Next Gen Developer

Address

Basingstoke

Hampshire

Contact Details

Personal e-mail:  sarah@sarahblow.com

Blog: http://www.sarahblow.com/blog

Experience

•  Blogging, wiki’s and RSS feeds used to assess the need for an event like London Girl Geek Dinners.

• Events organised with venues, sponsors and speakers.  Attendees informed via mailing list and blogging.

• Viral marketing of the events done by a click through advert that is easy for people to add to their blog sites to show affiliation to the events.

• Over 1500 members for London events, and new branches started in Nottingham, Brighton, Milan, Toronto and Barcelona during 2006 and 2007.

• Manage 3 volunteer organisers for the London events to spread the work and include attendees in the organisation of their events.

•  Zoomerang used to get feedback from events and collect information about areas of improvement, so that a continuous formal feedback loop is always open.

• Founders blog has a Technorati rating that is higher than many Microsoft bloggers that do it as part of their day job.  Success in this area is down to a series of small things that can encourage conversation via blogs.

• Learnt about the best ways of blogging and using blogging as a form of communications to create a blog meme, from the fathers of the blogosphere including Robert Scoble and Hugh MacLeod.

• Have used vlogs and online interviews as an alternative way of getting information across to the masses and to provide an online resource for information relating to the girl geek dinner events.

• Microsoft Certification Training for MCTS in progress. (exams to be taken over the next 12 months)
• GUI Application for test software using .Net 2.0 standard framework and a multi thread architecture.
• XP embedded on the job training with ex Microsoft employees David Picco and Sean Liming over in San Diego for 3 months where we built an XP embedded OS image including custom components and a Windows CE Operating System as well.
• XML data transformed into SQL Server 2005 Databases for data analysis and data mining.
• Key Member of a Scrum project management team and dealt with the putting together of the Scrum from the UK perspective for the UK team and worked in synergy with my American counterpart to create a scrum project outline.
• Designed & implemented software to service orientated architecture principles.
• Proof of concept work with SQL Mobile and SQL Everywhere RDA and merge replication I also worked with SQL Server 2005 and IIS 5.2 whilst doing this.

September 2004- June 2005                          Alaris Medical Systems

• Developed a number of Windows CE medical device applications in C#, with XSLT and XML supporting functionality for a medical device product.
• Developed a Windows application in C# that validate XML against a schema and provides the XML in on-screen and download format for the user.
• On-site real-time problem solving and troubleshooting in a number of different situations, as such I am very apt at thinking on my feet.
• Full product and systems lifecycle experience.
• European travel has been necessary during my time with Alaris Medical Systems with the release of a new product and the support that it required.
• Managed the communications and liaisons between external contractors and Alaris Medical Systems on a product.
• Brought code base from one of our products that was developed by third party contractors back in-house for maintenance, support and future development.

June – September 2001    Genesis Communications (Dixon’s Group)

Temporary Database Developer

• Created a Human Resources database to capture staff information and provide board reports to senior management.
• The system implemented was a MS Access database using VBA & SQL for data manipulation.
• The project provided a saving of the HR manager’s time for 3 days a week every month.

Education

2003 – 2004        MEnt (Masters of Enterprise) Computation - Pass UMIST

• Developed a distributed mobile database application that could transfer both text and images over GPRS.  The mobile platform that this was developed for was Windows Mobile 2003 and the programming language was C# & ADO.NET with some function calls to the SDF Camera Capture .dll.
•  I learnt how to write business plans; do market analysis, financial projections and most importantly how to effectively and efficiently convey important information in a timely and concise manner.
•  Technical Modules: Internet Security, Parallel Processing & Advances in Databases.
•  Enterprise Modules: Enterprise and the Entrepreneur, Venture Founding, Managing an Enterprise.
•  Additional details of modules & masters dissertation are available on request.

• Final Dissertation: .NET, C#, SQL Server 2000 & Web Applications
• Taught Languages: XML, HTML, DOM, JavaScript, Advanced SQL, C & C++, MS Access & VBA.
•  Additional detail of modules & final dissertation are available on request.

Awards & Prizes

2007: Women's Enterprise Ambassador status given by HM Govornment for work on Girl Geek Dinners.

2003: I was awarded a scholarship worth £8000 to do a MEnt. Computation (Masters of Enterprise in Computation).  I used this to develop a piece of software from ideas concept through to product prototype.

2000 – 2003: I was awarded Athletic Union half colours for sporting excellence

Events Attended & Organised

Extra Curricular Activities

Outside of the office I enjoy rock climbing both indoors and outside.  I love to swim and used to swim at university national level as part of the UMIST swimming team which I founded back in September 2000.  I am currently trying to learn to play the saxophone (when I manage to draw myself away from playing with the latest technologies and gadgets!) and I have recently taken up Kayaking as well.