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!

You are cordially invited to join Girls in Tech LA & Women in Technology International for this year’s spring mixer. Network with old friends, make new contacts and connect with WITI and GIT LA members. This year’s event will be held at the gorgeous Wokcano  Restaurant in Santa Monica, and tickets will sell out fast.

Get a $20 discount on tickets with the code GITLA. Hope to see everyone there!

Girls in Tech Santa Cruz is proud to present:
She’s Savvy: SEO
with Chelsea Rustrum

What is SEO? Who uses it? Who needs to know about it?
Please join us for some refreshments and a workshop aimed to help de-mystify SEO.
Chelsea Rustrum, an expert in SEO, is going to help us understand SEO and provide us with best practices on the subject.

RSVP: http://shessavvyseo.eventbrite.com/

Join us if you are looking to:
“Own the room” in meetings and interactions
Be a more compelling, persuasive public speaker, or presenter
Overcome the habits that stand in the way of your credibility

About Bronwyn Saglimbeni
For over 15 years, Bronwyn has worked with clients to improve their public speaking and media relations skills, challenging them to bring out more of themselves in their communications. Bronwyn is known for her playful, irreverent approach to coaching, combined with her knack for delivering “tough love” in a way that allows executives to achieve true breakthroughs. In her work in public relations and communications coaching, Bronwyn encourages clients to be authentic, engaging and approachable, which has garnered coverage in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Businessweek, CNBC and others; and successful speaking engagements at Ad:Tech, AAAAs, Under the Radar, Demo, and other top industry events. Bronwyn has also worked with clients preparing for television appearances including American Idol, The Oprah Show, and Home Shopping Network.

This event will be $10 and open to the public.

Please see the eventbrite page for ticket sales http://powerandpresence.eventbrite.com

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

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

The semantic web — if that phrase doesn’t mean anything to you yet, don’t worry. Pretty soon it will be as commonplace as its close cousin – the ’social web.’ It’s basically a fancy term for the idea of linking all the web’s data to create all kinds of relationships between people, products, sites and more. At its most basic level, it means creating a common language to allow all the individual elements of the internet to communicate and connect. By also making that language more human meaningful, developers can use semantic web principles to put out applications that are better able to comprehend and complement the core structures of our society.

Have you ever used Facebook Connect? Searched for something on Google? Bought a product through an Amazon affiliate link? Any time you do any of these things — and countless more on the big ol’ interwebs — you’re reaping the benefits of the semantic web.  In fact, some of the most exciting and innovative stuff happening on today’s internet is based on this concept. Which is why it’s fitting that for many people, ’semantic web’ is becoming synonymous with ‘Web 3.0.’

Want to learn more? Check out Mediabistro’s Web 3.0 Conference in Santa Clara next week. With speakers like Microsoft’s Mark Johnson and Scott Prevost, Google’s Johanna Wright and Vulcan Inc.’s Mark Greaves, the conference is already shaping up to be a great resource for anyone interested in learning more about the next big movement on the web. Plus, GIT members will save 20% on tickets with code: W3GIT.

What: Mediabistro’s Web 3.0 Conference

Where: Hyatt Regency Santa Clara
5101 Great America Parkway,
Santa Clara, California, USA 95054

When: January 26-27, 2010

Register

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/.