Girls In Tech

Every year, not just the tech community, but the wider business community (not to mention music & film) gets together for South by Southwest in Austin. This year, please help support our Girls in Tech charter by voting for our panel to be selected and represent you and all women in tech next March!

This year’s proposed topic is: “Bridging the Geo-Gap to Empower Women in Technology.”  Groups supporting the increase of numbers of women in technology have sprouted up and are tremendous.  working to improve that situation. If you’re a woman in a developed country, groups and organizations for women in tech are everywhere.  However, in many parts of the world, these types of initiatives are either just starting – with varying levels of organization and support – or they’re non-existent.  But, we all now they are just as important — if not more important — in bringing these areas of the globe up to the level to be able to adapt and even compete with their counterparts abroad.  Thus, by connecting women in tech on a global level, we can begin to make in-roads to start making things happen in these disadvantaged areas as well.  The panel will address following questions:

1. What’s the current state of women in technology both “home” and abroad?
2. What have been current obstacles in some parts of the world for these initiatives, and what are some solutions?
3. What are some of the ways we’ve been able to bridge the geo-gap to connect women in technology around the world?
4. What are some ways we hope to improve the geo-gap to empower women in technology?
5. What are some specific examples/case studies of this being successful?

So, cast your ‘thumbs up’ now, as voting closes soon. Now it’s our turn to start to “pay it forward” in a big way!

VOTE here: http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/ideas/view/7848 (Panel Picker closes Fri., Aug. 27th at 1 minute till midnight)

This is a guest post by Jennifer Webb, with additional details from GITNYC chapter leader, Tommy Jenkins.

Before you know it, March 12th will be here.

Why is that exciting? That’s the day South by Southwest Interactive (SXSWi) blasts off — a guaranteed good time to network with your technology peers whom you otherwise wouldn’t get a chance to meet face to face, get up to date on emerging technologies from the brightest minds in the industry and broaden your areas of interest!

GIT will kick off the week with a networking event from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, March 12th, in the downstairs room at Fogo de Chao. You can expect wonderful libations, terrific food and great company.

If you want more information on the event, drop an e-mail to Kristine Gloria for more information on the event.

I, personally, am very excited to attend as it is my first GIT event and first SXSWi Festival – I can’t wait to stop by the Women Techies United booth (Stand 219!), which will include reps from GIT, as well as Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology, Astia, DevChix, Digital Sistas, LinuxChix, National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT), She’s Geeky, Women 2.0 and Women Who Tech. These 10 organizations aim to help tech women network at SXSW.

As a Dell employee with a passion for women’s leadership and development, I set a yearly goal to get engaged in a broader “Women in Tech” network in Austin, and GIT gets me there! I look forward to seeing everyone there.

Of course, we’d like to thank the fine people at Porter Novelli Austin, Unwired Nation and Ranch Road Design and Printing for donating their time, talent and treasure! Plus, thanks to the GITNYC chapter, who got us included in the Women Techies booth, and to Sanford Dickert for providing the funds necessary for inclusion.

We’d also like to thank David Hou and Lan Nguyen from DramaFever.com for creating the Women United logo:

Without all of you, this wouldn’t be happening!

See you on the 12th!
Jennifer Webb

In the interest of keeping my SxSW “Round-Up” short and sweet, I wanted to share just a few highlights from this year’s SxSW Interactive conference.

Unfortunately I didn’t visit a ton of panels this year mainly because I’ve already heard most of the folks that were speaking during past events, so I was very selective and a little biased on which discussions I sat in on. I visited the Virtual Goods panel moderated by Susan Wu, featuring Andrew Sheppard, hi5, Kevin Dasch, IMVU, and Susan Choe of Outspark. This was a very compelling panel because it helped bring clarity to the billion dollar question – how the heck are social networks going to make money? Social ads don’t seem to be working, so should the focus turn to primarily direct-user transactions, such as virtual goods, games and premium content? The consensus from the panel was YES. Read more on the panel from VirtualGoodsNews here: SxSW Virtual Goods Panel

I also took some time to peep into the Social Media for Sustainability discussion. Other than the aggression that lingered in the room, I felt that there were some really compelling speakers on board. Primarily Emily Gertz, a blogger for Change.org. The primary take-away here was to focus on the bigger issue, how to create awareness through social media tools to enforce and encourage realistic sustainability. Creating friction about taking a plane to the conference because of the pollution it causes is not a great argument, however, creating buzz around why purchasing a Prius might not be as fuel-efficient and great for the environment as people originally thought, is interesting and an important discussion.

Another interesting session that I dropped in on was the Engagement 1.0 panel featuring Ivan Askwith from Big Spaceship, Abigail De Koznik, Assistant Professor, UC Berkeley and Henry Jenkins, from MIT. This panel highlighted US pop culture as having a rich history of fan engagement. It examined the involvement in immersive storytelling forms such as ARGs and MMORPGs; exploring how these interactive narratives can be better understood in comparison with longstanding fan practices. It’s so fascinating how “fandome” is such a common practice for humans, since the beginning of time. Social networking has just enhanced it by making it more accessible and viral.

The parties and dinners at SxSW were pretty fun as well . . . Some of my favorites included the Digerati dinner with Edelman’s Rick Murray, the Vidoop/Girls in Tech party, the WordPress BBQ, the imeem party and of course the Facebook party. Unfortunately Girls in Tech could not get into the Mashable party, however, we heard that it was a sticky, sweaty madhouse anyway.

All-in-all, a great time! It was such an immense pleasure meeting some of the Girls in Tech members and managing directors from all over the world. That was the true highlight for me.

March 13, 2009 3:00 pm

to

March 16, 2009 3:00 pm

For those Girls in Tech members that are flying in from all around the globe to attend SxSW’s vast array of lectures, panels, workshops, and parties, we’ve created a quick and dirty calendar for you to review in case you’d like to attend the events where the Girls in Tech Austin chapter and Corporate will have a presence.

Cowgirls, pack your party boots, festive hats and honky-tonk lassos because this is going to be a week to remember!

FRIDAY, 3/13

TWEET-UP: SXSW Opening Tweet-up @ Champs at 3:00 pm

PARTY: CoWorking Meet-up @ San Jose Hotel at 7:30 pm

PARTY: TechSet Party @ the Belmont at 8:00 pm (Badge only)

PARTY: Pastries & Pasties @ Emos at 9:00 pm (Badge only)

SATURDAY, 3/14

Panel: 
11:30 am – 12:30 pm — Nerd Network: Building an Online Community for Developers
GiT-Austin Boardmember, Deirdre Walsh, will be presenting

Panel:
3:30 pm – 4:30 pm — Future of Social Networks featuring Charlene Li

PARTY: The Bigg Digg Shindigg @ Stubbs at 6:30 pm

PARTY: FrogDesign party @Mexican Art Museum @ 8:30 pm

PARTY: Toobla after party @ The Belmont at 11:00 pm

SUNDAY, 3/15

Panel:
11:30 am – 12:30 pm — Blackboards or Backchannels: The Techno-Induced Classroom of Tomorrow GiT-Austin Boardmember, Archana Ramachandrana, will be presenting

Panel:
11:30 am – 12:30 pm — Making Whuffle: Raising Social Capital on Online Communities presented by Tara Hunt

Panel:
11:30 am – 12:30 pm — Moms Who Tech presented by Beth Blecherman

PARTY: WordPress/GiT BBQ @ Conjunctured — 1:30 pm – 3:30 pm
Volunteers needed; please arrive by 1:00 pm

PARTY: Vidoop/ MySpace/GiT House Party on South Congress — 3:30 pm
2105 Nickerson Street
Austin, Texas 78704
*Volunteers needed; please arrive at 3:00 pm

MONDAY, 3/16

Panel:
10:00 am – 11:00 am — Gaming as a Gateway Drug: How to get Girls Interested in Technology presented by GirlStart

Panel:
11:30 am – 12:30pm — Are Women Taken More Seriously on the Web presented by Blagica Bottigliero

 

SXSW is upon us. It’s only two days away! Everyone from across the country in the fields of Film, Tech, and Music will gather in Austin, TX for what will be 10 days of networking, live music, panels, book signings, screenings, and not to mention a few parties. I, unfortunately, have never attended and won’t be attending this year. However, I am sure I will be kept well informed and entertained by following what’s going on there on Twitter and Facebook.

One of the events that is taking place at SXSW is the “How LA Has Built A Successful Tech Community” organized by Sloane Berrent and Andrew Warner. It’s actually more like what Sloane called a ‘core conversation’ rather than a panel. The essence of the conversation will be based on this:

“Los Angeles has become a hub for tech startups with new ones popping up every day. Relationships are being formed and VCs are paying attention. Universities are showcasing developer opportunities unique to the city. So how did this happen? Welcome to networking 2.0. From Lunch 2.0 to Interactive Community Coalitions, BarCamp to Twiistup, LA is a great case study of how to build a successful tech community in your city. Join the organizers of the city’s most popular networking events for tips, advice, the how to’s and what-not-to-do’s to make your city’s community pop.”

Being a part of that thriving community spearheading the efforts of Girls in Tech in LA, I have to say there’s a lot going on here and people ought to start taking notice. 

If you are attending SXSW, then I highly recommend you attend this event. It is sure to be a lively, entertaining, and eye-opening conversation. Details are below:

Room Hilton E

Saturday, March 14th

5 – 6PM

Y’all have fun at SXSW!