Girls In Tech

March 9, 2010

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/.

Date:	Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Time:	9:00am – 7:00pm
Location:	Universal City Hilton, Los Angeles

March 18, 2010
6:00 pm	to	9:00 pm

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!

December 2, 2009
6:00 pm	to	11:00 pm

We’ve come a long way since the days of web 1.0 – we’ve gone from Geocities to geotagging, dial up to DSL, talking to Tweeting. Where once there was only C++ and HTML, wikipedia now lists an entire alphabet of programming languages. Where once there was only static content, we now expect our websites to be so dynamic that they update in real time. Remember the guestbook? Or, how about the days when browsing the web meant Netscape, searching the web meant Yahoo! and connecting to the web at all meant hours of sitting in front of your desk listening to your modem screech?

Well Toto, we’re definitely not in web 1.0 anymore. Every day we move towards a more mobile, open and dynamic internet – a trend that some people are already calling Web 3.0. Every day, the web gets faster, smarter and more semantic. Every day, sites connect more, open up more, and share more. And every day, the internet becomes more and more indispensable in our daily lives. And whether you’re one of the people touting this trend, or one of the people worried that all this data sharing really just signals the decline of western civilization as we know it, you have to admit, it’s pretty stunning to look back and realize how far we’ve come on the web in the past decade.

Wherever the web goes next, there is a lot of power in knowing where it came from. And that’s the beauty of Digital Family Reunion. For one night, they get all the best early adopters and power players of the web 1.0 world into a room with the up and comers of web 2.0 (and now, even web 3.0), from the venture capitalists to the software developers, and everyone in between. It’s a great opportunity for networking and knowledge building, not to mention a killer atmosphere for a party. And, since GIT LA is an affiliate organization, our members get $20 off tickets too. How’s that for a little holiday love from the family?

What: Digital Family Reunion 2009

Where: Wokcano in Santa Monica

When: December 2, 6-11pm

How: Enter Promo Code DFR09  when you buy tickets here.

November 17, 2009
7:00 pm	to	10:00 pm

It’s easy to dismiss anything with the words ‘good’ and ‘green’ in it as just another lame attempt to jump on the post “Inconvenient Truth” bandwagon. You know which bandwagon I’m referring to — the one that runs on ethanol, with the solar powered electric system and the big bumper sticker proclaiming the number of carbon offsets the driver purchased.

But, before you go and get all cynical on the whole sustainability thing, consider this: environmental consciousness isn’t just good for the environment, it’s good for the green too. And by green, I mean money. In a Thomson Reuters study last year, 82% of investors said they consider environmental and social criteria when making decisions.  And, in just this one BusinessWeek article, there are five examples of corporations from every sector of the economy who saved significant money by ‘greening’ their operations.

This can be especially true for tech and social media, where the consumer is king and an increasingly conscientious customer base is demanding more social and environmental accountability from their favorite brands every day. In September, Apple even started releasing data about its corporate environmental footprint, a move that helped boost its branding as the go-to gadget maker for conscientious consumers.

And, when it comes to social consciousness through tech consumerism, it’s not just about gadgets and green. From Mashable’s Summer of Social Good to Twestival, the social media scene is getting a whole lot more socially conscious too, resulting in the growth of what the blogosphere likes to call the ’social good’ movement. Whether it’s raising money, raising awareness or raising environmental accountability standards, the tech industry is certainly climbing atop that big, green bandwagon in full force. Now, the question is what impact that trend will have on the tech industry and on both the good and green movements it’s embracing. Not to mention how we as girls in tech and as tech businesspeople in general can do some good and make some green in the process — both kinds.

That’s why Girls in Tech LA is proud to present The Impact of Tech On Good & Green — a panel discussion featuring Sandra Sanchez (Creator of orGlamic.com & reality TV host/producer), Sarah Townsend (Editorial Director of Socialvibe.com & Creator of theoneinpink.com) and Tracy Helper (Co-founder of Yourdailythread.com). These amazing women will be discussing social good, sustainability, green gadgets and more at The Organic Panificio restaurant in Marina Del Rey on November 17. Of course, there will also be time for cocktails and conversation as well. And, a portion of the proceeds from ticket sales will go to Free Arts For Abused Kids — an incredible organization that provides at risk kids with counseling and support through art.  Because what’s more in keeping with the theme of ’social good’ than sharing good conversation and good drinks for a good cause?

What: GIT LA Presents The Impact of Tech on Good  & Green

Where: The Organic Panaficio in Marina Del Rey

When: Nov 17, 7-10pm

RSVP & Buy Tickets

Midwestern developers are all abuzz this week in anticipation of the Heartland Developers Conference, an event for building professional skills and cultivating community relationships, taking place Oct. 15-16 in Omaha. With 68 sessions and four development categories packed into two days, HDC is the place to be for software designers, developers, engineers, analysts, architects…you get the picture.

For the first time since the conference began in 2004, Girls in Tech will have a presence at the event to share our mission, experience and passion. We’re excited about networking with fellow techies, but we’re also looking forward to some high quality speakers and sessions. The first day features keynotes by Microsoft’s Scott Guthrie and Adobe’s Kevin Hoyt. The next day is no shabbier, with keynotes by Neal Ford of ThoughtWorks  and Google’s Patrick Chanezon . Session topics range from iPhone dev and jQuery to alternative database technologies and Flex.

If you’ll be attending HDC, let us know at Omaha@GirlsInTech.net and be sure to stop by our booth. If not, follow the action on Twitter with the official event hashtag #HDC09. We’ll be sure to report back with a recap of the conference and its awesome evening events soon.

Last month it was that time of year again: Panel Picker Voting for the Annual South by Southwest Interactive (SXSWi) conference in Austin, TX. Sound familiar? Check out fellow GIT blogger Kristine Gloria’s post about it here: http://girlsintech.net/2009/08/31/girls-in-tech-at-sxsw-2010/

Each year the public votes online for which proposed panels should make it through to being accepted for the conference. I submitted a panel proposal, titled “Impact of Women in Technology”. Whether the panel makes it through to the final round and becomes an official SXSWi panel or not, I do want to share some of my thoughts on the subject, as well as hear everyone else’s and get some great discussion going on this.

For all you girls out there, was there a female presence that got you excited about tech? Maybe it was a mother, sister, aunt, or friend. Perhaps someone well respected in technology today, like Social Media Strategist Erica O’Grady, or Ad-Village CEO Marissa Louie for example?

If you do have an example like this, what about them or their journey in the tech world inspired or empowered you to pursue your dreams? How important do you think their roles are as pillars of Women in Technology to the future of Women in Tech? For me, two of those people are Tekzilla Co-Host & Gadget Guru Veronica Belmont, & New media producer and star of “The Guild”, Felicia Day. These two women are strong willed, have shown great initiative in their respective spaces, and have become pioneers and tastemakers in the fields of Journalism & New Media.

How have women influenced and changed the face of technology as we know it? This includes anything even remotely tech related, whether it be Journalism, Gaming, PR, Marketing, Social media, & more. Are there any famous cases of companies or brands that have seen great success due to Women in Technology? What issues as a Girl in Tech have you had to face? What issues have other women who’ve made a major impact in technology had to face on their paths to success? What would you tell younger or newer women entering the tech space to help them overcome these hurdles and encourage growth of the amount of women in the tech field?

Why are women in tech important to you, or the Tech Space in general?
I hope this post serves as some great food for thought, & would love to hear everyone’s thoughts and discussion (preferably in the comments below) about this!

Thanks!

September 28, 2009
7:00 pm	to	9:30 pm

We all know someone who shares too much — that girl who tells the whole office about her bad breakup or the guy who insists on going into gory detail about his latest extreme exploits. But most of us know when to draw the line when it comes to lunchtime discussions at the office, chats around the water cooler or meetings with management. It’s a lesson most people learned way back in the days of bologna and bag lunches: different people merit different kinds of discussions. You wouldn’t tell the playground bully the same deep dark secrets you’d spill to your best friend, and you definitely wouldn’t let the teacher in on the stuff you were passing notes about during class. From our first experiences with socialization, we’ve been conditioned to understand the unspoken societal rules that dictate what’s appropriate to share, when it’s appropriate to share it and who it’s appropriate to share it with.

But, social media is a whole different ballgame – especially now. At first, it was easy to know when to share what on the web. Your facebook friends often mirrored your real world friends, and it was easy to insure that the things you shared with those friends didn’t also get broadcast to your boss, your parents and your future potential employers. Now, with cracks beginning to show in the walls around Facebook’s garden, and the burgeoning open web movement connecting your tweets with your status updates, your blips with your blog, it’s become a lot harder to ensure that what you say on the web stays between friends.

So, how do you protect your professional brand while still staying true to your personal identity? How do you maintain a presence on the social web that complements your career goals instead of impeding them? How do you balance a personal web brand with a professional one? These are just a few of the questions we’re just beginning to grapple with as girls in tech — and as the tech industry as a whole. Lately, it seems like every blogger and big name pundit is issuing their own treatise on the topic, and a google search for “tech etiquette” returns over 6 million results, with articles from big names like CNN and Forbes just to name a few.

Clearly, this is one discussion where everyone has an opinion. So, how do you synthesize all of those opinions into a strategy – not just for your company but for yourself? How do you balance the demands of constant connectivity and personal and professional courtesy? And how do you figure out what the right answer is for you? Those are tricky questions, but they are quickly proving to be key components in determining the best social media strategy for yourself and for your brand.

Fortunately, you don’t have to grapple with these issues alone. Since this is a topic on everyone’s minds at the moment, Girls in Tech LA is hosting a discussion about all of these issues and more on September 28th. The event, called “Tech Etiquette – How Much Can you Say Online and Not Tarnish Your Brand” will feature a discussion by the following guest speakers:

*Marsha Collier – Author of 15 “For Dummies” books on ebay/commerce, Host: KTRB Computer & Technology Radio

*Lynn Langit – West Coast Developer Evangelist, Microsoft

*Brette Borow – Founder, GirlsGuideTo.com

Event Details

When: September 28th 7 – 9:30PM

Where: Fox Audience Network

2500 Broadway, 2^nd Floor

Learn More & RSVP

Hope to see everyone there!

Like many of you, I am also job hunting. I am searching though job listings, using my network, and trying to expand it. We hear many, many stats telling us that of all the job-hunting techniques, networking is the most effective. But, what if networking is not working for you? Your industry is going through restructuring. Your contacts are going through the same thing you are. Now what?

So, I came across this book at the bookstore – Get Hired Fast, Tap the Hidden Job Market in 15 Days.  Okay, I am not naïve enough to believe the title, but it did get my attention. Quickly flipping through it, it provides a 15-Day Action Plan to tap into the “hidden job market”.  The argument here is to use the direct-calling approach – calling people you have never met. You target people in key hiring position with companies you are interested in. It provides advices on how to cold call. Of course, you need to do in-depth research first, such as company mission, competitors, current company projects, what you can bring to the company… Next, you need to get at least 150 contacts. How? Google, Hoovers, Yahoo Finance, alumni associations… The point is not to know them personally, just people to call.

Then, call them.  Make 5 calls in the mornings. Make 5 calls in the afternoons. Arrange one to two in-depth conversations with hiring contacts within a selected company. Per day. This is hard work. You will get rejection. 50 calls can lead to only 8 connections, to 1 interview.

Call with confidence. Call before work day starts (6:30 to 8 am) or after work days ends (5-7pm). Call at 50 minutes past the hour, when the contact just finish a meeting, with a few minutes before the next one. Call with a rehearsed script. And call.

The book really pushed you out of your comfort zone. It goes against your natural job hunting instincts. But if you are frustrated with how things are now, it is worth a shot.

Be on the lookout for details of the GIT Silicon Valley launch event on Thrusday, 9/10.

http://gitiphoneapps.eventbrite.com/

August 27, 2009
6:00 pm	to	9:00 pm

Girls in Tech LA is excited to be sponsoring WITI’s Summer Networking Social! This is an annual favorite for WITI LA and this year they are taking it ocean side to Shanghai Red’s in Marina Del Rey.

Before Yahoo or Google ever existed, there was Women In Technology International (WITI). Carolyn Leighton founded WITI in 1989 (known then as The International Network of Women in Technology) as a worldwide e-mail network for women in all technology sectors. At the time WITI was established, Ms. Leighton was President of Criterion Research, a research consulting firm for the high tech industry which she founded in 1984, as well as chair of the Core Competency Database Project at Stanford University. Due to Ms. Leighton’s leadership and vision, WITI has grown to be the premiere brand and worldwide organization dedicated to empowering women worldwide to achieve unimagined possibilities and transformations through technology, leadership and economic prosperity. Ms. Leighton has 35 years of experience as an educator and entrepreneur. In addition to WITI, she founded four start-ups in the high-tech, legal sectors and, most recently, the pet industry. Ms. Leighton was named one of the “Top 100 Women in Computing” in 1997 and 2000.

We had the pleasure of partnering with WITI for our Summer Mixer last month, so it’s only fitting to sponsor one of their largest networking events of the year. All GIT LA members will be able to to use the code ‘gitwitila’ to get tickets for the WITI member price. Hope to see you there!

WITI Summer Networking Social

Thursday, August 27th from 6 – 9PM

Shanghai Red’s

13813 Fiji Way
Marina Del Rey, California 90292

Tickets $25 (use code ‘gitwitila’)

Register here

As many of you already know, Girls in Tech has partnered with YouNoodle to enable all Girls in Tech members to communicate, collaborate and connect with each other.

A cutting edge and iterative technology, YouNoodle is the perfect social network for Girls in Tech members because it supports innovation and entrepreneurship – the fulcrum of the organization.

Following is a little more detail on how the YouNoodle technology works. Sign up for the Girls in Tech YouNoodle social network, by clicking on the following link:

Join the Girls in Tech YouNoodle network by clicking here!

YouNoodle develops innovative ways to bring together the information, people and technology that help startups succeed.

We provide a platform for so far 50 of the world’s top university entrepreneurship clubs and competitions, serving tens of thousands of members and thousands of startups. Our tools help to effectively manage business competitions, events, mailing lists and community development. If you run a group and would like to join the platform apply and we’ll get in touch.

Startup Predictor is the first in a series of decision-making tools YouNoodle plans to introduce for the startup industry. Our development team studied thousands of current and past startups, using both publicly available and proprietary data, to determine patterns of predictive factors for early-stage companies’ success. You can try the test for free.