During this high-level event, top Publishers, Agency Executives and Brand Marketers will come together to discuss how Social Media is everywhere and is changing everything.

–>DIGIDAY gives media and marketing leaders a chance to converge and reveal high-level success strategies as well as offer insights on how the future of Social Media Marketing will play out for all.

–>Leading Women Include: Cynthia Neiman, Vice President of Mattel Digital Network, Mattel, Marty Collins, Group Marketing Manager, Windows Digital Marketing, Microsoft, Tameka Kee, editorial director, DIGIDAY, Sarah Hofstetter, Senior Vice President, Emerging Media & Client Strategy, 360i, and many more!

–> We’re partnering with digiday: Social on this event, so Girls in Tech LA Members Save $100 off the registration price. Use this code for your discount: GITDS. Register at https://registration.dm2events.com/event/socialla/.

JB

J. Briganti

Thanks to advanced technology, you know longer need to be a professional photographer to capture a unique moment in time.  Although it is true that photography is an art, even those of us just snapping away as a hobby can achieve exceptional photographs with the right camera in hand.

The Olympus SP-59OUZ will provide you with photographic pleasure.  It is an affordable camera appropriate for someone taking up photography as a hobby and can also be easily enjoyed by all members of the family.  It comes complete with lots of valuable shooting features such as optical zoom, shadow ADJ for brightening the subject against backlight, exposure compensation for adjusting the brightness and macro shooting for taking great close ups.   And let’s not forget the self timer so that all of your family or friends can be in the picture.

Taking a good photo is not really as difficult as you may think.  You don’t need years of experience or the most expensive camera.  What you do need is inspiration.  Where to find it?  It’s all around.  Take time out to notice your natural surroundings including your own garden, local parks or distant landscapes.  Family pets or small animals like birds, squirrels and rabbits make wonderful photos too.   Zoom in on your own family members when they’re not looking for photos with a natural complexion.

Here are some simple steps that you can follow and you’ll be on your way to photographic bliss.

• Get up close and personal to your subject, when possible.
• When shooting animals get down low on their level.
• Hold your camera in a vertical position for a change.
• Look for a simple, uncluttered background.
• Shoot with the sun behind you.
• If your outdoor subject is in the shade, turn on the flash.
• Use a tripod for extra steadiness.
• Make use of macro shooting for great close ups.

In addition to these simple tips, take the time to read your camera’s manual; by doing so you will learn how to operate the different camera modes available.

Have fun and enjoy your photographic journey!

Dr. Regina Dugan, Director of DARPA

Just two months ago, DARPA, headed by Dr. Regina Dugan, conducted an interesting challenge to find ten red balloons strategically “hidden” throughout the United States. Seekers had a time frame of nine days to correctly map-out the whereabouts of those balloons. In nine hours, an MIT team had located all of the balloons—that was just with real-time social networking technologies—no augmented-reality mapping involved.

Microsoft's augmented-reality mapping at TED Talks 2010

Two months later, social networking has new pal. At the annual TED Talks gathering, Microsoft unveiled its latest augmented-reality mapping. This technology will take social networking and seeking & find projects to a new level.

For education, all I can say is that if school districts don’t take this summer to get their teachers up to snuff with technology skills, there will be more of us teachers retiring as parents can create national and global networks of real-time information exchange (For educators: check out Natasha’s post below). Students no longer have to wait until gets dark to experience Orion or wait until their parents can take them to a famous landmark in a foreign country, with an iphone, internet, and augmented-reality mapping, they will be well on their way.

Though I have my hesitations about safety and privacy issues, the potential advantages to rescue missions, law enforcement, education and network publications could far outweigh the cons of such a technology. I just wonder if Dr. Dugan is willing to create another $40K DARPA Balloon challenge using augmented-reality mapping—maybe the nine hour search will become nine minutes!

Nevertheless, Microsoft has taken social networking to a new level, and it’s quite impressive!

If you haven’t had the chance to be present for one of Bronwyn Saglimbeni’s workshops, you must. Bronwyn is a seasoned communications professional and works with clients to improve their public speaking and media relations skills, challenging them to bring out more of themselves in their communications.

At the First Annual Girls in Tech Retreat for GIT Managing Directors, Bronwyn and Kristine Shaefer, lead a workshop on public speaking and it was such a success and so helpful that I invited her back down to Santa Cruz for a workshop on ‘perfecting your presentations’ – lucky for me she obliged and I thought I would share some of her key points and takeaways with those of you who weren’t in attendance:

Now, who hasn’t spent countless hours putting together an important presentation only to have your audiences eyes glaze over? Are you as guilty as I am for being one of those to get sleepy in the middle of a PowerPoint? I thought so.

So let’s change the game.

1. Honor the way adults learn
   1. Show, don’t tell
   2. Novelty
   3. Relevance
   4. Emotion
2. Master the art of storytelling
   1. Turn off your computer.
   2. Decide what kind of story works best given the subject and your goals.
   3. What do I want them to… Feel? Think? Do?
   4. What do they need to remember?
3. Practice restraint
4. Be yourself

Now, next time you go to put together a slide deck, think about these simple, but key, points. If you still can’t get it right then maybe you should reach out to Bronwyn for some additional direction

J.B.

I’d like to introduce Jane, GIT Athens’ latest blogger. We are happy to have another brave soul come on board here in Athens.  One by one we are getting women into tech!

Technology Trekking by J. Briganti

It doesn’t require special clothing or special shoes but if you’re 40 something and haven’t been doing much technology trekking then it can be a bit perplexing.  I recently was invited to preview Google Wave.  Interesting I thought, so I clicked whereas instructed and hoped for the best.

Not having a Google account I was prompted to create one.  I paused for a few seconds and then thought to myself, why not.  I proceeded to follow the step by step instructions, clicking away here and there and before I knew it, I had myself a Google account.  Hurray, so far so good, I thought.   Feeling inspired, I then decided to download something called Google Chrome, which I would later learn is a web browser aiming to improve security, speed and stability.  What a great tool to have, I thought.

The idea of having real-time communication and collaboration is very exciting and I was eager to send a wave.  So, without further hesitation I clicked on contacts, choosing the only name which was in my box, proceeded to write a brief message in the window provided and then finally clicked on done, located at the bottom of the text window.  I was pretty sure that my wave went but was not totally convinced.  The absence of a confirmation in the form of sent left me with a little uncertainty.

Randomly clicking away at the various options available in the navigation, inbox and text windows, I soon realized how important it is to be able to utilize all of these different tools in order to endure all that Google Wave has to offer.  So, I decided to browse through the Google Wave Help and am I glad I did.  It was very user friendly and I found a “how to” explanation for every transaction that I would soon be interested in using.  Needless to say, I am ardently waiting to fill my contact box with fellow wavers.

My accomplishments may seem trivial to some, I’m sure, but for me it was exhilarating.  Technology and I are still a union in the making and I am excited about venturing into new territories.  I personally plan to hike over one small hill at a time, enjoying the scenery as I go.  Many thanks to Google Wave Help for supplying the answers to questions that I hadn’t yet thought to ask.

Are you wondering how to help Haiti? It’s noble and good to open your wallet and send money. But can you send $100,000? I can’t. That’s why I’m supporting Pencils of Promise, a group competing on Chase’s Facebook-based Community Giving Competition. POP is trying to win $1,000,000 to support their mission of building schools in poor areas. If they win, they pledge to donate at least $100K to Haiti.

It only takes about a minute to vote for them. You can vote here: http://bit.ly/4DYKIV. Please feel free to Tweet about it, too.

From the POP blog, here’s how young girls reacted to plans to build a women’s dormitory and library in Champhet, Laos, to replace the makeshift huts they stay in during the school week, before they walk home on weekends:

“At the start of each school week, hundreds of girls from faraway villages have to choose between their personal safety and their education. For them, though, the choice is obvious. The only way to personal empowerment, agency, and ability is through this education. The safety they will have to forgo. We ask many girls if they would like a place of their own to live—a dormitory for only females. Smiles explode onto their meek faces with eager yeses. They say they want a place where they are safe, where they aren’t scared at night.”

Inspiring stuff, huh?  If POP wins the competition, they pledge to build 50 schools throughout the world, including safe facilities for communities where women traditionally have less access to education.  POP is run entirely by volunteers and support they receive goes wholly to their projects. As of today, they are only a few votes away from being a finalist. Voting ends Friday. Your vote can have an impact!

To make it simple, here’s that math again:

60 seconds of effort =

50 schools +

100K to Haiti.

In Sum :  Impressive.

The Founder’s Institute and TheFunded.com are amazing resources for anyone starting their own business and looking for a network of colleagues and advice.  We’ve partnered with them on the upcoming Catalyst Conference, getting their help spreading the word about our exciting inaugural conference.  I wanted to take a moment to let you know about some equally exciting things they have going on.

This Thursday, they’re hosting the Founder’s Showcase. There, you can meet top investors, socialize with other entrepreneurs, hear great talks, and see inspiring pitches from cutting edge start-ups. The Founder Showcase is an open startup pitch and networking event that highlights seed stage businesses, helping founders gain traction among the Silicon Valley elite. On Thursday, January 14th, ten companies elected by over 13,000 registered Members of TheFunded.com will present to an audience of over 200 investors, founders, and members of the press. A panel of experts will critique the pitches, and an open ballot of those in attendance will determine the Founder Showcase Winner – who will win a number of prizes, including $2500 in cash, $1000 in free legal services from Cooley Godward Kronish LLP, and a free two-day rental of a Ferrari 360 Spider.

Showcase guests will be treated to food and drinks, as well as informative talks by two leading Silicon Valley CEOs – Philip Kaplan of Blippy, and Jay Jamison of Moonshoot. There is also a networking and Pitch Table area for startups, service providers, and investors to convene. Previous investors that have attended include JAFCO, Leapfrog, Polaris, Omidyar, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, First Round, Blue Run, and various angels. A finalist at the last event, RelayRides (www.relayrides.com), even received funding as a result of the event.

Only a few dozen tickets and inexpensive pitch tables remain – to register and learn more, visit http://foundershowcase-girlsintech.eventbrite.com/.

“Twit-tahh?” the manicurist gave me a puzzled expression, “What’s that?” she turned her attention back to my nails, carefully cutting away at the dead skin near the base of my nail and listening as I explained the viral phenomenon that is Twitter. I asked her if she had heard about the “Twitter manicure” I read about in a PopSugar article recently, negative. None of the manicurists in the Palo Alto-based salon had ever used Twitter or Facebook, let alone heard of either of them.

As shocking as the image of hot blue nails with miniature light blue birds and bright orange “fail whales” painted on them is, it’s only the newest concept in the evolving relationship between social media and fashion. Social networks such as Twitter and Facebook have been featured on t-shirts for a long time now. Popular shirt sites like cafepress.com and threadless.com sell shirts that feature slogans such as “140 is the new 420,” “Don’t Make Me Unfriend You” and “I’m Not A Blogger, I just Tweet A Lot.”

So, does this mean that social media not only a hot trend, but a haute trend as well? Last year, I wrote briefly about Shopflick —a place where online shopping meets YouTube. The website doesn’t feature mass-market retailers, major fashion brands, or look to advertise through mass-media. Instead, it calls itself a “video-powered marketplace for indie-inspired goods.” And features designers like Amy Hall, for Amy Kathryn Handbags. By viewing the two minute video (each item has their own), we meet Amy and listen to her describe her product, her inspirations, and her reason as to why her product is better than the rest. At the end of those two minutes we have all the information we need to make a purchase. Another site similar to Shopflick is StyleHop. This one brings social gaming and fashion together through fun style-rating games and links to post directly to Myspace and Facebook. It uses a Yelp-like system and provides viewers with advice on the most popular fashion for that city.

Is video shopping better than window shopping? That is up for debate. Personally, I prefer strolling through the mall and trying things on over sitting at home in my pajamas clicking on images and videos.

With $110 million in revenue last year and selling for only $40, the YMax Corporation’s Gen2 MagicJack allows cell phone users to bypass their carriers’ charges for long-distant calls. The product plugs into a computer which then communicates with recognizable cell phones in range (even locked phones); enter a code and then your long-distance calls are ready for routing over the internet!

In running a startup, every penny counts and since most of us have been ripped off by huge cell phone charges at some time or another, MagicJack sounds cool and like a new paradigm that companies will begin following. Though femtocells preceded this Gen2 MagicJack, the cell phone companies were still charging big bucks for this technology as much as $250 per unit. By allowing callers to circumvent big company charges, the YMax product is more like the Napster of the cell phone industry.

Let’s just hope that its engineer, Dan Borislow, won’t face the same fate that programmers Shawn Fanning and Sean Parker had to face after being featured on the cover of Wired ten years ago.  For the time being, Borislow’s forty-dollar-a-unit technology is legal. So, enjoy free long distance calls as long as you can—move over Skpye!