Aliza Sherman – Ananda Leeke

Happy Internet Geek Tuesday!

I am passionate about all things tech including learning how to code. Learning how to code has been on my life’s bucket list since 2011 when I learned about Kimberly Bryant’s Black Girl Code organization and Women Innovate Mobile, read an article about Girl Develop It’s first ladies-only hackathon in Fast Company, and attended web pioneer Aliza Sherman’s session on mobile marketing at the Blogalicious Weekend Conference. As a result, I signed up for Code Academy’s free online coding classes in 2012. Unfortunately, I did not take advantage of the classes. I did, however, stay updated on women’s coding and tech projects, and attended the Women Interactive, a creative technology festival at Spelman College where I learned more about creating mobile applications, games, and webisodes.

This year, I started subscribing to the RailsGirls DC Twitter account and blog and reading them on a regular basis. That’s how I learned about the June workshop on how to build apps and other programs with Ruby on Rails. I applied to participate and explained how I wanted to create apps to support the Digital Sisterhood Network. Guess what? My application was approved and I’ll be attending the June. Coding here I come!

What tech tools have you acquired or planning to learn this year?

Happy Internet Geek Tuesday!

Who do you learn from the most online?

Aliza Sherman is one of my greatest digital teachers. Aliza’s specialities include Digital Marketing Strategy, Social Media Engagement, Social Mobile Apps Marketing, Mobile Marketing Integration, QR Code Campaigns, Strategic Content Marketing, Social Network Management, and Crowdsourcing. I think she is a “Digital Diva” pioneer. I learn so much from her weekly e-newsletter that is filled with digital wisdom and treats. You can learn more too if you click here to register for her newsletter.

I admire and appreciate her commitment to making sure women and girls are empowered through technology. In 1995, she made digital “herstory” when she built the first websites for women: Cybergrrl.com, Webgrrls.com, and Femina.com (they preceded Women.com and iVillage.com). I’ve been a fan of hers ever since I discovered her book, cybergrrl! A Woman’s guide to the World Wide Web.

cybergrrl! A Woman's guide to the World Wide Web by Aliza Sherman — cybergrrl! A Woman’s guide to the World Wide Web by Aliza Sherman

In 2009, I met her for the first time at the Blogalicious Weekend Conference in Atlanta. Later that year, I interviewed her on Digital Sisterhood Radio. The next year, I had a chance to reconnect with her at the BlogHer conference in New York City. In 2011, I attended her Mobile Marketing session at Blogalicious in the National Harbor in Maryland. Her presentation was engaging and inspired me to dream about developing a series of content apps to support my books (I’m still dreaming!!!).

Right after Blogalicious, I purchased her book, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Crowdsourcing. It convinced me to use a small community of digital sisters to crowdsource logo designs and badges for the Digital Sisterhood Network in 2012. It worked! Click here to see the fantastic badges and logo created by Dariela Cruz.

Social Media Engagement For Dummies byAliza Sherman and , Danielle Smith — Social Media Engagement For Dummies by
Aliza Sherman and , Danielle Smith

This summer, Aliza and her writing partner, Danielle Smith, founder of Danielle Smith Media will release their book, Social Media Engagement For Dummies (For Dummies. To learn more about her, visit www.alizasherman.com and follow her on Twitter @alizasherman.