Networking Lunch

"VicICT for Women Mentor Program" - Friday 18 April 2008

“Mentoring is a powerful and popular method for people to learn a variety of personal and professional skills. Popular mentoring literature attributes the origin of the term mentoring to Homer, who wrote of the King of Ithaca asking his friend Mentor to look after his son while he fought the Trojan War. The name Mentor is now synonymous with a wise and trusted advisor.”

Approximately 30 Ballarat ICT for Women members attended the lunch held at the Greenhill Enterprise Centre and heard from Dr Catherine Lang, Senior Lecturer at Swinburne University and Deputy Chair of VicICT for Women.

Dr Lang outlined the Vic ICT for Women Mentoring Program which is designed to:

• build confidence and self-esteem
• foster networking
• provide both formal and informal learning opportunities
• facilitate the professional development of women in ICT
• grow our understanding of women's needs in ICT careers

Participants were given the opportunity to discuss their own experiences with mentoring programs and explore whether there is an opportunity for Ballarat to link in with the Vic ICT for Women Mentoring Program.

As a result of discussions, Ballarat ICT for Women will explore group membership opportunities with Vic ICT for Women so that our members may participate in the state program in 2009 – with a focus on securing local professionals to participate – both as mentors and mentees.

The possibility of holding a round table dinner was also discussed and strongly supported. [Note: as a result of discussions, the first Get into IT!! Round Table Dinner was subsequently held in conjunction with National ICT Careers Week and hosted by Ballarat ICT & BICTW].