Girls In Tech

For our next event, we are bringing together the worlds of Fashion, Beauty, and Tech. As someone who has been involved in the Fashion and Beauty industries for over fifteen years, I have had the opportunity to produce fashion shows and photo shoots, travel the US as a National Makeup artist, and work with several top brands with regards to marketing and PR. In the last decade, I have slowly turned my focus to the Internet and it’s truly amazing to see how it’s evolved and become a key component for business.

One of the observations I have made is how slowly the Fashion and Beauty industries are in terms of embracing the Web. As traditional marketing and PR are scrambling to hold on to their momentum, it doesn’t seem that they are including Social Media as part of their overall strategy. Furthermore, there are many Fashion and Beauty professionals such as makeup artists, stylists, and up-and-coming designers that want more exposure on the web and may not know the best way to achieve that.

That’s where the “Social Fashion & Beauty Summit” comes in. Girls in Tech LA is bringing together some of the movers and shakers of the LA Fashion and Beauty scene that either have an online fashion or beauty company or are interactive executives. We will be discussing the current state and future of the Fashion and Beauty industries as they pertain to the web.

Guest speakers include:
Chris Elia – Founder of Closetcouture.com
Patricia Handschiegel – Founder of the 9 Group
Macala Wright – Interactive Marketing Director for 1928 Jewelry
Meg O’Brien – Founder of Megsmakeup.com
Catherine Hickland – Actress on ‘One Life to Live’ and Founder of Cat Cosmetics

The event is taking place on Thursday, March 26th from 8PM – 12AM at LIVE! On Sunset, which is an interactive store, the first of it’s kind. So, we will be able to live stream the event all night! We will be having a fashion show featuring brands such as Joie, Dylan George, and BCBG Generation, and a cocktail party to end the evening.

Tickets are $20 and with your purchase you will have 20% off all brands at LIVE! exclusively that evening.

Purchase tickets at http://socialfashionbeautysummit.eventbrite.com

RSVP at girlsintechla@gmail.com

This is an event not to be missed!

Tags: beauty, fashion, tech
Posted in Events, Los Angeles | No Comments »

The Business of Community Networking is a best practice conference to create social networks and measure ROI of online marketing. Help your business interact, network and exchange knowledge using social media, reach new customers and make your performance soar. After three days of premier content delivered by over 25 talented speakers and panelists, you leave with a plan to take your company’s marketing to a whole new level.

Speakers include:

• Michael Leifer, Senior Vice President and Director of Social Media at SWIRL
• Erica Farthing, Director of Social Media at Condo Domain
• Liz Strauss, Social Web Strategist for Successful Blog
• Pattiann McAdams-Russell, President of the Online Division for Avon
• Francois Gossieaux, President of Beeline Labs

The conference organizers have offered Girls in Tech Members a $500 discount to event.  For more information on the line up, visit the Conference Website.

For information on how to receive a discount for the event, please email me: kate @ girlsintech . net

Tags: Boston, business of community networking, conference, Internet marketing, social media
Posted in Events | No Comments »

The Bay Area exploded at the seams this past weekend relishing in the Mod Scene of Andy Warhol, starting with the Factory Party Friday night in the East Bay and then continuing to the De Young where Warhol Live turned the average museum trekker into a multi colored wonder, screen printed on canvas.

After leaving the exhibit, I decided two things. One: I’m growing my hair out like Nico and two: I want to go thrift store shopping, like NOW! With the lack of time and energy lately to devote to searching through Ebay or digging through racks and racks to find two amazing bargains, I decided to hunt online for sites devoted to vintage wear and accessories. After all, everything else is ‘2.0’, why not vintage?

Immediately in my search, I came across HookedonVintage.com and was drawn in by the great selections, like these oh so fun sunglasses and adorable prints straight from the 1920’s to the 1980’s. All items are handpicked by the owner, Lisa, and she did an amazing job finding rare, unusual and flash back pieces that would add that certain flair to a wardrobe all of us Girls in Tech would love to have.

Then I came across Tialet Vintage, complete with Twitter and Facebook, which is just amazing! It’s the perfect combo of meshing the past with the future, the aged clothes are displayed with a modern edge through modern technology. So fun to search through the new items they post on here, changing all the time, you never know what you’ll come across! Now I have to check my online bank acct… see what I can splurge on today!

Tags: Allison Bethurem, art, facebook, Factory Party, girls in tech, HookedonVintage, Nico, pop culture, San Francisco, Tialet Vintage, twitter, Warhol, Warhol Live
Posted in San Francisco | No Comments »

The 2009 DrupalCon Drupalchix BoF

Photo credit: by domesticat

Last week, over a 1000 Drupallers converged on Washington, DC, for the 2009 US DrupalCon (another will be held this September in Paris).  This year I was very happy to join the DrupalChix–a loosely organized group of women in the Drupal community–for their Birds of a Feather during lunch on the first day.  We were all very excited with the apparent growth in the number of women in the Drupal community.

While official numbers are unavailable, estimates of female attendance at Drupal events are on the upswing. Anecdotally, it’s just getting easier to meet up with other women at Drupal events, and our ladies’ cut t-shirts ran out well before the conference ended.  As far as real numbers, the estimates are that last spring’s DrupalCon in Boston was roughly 8% female, the summer conference in Szeged was around 10%, and this year’s event in DC pulled a roughly 15% female attendance.

In the context of open source, where women have become accustomed to being one of a few women, if not the only woman, in the room, that’s a phenomenal number.  Recent statistics are hard to find, though a frequently cited FLOSS-POLS report from 2006 suggested that only 1.5% of open source contributors were women.  Ouch.

Vanessa Haakenson of Vworld New Media, an 8-year veteran of open source  says:

I don’t have any stats on the number of women in general but over the years I’ve only seen a handful actively participating in projects I’ve been involved with. From my personal experience over the past 7 yrs I can say I’ve seen less than 10 women in what I’ve been involved with but hope to see more women in the future.

As a web developer and technical undergrad student, I got used to being the only girl in the room…sometimes quite literally.  It was not at all unusual to sit down in a new Java class and realize I was The Only One.  In the workplace, there might be another female dev and a couple women on the business side, but again, the web industry was clearly overwhelmingly male.

Despite the numbers, though, I never felt there was any hostility.  There were times I thought some colleagues were “playing nicer” with me than with each other, being less blunt in criticism or arguments, and certainly all the tech stereotypes skewed to a male persona; however, I did not feel that my skills were dismissed.  Nobody ever tried to keep me from tackling the tough code on a project, and once I demonstrated my ability, they were perfectly willing to come to me for help when they ran into trouble on my core technologies.

I always wondered why there were so few women in web development–my experience showed me about 10% on the tech side.  The real shock, however, came the first time I saw the FLOSS number.  As much as we were the minority in web development, it appeared that we were practically invisible in open source projects.

WHY?  Was it a lack of interest?  Skills?  Confidence?  Or…?  And why is it that the Drupal project seems to buck the trend?

Up Next: Being a “she” in open source today.

This post is running much longer than I expected, and quite frankly I’d like to do more research and make this something really substantial.  Let’s leave this off for today, and continue with my next post in two weeks, looking at the experiences of women in open source today.

So what do you think?

Why are women so underrepresented in open source?  Are you an open source gal with experience and insights to share?  What can we do to increase our numbers?  What deters women from contributing to open source projects…or do you think it’s just a matter of personal preference?  Is Drupal actually different, and if so, why?

If you have thoughts to contribute anonymously for the next post, you can email me at amy@girlsintech.net, and note that you prefer to not be identified.

PS – We’ll be making our big relaunch event announcement in the next few days, but you can get in early now! Click here to see the details and RSVP!

Tags: demographics, development, drupal, open source
Posted in New York | 1 Comment »

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

Tags: Austin, Events, girls in tech, Interactive, Parties, sxsw, women in tech
Posted in All Chapters, Events | No Comments »

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!

Tags: Los Angeles, sxsw, tech
Posted in Los Angeles | 1 Comment »

Our birthday months’ notwithstanding, March is our favorite month – Women’s History Month. We wanted to take a minute and honor some of our heroes – women who have had an impact on business, technology, and whom have taken chunks out of the proverbial glass ceiling. We thank each and every one of these women, our inspirations for Girls in Tech.

We celebrate Ada Lovelace for coding before there was anything to code and for having a vision beyond anyone’s wildest dreams.

We celebrate Lilly Ledbetter for fighting a seemingly endless fight for fair pay.

We celebrate Meg Whitman for taking a small little Internet company into a global giant.

We celebrate Carly Fiorina for being a role model for millions of girls who love computers.

We celebrate Anne Mulcahy for showing that hard work and dedication do pay off.

We celebrate Marisa Mayer for proving what women engineers can do and for teaching others how to do it as well.

We celebrate Carol Bartz for rising to the challenge, and we look forward to what’s next.

Most of all, we celebrate you – women who embrace innovation, aspire for greatness in all things large and small, and have a true pioneering spirit. We all are truly making history.

Tell us – who is your hero?

Posted in San Francisco | No Comments »

We are really excited to be launching a Girls In Tech Chapter in Santa Cruz, California. Being centrally located between the beach and Silicon Valley we are very lucky to have a great community surrounding us.

Lets all get together for a glass of wine to talk about Girls in Tech and why it is so awesome we are starting a chapter here in lovely Santa Cruz. This is going to be a very casual event where we can discuss what else is being planned for Girls in Tech in Santa Cruz and what you might want to get out of such an organization.

If you know of any other women in tech who live locally, bring them!

RSVP on Facebook or email me: seana at girlsintech dot net

Please join the Santa Cruz Chapter Facebook Group to get the latest updates!

Tags: career, event, girls in tech, mixer, santa cruz, technology, women
Posted in santa cruz | No Comments »

In case you missed it, the economy isn’t doing so hot right now. Staying positive is a challenge for those with even the rosiest of glasses – home values continue to plummet, job stability doesn’t exist in many industries (including tech) and savings accounts are thinning. This news is hard to ignore, and it’s even harder not to worry. Not surprisingly, doctors are seeing growing evidence that the economy is making people sicker, too. Stress levels are at an all time high, people are forgoing routine medical visits to save a little cash, and healthy eating is becoming increasingly expensive. Where is the silver lining?

Results of a recent study from the University of Pittsburgh found that optimists live longer, healthier lives than pessimists. Optimistic women are 14 percent less likely to die from any one cause than pessimists, and optimists also were also less likely to have high blood pressure, diabetes or smoke cigarettes. Optimists open themselves up to new possibilities and change, and in a time when uncertainty is high, we might just do ourselves some good by being flexible with our expectations.

So, do negative attitudes take a toll on our physical health? There certainly seems to be a link, but with so much pressure being felt from our economy, it’s more important than ever to keep our health a priority.

Catherine Morgan at BlogHer offers this advice as your first step toward positivity:

“If you’re feeling stressed over the economy, try to avoid watching and reading the news as much as possible. Sometimes a little ignorance is bliss.”

If you’re unable to do that, take a few minutes to think about the things that make you happy in any economy. You may still have difficulty thinking positively all the time, but it certainly gives you something to smile about. For me:

1. Spring (and SUMMER!) is right around the corner. Warm weather and peep toe shoes are two things that make me VERY happy.
2. RedBox is always $1. Movie nights in with my fiancé not only help us keep our spending in check, but cuddling is free and fun! Add a few friends and a bottle of Two Buck Chuck, and you’ve got a great night!
3. Wedding planning. I recently got engaged, and while wedding planning can be stressful at times, I get to exercise my creativity in ways that I don’t on a regular basis.

So, how are you staying positive? Are you naturally optimistic? Are you seeking ways to keep yourself happy for the sake of your emotional well-being?

Tags: economy, lifestyle, women
Posted in Boston | No Comments »

In a world with so few female engineers, it takes the voice of a risk taker, a believer, someone who is so passionate about what they do, to make a strong impact amongst the community around them. Leah Culver exemplified such amazing will power, knowledge and candidness during the Girls in Tech “Deciphering the Code” session last night that she left several attendees in awe, with inspiration to start their own companies and develop certain skills that most women wouldn’t even dream of investing time in this far into their careers.

Personally, I think Leah represents the core of what Girls in Tech promotes – Entrepreneurialism, Education, and Empowerment. She has taken risks since day one – becoming a CS major at the University of Minnesota, to jumping head first into a career in development in Silicon Valley, to becoming a co-founder of one of the hottest start-ups, to-date – Pownce, to working as a lead engineer at one of the most widely used blog platforms – SixApart. She continues to impress me . . .

Not in the way you would think, however. I like being around Leah, because in one phrase – “She Keeps it Real.” She doesn’t sugar coat her experiences, she doesn’t try to make friends, she is true to herself by sporting flipflops, a hoodie, jeans and of course her infamous bug-eye glasses that are hip in all the right ways. She’s outspoken, funny, smart and edgy. One of her main pet peeves is when people openly talk about her as being “not smart.” She says that is the one thing that truly  hurts her, not because she in fact is the smartest programmer out there, it’s because she is truly passionate and loves what she does – she wants to grow, get better and continue on a path to excelling in her career.

A few key points that resonated for me during her presentation are:

• Take risks
• Don’t be afraid to fail
• Become an entrepreneur. It’s fun
• Starting a company is just as extreme as not starting a company
• Surround yourself with the right people 
• Ask for that co-founder title
  
• Stay in Silicon Valley
• Check out OAuth
• Don’t speak at events that aren’t interesting to you
• Public relations is important
• Competition is good
• The folks at Twitter are really nice
• Don’t let the “old boys network” get you down
• “Get a tattoo” (quoted by Leah)

We’re huge fans of Leah and will continue to track her achievements, new start-ups and her appearances on TV shows, magazine covers and vlogs.

Tags: engineering, girls in tech, Leah Culver, Programmer, San Francisco, University of Minnesota
Posted in San Francisco | No Comments »