Girls In Tech

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.

The Web 2.0 Expo came through San Francisco last week and Girls in Tech made our debut splash as an official Media and Community Partner.

The atmosphere at Web 2.0 this year was sober, and it appeared that a majority of the 8,300 people in attendance were on scholarship — that is, they had the free expo hall pass that limited admittance to the keynotes and a handful of sponsored sessions. Girls in Tech was on scholarship as well and I was bowled over by quality of the free content. If you missed the conference, below is my Best of Web 2.0 “The Cheap Seats” report. Today I’ll highlight the top keynotes, and tomorrow I’ll cover the best sessions.

Best Keynotes:

#1 Designing for Big Data by Jeff Veen of Small Batch Inc.
Jeff Veen’s presentation stood out as the best of the sixteen(!) keynotes because he is a natural story teller and a master at using pictures to convey ideas. He used simple and vivid illustrations to show us that the presentation of data is far more important than exposing the hard numbers that lie beneath.

Take Away: Data is most powerful when users can easily access, understand and ingest it.

#2 A conversation with the founders of Threadless
Jake Nickell and Jeff Kalmikoff are the ultimate accidental entrepreneurs and they were delightfully candid and unbusiness-y as they discussed how they came to start Threadless, a highly successful community-centered online T-shirt store that has spawned an HBS case study on the use of crowdsourcing. Crowdsourcing is a term that refers to leveraging a community of users to build key components of a company’s service or product offering. If this doesn’t resonate with you, think Yelp!

Take Away: If you are a business wanting to leverage crowdsourcing, start by asking, “How are people using our products differently than we expected?”

#3 A conversation with Ellen Miller from The Sunlight Foundation
The Sunlight Foundation is committed to increasing transparency in government through the use of the internet to catalyze openness and accountability. Ellen Miller talked about the powerful impact of creating websites that the public can use to easily access and digest thousand-page bills that are more likely to bury information than provide insights into what our government is doing.

Take Away: Let’s all think about how Web 2.0 applications can be applied to make government more transparent and accountable — and let’s make Gov 2.0 a priority and a reality.

Check back tomorrow for my take on the “Best Sessions at Web 2.0: The Cheap Seats Report”

O’Reilly Found
June 9-11, 2009
San Francisco Airport Marriott
Burlingame, CA

Register now to save $100 plus an additional 20% with a special Girls in Tech discount code fo09git when you signup.

Found, the new Search Acquisition and Architecture Conference from O’Reilly, June 9-11 2009, in Burlingame, CA, will explore building search engine optimization best practices into the development process, so search engines drive more qualified customers to your website. Developers, designers, entrepreneurs, and more will learn how website architecture can impact SEO, and hear the experiences of industry experts from companies like the New York Times, MRM World Wide, Microsoft and Google. This 3 day conference is the authoritative place for making content on the Web findable and gain a thorough understanding of why search-friendly architecture is absolutely mission-critical to businesses of all sizes.

O’Reilly Velocity
June 20 – 22, 2009
San Jose, CA

Register now to save $300 plus an additional 20% with a special Girls in Tech discount code vel09git when you signup.

Join us at Velocity 2009, the Web Operations and Performance Conference dedicated to helping people build a better Internet. Happening June 20 – 22, in San Jose, CA, Velocity is the essential conference for web developers who build Internet infrastructure, enterprise websites, or need to bootstrap a startup to scale for a global audience. Learn — straight from the experts — how to build large scale websites that were fast, scalable, efficient, and always available. Help your company to achieve more with less.

Velocity offers a full day of workshops, lead by industry experts, plus two days of in-depth sessions, offered in dedicated Web Performance and Operations Tracks and an Exhibit Hall featuring state-of-the-art technology.

March 31, 2009 7:00 pm

to

April 3, 2009 7:00 pm

 

As I’m sure most of you are already aware, the infamous, glamourous and just plain ol’ geeky, Web 2.0 conference is right around the corner and Girls in Tech is gearing up to make a HUGE splash at the event. Equipped with swag, a FlipCam and little treats, we’ll be making our way around the expo floor, panel discussions and of course, the after hours events! This event tends to draw in a large amount of dudes, and sales dudes at that (no elaboration needed). It would be awesome if we could all encourage our tech-savvy female co-workers, friends and family members to attend this year’s event to help even out the ratio a bit! The more femme-power, the merrier!

If you’d like more information about the event, I’ve included a blurb from their website below:

Web 2.0 Expo is a global annual gathering of technical, design, marketing, and business professionals who are building the next generation web. Web 2.0 Expo features the most innovative and successful Internet industry figures and companies providing attendees with examples of business models, development paradigms, and design strategies to enable mainstream businesses and new arrivals to the Web 2.0 world to take advantage of this new generation of services and opportunities. Web 2.0 Expo is co-produced by O’Reilly Media and TechWeb.

The Web continues to be an engine of economic growth, fueled by a host of new business models, development models, and design patterns that collectively fall under the umbrella of Web 2.0, a term coined at the birth of Web 2.0 Summit, a joint venture between O’Reilly Media and TechWeb.

To meet the increasing demand for Web 2.0 comprehension and skills, and to build a broader Web 2.0 community, O’Reilly Media and TechWeb (formerly CMP Technology) launched the inaugural Web 2.0 Expo in April 2007 in San Francisco. Web 2.0 Expo, a companion event to Web 2.0 Summit, was the first conference and tradeshow for the rapidly growing ranks of designers and developers, product managers, entrepreneurs, VCs, marketers, and business strategists who are embracing the opportunities created by Web 2.0 technologies. Web 2.0 Expo has now expanded to include not only the Web 2.0 Expo San Francisco, but also New York.

To register click on the Web 2.0 logo below:

 

 

The worlds of Web 1.0 and 2.0 will be coming together on Thursday, December, 11th, 2008 for the Digital Family Reunion ‘08 Holiday Party. It will be a wonderful blend of Southern California technology and business communities with attendees from all the major industries, media, entertainment, finance, publishing, education, venture funding, and many more. This event will be about creating a platform for the different tech generations and companies in these different industries to come together to ignite new relationships and rekindle old ones. As well as, forecasting and kicking off 2009 with new possibilities in all these industries.

Girls in Tech is excited to be a part of this event. We will have an opportunity be on the Host Committee, as well as, showcase Girls in Tech on site. Most important, all Girls in Tech members will have an opportunity to come to the event with a discounted rate for tickets. You can purchase tickets at www.digitalfamilyreunion.net and use the discount code (DFR09). Can’t wait!

Digital Family Reunion ‘08 Holiday Party

Skirball Cultural Center

Thursday, December 11, 2008 

5:00pm – 10:00pm

2701 Sepulveda Blvd.

Los Angeles California 90049 (view map)