Girls In Tech

I should be getting my Mary Lou Retton Halloween costume on right now, but instead, all I can think is — “Wow, I’ve never seen a conference end like that before.” Today marked the 3rd annual Virtual Goods Summit put on by Charles Hudson and David Sachs.  The last panel of the day was on the topic of Payments Infrastructure for Virtual Goods, and Anu Shukla, founder and CEO of Offerpal Media, was an obvious choice for the panel of experts.

Towards the end of the discussion, Charles Hudson, the panel’s moderator, opened up the floor for Q&A.  Michael Arrington of TechCrunch was the first person at the microphone.  He questioned the ethics of offer providers like Offerpal and game publishers like Zynga and accused them of 1.) Knowingly engaging kids who steal their parent’s credit cards to accept offers, 2.) Facilitating scammers who accept offers from Netflix and other advertisers with no real interest or intention to follow-through on the offer, and 3.) Taking advantage of an ecosystem where Facebook and everyone else is going along with the fraud since everyone benefits from it except for the advertiser.

Arrington’s question/accusation splashed water on the faces of the end-of-day crowd, and Anu Shukla jumped at the opportunity to address his points, which she referred to as “shit, double shit and triple shit”.  She stated that 1.) In her two years of managing customer service calls, she had received roughly five complaints from parents whose children accepted offers without their consent and were charged for an offer as a result. 2.) Netflix and other savvy advertisers have been using offer payment systems for years and continue to do so because it has shown to be an acquisition source with high retention rates.  She further stated that advertisers know their metrics better than a journalist would.  And, 3.) Anu defended Facebook and stated that Facebook is all about the user experience, and as recently as July, issued new advertising guidelines to clean up the companies who were clearly taking advantage of the system.

Anu received the biggest and most enthusiastic round of applause I saw in my two days at the event.  And that ladies and gentleman, was the very lively end to VGS09.   This will be a fun one to watch on YouTube when it’s up.

Tags: Anu Shukla, Michael Arrington, Offerpal Media, show down, TechCrunch, throw down, Tina Tran, VGS09, Virtual Goods Summit
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Girls in Tech was on the scene yesterday as Virtual Goods Summit 2009 kicked off with VGS University.  Hundreds of people came out to the half day seminar to learn from case studies and presentations by Linden Lab, Mochi Media, IMVU, Gaia Online, Ning, Viximo, Shufflebrain and others.

The afternoon panel on the Payments Landscape featuring SuperRewards, TrialPay, BOKU, PlaySpan, and ORCA garnered a packed ballroom.  Charles Hudson, host of VGS09, moderated the panel and asked whether it’s a good or bad thing that the payments space is so chockfull of players.  Not surprisingly, the panel thought it was a good thing – and that it speaks to the vast potential opportunity for virtual goods in games.  They also agreed that the need for payment solution providers is high since payments are complex, requiring relationships with often hundreds of banks and wireless carriers if you take into account the international landscape.  Then there’s the sticky issue of fraud and security.  Finally, there’s scale of economies, and the idea that a game producer should concentrate on making great games instead of getting caught up with building a payment solution.  Overall, more payment providers means more choice for game publishers, and more pressure for payment providers to deliver better products and customer service.

The panel shared the following statistics: For free to play games on social networks, virtual goods conversion for those who actually pay is 3-4%. This of course varies depending on the virality and engagement quality of the game.  Lex Bayer from PlaySpan suggested that for each daily active user associated with a game on a social network, there is ten dollars of annual revenue potential.  Therefore, if you have five million DAU’s your potential revenue is $50 million in annual revenue.  Not shabby.

Big revenue potential and a young market makes for great energy, an eagerness for learning, sharing, and collaborating, with a good measure of competition and creativity thrown in.  This is going to be one good summit.  Join us today for part two of the third annual Virtual Goods Summit taking place today at the Westin in downtown San Francisco.  And stick around for the after party that Girls in Tech is co-hosting with Offerpal at Harlot nightclub!

Tags: Charles Hudson, Games, Lindin Lab, Mochi Media, Ning, social networks, Super Rewards, Tina Tran, TrialPay, Virtual Currency, Virtual Good Summit, Virutal Payments
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(image courtesy of Retrevo)

A new Gadgetology study by Retrevo has shown that women, in general, prefer iPhones and men prefer BlackBerries. Surprising? It may be, as it seems that the iPhone is quickly surpassing the BlackBerry by almost everyone, everywhere you go. With its various apps and functionality, one would think they were preferred by both.  However, in their recent study it was found that:

• Women prefer iPhones: at a rate of 53%, compared to 47% of men.
• Men prefer BlackBerries more.  59% of the respondents who use BlackBerries as opposed to 41% of women.
• iPhone users think they do more in life.
• iPhone users, in general, rated themselves more highly as intellectuals, extraverts, media buffs, and jocks.

Now, we know that these are all generalizations, but this study’s statistics (claiming the iPhone is used in many more ways for sport, music, and other entertainment) may show that owning an iPhone is more “fun” and a BlackBerry, more “corporate.”  You can draw your own conclusions by reading the study at the link below.  What are your thoughts?

(Using a sample size of 445 iPhone and BlackBerry owners distributed across gender, age, income & location in the United States, Retrevo completed this study on users other than their own customers.  To read more, go directly to their study at the following link:  http://www.retrevo.com/content/blog/2009/10/iPhone-vs-BlackBerry-owners)

Tags: blackberry, Christine Oneto, iphone
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Tags: Arden Pennell, Cassie Phillips, Catalyst Conference, girls in tech, Industry Conference, women in tech
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What an irony: With the 20th year milestone celebration of the Berlin Wall’s fall, the building of virtual walls and putting employees behind an iron curtain appears to be gaining ground. The Iron Fist approach to monitoring and removing communication rights seems to be a bit ironic in pro-capitalistic settings.

A recent study by the Morse Consulting firm reveals that UK employees spend about 4O minutes a week Tweeting. The firm concluded that this lost time is the equivalent of $2.39-billion of lost productivity. Not only do reports like this support the idea of enterprises shutting down access to information, they can potentially kill creative marketing opportunities. I imagine that similar data was the catalyst behind McCain’s support of the Internet Freedom Preservation Act of 2009.

So how about using the free market and simply changing with the times? John Sviokla of Diamond Management Consultants pointed out at Net Week’s Fourth Annual IT Directors’ Forum that getting rid of social networking could be a huge mistake for companies. To use his words, “incredible opportunities” may be overlooked. Instead of building walls via proxy blockers, citing Metcalfe’s Law, enterprises can use social networking not only to build their value, but for learning and experimenting.

So, how can enterprises capitalize on their Tweeting twits?

• As the Brits once practiced “teatime,” maybe it is time to change that to a more relevant slogan: Twitter Time (TT). TT could replace the American lunchtime. There is profit to be made—not walls to be built.

• Businesses could revamp their cafeterias with netbook docks and give a new meaning to “Internet cafes”. Employees might opt to stay onsite—saving time lost travelling to various eateries. In the long run, this may save a company money.

• From the learning aspect, I know firsthand that I had the most successful interaction from my middle and high school IT students when I decided to meet them where they congregate—Facebook. Instead of choosing to reprimand them for being engaged in social networking, I chose to meet them in their territory and teach them there. In terms of engagement and learning, I had over an 80% performance towards product completion. Not surprisingly, my stats didn’t stop the proxy wall from going up!

• Give employees something to talk about—content, content, content.

• Create a new IT position that specializes in providing interesting information that can draw the attention of your company employees and their followers—good test to see who is reading what.
• Post new content at the time of day that coincides with lunch.

• Build that database!

• Increase the company database by pulling in friends of employees to an informative company community that provides compelling content. Companies never know when a particular type of talent may be needed, so having a ready pool of individuals with similar interest can build brand awareness and improved image management for a company.

Hmmm. In the end, I have to wonder what former President Reagan would have said to businesses that seek to build walls to communication: Mrs. CIO, tear down this firewall!

Tags: Berlin Wall, GIT, IT Directors' Forum, Netweek, Reagan, social networks, tear down this wall, Twits, twitter
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Girls in Tech Santa Cruz is proud to present:

The “Perfecting Your Presentations” Workshop with Bronwyn Saglimbeni.

Bronwyn will walk attendees through tips to putting together the perfect power point presentation and advise on delivery tips.

This event is perfect for women of all ages and career levels to get a bit of added confidence while making your presentation to a partner, boss or potential client.

For nearly 15 years, Bronwyn has worked with clients to improve their public speaking and media relations skills, challenging them to bring out more of themselves in their communications.  Bronwyn is known for her playful, irreverent approach to coaching, combined with her knack for delivering “tough love” in a way that allows executives to achieve true breakthroughs.  In her work in public relations and communications coaching, Bronwyn encourages clients to be authentic, engaging and approachable, which has garnered coverage in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Businessweek, CNBC and others; and successful speaking engagements at Ad:Tech, AAAAs, Under the Radar, Demo, and other top industry events.  Bronwyn has also worked with clients preparing for television appearances including American Idol, The Oprah Show, and Home Shopping Network.

A big thank you goes out to NextSpace for sponsoring and hosting this event for Girls in Tech.

All attendees must RSVP via Eventbrite: http://gitscperfectpreso.eventbrite.com/

A $5 ‘early bird’ ticket price will cover refreshments at the event.

On November 19 the ticket price will adjust to $7 per person.

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Are you ready for Halloween yet? We sure are, and this year, it’s time to take the focus away from cavity-creating candy and onto doing good around the world. Today, SocialVibe launched a new program called Click 4 Good, a virtual neighborhood of haunted houses where you can go trick or treating to benefit charity.

For each spooktacular door you knock on, you’ll be greeted not by a ghost or goblin, but by a donation that will be made to one of these incredibly worthy non-profits:

- Stand Up 2 Cancer: Aims to urgently move cancer research forward by advancing technology available to scientists and clinicians.
- charity: water: Provides clean, safe drinking water to people in developing nations.
- The Surfrider Foundation: Dedicated to protecting and preserving our world’s oceans, waves and beaches.
- Keep a Child Alive: Provides life-saving anti-retroviral treatment, care and support to children and families whose lives have been affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa and India.

Each visit yields a specific impact, such as 18 gallons of water for people in need through charity: water or 1 hour of HIV/AIDS treatment for a child through KCA. After you earn your impact, you’ll have the opportunity to share it on Twitter or Facebook, encouraging your friends to do the same. Each time that friend goes trick or treating, the impact grows. This has amazing potential to create enormous positive social impact around the world.

Take advantage of your time online and get some trick or treating practice in a little early this year by visiting SocialVibe’s haunted house neighborhood at socialvibe.com/click4good.

Tags: causes, charity, good, halloween
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Please join Girls in Tech as we sponsor Offerpal Media’s VGS After party on Oct. 30th at 6 PM.  Just following the Virtual Goods Summit Oct. 29th – 30th, this will be a chance for all to mix & mingle and let the networking continue on after conference!  

The after party will be at Harlot ( just a short walk from the Westin):
Harlot
46 Minna St
San Francisco, CA 94105 | http://www.harlotsf.com  6PM – 9PM

To RSVP: please click on the following Facebook Event link: RSVP here

Register for VGS & the afterparty at: http://vgsummit2009-3rdlist.eventbrite.com

(For partners, see this link for special discount offer code:  http://myofferpal.wordpress.com/2009/10/05/discount-code-for-vgs-on-oct-30th-save-15-exclusive-for-offerpal-partners/)

Tags: Afterparty, girls in tech, Offepal, Offerpal, Virtual Goods Summit
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It has been found that adolescent girls are uniquely capable of raising the standard of living in developing countries. Girls are the most likely agents of change, as they have so much potential, but are too often invisible to the world & the media. That’s why the Nike Foundation, along with intellectual and financial contributions from the NoVo Foundation created The Girl Effect.
With partners like the United Nations Foundation and the International Center for Research on Women, they are working to bring these girls’ stories to light and raise money and awareness to help change their futures through education.

Why girls? Because when adolescent girls in the developing world have a chance, they can be a strong, powerful force of change for themselves, their families, their communities, their countries, and even the world.

Now here are some statistics that may surprise you:
For example: Did you know that an extra year of primary school raises a girl’s lifetime wages by 10-20% & an extra year of secondary school, by 15-25%?
And that one-fourth of the population in Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Sub-Saharan Africa are girls?
If you’d like to help give these girls a chance by joining the Girl Effect movement, you can do so:
Either on their Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/girleffect#/girleffect?v=info
or their website:
http://www.girleffect.org/.

For more statistics, see their factsheet at: http://www.girleffect.org/downloads/TheGirlEffect_FactSheet.pdf

Tags: change, commuity, developing world, Girls, Global, women
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A hot topic in the current online media community as well as the business/legal arena has been the topic of regulating advertising and affiliate marketing. Advertising historically has consisted of traditional mediums such as television, radio, print, outdoor collateral and product placement, just to name a few. In the last decade, additional avenues such as the web, branded entertainment, viral videos and blogs have changed the direction of advertising and marketing dramatically. This has begged the question of whether regulation on a new level was necessary and to what degree the Federal Trade Commission should require mandatory disclosure of advertising. (see http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/tech/tec09.shtm)

The first step is defining advertising in broad terms. Advertising is almost any communication with consumers. Because of the breadth of this definition advertisers and markets are held to high standards both statewide and federally. The FTC has prohibited advertising and marketing that is deemed to be “unfair or deceptive”. This is further defined as any advertising that is likely to materially mislead the average reasonable consumer.

But what does that mean to us as consumers? The FTC has recognized the evolving challenges presented by new media advertising and marketing and has created mandatory “clear and conspicuous” disclosure rules. Under the FTC standards, any disclosures must be easily accessible, in a large enough print and understandable by the average consumer. The line is drawn at whether the disclosure is considered “unfair” to consumers. This includes any advertising which is contradictory, in “mouse type” or disclosures made after the fact.

To advertisers and marketers this means additional challenges and uncertainty in promoting their product or message to targeted consumers. One way around the challenges is to promote user-generated content, to make advertising more integrated as a conversation then as obvious as a banner ad or flier. This also allows for a dialog on a topic which can generate ongoing viral exposure on multiple media properties simultaneously. Not only does this advertising “conversation” adhere to the FTC standards, but it minimizes in many ways the previously required budget necessary to reach the same number of consumers.

The takeaway here for business owners is this: Advertizing and marketing is evolving into new hybrids. The recognition of multiple new outlets for all things marketing and advertising is not only suggested but almost required in this day and age. And why not jump on the bandwagon. If “new media” simultaneously helps you bottom line and minimizes potential liabilities, I’m all for it.

Laurel Kaufman, Esq.
Co-Founder, AK Consulting Group
www.ak-cg.com
follow me on twitter @LaurelKaufman
facebook: Laurel Kaufman
818.263.6213 p
818.301.2068 f

Tags: advertising, busines, FTC, legal, marketing, media, regulation
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