Girls In Tech

Join Women 2.0 for Startup Essentials, October 13-15, 2009! Held in San Francisco, all three evening sessions will include networking and a discussion workshop. Each night features a speaker covering their topic of expertise: development issues, legal issues, and PR issues. Find out the best way to support your venture in each of these areas on a tight budget.

Food and drinks will be provided.

Register at: http://www.eventbee.com/view/startupessentials
Startup Essentials: http://www.women2.org/october-2009-startup-essentials/

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!

Working in the public relations and marketing fields for pretty much my whole career, I’ve observed a major shift from traditional ways of promoting a company, brand, person or service through mailed press kit packages, faxed press releases and b-roll tapes to multimedia links, Twitter, blogger lounges and Facebook.

A point of contention is that new media is losing credibility, value and the due-diligence nature that traditional dailies hold in high regard and reporters with high standards. That is not to say that bloggers aren’t as good as traditional reporters (I’m a “blogger,” so that means I would be self-depricating at this point); what it means is that there is a disruption in the system and some think that the middle man – i.e. PR and marketing folks are no longer needed. Are traditional PR and marketing professionals going to have to become social media experts? Is social media killing PR or is it just enhancing it?  

Because this is such a hot button topic, Girls in Tech and The Horn Group are producing a lively debate on the future of the media ecosystem - Jason Calacanis thinks you should fire your PR agency. Robert Scoble thinks you should ignore it. Michael Arrington says PR as its practiced today is “broken.” Jeremiah Owyang sees value in PR, in some surprising places, while Steve Rubel wonders if the thrill of discovery has made PR as we know it obsolete. 

But one thing is completely clear. As the media industry becomes increasingly more social, so does the ecosystem around it, which means, everyone—from editors to CMOs to PR professionals—is a connector, a hub and a source. 

So if everybody’s a communicator, what is the value of PR? No question that it’s changing, but helping our clients connect with influencers is only a piece of what we do. Much of the value we offer to clients is the thinking and strategy we provide, which media benefit from but may never see directly. And that never goes out of style.

Please join us as we invite journalists, analysts, bloggers, PR folks and various combinations thereof to have a drink and a bite as we discuss the new media ecosystem.

The date, time and panelists for this event is still being determined, but it will definitely happen on either the first or second week of November. We’ll keep you updated and we really hope that you’ll be able to make it.