GDG DevFestW – Information Technology Quest

This year GDG Karachi come with another big event named “WomenTechmakers”. This event was scheduled on March 8, 2014 (Women’s day); but due to the unavailability of some speakers, it was rescheduled on March 22, 2014 at the Bahria University, Karachi.
The event started by recitation of the Holy Quran by Talha Yaseen. After him, the welcome speech was given by Nazia Nowroz (Organizer of GDG Karachi). Then Faraz Baig (Organizer of GDG Karachi) grasped the attention of the audience. He discussed about Google Student Ambassador program, how to apply and what are the key aspects that will make your application selected by the panel.

This was followed by Google Hangout session with Ma’am Maryam (Google SanFrancisco). She explained about various new aspects of Google technology related to business and SEO.

After that, the most energetic session of the event started which was given by Ma’am Muneeba Farooq. Her topic was related to women’s place in professional and personal life. She share experiences and interacted with the audience and asked their opinions. I personally liked her session the most. After the lunch break, Ma’am Maryam Naim (Founder fo BusinessLots) gave a session on Google AdSense and AdMobs. She shared statistics with the audience and told that there are 12.477 Billion Google searches per month. She told us that one is paid on number of clicks he gets on his Google Ads. She also told that Google don’t allow Plagiarism and one needs to create unique content in order to earn from Google. She also urged the audience to carefully read all the Google AdSense rules before signing up, and also not to click on your own ads else Google will ban you.

The last speaking session of the day was given by young, but energetic lady, Miss Syeda Areej Kamaal. She shared with the audience her success story, how from an ordinary university student, she became P@SHA award winner, and then her journey continues to APICTA 2012. The last part of the event was Panel Discussion with the audience. The panel included Ma’am Jehan Ara (President of P@SHA), Mr. Saad Khan (CEO of Symbios.pk), Khalid Amin (Director General Of Bahria University), Ma’am Fawzia Salahuddin (Director Projects at Alchemy Technologies), and Sir Jawwad Ahmed Farid (Founder and CEO at Finance Training Videos and Founder at Alchemy Technologies).

During the event, the audience enjoyed by taking pictures with the frame that says: “I am a Women in Tech” and “Girls knows everything”. You can see the smiling faces at WomenTechmakers album at G+.
I enjoyed the event, and also learnt a lot. The Google AdSense session by Maryam Naim was very fruitful and I am looking forward for more of these sessions in Karachi.

About DevFestW

Google Developer Group (GDG) provides a network for people who are interested in Google technologies open for developers and love the spirit of sharing in the field of technology. DevFestW events are a great opportunity for women to learn more about Google technologies and developer products. These events also give chance to meet female developer advocates and engineers who work on these products and technologies and ask them any questions one might have.

GDG DevFestW 2013

GDG Karachi came up with another great event GDG DevFestW on March 9, 2013 held at Sheraton Hotel, Karachi. DevFestW Karachi 2013 was the First Technology Event for Women in Pakistan!! It was organized by GDG Karachi & sponsored by Google. DevFestW was not intended to be women only, but instead was an opportunity for developer communities to be more mindful of female inclusion.
This time, the event was divided into three sessions:

Red
Blue and
Green.

The event also had a separate slot for showcase of Android apps made by female developers. It was the first Pakistan’s Women’s application showcase. The participants were also given Participation Certificate and goodies.

The speakers at DevFestW Karachi were Ma’am Jehan Ara (President of P@SHA), Mr. Badar Khushnood (Country Consultant at Google Inc.), Ma’am Madiha Chan (Software Engineer at Google Inc.), Mr. Imtiaz Noor (Manager GBG Karachi), Mr. Imran Mohiuddin (Founder and CEO of NexDegree), Mr. Aditya Gupta (renowned mobile security expert and information security researcher), Miss Fariha Akhtar (Software Engineer who works on Card Payment and E-Banking solution), Sana Saleem (an activist working on minority rights and internet freedom) and Miss Maria Mahesar (currently working for RedBull, also worked for JWT and other well known media companies). The attendees of the event were not only professionals but also university students.

Faraz Baig and Syed Shoaib Ahsan Rizvi organized the event very well.

There was also a team of volunteers who assisted in making the event successful.

The event was started by the recitation of the Holy Quran by Faraz Baig. Then the GDG Karachi Team welcomed the audience by their motivating speech. Badar Khushnood also motivated the young generation of Pakistan. He also told us that Faisalabad is the most detailed city on Google Maps. He further urged the audience to make games and apps cross-platform in order to enhance monitization. In the Green slot, Madiha Chan from Google US office spoke about Android development. She said that she found android much more easier than Objective C. It was followed by Aditiya Gupta from Mumbai who spoke about Android Security. He said that Google Bouncer is a tool with which the malwares can be restricted. He also told the audience that Android Malwares can send sms and dial premium numbers. In the Blue slot, Imran Mohiuddin (CEO of NexDegree) gave an amazing educational presentation about Performance Engineering. After this the Brainstorming and ideas sharing with Google Developers session was started. In the Red slot, Imtiaz Noor Muhammad explained about Ad-Words. He also differentiates about Ad-Impressions and Ad-clicks. He also discussed about match key-words for posting Ads. It was followed by a panel discussion on online privacy and online career opportunities by Jehan Ara, Sana Saleem, Faria Akhter, Farzal Ali Dojki and Maria Mahesar.

The best part of the event was delicious Android Cupcakes by Sam’s Cake Factory.

The event was also supported and sponsered by Red Bull. There team consist of three beautiful young ladies who attended the event.

The two giveaways for the audience of DevFestW were Google Chrome Box and Nexus Q.

The best part was I again volunteered the event and this time I was one of the three team leads of volunteer team. My responsibility was at the Registration Desk and I literally enjoyed a lot. The best thing I learnt in the event was that “coding is everywhere.. No matter what you are making, you need to go through the coded gate.” We should all promote “code” as part of our lives.

In the nutshell it was a well organized and well managed event. I am looking forward to attend and volunteer more workshops, seminars, conferences and events organized by GDG Karachi.