Girls In Tech

By: Kayla Zerby

The groundswell of enthusiasm surrounding everything social media-related will culminate next week during NYC’s very own “Social Media Week” (Feb. 1st-5th).

According to the website, the aim of this annual event — which is also taking place in six major cities around the globe — is to “advance the use and understanding of social media in the corporate, public and non-profit sectors.”

And with a lineup as impressive as the one planned for NYC, you can bet on getting your money’s worth this year.

So. In anticipation of the big week, we thought we’d do a quick roundup of the top 9 “must-attend” events:

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Monday, February 1 – “Social Media and the Haiti Disaster”

From coordination of disaster relief to mobilizing financial donations, the recent earthquake in Haiti is shaping up to be the first international disaster to solidify the true power of social media. Hosted by The New York Times, this panel is sure to be a great way to kick off the week.

4:00pm-6:00pm | Cost: Free | Event signup

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Monday, February 1 – “The Social Media Week Digital Somethings event”

is invite only. DIGITALSOMETHINGS was founded in 2009 by David Weiner, Damien Basile, Brett Petersel, and Khayyam Wakil as a Global Events Organizations designed to feature organizations working in the digital space and allow influencers from across industries to network and have fun! That they do.

9:00pm | Cost: Free | Request a VIP invite.

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Tuesday, February 2 – “Crowdsourcery Potions 101: Why Some Marketing Potions Fail and Others Thrive”

Hosted by advertising giant JWT, this panel is sure to be hit for marketing, advertising and other creative types. Listen to a panel of experts share their insights on the future of crowdsourcing, and how “wisdom of the crowd” via social media is changing the agency game.

9:00am-11:00am | Cost: Free | Event signup

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Tuesday, February 2 – “Networked News Gatherers: Defining the Social Media Editor Role”

So what, exactly, does a social media editor do? Find out from this panel of experts from the media world, including the fabulous Rachel Sklar of Abrams Research and Mediaite. (If you missed Rachel at the GITnyc/NextWeb-hosted panel during NYCENT last April, we suggest you try to catch her on this one.)

12:00pm-2:00pm | Cost: Free | Event signup

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Tuesday, February 2 – “Fashion Goes Social: The Devil Wears Prada and Tweets About It”

No, Anna Wintour isn’t a panelist. But you will hear from an expert group of folks from the fashion media world who are defining the industry’s role in social media. Hosted by Rachel Sklar, Yuli Ziv, Emily Gannett and Social Diva, this is definitely an event worth checking out.

6:00pm-8:00pm | Cost: Free | Event signup

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Tuesday, February 2 – “February 2010 – Rally for the Future”

New York Tech Meetup explores the future and helps Haiti while they are at it. Tony Bacigalupo of New Work City and Jacqueline Novogratz of Acumen Fund speak, among others. Thank you for mentioning NY Tech Cares for Haiti, in your event post.

7:00pm | Cost: $20 | Event signup

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Wednesday, February 3 – “SUXORZ: the worst social media campaigns of ‘09”

You won’t want to miss social media slam-fest. What better way to learn about how to do social media campaigns right than to learn from those who got it wrong?

6:30pm-8:30pm | Cost: $25 | Event signup

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Wednesday, February 3 – “The Future Journalist: NextUp NYC”

Can you name a journalist who isn’t on Twitter? Neither can we. We suggest you check out this panel of experts from Columbia Journalism School to get a grip on the changing media landscape. The event is hosted by Mashable.com and all proceeds go to 92YTribeca, a non-profit organization.

6:00pm-8:45pm | Cost: $20 in advance, $25 at door | Event signup

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Wednesday, February 3 – “Women in Social Media Panel”

A recent study found that almost 60% of Twitter users are women. We think that says a lot. Come and learn from this panel of smart, savvy women who have harnessed the power of social media in business. Among the panelists is our very own Alexa Hirschfeld, founder of Paperless Post. Don’t miss the brilliant story that brought her cards to the White House as well as to your GIT inboxes this New Years.

7:30pm-9:00pm | Cost: Free | Event signup

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Thursday, February 4 – “Obliterati Party”

What better way to end the week than to have a few drinks with the Obliterati crew at R Bar? This special event, hosted by Citysearch and RandomNightOut, features a 90-minute open bar & a gift bag for every guest. Nice.

6:00pm-11:00pm | Cost: | Event signup

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Friday, February 5 – “The Future of Social Media in Higher Education”

If you graduated college before 2004, you might be floored by how much social media has changed higher education. Hosted by McGraw-Hill Student Innovation Lab, this panel features an interesting mix of professors and marketers – as well as Editor-in-Chief Adam Ostrow of Mashable.com.

12:00pm-2:00pm | Cost: Free | Event signup

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Hope to see you there and at the Girls in Tech NYC Girls in Tech NYC Open Chapter and Marketing/Content Meeting at Pershing Square in Midtown on Sunday, February 7, 2010 at 7:00PM. [Women's event].

Girls in Tech and Vator.TV, a leading platform for innovators to broadcast themselves, have announced the winners of  their joint Catalyst Competition, which honored women-led start-ups. The winners include: AccessDNA, BakeSpace, MyLawsuit, GreenSherpa, Marriage.com, and Graspr received the popular vote.

Winners were chosen from among 79 applicants and the process included a popular vote to narrow the field to the top 10, and then Venture Capital judges chose the top five. The top five were given the opportunity to present their company in front of the audience of more than 300 motivated, creative women in technology at the first-ever Girls in Tech Catalyst Conference, which also included a panel of experienced investors who provided valuable advice and feedback. In addition, the top five were awarded with complimentary legal services from Cooley, Godward & Kronish LLP.

“Our goal was to support and recognize women innovators by using the excitement around Girls in Tech’s first-ever annual conference. With almost 80 companies participating through Vator.tv, it’s clear female entrepreneurs are an important part of the innovation ecosystem,” said Catalyst Competition co-organizer, Arden Pennell, who also served as the Girls in Tech Catalyst Conference program director. “This was a huge opportunity to recognize some of the amazing contributions women have made to the tech industry, and the competition allowed us to highlight these companies on a very public and influential stage.”

The top five companies honored at the conference include:
•   AccessDNA:

To read about it in these companies, you can view their websites, here:

AccessDNA

BakeSpace

My Lawsuit

GreenSherpa

Marriage.com

Graspr

CONGRATULATIONS to these winners!

[To view all the participants who entered, go to the Vator.tv competition page: HERE ]

About Vator.TV
Vator (short for innovator) is a leading platform for entrepreneurs and innovators to effectively broadcast to and communicate with the entrepreneur and innovator community while at the same time reach the broad audience across the social Web through Vator’s syndication. Vator.tv has more than 30,000 members and high-tech companies, using the service to effectively communicate with their partners, investors, media and customers. VatorNews is Vator’s video business network on entrepreneurship and innovation with 200-plus contributors.

This week, Girls in Tech had a phenomenal turnout at our first annual all-female Catalyst Conference.  When people asked me which panel I enjoyed the most, my answer was truthfully, “All of them.”   That said, as a business development gal, I found Katherine Barr’s workshop on “The Art of Negotiation” the most interesting.

A partner at MDV, Katherine started the workshop by asking the audience to pair up, and assume the arm wrestling position.  (Visualize a full room of 400+ women poised to arm wrestle.)  Next were the instructions: Without speaking to each other, know that each time you move your partner’s arm all the way down, you earn a million dollars.  At this point, it was clear as day to me that we would both see-saw each other’s arms down as quickly as possible to earn the most money.  But my partner didn’t see it that way.  She held her arm firm.  After struggling for a bit, I signaled to her with a smile, and a couple of nods, then loosened my hand, and we were on our way to earning millions.  Surprisingly, others in the audience around us sat at a standstill.

For the next exercise, we received handouts that included a Negotiation Preparation Template and a fictional negotiation scenario that audience pairs role-played.  The preparation template included the below framework to kick-start creative problem solving and brain-storming before entering a negotiation.

1.)    Interests — Identify Yours, Theirs, and Relevant third parties’ interests
– Do your research and know what is important to your counterpart

2.)    Options – What different options meet the various interests of all parties?
– Being CREATIVE is the key to successful negotiations
– Options allow people to move away from cold hard cash, and stubborn positions
– Creative brainstorming opens people up to the possibilities.

3.)    Legitimacy – What objective standards can be used during negotiations to assess fairness?

4.)    Alternatives – Identify the alternatives available if you don’t close this deal
– Knowing your alternatives gives you the power to walk away from the table
– Without alternatives, you may feel trapped and be persuaded into a bad deal

Additional tips to keep in mind during negotiations:

1.) Commitment – Be clear on what you are committing to
2.) Relationship – Be mindful that everything you do before and after the negotiation affects the relationship
3.) Communication – Clearly communicate and test assumptions to understand each other’s interest

What resonated the most about the workshop was Katherine’s emphasis on focusing negotiations on interests rather than positions.  With positions, negotiations tend to be more territorial and ego-based, i.e. if you win, I lose.  When focusing on interests, everyone can walk away feeling like a winner.

On February 4, 2010, ChicMeetsGeek hits San Francisco with a mission.  This time, the event will be benefitting BUILD – a nonprofit venture that emphasizes entrepreneurship to underprivileged high schoolers.
The event will be held at the Automattic Lounge at Pier 38 – home of WordPress – and will backdrop the same air of elegance and entrepreneurship as the first ChicMeetsGeek last November.  This time around, celebrity panelists from the San Francisco arts scene as well as the tech sphere will highlight their own hidden chic and geek talents.

Speakers include:

Kai Huang – Founder of Guitar Hero
Sumaya Kazi – Founder of The CulturalConnect
Dave McClure – Venture Capitalist/Investor at the Founder’s Fund
Jessica Mah – Founder of Indinero
Annette Jordan – Miss California Pageant Candidate 2010
Tim Galida – Keyboard & Singer of the Pop Rocks
Steve Wharton – Actor on NBC’s Trauma TV Show

The goal of ChicMeetsGeek is to build bridges that further strengthen San Francisco’s position as a hub for innovation and sophistication.   The event will include live jazz music and an open bar, as well as decadent 5-star catering, a unique Geek vs. Chic makeover show, and tech demos from local companies.  To top it off, the evening is complete with a silent auction where guests can bid on one-on-one time or services with reputable individuals from around the SF social scene.  Most importantly, all proceeds from the auction will benefit BUILD.
The evening promises to be a dazzling affair fit for our SF culture.  If you don’t believe me, come see for yourself!  Here are a few special discount codes for our Girls in Tech members (there are only a few of each, so get them while they’re hot):

GITGirlsAreLeaders — 20% off ticket price
GITChicGeekGirlsRule — 15% off ticket price
GITLoveToBeAChic –10% off ticket price
GITSmartGirlsRock — 5% off ticket price

For more information, visit the ChicMeetsGeek website.  To purchase tickets for the event (and use the nifty coupon codes above), visit the EventBrite page.

Girls–grab your glasses, smartphone, and laptop! She’s Geeky-the two year old concept founded in Silicon Valley by Kayliya Hamlin (www.identitywoman.net), is returning to the Bay Area for a third time on January 29,30,31 at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View for its 5th unConference. Tickets range from $210 for three days, $140 for two days, and $75 for one day. Discounted rates are also available. Doors open at 8:15 am with activities ending at 5:30 pm each day.

UnConference? Like “Alice in Wonderland’s” “Happy Unbirthday”? Close–let me explain. She’s Geeky is an unConference because all of the events on the agenda are created by the participants in real time on the day the event happens. This format is beneficial because it encourages peer-to-peer learning, dialogue about issues that are top of mind and networking. She’s Geeky aims to inspire women working it the STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) and the conference is a chance for women to see their contribution to their field in a new light.

You can find She’s Geeky on Facebook, Twitter, and at www.shesgeeky.org.

To register for the unConference click here: http://shesgeekybayarea3.eventbrite.com/?ref=ecount

This press release comes directly from Crisis Commons, who are doing such great work that we wanted to share them with all of our Girls in Tech. To learn more, or get involved, check out their site and follow them on Twitter.

Hundreds of CrisisCamp volunteers are gathering in an expanded number of cities to collaborate on information technology projects in support of disaster relief for post-earthquake Haiti. Initially launched last week in six locations in response to the crisis, the volunteer technology effort has rapidly grown to 12 cities in four countries.

CrisisCamps are in-person meetings of a new grassroots movement called CrisisCommons (http://www.crisiscommons.org), with a mission to share best practices for crisis response.

Montreal and Toronto in Canada,  as well as Bogota, Colombia, join London, UK as international locations. US gatherings will take place in: Boston; Denver; Los Angeles; Miami; New Orleans; Portland; Seattle; Sunnyvale, California; and Washington, D.C.

In just one week, CrisisCamp Haiti volunteers in five cities collaboratively conceived of and created “We Have, We Need” (http://www.wehaveweneed.org/) an online service to support the logistics of matching donors and relief organizations. CrisisCampers have also assisted organizations such as Ushahidi, Sahana and OpenStreetMap to generate free detailed basemap information for Haiti. The detailed digital maps have been useful to rescue teams by locating NGOs on the ground, source of available water and the locations of evacuee camps. Additionally, volunteers built and contributed data to mobile phone applications to allow those on the ground to report vital information such as the location of hospitals or missing persons. Nontechnical volunteers have been instrumental as well, as with one project requested by the United Nations that generated a definitive list of news sources covering the Haiti earthquake.

Development on these projects has continued even after CrisisCamp events are over through open source online collaborative tools, such as MediaWiki, Drupal and Internet Relay Chat. Projects underway include Language & Translation, Mobile Disaster Assessment Mapping, Family Reunification and Haitian Skilled Worker Retention. CrisisCamp creations are released under a free license, allowing anyone to use, copy or modify any volunteer efforts.

All of the applications and project descriptions can be found on the CrisisCommons website. Listed on the site are “Simple Tasks Anyone Can Do” with screencasts and step-by-step instructions to teach the Internet novice how they can participate.

“We are witnessing the development of a transformational change in how an average citizen can participate in the crisis response effort,” says CrisisCommons co-founder Noel Dickover.  “Previously you could only send money.  Now, you can directly help in the response. An existing social network of national and international first responders, web 2.0 developers, and NGOs had been established, so the immediate response was just a matter of galvanizing existing relationships.”

About CrisisCamp
CrisisCamp is a open, collaborative event held in “barcamp” style to provide local and international responders, community leaders of affected areas and non-governmental organizations an opportunity to engage with operations on the ground during a crisis. Tools and resources created by CrisisCamp volunteers are designed to enhance responders’ decision-making capability, transparency and collaboration.

About CrisisCommons
CrisisCommons brings together domain experts, developers, and first responders to develop technology and practices for humanitarian crisis management and disaster relief. CrisisCommons is part of a global movement that unites volunteers, academia, non-profits, companies and government officials in sharing best practices and lessons learned to advocate for further use of technology and telecommunications to assist citizens and communities during crisis.

Founded in March 2009 through an impromptu meetup of Twitter users at the Government 2.0 Camp, a small band of idealists and innovators gathered to discuss the idea of a creating a common community through a mash-up of citizen volunteers, crisis response organizations, international humanitarian relief agencies, non-profits and the private sector. Within minutes, the CrisisCamp concept was born to unite communities, seek common ground and cultivate innovation in the use of technology for mobility and efficiency during crisis.

Learn more about the movement at http://www.crisiscommons.org/

Women of all ages and aspirations crowded the second floor of the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco on Tuesday January 26 at the inaugural “Girls in Tech Catalyst Conference.” Some drove in the pouring rain while others had flown in from across the nation as evidenced by their small carry ons dragging behind them. The sold-out conference started promptly at 8:45  with founder and CEO Adriana Gascoigne’s opening remarks, here is a small clip from her speech:

“ THIS CONFERENCE IS ABOUT INFLUENCING AND MOTIVATING, AND I AM TRULY INSPIRED BY EACH ONE OF YOU – WOMEN WHO HAVE SUCH VARIED ROLES IN THE INDUSTRY BUT ARE ALL PASSIONATE ABOUT TECHNOLOGY, ENTREPRENEURSHIP, AND BRINGING THE ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF WOMEN IN THE FIELD TO THE FOREFRONT.”

The conference truly brought together a diverse group of very influential and inspiring women like keynote speaker, Heather Harde, CEO of Tech Crunch. Harde shared what she had learned during her years in the industry and working for startups. She made the audience laugh and think with unique questions like, “is the juice worth the squeeze?” Referring to weighing the rewards when taking risks. Some other advice she shared: always have options and authenticity matters.

Attendees had the chance to participate in a total of eight panels and one workshop with topics such as: “Branding and Marketing”, “VC Deals”, “The Art of Negotiation”, “Social and New Media”, “Coding and Developing”, “Social Gaming” and “Innovation in Business.” This being a tech conference, the room was equipped in style with free Girls in Tech wifi giving those who attended the conference to tweet live, spread the word, and join in on the live conversation going on in the twittersphere with the tag #gitcc.

After a lot of tweeting, blogging, talking, and sharing, each girl made their way down the street to the official Girls in Tech after party at Roe Lounge where they had the chance to catch up and network some more.

Overall the conference exceeded our expectations. A big thank you to everyone who helped put it together! To all the attendees-thanks for making it a SOLD-OUT event! We look forward to next year’s conference and continuing to inspire, motivate, and bring a voice to all girls in the tech industry around the world!

Want to know more about the conference? Want to know how you can get involved with Girls in Tech and our conference next year? Email us at info@girlsintech.net for more information!

As women in a mostly male-dominated field, it’s easy to have a tenuous relationship with the idea of ‘beauty.’ After all, we want people to focus on the skills and savvy we bring to the table, and not necessarily on the brand of purse we put down on top of it. If you’re a female who deals regularly with developers, this balancing act can be even more precarious. How do you justify spending time on hair and makeup when most of the men you’re working with would rather worry about HTML than hygiene?

But, it’s hard to ignore the effect your appearance has on your confidence. And, any successful woman – or man for that matter – will tell you that confidence is a key component of that success. So, many of us still take the time to do our hair. To put on a little makeup. To pick out that perfect outfit. It doesn’t make us any less skilled or savvy, it just makes us feel a little better as we go about our daily business. What we don’t realize is how lucky we are to be able to do that for ourselves. And, that’s where GlamourGals comes in.

GlamourGals is an organization that arranges makeovers and beauty treatments for women in nursing homes. By hooking young women up with their elderly counterparts, the organization provides both parties with opportunities to foster meaningful relationships, and also helps those elderly women to get that same little beauty boost we all know and love. It also has an amazing social media component, in its use of a proprietary networking site for all of its chapters, which helps the organization keep infrastructure costs low and connectivity high. Started in 2000, GlamourGals is now having its tenth birthday party in LA, giving glamorous gals across the LA area the chance to celebrate and support this very worthy cause.

The party is at Bimi Restaurant, on February 25. There will be complementary cocktails, raffle prizes, food and gift bags, and the whole thing kicks off at 6pm. Hosts include Lauren Berger and Laurel Kaufman of our very own GIT LA chapter, and Girls in Tech members get $10 off ticket prices through the first week of February. So, break out your best beauty products and start primping – this is one event worth getting all dolled up for.

What: GlamourGals 10th Birthday Party

Where: Bimi Restaurant, 11917 Wilshire Blvd

When: Feb 25, 2010 (6-9pm)

Register Here

Apple’s iPhone, Motorola’s Droid, Google’s Nexus One, the much anticipated Apple iSlate, and of course, the one that started the smart phone craze—the Blackberry. These are just some of the many tech devices that suddenly a majority of us can’t live without. In a country where the concept of fast food was born, and later spread throughout the world, it is no surprise that America loves the speed and immediacy of smart phones. Nowadays, even a laptop seems slow (seriously, who wants to wait for it to load the home screen?) when you can browse the net with the swipe of a finger and receive your news as it happens through Twitter. With the smart phone becoming an essential rather than a luxury and social gaming and social media permeating all businesses, 2010 promises to be a great year for the tech industry.

Every year, San Francisco-based law firm Morrison Foerster surveys its lawyers from the US, Europe, and Asia regarding the current state of the world’s outsourcing markets and emerging trends that will most probably shape the market over the next year. This year, the spotlight was on the tech industry, as lawyers made predictions about cloud computing. This of course is no surprise, because of social networking. It has become a major trend in the tech industry, is in all aspects including marketing and gaming, and it’s all cloud based. In social media everything is in a shared network and because of its commonalities with cloud computing, the two are slowly but surely intersecting . Together social media and cloud computing are slated to be the big movements in the web 2.0 space.

The firm expects cloud computing-the return to centralized processing-to become even more important this year, especially with major providers like IBM, Google, and Microsoft offering attractive desktop deals. The internet will be used to distribute services to multiple customers and 2010 will be the first year in which cloud computing will have a real role in procurement decisions. They mark cloud computing as a “global trend” and predict that the Cloud will become more important as companies realize they can achieve significant cost savings by exploring this option. But the key question hindering this prediction is: can anyone really define what “the cloud” means?

In an attempt to answer it, I am posing my own questions: what does “cloud computing” mean to you? What role do you think it has in 2010 and how big of a role is the social media trend playing in this return to cloud-computing?

As I grew up, in my mind, I saw the idea of a glass ceiling or a gender gap in the workplace as a relic. It was for the history books, something my mom and grandmother had to deal with, but never something I would encounter. In my generation – I’m 22 – women sometimes even take equality for granted, grumbling about a bygone era when guys used to be (chauvinist) gentlemen.

But, is the battle really over? Can we rightfully declare victory and move on with our daily lives? Lately, I’ve been thinking the answer’s no. If you look at the actual statistics, they show we still have a ways to go.

While women account for 57% of all college students, only 2% of Fortune 500 CEOs are women according to a 2008 PEW Research Study. Only two percent? It’s easy to rationalize away differences in women’s outcomes as differences in choices not opportunities. Women make less than men (76.5% of what men earn, according to a 2004 study), but maybe it’s because of the choices women make. Many choose to slow down their careers to have children. Women often value having a little more free time rather than working longer work weeks. Women choose to go into “pink-collar” careers like sales and PR that pay less than more technical options (and I’m a little guilty myself since I’m on the marketing side). But if the choices are causing differences this stark we need to look at what’s causing them.

Working in the tech industry in the Silicon Valley, I see the biggest divide in my daily life. I regularly go to iPhone and Android developer meetups and am one of the few girls there (and sometimes the only one). At the tech startup I work with I’m the only full-time female employee. But having been involved some in the recruiting process myself, I know the answer isn’t sexism. Men are simply much, much more likely to apply for these jobs.

What is it about women or our society that makes tech seem so unattractive to the female gender? Perhaps I’m the wrong person to ask, since in many ways I’m the exception to the rule — I had my own domain name by age 11, was programming websites by high school, and am currently working for a tech startup.

Instead of looking for issues in hiring or the workplace, I think we need to look at attitudes. A report was recently released from the New Image for Computing project that found that 45% of boys thought computer science would be a “very good” major for them compared to only 10% of girls. Girls need role models to show them that the tech world is not a boys only club. Our society makes it all too clear that everything “techie” from computer games, to programming, to gadgets, are centered around boys (just take a recent Droid commercial as an example).

Women need role models to show them that being involved in tech isn’t a bad thing (my dad and siblings are the ones who encourage me). Yet, with such a huge gender gap, all women see at tech events and in tech companies is that tech is all about men. Only 5 percent of computer programmers are women, and women lead only 5 to 6 percent of major high tech companies in the Silicon Valley (source). That’s part of the reason I’ll be going to the Girls in Tech Catalyst Conference this week because there simply aren’t enough times when girls in technology get a chance to form a common bond.

I don’t have the solution. I wish I did, but I think the answer lies in bringing the issue out into the open. Let’s not pretend that everything is completely equal and no work’s left to be done. But let’s also not simply blame the system and deem the situation impossible. Let’s talk.

Hope to see you at the conference!

Slightly Modified from Original Posting on HuffingtonPost.com