Girls In Tech

Last week I attended the launch party for See Jane Fly, the ultimate online travel planning guide for today’s on-the-go woman.  With the launch of  See Jane Fly, founder Erica Dublin is addressing an opportunity in the marketplace for a travel website that provides fast, customized, in-the-know destination guides with just a few clicks of the mouse.  I think of See Jane Fly as a customizable mix of Daily Candy + Weekend Sherpa + CitySearch for the discerning female traveler.

The user experience is simple — after selecting a destination, you are prompted to answer a few questions about your trip.  What type of trip is it – business, pleasure, solo, girl’s weekend?  What’s your budget range, and what type of food, accommodations, workout style, nightlife, and activities are you into?  Presto!  The site creates a tailored 2-3 page list of recommendations that you can print out for your trip.

When I sat down with Erica, she shared with me the key lessons she learned from the experience of launching her first startup.

1.     Stick to what you know best; delegate what you don’t know to others.
2.     Start talking about your idea and people will help you.
3.     Don’t worry about funding. Start building, be resourceful, scrap and bootleg it.
4.     Make your startup an area or topic that you are personally passionate about.

See Jane Fly is launching six additional destinations in the next two months and will work with local writers in each city.  Experience the See Jane Fly personalized travel guide experience for yourself here.

Things have been quiet for a few months, but we’re back and ready to run with the NYC chapter of Girls in Tech!

Introductions

I’m Amy Cham, the new Managing Director for the NYC chapter. For some quick background, I’m the Tech/Marketing Convergence Manager at Tree House Agency, an interactive development firm. After a few years in front-end web development, I decided to get an MBA and focus more on the business side of things; today my work with Tree House Agency is a blend of marketing and project management, though I maintain a healthy interest in Drupal and use it for most of my own projects. I am also beginning to pursue professional photography, something that I’ve wanted to do since high school.

Also on board getting things going is Janine Just, owner of The Avid Group, a NYC firm specializing in events, marketing, and PR. Janine (and a team of associates from NextWeb) will be instrumental in helping to put on what we all hope will be a series of fun and valuable events throughout this year.

We are looking for more people to get involved! If you would like to help Girls in Tech move forward as a blogger, organizer, or in some other capacity, please send me an email at amy@girlsintech.net. I’d love to hear from you!

Upcoming Events

Speaking of events, the NYC chapter of Girls in Tech will be having a “relaunch” launch party late next month. Details will follow soon…to keep tabs on chapter news the minute it is available, join our Facebook group!

So what’s a techie girl to do in the meantime? Well, for us open sourceresses, there’s the NYC DrupalCamp 6 happening February 28, and DrupalCon in Washington, DC, at the beginning of March. I’ll be at both events, and would love to meet any members who make it out. (Especially, don’t forget to stop by the DrupalChix birds of a feather at DrupalCon!)

Hot on the heels of DrupalCon is the iconic SXSW Interactive in Austin, TX, running March 13-17. While I cannot attend this, there are sure to be fellow Girls in Tech members joining the festivities!

Beyond these events, there are always an incredible number of technology-related Meetups happening in New York City. Whether you’re more inclined toward the business or development side of things, there is probably a meetup event for you during any given week.

Getting Connected

The Facebook group is a great place to leave a note and reach out to other members to arrange face-to-face introductions at events, or just around the City. Don’t be shy!

Do you know of another upcoming event that the ladies of Girls in Tech NYC should know about? Post your favorites in the comments!

After many weeks of silence we would like to welcome you to an energized place that will contribute to your engagement, learning and empowerment.

Girls In Tech is dedicated to influencing the landscape and promoting the work and contribution of women in technology. Check back very soon on new event dates for future women in tech entrepreneur workshops, social mixers with technology community leaders in New York, collaboration among start-ups and future start-ups, tech in art and music festivals and much, much more!

We’re excited to be part of a vibrant social network brand focused on the engagement, education and empowerment of like-minded, professional, intelligent and influential women in technology. As young women with the capacity to inspire, we made it our personal desire and passion to create and sustain an organization that focuses on the collaboration, promotion, growth and success of women in the technology sector.

More to share! Make sure to check out these posts:

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Girls in Tech New York cordially invites you to celebrate its official New York City launch party on September 16th at 6:00pm.

Technology is a thriving economy in the US and globally; because of this phenomenon Girls in Tech was established to engage and empower women, tout their achievements in the tech sector, provide resources and educational programs to inspire careers in technology and entrepreneurialism.

To help celebrate this very important event, we are featuring women digi-artists from Like The Spice Gallery including Anna Druzcz, Nicole Stager, Abby Goodman, Nora Herting, Tatiana Kronberg.

• Event starts at 6:00PM.

• More details on venue next week! We have two Chelsea venue options to select from!

It is with excitement and dedication that we invite you to join us as we recognize and celebrate the women in New York that are changing the world through technology and innovation.

Please RSVP for this event.

We hope to see you there!

Jessica, Davina and Adriana
co-founders, Girls in Tech