Geri Spieler, Silicon Valley Freelance Writer

(General meeting begins at 9 am, speaker presentation is at 11 am, after Q&A, networking time, introductions & announcements), followed by our informal lunch gathering from 12:15 pm-3 pm. Scroll down for details and to register.

(Click here for the schedule for the day)

Current BAIPA members must log in first to get a free ticket to the morning session and a discounted ticket for the afternoon workshop. Then come back to this page. There is a Member Log in link in the upper right corner of the site.

MORNING PRESENTATION:

How do you start your research process? What words do you use to find information?  Do you know how to gauge when a website is genuine?

In this presentation, Geri will introduce the methods that combine the main topics of “Online Research Methods” that are designed to include several methodologies to equip you with the skills and tools to prepare you to find real information and be able to discern if is reliable.

In this session you will learn:
• How to create better keyword and word-phrase Google searches using search strings
• How to avoid “Disambiguation.”
• What is the “Deep Web” and how it can help the research process?
• List of Deep Web search engines and databases.
• What is the difference between search engines, metasearch engines, directors and portals and how can knowing that help my research?
• How to avoid “Filter Bubbles.”
• What are invisible websites and why can’t we use them?
• Is people-search ethical? How can we use it for our purposes?
• We will perform a search process together.

NO AFTERNOON WORKSHOP

Instead, everyone attending the morning session is welcome to bring a bag lunch and stay for a casual gathering with discussions around the tables. We’ll provide some conversation starters at each table in case they’re helpful, but you probably won’t need them. This is a chance to hang out informally with your BAIPA friends and colleagues. Discuss the morning presentation, what you’re each working on, or pick the brains of your community around some problem or challenge or opportunity. There will be no formal afternoon workshop, but there will be a reason to stick around for a bit, relax and socialize.

About our Morning Speaker

Geri Spieler is a journalist and investigative reporter. She has written for the Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Forbes and as a Research Director for Gartner, a global technology advising company and is a regular contributor to Truthdig.com, an award-winning investigative reporting website. While at Phillips Publishing in Washington D.C., she edited two technology newsletters, Electronic Data Interchange and the founder and editor of Electronic Commerce News. Her work for Phillips led to an assignment as a Research Director and Analyst for the Gartner Group, an international technology advising company. She is a reviewer for the New York Journal of Books, member of National Book Critics Circle, Society for Professional Journalists and member of the Internet Society. She was also a signature blogger for the Huffington Post. Geri graduated from the University of California at Los Angeles with a degree in English. She is past president and member of the San Francisco/Peninsula Branch of California Writers Club, conference director of the Jack London Writers Conference and board member of NorCal, a consortium of Northern California CWC branches. www.gerispieler.com