Denver has just become the latest city to launch its chapter of SheSays, a global creative network for women and we’re excited to announce our VP of Experience Strategy, Lori Kirkland is serving as a member of the Leadership Committee and also as Events Co-Chair, where she will be responsible for placing speakers and topics at 2015 events.
Based in the UK, SheSays is an international organization dedicated to teaching, mentoring, coaching, sharing, and fostering the careers of women in digital. They offer free events and trainings, encouraging women to teach and learn from each other.
Since learning about SheSays, Lori wasted no time in getting involved, “Having worked in digital for so long, I’ve always been surprised by how male dominated it is. When I found out about SheSays, I was very interested in participating immediately.” When approached by Chapter Founder, Denise Horton, to help launch a Boulder chapter, Lori jumped right in and has been advocating for the organization’s growth ever since. “I found a personal mentor through the group as well as much inspiration from many other women.” The Boulder group now boasts over 600 members - such growth prompted the perfect opportunity to introduce a secondary Colorado chapter in Denver.
“Between Denise and my networks, we were able to find four more people to join the Leadership Committee and recruited 120 members to join the meet-up before the first event,” says Lori, and on December 4th, Denver launched the 25th chapter of SheSays, sponsored by Universal Mind, featuring speaker Andrea Kalivas Fulton, Deputy Director and CMO of the Denver Art Museum.
Andrea presented on the Denver Art Museum (DAM) and their latest #DAMBrilliant exhibit on Cartier (Brilliant: Cartier in the 20th Century). She talked about how they use technology to enhance their exhibits and what that looked like for this specific exhibit being that planning for it began seven years ago and they had to make a lot of bets on what technologies to use, hoping it would still be relevant. She also shared that the DAM is looking at utilizing technology like iBeacons as a resource to better connect with their guests. Andrea is a perfect example of what SheSays is all about, promoting and celebrating women who are advancing digital.
Being that the SheSays gatherings are free, organizational and sponsored support is essential. Lori is thrilled about Universal Mind’s support and involvement, “Day in and day out Universal Mind creates digital experiences that enhance the human connection between people and business. Because half of those users are women, I feel it’s important to have women behind creating those experiences as well to help with empathy and to create better designs. I see SheSays' support of the progression of women in digital as helping to continue to enhance great experiences for more people and it’s awesome to see Universal Mind supporting those efforts as well.”
The next Denver event is set for end of February/early March where we’ll be discussing The Internet of Things. You can join SheSays Denver and register for the event on Meetup.
Lori’s hope for SheSays Denver is to offer an ongoing space to better connect, intersect and celebrate women in digital. “Denver has a lot of women entrepreneur groups, but not many community groups in digital. It really feels like we are filling a void that Denver didn't even realize it had. SheSays is giving the opportunity for women to bond with one another over shared experience and make connections that otherwise might not be made.”