attended were enlightened by the topics from the various speakers Nana Nwachukwu on the marriage between law and technology, Florist Doreen Aninyei on growing her business via digital, Anna Egbagbe on effective digital marketing, etc. The ladies also got to speed date 'TechHer style', with the most effective networker winning N10, 000.
The serious discussions were balanced by moments of great fun such as the fishbowl raffle, which saw attendees going home with gifts and prizes including free coding classes, thousands of naira worth of airtime and data, vouchers for beauty treatments, and more.
Jackie Farris, host of the event and Director-General of the Shehu Musa Yar'Adua Foundation gave the welcome speech. She welcomed attendees to the event, reminding them of the “knowledge transfer workshop the Foundation in partnership with some organizations has planned”. There was also a greeting from a representative of the Swedish Government, which is keenly interested in the concept of #TechHer.
#TechHer’s attendees ranged from women who are expert in technology, women with moderate knowledge, to novices with an interest or curiosity about the field. The event was free to attend, even though interested participants registered via email before the day. Chioma Agwuegbo, convener of the event, explained the vision for #TechHer, saying, “We are more powerful as a collective than as individual units struggling on our various levels of knowledge”
Those unable to attend were not left out as there was an audio and audiovisual live-stream provided by Amplified Radio and HolyHill Church respectively. Attendees were treated to light refreshments and branded souvenirs.
#TechHer was organized by CC Consulting Services Limited and hosted by the Shehu Musa Yar'Adua Foundation. The event was supported by SocialGood NG, Amplified Radio, iBlend Services, Global Shapers Abuja Hub, Blazing Images, LearnCode, PlayHouse Communication, Zahara Spa and Salon, TechNigeria, and Holyhill Church.
For more information, contact:
Chioma Agwuegbo
Mobile: +234 (0) 803-845-8900
Email: chioma@chiomachuka.com
Twitter: @chiomachuka
TechHerNG
Phone: +234 (0) 908-304-1940
Twitter/Facebook/Instagram/YouTube: TechHerNG
Live stream account of the inaugural TechHer event held at the Shehu Musa Yar Adua Center in Abuja, Nigeria on the 28th of August 2015. #TechHer #TechHerNG
#TechHer was born out of a need to see women in Abuja come together to work, support each, and learn together. We realized there was no platform for women working in and around digital (especially in Abuja) to share ideas, experiences, challenges etc. for a number of reasons including the perception that technology is the exclusive preserve of male folk.
Where others saw a deficiency, we saw an opportunity and the product of that idea shared with friends, family, and partners, is this website, the inaugural event holding in Abuja on the 28th of August 2015, and hopefully, the birth of a true support group for young girls currently hoping to get into technology or STEM.
We are super excited about #TechHer because it was borne out of a need and is (and will always be) driven by passion. Initiating a community, nurturing a dream and seeing it come to reality is something we cannot but be thankful for.
What we are most amazed at however are the responses we’ve gotten! When we started planning, our modest expectations didn’t exceed 30 – 40 people at most. Imagine our surprise when we had over 50 people register on the first day! That number has since grown to over 110, and we now have the pleasant problem of space! Let’s not even talk about having to reopen registration because we had too many requests for that!
Another thing. All our speakers have been drawn from the attendees, and we’re excited at the knowledge in the room! They are
We’re looking forward to a goodwill message from the Swedish government, and a welcome address by Jackie W. Farris, Executive Director of the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Foundation.
If you can’t be in the room, don’t worry! We’ll be live streaming both for screens and for radio, thanks to the guys at HolyHill Church and Amplified Radio.
We’re also grateful to all our partners and supporters, where would we be without you?
Here’s to women, to technology, and the birth of great things.
#TechHer is powered by CC Consulting Services.
