The talk was in 20:20 lightning format, which is where the speaker must have 20 slides, and 20 seconds are allowed on each slide (either you set the slides to self-time, or the organisers take a stopwatch and click them forward for you). It's a tricky format, I found I had to practice a lot in order to realise what wasn't going to fit in 20 seconds! Anyway I think the talk went well and quite a few people asked me follow-up questions afterwards and I met a bunch of interesting people.

Sheffield had its first ever GeekUp in May, and I was pleased to be asked to speak at this event. The talks were again 20:20 ( the format was just as tricky on the second attempt, I think it's just a difficult format!) , this time my topic was "Deploying Web Projects with Subversion". Again the slides on slideshare. There were a lot of people at the event, which for a first event I thought was pretty impressive - and lots of chatter and networking happening as well.

Last week I visited the city of Manchester to attend the GeekUp there; a much more laid-back experience on the whole. Manchester has had a GeekUp event for some time and there are also a number of other technical events in this area - including the Girl Geek Dinners which started there a few months ago. There are additional GeekUps around the area - with events in Liverpool and recently started in Preston as well.

Finally, this week, I returned to the Leeds GeekUp to find another good turnout which is great news. Both speakers were interesting and there were many lively discussions going on after the talks. At all of the events I met programmers from all kinds of backgrounds and technologies, and many others besides, people who work in allied technologies or have an interest in geekery. It is evident that the technology industry in the north of England is very much alive and well!