Girls In Tech

One of the most succinct descriptions of Twitter I’ve ever come across was from a mommy blogger who famously opined in April 2009:

“Twitter makes famous people normal and normal people famous.”

As I sat in the audience at this year’s 2nd Annual Shorty Awards at TheTimesCenter in the New York Times Tower (thanks Morris + King!), it dawned on me that her observation couldn’t have been more appropriate.

Twitterers both ‘normal’ and ‘famous’ sat side-by-side that night to celebrate the most innovative uses of the 140-character real-time update. And for an awards ceremony in only its second year of existence, I was quite impressed.

Guests ranged from Newark’s Twitter-savvy Mayor Corey Booker (who won the Government category) to the Birmingham, Alabama food lover @Foodimentary who has built up an army of over 120,000 followers to his quirky Twitter handle. Guests were even treated to a special appearance by Grover, who cheerily accepted the Best Brand award on behalf of @SesameStreet (along with @WholeFoods).

One of the weirdest highlights of the night, of course, was when Annie Scott, who Tweets on behalf of a fictional llama that tells her followers what to do (@DoWhatITellYou), got “Kanye’d” during her acceptance speech by a bearded and belligerent East Side Dave of Sirius XM’s Special Delivery show. Click here to watch the mayhem in all its glory. (Though trust me, this video doesn’t do the actual stage fiasco any justice.)

One of the most moving moments of the night, however—and perhaps the moment when everyone in the room realized the magnitude of the evening—was when Haitian-born Carel Pedre accepted his special Humanitarian Shorty for providing his 9,300 Twitter followers with up-to-the-minute information about the devastation caused by January’s catastrophic earthquake in Haiti.

Despite the few interruptions, host Rick Sanchez from CNN did a fantastic job at keeping the show rolling. And with an entire audience with a built-in 140-character attention span, it was perfectly fitting that every acceptance speech was limited to the size of a succinct Tweet.

The awards ceremony concluded with a special acceptance speech by the Latvian-born Sarasota, Florida native who was awarded with the TwitPic of the Year. Yes, it was Janis Krums who uploaded the now famous iPhone photo of U.S. Airways flight 1549, minutes after its emergency landing in the Hudson River.

So for all 12 of you out there who still think Twitter should be viewed by some as a silly microblogging tool “intended to be a way for self-absorbed egotists to share their most banal and idiotic thoughts with the world,” maybe you should give it another try.

For a rundown of the top 10 moments from The Shorty Awards, click here.
For a complete list of Shorty Award winners and finalists, click here.

By: Kayla Zerby

Years ago, you’d be crazy to think that a no-name blogger could ever rub elbows with the editors of Vogue or Harper’s Bazaar at a runway fashion show.

Today, it’s the norm.

And, as New York Fashion Week descends upon NYC’s Bryant Park next week, the industry’s shift from traditional media to social media will be more apparent than ever.

For an industry so heavily reliant on networking and word-of-mouth buzz, it’s no wonder that so many in the fashion world are turning to social media to build their brands.

Chictopica, for instance – “the most valuable online resource for style inspiration and shopping guidance” – is tackling the social media trends in the fashion world head-on during NYC’s fashion week. From February 13-14, more than 300 bloggers are expected to attend the “Social Influence Summit,” a two-day conference featuring presentations from the CEOs of Polyvore and Modcloth as well as online tastemakers, fashion and retail executives, brands and media.

If you’re not able to make it to the Chictopia event, you can always follow this fantastic list of the “Top 20 Fashion Sources You Should be Following on Twitter” to help you stay in-the-know.

And a testament to just how far the fashion world has delved into social media, check out the first-ever Fashion 2.0 Coalition Awards, sponsored by sample sale site ideeli and blogging network Style Coalition. With seven different categories ranging from Favorite New Social Media Site to Best Twitter Account by a Fashion Designer or Brand awards, this is the first time big-name fashion designers and brands will be recognized for innovatively connecting fans through social media. (Hurry! Voting ends on Feb. 8, 2010 at 11:59 p.m.)

What’s your favorite chic geek fashion site or fashion Twitterer? Post a comment and let us know!

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].

Asli Bilgin, a great heart and community leader in New York City (via Microsoft) dined via candlelight in a charming French Restaurant in the heart of Gramercy, Park Avenue, NYC. Alissa Emerson trudged through the snow with a 5 inch by 5 inch Tiffany-blue plastic box neatly packed in her editfashion.com-approved hand bag, joined by Michael, her husband, to sit among friends at the restaurant’s inner balcony.

There, Alissa introduced an interesting gift idea that is simple and elegant – yet can be distilled into binary. Asli was treated to a projected slide show of pictures and a usb drive made of Philips metal embossed by Swarovski crystals so that as she jet-sets to Dubai to educate global leaders on new Microsoft technology – her friends go with her – a fun way to bring back old traditions like watching slides with one another. The best wishes for her in her travels.

Speaking of binary, and since Asli also loves math, on vacation, I happened across a superb explanation for binary, by Brian Hayes in his collection Group Theory in the Bedroom. On page 180, he writes:

The most important numerals are all constructed according to a place-value system. In decimal notation, the numeral 19 is shorthand for the expression:

( 1 x 10¹ ) + ( 9 x 10⁰ )

Or, as you might recite in a primary-school classroom, “one ten and nine ones.” Likewise, the binary numeral 10011 is understood to mean:

( 1 x 2⁴ ) + ( 0 x 2³ ) + ( 0 x 2² ) + ( 1 x 2¹ ) + ( 1 x 2⁰ )

which adds up to the same value. The ternary version of the same number is written 201, which expands as follows:

( 2 x 3² ) + ( 0 x 3¹ ) + ( 1 x 3⁰ )

In this case we have two 9s, no 3s, and one 1.

The general formula for a numeral in any place-value notation goes something like this:

d₃ r³ +d₂ r² +d₁ r¹ +d₀ r⁰ …

Here r is the base, or radix, and the coefficients d _i are the digits of the number.

Hint: Brian is a balanced ternary fan, which is very pretty and arguably more efficient than binary, and on which he continues to write on page 189:

the digits of a balanced-ternary numeral are coefficients of powers of 3, but instead of coming from the set {0 1 2}, the digits are -1, 0, and 1 (sic)

The decimal number 19 is written 1101 in balanced ternary, and this numeral is interpreted as follows:

( 1 x 3³ ) – ( 1 x 3² ) + ( 0 x 3¹ ) + ( 1 x 3⁰ )

….well, sort of.  At least that’s the idea behind a new game called Switch, one of the final games funded by the John S and James L Knight Foundation this year.

According to those involved in developing the game, “Between 2005 and 2030, the [New York City] will have to come up with about 22 million additional megawatt hours annually to meet our growing electricity demand, according to the Bloomberg administration’s sustainability plan, PlaNYC 2030.”

With growing concern over the city’s increasing energy usage, the game allows users to “test” a variety of options – ones that are actually being considered and some that aren’t – and determine whether they’re a good fit for the city in it’s efforts to reduce energy consumption in the next few decades.

What are some of the options? Solar powered apartments and buildings, tidal power, offshore wind farms, and many more.

Some say the game is addictive.  To give it a whirl, flip the switch!

Guest blogger:  Charlene Jaszewski

When she’s not writing on The Redhead Said about geek stuff , including social media, usability and behavioral economics, Charlene spends her time appeasing her appetite for all knowledge, and making homemade marshmallows dipped in chocolate.

She makes her living helping people make their websites easier to use, editing books so that their ideas are crystal clear, and making marketing materials sound less markety. Wanna see stuff she’s done? Click on over to charlenejaszewski.com.

Traditionally, society forces us to choose between working at home for ourselves, or working at an office for a company. If we work at a traditional 9 to 5 job, we get community and structure, but lose freedom and the ability to control our own lives. If we work for ourselves at home, we gain independent but suffer loneliness and bad habits from not being surrounded by a work community.

Coworking is a solution to this problem…coworking provides the office of a traditional job, but in a very unique way.

- I’m Outta Here: How Coworking is Making the Office Obsolete.

The world of work is changing. While many of us are already freelancing, with the current economic climate, more of us are taking the opportunity to start new businesses and work on our own terms. But where are we working? Most of us think of two options: a home office (or, a corner of the kitchen table), or working at Starbucks. But there are more options available that you might not be aware of that offer more than just a space to lay your laptop. In the right environment, coworking provides collaboration, cooperation and inspiration.
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March 31, 2009
6:30 pm	to	9:30 pm

The New York City chapter of Girls in Tech is thrilled to announce our “Relaunch Launch Party” is coming up on Tuesday, March 31st at 6:30pm. Held at the M1-5 Lounge (52 Walker St.), this is a party New York’s tech-related professionals will not want to miss!

We have a fabulous event planned to celebrate this next phase of the chapter. Highlights include:

• Raffle prizes – a KaraB laptop bag from eBags, $100 in driving credit from Mint Cars on Demand, and a 50/50 cash prize from raffle ticket sales! (Everyone is entered once for free with their event admission with more entries available for sale.)
• Goodie bags – The first 200 guests to arrive will receive goodie bags stuffed with treats from our sponsors.
• Special guest Juliette Powell – A media entrepreneur, a community catalyst and author of 33 Million People in the Room: How to create, influence and Run a Successful Business with Social Networking will join us for a guest appearance and book signing.
• Complimentary hors d’oeuvres
• Drink specials
• Some of the best professional and entrepreneurial networking in NYC!
  

The launch party is co-ed, with the guys welcome to join in the festivities.  You can RSVP and get your discounted advanced ticket on Eventbrite or our Meetup group.

Janine, Tommy, and I are very excited about how this event has come together, and can’t wait to connect with our members, share our plans for the future of the chapter, and hear back about what members most want from their association with Girls in Tech.

If you’re going to be in town on March 31st, please do join us…we’re looking forward to meeting you!

Guest blogger: Tommy Jenkins

Tommy Jenkins is an associate with a New York investment firm where she is responsible for investment analysis and management. Her passion for technology there has further lead her to become an avid programmer. She is currently working on bringing her enthusiasm for information theory, communication and charity to the web. Her areas of experience include marketing communications, visual design, natural health, and nutritional writing.

Tommy is Manager, Biz Dev & Strategic Partnerships for Girls in Tech NYC.

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“Who am I?”

In Unlocking the Clubhouse,  Jane Margolis and Allan Fisher point to secondary school as the juncture where women seek to define themselves with this important question and assert that, in this quest, many women are deterred from computing. Yet to many women entrepreneurs and members of the changing and vibrant New York tech community, the experience seems somewhat different.  Here, innovation and reinvention become synonymous with self.  Girls in Tech in New York aims to capture that spirit and help to awaken it through community.

In a study of women entrepreneurs using relational theory (the conceptual framework of relationships), NYU Stern grant recipient E. Holly Buttner notes that levels of entrepreneurship among women are increasing: as a group, they now employ more of the workforce than all Fortune 500 companies put together.

Buttner saw an opportunity to study women management and client-interaction models, and showed that women tend to be more interactive and focused on connectedness.  She concludes that women leaders can strike a new balance between social benefits (ethics) and economic gain.  I am reminded of In Good Company,  a Flatiron business helping to revolutionize our relationships within the workplace environment, putting itself on the increasingly populated map of coworking sites in New York City.  Social technologies and trends parallel women who are social, business-oriented, and technical.

As the economy forces us to redefine our selves and our relationships to one another, so too does the prevalence of the internet and our interconnectedness. Mike Masnick argues that no longer is there scarcity (defined by infinite need and finite resources) in the internet-driven economies, and that, even with market abundance, the economy can thrive.

Politically and economically, access to abundant resources means mastering the art of forging and organizing new relationships to capitalize on accessibility (whether with regard to information or capital).  It becomes the art of inclusion.  This revolution in perspective–constant access, abundance of information, and transparent public relationship–opens doors for women…and women are well-equipped to lead the effort to build our renewed economy.

Steven Weber (The Success of Open Source) writes:

“the production, flow, and control of information are core defining features of a community, economy, and society….The role of technology and organization is simply to liberate that creativity (like poetry).”(sic)

Women understand that interactivity, social ethics, and relationships are here to enable us to connect, and to do so effectively. Women influence 80% of purchasing power, and typically increase their workforce numbers during recessions.

How do we:

• Preserve innovation and invention?
• Market to and value women in the marketplace?
• Help drive and build market recovery as entrepreneurs?
• Increase the presence of girls in technology?
• Create strong and lasting connections?

Get involved and connect.

Through my work with Girls in Tech NYC, I feel privileged to benefit from the passion and drive of the many talented women who want to help to build our local community chapter in the same way.  Not the least of these are Girls in Tech NYC’s Amy Cham, Open Source community champion and builder, and Janine Just, Avid Group leader and innovator and co-community-catalyst with NextWeb . I’m further looking forward to exploring the fascinating subsection of the vibrant NYC community that will participate in April’s New York City Entrepreneur Week.

More soon on these guiding lights and partners in the New York community!

Now, your story:

How do you show your spirit in business, technology or in connecting with others? What part will you play in building communities? How do you include others and promote interactivity? How can you, we, or all of us help?

Comment here, or send feedback to tommy@tamikojenkins.com if you prefer to remain anonymous!

Information on the Girls in Tech NYC Relaunch Launch Party: the details and the RSVP!