Paula Hersey will be teaching some of the workshops in the “So you Want to Build a Website?” Series, including Dreamweaver Design, Layouts, and Styles oh my!, Dreamweaver Crazy Cool Extensions and Widgets, Introducing Wordpress and the Dashboard, Wordpress Themes, Plugins and Widgets as well as Social Media Tools for NFP’s (Non-profits), and Google Apps, Part 1: iGoogle – Do You? See all workshops here

1. How and when did you become a Geek Girl?

When my Dad asked me to tune in the cable box (the remote was a real challenge!) to Benny Hill – and then show him which channel Mary Hartman was on – Cable was soooo cool when it came out!! (1982)

2. Technology is so big, so diverse: in what parts are you an expert? in what realms are you still learning?

I’m an expert in common sense, which any programmer will tell you is the base of good functional code – and a student of change.  Technology really does change at the speed of light, so I aspire to be versed in concepts and remember that I can drop back 10 feet and punt..  Google did what??

3. Did you have an experience growing up or as an adult where you felt the huge divide between women and technology?

You betcha! Details only divulged after martinis..

4. If you answered yes, how did you handle it?

By knowing more than he did- power shifted when I solved the conundrum!

5. What was your favorite part of Geek Girl Camp 2009?

Meeting/Interviewing Lesa Snider -Photoshop guru, and Geek Girl – Her Facebook status/food/drink /photos rival our esteemed leader Leslie!

6. List 3 ways that women (or you specifically) can have an impact on technology.

• Take responsibility
• Use common sense
• Think before you click

7. If you could change one thing about the world (and we know you can) what would it be?

Oh my goodness, we can only change one thing?!
I would have to say how we communicate with each other.  We are a  rude impatient society, most forgetful of the manners we were raised with and have lost the art of conversation.  Your opinion or mine, as long as you/I are polite, I’ll listen/speak, perhaps disagree, more importantly learn another point of view.

8. What is your desire, wish or goal for Geek Girl Camp 2010?

That each attendee, speaker, volunteer come away with a sense of possibility, a new love for learning and a thirst for adventure.

9. If the Geek Girls could have 1 minute to talk to the world, what would we say?

Be kind, generous and charitable in thought, deed, and spirit.

Paula Hersey’s Bio:
Chief Penguin reporting for active duty at Geek Girl Boot Camp! As a self-taught Geek Girl, I believe in sharing the wonders of technology with others and being a part of Geek Girl Boot Camp for the third year offers me the opportunity to share my passion for all things Internet related and to help other women to take control of their technical chaos. After a fifteen year career in Retail Sales, Management and Marketing it was time to embark on the career I never dreamed of- owning my own Web Design and Development company, Penguin Digital Design. Using a multitude of skills from the retail world, and a life long thirst for knowledge, I began to teach myself the basics of computer repair/maintenance, HTML, Photoshop and Dreamweaver using on-line tutorials, books and videos. As the Internet is an ever evolving medium, it seems every day brings another exciting chance to learn how to present information on the web in a visually appealing and user friendly way. We help our clients understand how their website fits into their overall marketing and help them to understand how important a professional website can be to their existing and potential customers. I have the uncanny ability to communicate the most technologically complicated issues in “lay man’s terms’ and therefore have the talent to diminish the irrational fear people have of technology by making it user-friendly for them.