Girls In Tech

Did you know that  last year alone, out of the companies polled at least 650 organizations reported being the victims of data breaches? The Ponemon Institute, in a recent study, found only 36% of C-level executives
are confident their organizations won’t suffer data breaches in the next 12 months. This number is staggering, considering the attention that major breaches have received in the media; and subsequent actions taken by companies to reduce or eliminate them.
In a new Forbes.com article, the authors describe the types of threats that are out there, and what we can do to prevent them.

The article recognizes three main areas of risk that a company must be prepared to address:
1) legal & regulatory
2) operational
3) reputational.

Companies will need to decipher and understand the interlockingly related list of state and federal regulations which are in place to govern data security and privacy.

What can you do?  The authors, Joe Carberry and David Chamberlin, recommend above all — prior planning and being prepared for anything.  Work closely with your communications experts in preparing for the worst, to protect your organization’s reputation. Keep a handle on what your communications will be to your customers, employees, and other stakeholders in a crisis situation. “You need an organized response plan, rooted in transparency and responsibility..”
They suggest:  Agree in advance, with your legal team, risk managers, and communications staff, what will be said should a breach situation arise.

To read the full article, go to:
http://www.forbes.com/2009/08/31/data-executives-business-ceonetwork-leadership-breach.html.

It may feel like South by Southwest (SXSW) 2009 just ended, but here were are again preparing for next year’s 2010 conference.

The ten day interactive, music and film festival draws thousands of people from across the globe to Austin, Texas. Whether you’re an Internet geek or an audiophile, the conference caters to many tastes.

Last year, Girls in Tech co-hosted several events throughout the week such as the WordPress and Conjunctured BBQ (check out the Flickr set). The Austin GiT members donated their time and cupcakes to ensure a great turnout.  It was the organization’s first year to be involved, and this year, with a bit of experience underneath our belts, we plan on making an even bigger splash this year.

For the first time, GiT has submitted a panel proposal. Entitled, Beyond the Cigar Room, this panel will feature an array of leading women in technology. Each panelists will discuss why they’re successful, how they got there, and why it’s no longer a man’s game.

Panelists include:

Cathy Brooks: Cathy’s life-long passion for communications began with her first job ripping wire copy in 1982 and has evolved to encompass nearly every platform and aspect of media – from reporting and editing to broadcast management, talent casting and guest booking. She also has curated several of the technology industry’s leading conferences.

Tara Hunt: Tara is an entrepreneur, a frequent public speaker and the owner of Citizen Space, a co-working space in San Francisco. She is also the author of the recent book, The Whuffie Factor.

Jeanine LeFlore: Jeanine is CEO and Founder of LiveHit, Inc., a stealth mode start-up in the Social Discovery space focused on the Social Generation. Jeanine has over 14-years of experience in business, product management, and product marketing specializing in media and online communities.

Eve Phillips: Eve is an entrepreneur and investor in technology companies. Most recently, co-founder and CEO of Chirp Interactive. Previous experience includes software strategy and product management (Zazzle, Microsoft, Trilogy) and technology investing (Greylock, Vector, Amadeus, Inflection). Education: MBA from Stanford, BS & M.Eng in Computer Science from MIT.

Susan Wu: Susan is currently the CEO of startup Ohai. She has been featured by Fast Company as 1 00 of the Most Creative People in 2009.

In addition, make sure to check out another GiT submitted panel proposal from two local Austin members, Is Technology Weakening Interpersonal Relationships? This panel will explore the role of technology within interpersonal relationships. Specifically, analyzing the negatives and positives in three distinct relational categories: professional, familial, and romantic.

Public voting for these panel submissions are open until midnight on Friday, September 4, 2009.

Please make sure to vote and to pass the information along. If you’re a GiT member and have submitted a panel submission, please email me (gloriakt1 @ gmail.com). We plan on compiling a master list for the entire organization.

Lastly, if you plan on attending SXSW 2010, let us know. The Austin chapter is always looking for an extra hand and new creative ideas. SXSW is a huge event, and we’d love your help!

Last night at The Biz Tech Day cocktail party, I ran into a friend, Tim Ferriss, who was telling me about why he supports RoomToRead. Knowing about the organization, but not really investigating and researching how it works, the history of the organization or learning about the inspiration behind why CEO, John Wood launched the organization – I was floored. The impact that this organization has made around literacy of school children since 2000 is unbelievable – The sad truth is that there are 76 million primary school children that are not enrolled in school, 80% of these children live in rural areas of developing countries, there are 774 million adults around the world who cannot read or write, 64% of these people are women – this is why I am committed to helping RoomToRead, through Girls in Tech, SmittenWithMittens and my personal capital and voice.

Since their inception in 2000, Room to Read has impacted the lives of over 3.1 million children in the developing world by:

• Constructing 765 schools
• Establishing over 7,160 libraries
• Publishing 333 new local language children’s titles representing over 2.8 million books
• Donating over 2.8 million English language children’s books
• Funding 7,132 long-term girls’ scholarships
• Establishing 179 computer and language labs

Here is a little more information surrounding the organization. You should help Room to Read too!

They partner with local communities throughout the developing world to provide quality educational opportunities by establishing libraries, creating local language children’s literature, constructing schools, and providing education to girls. They seek to intervene early in the lives of children in the belief that education empowers people to improve socioeconomic conditions for their families, communities, countries and future generations. Through the opportunities that only education can provide, they strive to break the cycle of poverty, one child at a time.

I was recently introduced to the non-profit organization, CARE, by a friend CEO of WITI, David Leighton. After reading through the organization’s site and learning more about their upcoming Global Action Forum, I was inspired to write a blog entry and promote such an amazing movement.  As citizens of the world, it is our responsibility to help create solutions to end poverty in developing countries. With the technology and innovation that surrounds our daily lives, there is no reason why we can’t continue to create platforms to get resources to those who need it the most. Thanks to RoomtoRead, Kiva, Samasource, Extraordinaries for serving as great examples for this social entrepreneurship movement.

This movement is underway to inspire people across the United States to take action against global poverty. On Sunday, September 13, at the Power to the Peaceful Global Action Forum & Celebration in San Francisco, you can learn from local and international social change advocates about how you can make substantive difference on behalf of the world’s poor.

Founded by singer, activist, and CARE Ambassador Michael Franti, Power to the Peaceful is an organization dedicated to the promotion of cultural coexistence, nonviolence and environmental sustainability through the arts and music. Cohosted by Power to the Peaceful and CARE, the Global Action Forum & Celebration will feature representatives from CARE, Back to Earth, the Office of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Potentia Foundation, Room to Read, Spark, UC Berkeley, Vitamin Angels, and others in conversation about critical issues including global climate change, girls’ empowerment, and hunger and food security. Each session will examine challenges and solutions, and participants will leave with tangible strategies to affect change at home and around the world. Special guests include artists, dancers and musicians.

The Forum will close with a reception and celebration featuring an acoustic concert by Michael Franti and friends, a presentation of the Stay Human award to a celebrated humanitarian, and much more.

To purchase tickets, please click here.

Having blogged about this topic on my own blog, it is a topic most definitely close to my heart and to us here at Girls in Tech.  One of the first items on President Obama’s agenda was to create the White House’s Council on Women & Girls:  a new committee established to “ensure that each of the agencies in which they’re charged takes into account the needs of women and girls in the policies they draft, the programs they create, the legislation they support” — And as Madeline Albright once said: the “responsibility for the advancement of women is not the job of any one agency, it’s the job of all of them.”  Thus, it is the aim of this newly created committee to make sure that they’re doing that job right!

Officially stemming from the work of the post-Beijing Interagency Council and the White House Office for Women’s Initiatives and Outreach, I think this committee will also pave the way for other such organizations to have their causes heard. (The White House Project (http://www.thewhitehouseproject.org/) & AAUW (American Association of University Women) immediately come to mind.)

The Council’s chair is long-time Obama colleague and advisor Valerie Jarrett, with Tina Tchen serving as the Executive Director.

Find all the details here:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/cwg/

Communications Manager, Multiple Focus Areas – Mountain View

The area: Communications

It’s our job to help inform and educate consumers, partners and opinion formers about the benefits of Google’s products, our distinctive business ethos and approach to the big public policy issues of the day. We are looking for quick witted, entrepreneurial and intellectually curious people to join the team. To succeed here you’ll need to be able to combine creativity with the organizational skills to manage numerous different projects to tight deadlines all at once, as well enjoy pitching to all kinds of journalists, bloggers and commentators (we find it hard too!). Things happen quickly at Google and to get stuff done here you need to be an enthusiastic team player – a self-starter who can work cross-functionally and isn’t frightened to take risks or try out new ways of doing things.

The role: Communications Manager, Multiple Focus

As a member of the Communications team based at Google headquarters in Mountain View, California you will work cross functionally (and with our team) to help communicate Google’s developer products and programs, devise specific campaigns that establish solid contacts with journalists, face-to-face meetings with commentators and other opinion formers and develop print and web-based materials targeted at a range of different audiences, and counter misinformation and mitigate negative media coverage that might lead to unnecessary regulation or interfere with our business and ability to serve our users in other ways. Managers are very strong writers who can process complex technology issues – through blog posts, FAQs, video scripts and more – and explain them in clear language internally and externally.

To apply for this job or to learn about other job openings, please email Arne at arne@google.com

Back in June I wrote a blog post about the top 5 luxury hotel brands on Twitter and wanted to follow it up with a post about the top 5 food brands using Twitter today. Our food & beverage/lifestyle clients at Murphy O’Brien ask us on a daily basis if and how they should get involved in social media. There are several food brands using Twitter wisely and effectively. They have found a transparent brand voice and engaged their followers all while staying true to their brand essence. Here are my top 5 picks of who’s using this social media tool well and why:

LemonadeLA (@LemonadeLA): Followers – 384

A great new restaurant concept in LA now with two locations – one in West Hollywood and one in Venice, Lemonade offers over 35 varieties of freshly prepared salads, veggies, pastas, proteins, sandwiches and stock-pots all at a reasonable price. Their Tweets are fun, upbeat, full of energy and clever – they created the “Lemonade Girl,” an attractive brunette who bikes around town with a “Tweet This” sign on her back – if you snap a pic of her and TwitPic it, you win a free glass of fresh lemonade. Sounds like a win-win situation to me.

Fiji Water (@FIJIWATER): Followers – 2,102

Fiji Water company is designer water that some say only snobs would drink but there’s nothing snobby about the brand’s presence on Twitter. Fiji does something right with their Tweets and that is, the @reply. There is nothing worse than a brand who doesn’t write back to their followers. Fiji communicates with their followers, responding, engaging, asking questions and answering them.

Philadelphia Cream Cheese (@LoveMyPhilly): Followers – 7,966

Philly Cream Cheese does a great job of representing their brand on Twitter – the background of their page perfectly represents the brand and also directs followers to their presence on other social networks including – Flickr, YouTube and Facebook. The company Tweets recipes and also engages with their followers with a steady stream of @replies.

Kogi BBQ (@kogibbq): Followers: 41,239

Kogi is the Korean BBQ taco truck that exploded on the Twitter scene sending out real-time Tweets about the location of their mobile food truck for hungry fans to easily find them during lunch hour. The company uses Twitter as a real-time GPS tracking system – just without the GPS. At any time of day or night you know exactly where to find Kogi’s “roach coach.” This level of accesibiltiy has made the roving vehicle a social-networking juggernaut, drawing 300 to 800 people (and a bevy of Twitter followers) each time it parks (often several times in an evening) and spawning a burgeoning cyber-hippie movement affectionately referred to as “Kogi kulture.”

Border Grill (@BorderGrill) Followers – 1,995

Border Grill is a Mexican restaurant concept in LA serving gourmet tacos, quesadillas, ceviches, and more from “Too Hot Tamales” chefs Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger. The Twitter feed models Kogi’s real-time tracking of the Border Grill food truck around LA but also offers their Twitter followers special deals by using the secret code – like “sweet tooth” for a free brownie. Delish!

Christine Kirk is a PR representative and social media explorer for luxury brands including travel, real estate and food/beverage, at Murphy O’Brien Public Relations in Los Angeles. She also holds the position of PR Manager for the Los Angeles chapter of Girls in Tech. She can be reached via e-mail at ckirk@murphyobrien.com or on Twitter @luxuryprgal.

Wise-women is an international online community designed for all women web designers, developers, or programmers out there. Their members are talented, dedicated people from all corners of the world, who come together to share information, tips, and concerns about developing the Web, in an environment that is designed to encourage women in this field.

Membership is open to everyone, men as well as women. (They welcome all! ) In addition, membership to the group is open to anyone who is looking into and seeking inspiration on how to get into the field of technology or IT-related fields. Like Girls in Tech, they describe themselves as being a “supportive and professional online community; you are welcome regardless of gender, professional status or experience.” They’ve featured articles such as:  “Have Women Websters Achieved Equality on the Internet,” “Logo Primer,” and “Passing the Design Test,” among others. Their site also offers tutorials and related book reviews, as well.
Check them out @:
http://www.wise-women.org/about/

The Santa Cruz Chapter of Girls in Tech is gearing up for this Friday’s New Media: Who is Today’s Modern Woman? and wanted to let those of you who cannot attend know that we will be live-streaming the event thanks to the good people at justin.tv.

New Media: Who is Today’s Modern Woman?

We will be welcoming a few of the women who are shaping the way we are seen in the media today.

This event will be a panel on how new media is painting the modern woman. The panel will be a great opportunity to share experiences and inform others of what it’s like being a female in the new media world.

Speakers for Friday’s event include:

*Eileen Rivera, Revision 3

*Neha Tiwari, Neha Tiwari Pvt. Ltd. & Rad on the Web

*Irina Slutsky, Geek Entertainment TV

*Sarah Austin, Pop17

*Kirsten Sanford, TWIS – This Week in Science

Mary Duan, Reporter for the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal, will be moderating the panel.

The event will be held on Friday, August 28th from 7 – 9 PM at NextSpace.

Please RSVP here: http://git.eventbrite.com

You may watch the live-stream here: http://www.justin.tv/gitsc

Move over club penguin…. a highly innovative new website takes kids on thrilling world adventures in a first of its kind ‘virtual theme park.’ The Wonder Rotunda launched this month. You might call it a ‘virtual world’s fair!’ This site is a virtual educational theme park designed to get kids thinking about the planet, what they’re interested in and passionate about.

This site is really intuitive and pretty darn cool. Not only because of the colorful and interactive user experience, the activities that you can partake in while using Wonder Rotunda are educational in nature – they show kids how to live a better life, preserve nature and label education as “cool”.

On Wonder Rotunda, kids can do everything from zip line through a tropical rainforest, steer a submarine through the human digestive system, dive the Great Barrier Reef or operate a smoothie stand! Jam packed with 13 ‘game shows,’ there is never a dull moment – yet they are learning and exploring every step of the way. And it features NO ads or social chat rooms. Created by a D.C. dad who was inspired by the 1964-65 N.Y. World’s Fair and wanted to recreate that experience in a new, fun online  experience. A one year pass to Wonder Rotunda is $45.