Girls In Tech

Ada Lovelace Day is an international day of blogging to draw attention to women excelling in technology. Suw Charman-Anderson of Findingada.com observed the day of March 24 by opening a pledge bank stating “I will publish a blog post on Tuesday 24th March about a woman in technology whom I admire but only if 1,000 other people will do the same.”. She accomplished this goal with 1,980 other pledges.

“Women’s contributions often go unacknowledged, their innovations seldom mentioned, their faces rarely recognised. We want you to tell the world about these unsung heroines. Entrepreneurs, innovators, sysadmins, programmers, designers, games developers, hardware experts, tech journalists, tech consultants. The list of tech-related careers is endless. “

Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace, is said to have written the world’s first computer programmes and the first description of a computer. Read more about Ada Lovelace and the women in technology that were celebrated in her honor by visiting the list of collected stories here.

Tags: accomplishments, Ada Lovelace, innovation
Posted in All Chapters | 1 Comment »

Twitter has taken both traditional and new media by storm these past few months and our clients at Murphy O’Brien have been asking us on a daily basis if and how they should get involved in social media. For the right company, Twitter is a powerful tool for your toolbox but should not be viewed as the end-all, be-all of a brand’s marketing efforts. Marketing should be looked at comprehensively – how are advertising, public relations, social media, and marketing working together to craft a brand image and an authentic brand voice? Over the past few months, several 5-star hotels have emerged as using Twitter wisely and effectively. They have found a transparent brand voice and engaged their followers all while not sacrificing the exclusivity and quality of their high-end brand. Here are my top 5 picks of who’s using this social media tool well and why:

Fairmont Hotels (@fairmonthotels): Followers – 3,531

Providing “Suite Tweets” to its followers, Mike Taylor, designated Tweeter on behalf of the hotel group, does an outstanding job of engaging followers with a flurry of @ replies, behind-the-scenes TwitPics, general hotel industry news as well as updates and special offers from the Fairmont Hotels.

Hotel Casa del Mar (@casadelmar): Followers – 1,035

The Casa del Mar Twitter feed consists mostly of property updates, however, they effectively capture the romantic, beachfront atmosphere of the hotel and provide followers with tips from various property experts – wellness tips from their Wellness Director, etc. Their special hotel rates for their Twitter followers makes me want to pick up and permanently move to the beach.

Four Seasons Resorts (@Four_Seasons): Followers – 2,378

Four Seasons Resorts provides their Twitter followers with a bevy of “insider” views through their Twitter profile. Get spring cleaning tips from their world-class housekeeping staff, the latest information on their Spa offerings with the Himalaya Salt Scrub, and learn about their new Pool Concierge service. You can even learn how to prepare and drink Mate, the national drink of Uruguay. Sign me up!

The Citizen Hotel (@thecitizenhotel): Followers – 1,235

The Citizen Hotel is a Joie de Vivre hotel and is Sacramento’s answer to LA’s trendy, “Bazaar” hotels. The Twitter profile has the most unique, quirky voice of this group and does a fantastic job of engaging local Sac-town media through Twitter. They provide followers with information about fun, local area events and generally make the California state capital feel like the next, best hot travel destination we’ve all been missing out on! The hotel’s restaurant has also recently joined Twitter (@DineGrange) and highlight’s the organic and inventive menu.

 The Ritz-Carlton (@simonfcooper , @ritzcarltonpr , @brucehimelstein): Combined Followers – 1,344

Ritz-Carlton’s PR team has President Simon Cooper saying all the right things about the brand’s foray into social media. They’re backing it up, too by having the top execs in this world-renowned hotel group Tweet on behalf of the company – from the President, to the PR team themselves, to Bruce Himelstein, SVP of Sales and Marketing – each and all providing a unique perspective on their respective roles in the company. For me, getting a sneak-peak into the life of an executive as recognized as Simon Cooper is in the hospitality industry, is pretty exciting – even if he’s only Tweeted seven times. From his TwitPics of his weekend hangout spot to his candid conversation with the Luxury Channel in London about how Ritz-Carlton has dealt with the challenges facing luxury brands, it’s an interesting read I want to be in on.

Christine Kirk is a PR representative and social media explorer for luxury brands including travel, real estate and food/beverage, at Murphy O’Brien Public Relations in Los Angeles. She also holds the position of PR Manager for the Los Angeles chapter of Girls in Tech. She can be reached at ckirk@murphyobrien.com or @luxuryprgal.

Tags: branding, luxury hotels, public relations, social media, twitter
Posted in Los Angeles | 32 Comments »

Guest blogger: Alexis Stack

            Alexis Stack

Photo Credit: Tyson Foods Hunger Relief Site (on location in DC)

Tags: brands, Business Development Institute, diary of a labellover, fashion, hunger, lifestyle, marketing, nyc, smashing darling, Social Media Breakfast of Boston, twitter, tyson
Posted in New York | No Comments »

We’re currently searching for a lead for our Chicago chapter of Girls in Tech.

As a general description of what the role includes, the directing woman will create an advisory board that will act as her team in putting on events.  You and your team will focus on providing your members with events and resources that focus on such topics as women in technology or business, pertinent or timely business or technology issues, lifestyle issues such as work/life balance, entrepreneurship, and community outreach.  And of course social events!

Each chapter is guided by the overall mission and vision of Girls in Tech at the corporate level, but is also primarily self-functioning, meaning that part of your role will be to provide resources and put on events that are most beneficial to your chapter.

Please let myself (kate @ girlsintech.net) or Adriana (adriana @ girlsintech.net) know if you are interested or know of someone in the Chicago area that may be and we can give you detailed information on the role!

Posted in Girls In Tech | 1 Comment »

Day two of The Geeks on a Plane tour had us at the offices of KDDI Web Communications for a full day of presentations on topics ranging from the state of venture capital in Asia and the US, to an overview of the Japanese online games and virtual goods market, to US platforms and social networking. Eric Ries closed out the day with a dynamic presentation about how to run a Lean Startup.

Eric has led two startups — the first startup failed fabulously, and the second startup, IMVU, is profitable and making millions in revenue. The difference? Startup #1 spent $40 million and employed 200 people before there was a launched product. Startup #2 launched a beta product quickly, and continuously released newer and better versions while engaging with customers early and often.

Take Away: The biggest source of waste in any startup is building something nobody wants.

Do yourself a huge favor and see Eric Ries present live if you get the chance.   In the meantime, you can view his presentation here.

Tina Tran, Mark Hendrickson, Eric Ries, Larry Chiang, Joyce Kim

Tags: Eric Ries, Lean Startup, Startonomics, Tina Tran, Tokyo
Posted in All Chapters | No Comments »

Adriana Gascoigne and I embarked on a 10-day tour of Tokyo, Beijing and Shanghai this week as part of the Geeks on a Plane Tour Organized by Web2Asia, The Founders Fund and Dave McClure.   I’ll be chronicling our adventures regularly and adding the posts here!

After stumbling off our 12-hour flight from SFO to Tokyo, the Geeks spent our first evening at Tokyo2.0, a hub for Tokyo’s web community that meets monthly. We joined over two hundred techies in a dimly lit, underground bar in Tokyo’s hip Roppongi Hills neighborhood to hear about new developments in natural language on the web.

The two demos that stuck out as having the greatest potential to impact the way we interact with the Web were from Mozilla and Knowledge Creation. Mozilla demoed Ubiquity, an experiment into connecting the Web with language. Imagine that you are inviting a friend to a new restaurant and you want to include a map and restaurant review. In today’s world you would need to have one window open for your web email service, another for a mapping site, and yet another for reviews of the restaurant. You would then include several relevant links into the email that your friend would have to browse to. Enter Ubiquity, a new user interface that would simplify this process by allowing users to easily include the map, review, and any other relevant information, right into the email message itself with simple language-based instructions.

Knowledge Creation demoed Voice Delivery System, a web API for synthetic speech generation. The Voice Delivery system adds a “reading out” function to websites and is available in thirty languages without the need to download any software. Specifically created for the elderly and people with disabilities, VDS makes the web immensely more user-friendly and has the potential to be applied in a number of powerful ways. One application that comes to mind is to use VDS as a tool to aid literacy. Another is to use VDS to turn web pages into podcasts. Imagine driving, and being able to access a web page on your mobile device that is then read out to you – essentially turning your web device into a talking Kindle!

If day one is an indicator of what the Geeks will experience on this trip – there’s going to be a lot of learning with equal amounts of professional connections and friendships formed on the inaugural Geeks on a Plane tour. Go Geeks!

Adriana Gascoigne, Markus Fuhrmann, Jon Yongfook Cockle, Larry Chiang, Tina Tran

Tags: Geeks on a Plane, Mozilla, Tina Tran, Tokyo, Tokyo 2.0, Ubiquity
Posted in All Chapters | No Comments »

The Los Angeles Girls In Tech chapter introduces the first event with Bloblive on Monday, June 15th at V LOUNGE in Santa Monica. I’ve personally been very involved with Bloblive and I’ve found it to be an excellent outlet for networking and brainstorming new ideas and partnerships for my business.

Bloblive is an urban event for big thinkers, small business owners, entrepreneurs — and dreamers. Each event features idea sharing, audience feedback, a live video feed, twittering and more. Bloblive is the city’s only regular idea meet-up, and whether your idea is half-baked or fully cooked, we’d love to hear about it! Give and get support for your entrepreneurial ideas in an interactive and supportive open mic format. Step up and enjoy the limelight, share your experience and advice and/or sit back and get inspired.

We are also thrilled to be partnering with Stila Cosmetics for this event. They are giving away FREE beauty gift bags to the first 100 guests that arrive for the event that night. So, you better get there early to grab a ticket for your gift bag! 

Bloblives are streamed live online with additional feedback coming in through Twitter.

For more info about bloblive – and presenting your idea on stage – check out http://www.bloblive.com.

Don’t delay, the event is on Monday! You can purchase advance tickets here, or they are $15 at the door. See you there!

Tags: Girls in Tech and Bloblive, Girls in Tech event in Los Angeles, Stila sponsors Girls in Tech event
Posted in Events, Los Angeles | 1 Comment »

Everyone in the world of tech is vying for the attention of Mommy Bloggers. For those of you who have been living under a rock, Mommy Bloggers are simply mothers who are blogging about the experience of motherhood. They discuss everything from household tips, health and food, to the latest and greatest designers in children’s fashions and everything in between.

For those in the know, Mommy Bloggers are the hottest new commodity in influencing consumer purchases. Girls in Tech recognizes the persuasive power of these mommy bloggers and is dedicating a night to help GIT members understand this group of consumers and trendsetters and how best to market products and technologies to this new power group.

Marketers are extremely excited about Mommy Bloggers because of their broad category reach and brutal honesty regarding consumer products, but few know how to harness this authority and monetize their influence without taking too much mommy and me time. Girls in Tech is proud to present a Mommy Blogger panel to address these and other mommy-related issues.
.
Please Join Girls in Tech Wednesday June 24th at the Abbey 692 North Robertson Boulevard. The panel will include Jessica Gottlieb – one of Nielsen’s Power Pack Moms; Lolita Carrico – Founder of Modernmom.com, Rebecca Woolf – author of “Rockabye- from Wild to Child,” Erin Kotecki Vest – Producer of Special Projects for BlogHer, and Kim Tracy Prince – Notable Mommy Blogger

Tickets are available here!

Tags: Blogger, Consumer Products, marketing, Mommy
Posted in Events, Los Angeles | 1 Comment »

Girls in Tech is excited to be a part of the inaugural Geeks on a Plane East Asia Tour. Organized by Web2Asia, The Founders Fund and Dave McClure, the tour will include international investors and tech entrepreneurs on a 10 day orientation tour of Tokyo, Beijing and Shanghai’s Internet, Mobile & Gaming sector.

Through our participation, we hope to promote and highlight female entrepreneurs and their companies in Asia. We would also like to scope out potential candidates to head up the Tokyo, Shanghai and Beijing chapters of Girls in Tech.

Here is a little more information about the trip:

Objectives:

• Gain insight into tech & innovation trends coming out of East Asia.
• Meet the startup & tech community in Tokyo, Beijing & Shanghai.
• Understand the current investment climate in each respective city.
• Participate in a pro-entrepreneur and pro-investment initiative during a tough global economy.

Geeks On A Plane is all about leveraging the combined cross border networks of Dave McClure, Founders Fund andWeb2Asia to offer attendees an opportunity to accelerate the process of meeting and connecting with key contacts in Tokyo, Beijing and Shanghai’s tech and investment sector.

In depth crash course on Japan and China’s tech sectors. Who are the innovators? Who are the investors? What are the trends?

The opportunity to connect with high caliber people in Japan and China’s startup and investment community. In one week, you will meet with a number of great people that usually takes foreign companies, entrepreneurs and investors several years, several trips and multiple layers of relationships and introductions to connect with. Accelerate your cross border business strategies. Find local partners. Invest in new technologies.Gain first hand insight into the role that cross cultural understanding and subtle but important nuances plays in doing business in the Far East.

Itinerary:

• Tokyo, June 8th – 10th 2009
• Beijing, June 11th – 12th 2009
• Shanghai, June 13th – 16th 2009

Each tour stop in Japan and China will offer the opportunity for our tour attendees to connect with the hottest local tech companies, start ups, entrepreneurs and investors via the following formats:

• Tokyo 2.0
• Startonomics conference
• Startup2Startup dinners
• Geeks On A Wall (Great Wall of China Hike, Beijing)
• Barcamp Shanghai
• TEDxShanghai *invites limited. subject to availability.
• VIP dinners and cocktail receptions
• Break out sessions & individual appointments
• Geeks & Glamour After Party – Geeks On A Plane, TEDxShanghai and the Shanghai International Film Festival. By Invitation Only.

Posted in Girls In Tech | 17 Comments »

Last week I attended the launch party for See Jane Fly, the ultimate online travel planning guide for today’s on-the-go woman.  With the launch of  See Jane Fly, founder Erica Dublin is addressing an opportunity in the marketplace for a travel website that provides fast, customized, in-the-know destination guides with just a few clicks of the mouse.  I think of See Jane Fly as a customizable mix of Daily Candy + Weekend Sherpa + CitySearch for the discerning female traveler.

The user experience is simple — after selecting a destination, you are prompted to answer a few questions about your trip.  What type of trip is it – business, pleasure, solo, girl’s weekend?  What’s your budget range, and what type of food, accommodations, workout style, nightlife, and activities are you into?  Presto!  The site creates a tailored 2-3 page list of recommendations that you can print out for your trip.

When I sat down with Erica, she shared with me the key lessons she learned from the experience of launching her first startup.

1.     Stick to what you know best; delegate what you don’t know to others.
2.     Start talking about your idea and people will help you.
3.     Don’t worry about funding. Start building, be resourceful, scrap and bootleg it.
4.     Make your startup an area or topic that you are personally passionate about.

See Jane Fly is launching six additional destinations in the next two months and will work with local writers in each city.  Experience the See Jane Fly personalized travel guide experience for yourself here.

Tags: Erica Dublin, launch party, See Jane Fly, startup, Tina Tran
Posted in All Chapters, San Francisco | No Comments »