Geek of the Month: Amanda Powter
Hello, everyone! GeekGirlCon ’12 takes place in less than a week, which gives us just enough time for a Geek of the Month staff profile.
August’s Geek of the Month is Amanda Powter, a copywriter here at GeekGirlCon. Amanda also served as project manager for our programming booklet. We honestly couldn’t have put it all together without her amazing organization, Excel, and copy-editing skills. If you see Amanda at the convention, be sure to say hello and thank her for all she’s done.
In the meantime, here are some more details about Amanda.
Name: Amanda Powter
Occupation: Director of Product Management in Software Development
Position in GeekGirlCon: Copywriter
1: What are you geeky about right now?
So many things. I’ve been working a lot with things like descriptive metadata, faceted classification, and polyhierarchical taxonomies for television programming and related areas. I’m fortunate to be able to geek out about data almost every day in my job. Not much makes me happier than delivering useful information products and systems out of crazy amounts of messy data. I also like to get elbow-deep in the data itself and am working to take my SQL/query skills to the next level with new tools and ways of playing with data. On the other side, I have been experimenting with modernist cuisine as I work my way through some of
2: How did you find out about GeekGirlCon?
I actually don’t remember–probably from my blogroll. I just remember hearing about it, buying a pass early on, and then watching with interest over the months leading up to the con. The beauty of the execution of that first con and the consistent energy the whole time were really impressive.
3: Why did you choose to get involved with GeekGirlCon?
I attended GeekGirlCon ‘11 and had a great time. It was only my second con, but I loved it and thought it was organized incredibly well. That amazing execution was a huge part of wanting to join. I wanted to contribute, make geeky women friends, and be part of an organization I already admired.
4: What’s your favorite thing about GeekGirlCon?
No “geek cred” required. I consider myself a “geek of all trades,” which might run counter to the very definition of “geek” for some people. I love the fact that “geek” has become more inclusive, and I think that actually makes it even better to be a geek. There’s a power in the commonalities of geekery, but it is so much stronger when that comes from diversity and incorporates differences.
5: What’s the best thing about being a geek?
The ability to get hopelessly, unabashedly lost in something just because it is–whatever it is.
Thanks, Amanda!
That’s a great geek of the month! Amanda sounds like a true renaissance geek. Love that she considers herself a “geek of all trades.” I can relate to that! Cheers!