Hi! GirlGerms here. In the real world I go by Jess Dodson. I’m a Windows system administrator of 12+ years, based in sunny Queensland, Australia. Mad keen Microsoft fangirl (unsurprisingly) and now a Microsoft MVP (as of 2016!), but also with a love of a few other tech companies (Google, Android, HTC, Logitech, Sony…) I’m big on passing on information to others that’s technically relevant, as well as passing on information that, while not technical, is useful for those in system administration. Soft skills for the win!
I’m currently (as of July 2017) on 12 months maternity leave due to the birth of lil’ GirlGerms!
For those wondering – yes, I was quiet for a reason. Baby GirlGerms arrived yesterday. Doing fine, just knackered! pic.twitter.com/lM725usk8r
— Jess Dodson (@girlgerms) August 19, 2017
In whatever spare time I manage to wrangle for myself, I play video games, read fantasy and sci-fi novels, collect and build *far* too much Lego (no, really, it’s becoming a problem, I’m running out of room for it all!) and I’m also a keen crafter of all sorts of things – current craze is chainmaille jewellery. I’m a genuine crazy cat lady with two Siberian cats & six chickens that cause no end of terror…plus a hive of bees >.>
When speaking with me, please refer to me as Jess – I also respond to GirlGerms, GG and “Oi, you!”. I’m not a fan of Jesse/Jessie/Jessy and will not respond to being called any of them. Jessica is only for my parents to use when I’m in trouble…which doesn’t happen that often because I’m such an angel >.>
All opinions/thoughts/ideas/rants/general snarkiness presented on this blog and on the following social media/gaming sites are purely individual to lil’ ol’ me. They definitely do not represent my current or previous employers or any associations I’m a member of, unless explicitly stated.
Email/Messenger/Skype: jess@girl-germs.com
Social
The following social network accounts are my personal accounts – best chance of getting me to respond is to hit me up on Twitter or Reddit, both of which are public. My Facebook is locked down – you need to work your way to the “inner circle” to get into that one and I don’t accept random friend requests unless I actually know you.
Twitter: http://twitter.com/girlgerms (public)
Reddit: http://www.reddit.com/user/girlgerms/ (public)
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jess.r.dodson (close friends and family only)
Imgur: http://girlgerms.imgur.com/ (public)
Instagram: http://instagram.com/jess_girlgerms/ (public)
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/geekgirlgerms/ (public)
Ask.fm: http://ask.fm/jess_girlgerms (public)
Professional
The following are my professional social media accounts and include my professional accomplishments. Please be aware that unless I’ve worked with you or have interacted with you in some professional way (and yes, that does include Twitter!), I will not accept your LinkedIn request.
LinkedIn: au.linkedin.com/in/jrdodson/
GitHub: https://github.com/girlgerms
About.Me: http://about.me/jessdodson
BrandYourself: http://jessdodson.brandyourself.com/
Slack: https://slack.com/ – I lurk in a number of professional Slack channels. If you can see a ‘girlgerms’ in your Slack, it’s most likely me.
Other professional things
For a list of my work history and how I got to where I currently am in IT & system administration, feel free to read the whole story!
- Appeared on The Current Status podcast, speaking on Server 2003 decommissions
- Speaker at Microsoft Ignite Australia 2015, where I spoke on Active Directory security, administration & maintenance & presented a Hack@Ignite talk on “The Killer Guide to Getting Certified”
- Listed as part of JessConf – a fork of KatieConf – to highlight technical women speakers who just happen to be called Jess (or some variation thereof!)
- Awarded a Microsoft MVP in Cloud & Datacenter Management for 2016
- Speaker at Microsoft Ignite New Zealand 2016, where I spoke (yet again) on Active Directory security, administration & maintenance
- Interviewed by Rick Claus for Channel 9 on speaking at Ignite NZ’16, my career so far, the origins of my online handle and my passion for being a systems administrator!
- Interviewed by Kimberly Crawley as a woman in the InfoSec space
- Speaker at Microsoft Ignite Australia 2017, where I presented a Hack@Ignite talk titled: “Explain yourself!” – explaining what we do, while trying to keep everyone happy!
- Interviewed by Seth Juarez for Channel 9 on being an Enterprise IT Pro & all that entails (also available on YouTube for TechEdEurope!)
- Interviewed by Adam Stephenson for SSW TV on my Hack@Ignite talk about how we can explain ourselves better to our users and management and why it’s important!
- Featured by Mary Jo Foley as a Petri Community Champ (and featured on International Women’s Day 2017 no less! ^_^ )
- Interviewed for the Windows Insider Podcast (Episode #2)
- Honoured to be added as a moderator for /r/sysadmin
- Interviewed by Sam Jarman for his Dev Chats series
- Awarded a Windows Insider MVP for 2017
Gaming
You’ll usually be able to find me in most games as either GirlGerms/Girl-Germs or as Katalysta – modified, depending on how many characters I have. Just keep adding extra characters…you’ll find me eventually.
Always happy for friend invites or friend requests!
Battle.Net: girlgerms#6448 – WoW & Diablo III
(Playing WoW on Nagrand in “Broken Momento”. Main: Katalysta (Troll Mage – Arcane)
Alts: Katalyssta (Undead Priest – Shadow); Katalystaa (Orc Shaman – Elemental); Kataalysta (Blood Elf Demon Hunter – Havoc))
Steam: girl-germs – http://steamcommunity.com/id/girl-germs
Discord: GirlGerms#4019
Raptr: girl-germs – http://raptr.com/girl-germs/wall
Enjin: GirlGerms – http://www.enjin.com/profile/4811116
Twitch: GirlGerms – http://www.twitch.tv/girlgerms/profile
BrickSet: GirlGerms – http://brickset.com/profile/girlgerms (not really “gaming” related, but best place to put it!)
IRC
You can also find me lurking on snoonet.org, oz.org & freenode.net as ‘girlgerms’. Primary channels include #sage-au, ##msp, ##systemadmins, #reddit-sysadmin, ##infra-talk & #lopsa