Girls In Tech

On March 10th, the International Museum of Women celebrate the 100th year of International Women’s Day with their Annual Gala, this year featuring Celebrating Change: Art Live Lounge.  An exciting cocktail reception, it will also feature wine, fine cuisine, art installations, and a special performance by Nigerian American Award-Winning Poet and Recording Artist Iyeoka Ivie Okoawo.

Benefiting the IMOW mission, the evening is also a celebration of founding President and Board Chair Elizabeth Colton. They are proud to welcome Lieutenant Governor of California Gavin Newsom and Jennifer Siebel Newsom as their Honorary Co-chairs and Patricia and Paige Sprincin as Event Co-Chairs.

Event Details

Thursday, March 10, 2011
8pm – 11pm
Terra Gallery: 511 Harrison Street, San Francisco, CA

You can purchase tickets at the International Museum of Women website, here.

About International Women’s Day

Originally called “Working Women’s Day,” International Women’s Day (IWD) is one of few days which is celebrated as an international holiday. Being celebrated for the first time on March 19, 1911, it was the vision of Clara Zetkin.  It was marked by over a million people in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland on March 19th.  Now celebrated on March 8th, it’s a day celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future.

My first experience celebrating it was as a co-chair for a committee which brought an IWD celebration to a group of local Habitat for Humanity community homeowners, to celebrate this holiday as a group for their unique community. Meeting the women there, after our keynote speaker we had lined up and a fabulous volunteer-donated meal, was the highlight of my evening.  Some of them told me of their jobs or what their plans were to contribute time to their child’s school.  It was a great way to gather the women, and have an exchange of hope, ideas, and empowerment for them.

To read more about events going on around the globe for International Women’s Day, go to: http://www.internationalwomensday.com/

Bit of trivia:  In Italy, to celebrate the day, men give yellow mimosas to women. Yellow mimosas and chocolate are also one of the most common March 8th gifts in Russia and Albania. –  In Armenia ‘Women’s Days’ resulted in the recognition of the so called ‘Women’s Month’ which is the period between March 8 and April 7. (via Wikipedia.com)

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A few weeks ago I wrote a post about the IMGA competition that seeks out and honors the best mobile games in the world. On February 17, 2011, the IMGA announced the winners of the 7th Annual IMGA Contest at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. The five nominees in each of the six categories had been waiting since 17 January, when the nominations were announced, to find out who would be the ultimate winner. The winning games were selected by an international jury of experts, which reviewed a total of 260 games from 40 countries.

The winners of the 7th International Mobile Gaming Awards are as follows:

BEST CASUAL GAME
Plants VS Zombies, Pop Cap, Ireland

BEST REAL WORLD GAME
AR Invaders, Soulbit, Israel

BEST SPORTS GAME
Snowboard Hero, Fishlabs, Germany

EXCELLENCE IN DESIGN
Infinity Blade, Epic Games, USA

EXCELLENCE IN GAMEPLAY
Beyond Ynth, FDG Entertainment, Germany

MOST INNOVATIVE GAME
Papa Sangre, Somethin’ Else, UK

The coveted ‘Grand Prix’ award was won by Beyond Ynth, FDG Entertainment, Germany. As part of the Grand Prix prize, the FDG Entertainment will be introduced directly to the IMGA platinum sponsor, Orange, to discuss potential opportunities.

The two additional categories of the People’s Choice Award, from the IMGA online public vote, went to Perfect Cell, Mobigame, France, and the Operators’ Choice Award, from this year operators involved in the IMGA, went to Snowboard Hero, Fishlabs, Germany.

Congratulations goes out to all the winners.  Applause goes out to all the participants who continue to innovate the mobile gaming space and raise the bar on quality mobile content each year.

For more information about the winners of this year’s awards, or for more information about the IMGA, please visit: www.imgawards.com

Tags: AR Invaders, Beyond Ynth, Epic Games, FDG Entertainment, IMGA, Infinity Blade, Mobigame, mobile games, Mobile World Congress 2011, Orange, Papa Sangre, Perfect Cell, Plants vs Zombies, PopCap, Snowboard Hero, Somethin' Else, Soulbit
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You may or may not be aware, but this year marks the 100^th Anniversary of International Women’s Day – a year that women recognize the importance of how truly awesome we are and how far we have come in the last century! Along with this day of celebration, I wanted to share with you one of the program’s my client Levi’s ® is working on to celebrate the centennial event. Did I mention that there is a sweet prize of a trip to New York City to attend a fantastic Levi’s® and Vogue party? Funny how I suddenly got your attention…

Shape What’s to Come by Levi’s ® is a global community for millennial women who are looking to connect with others who are daring to be themselves and pursue their passions. That’s why we are proud and excited that Levi’s® and  Vogue are celebrating the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day on March 8^th with a special event in New York City. This party will be attended by some of today’s most inspiring and prominent women, including members of “The Vogue 100,” and I wanted to extend the chance to attend to the Girls in Tech family.

Shape What’s to Come is hosting a contest to find out who YOU think is the most iconic woman of the decade. Now, I’ll be honest, I am seeing a lot of Lady Gaga entries. Granted she is extraordinarily talented and unique, but from one tech-lovin’ gal to the next, I am reaching out to you because we’d love to hear about some of the innovative women ENTREPRENEURS we discuss everyday. Let’s show those ladies some love! In fact, I just read a great article by Fast Company about the 25 Women-Run Startups to Watch, may be a great point of inspiration.

To participate and be included in a feature on ShapeWhatsToCome.com, simply tweet who YOU think the most influential woman of the decade is and include #SWTC. You can also post your answer on Facebook, YouTube, Flickr or your blogs, then tweet a link to it with #SWTC (essentially, it’s a Twitter contest so you’ll want to tweet using  the hashtag in order to be qualified to win).

We’ll announce the winner on Monday, March 1^st.

We can gather a collection of contributions and create a beautiful story about the iconic women who move us. I look forward to learning about who YOU think is this decade’s most iconic woman.

Tags: #IWD, #swtc, International Women's Day, Levi's, Shape What's To Come, Vogue
Posted in All Chapters, All Chapters | 2 Comments »

[This was originally posted on my blog, Today and Tomorrow.  You're welcome over there for the original posting and add your comment!]

Tommy, our Girls in Tech COO, passed along an article to me, “Women and Tech: Focus On Female Consumers and the Founders Will Follow” (20 Feb), that looks like it’s gotten a bit of attention in the past few days.  It’s written by Christina Brodbeck from ThelceBreak in San Francisco. I’d like to add a few quick notes to the discussion.

Please note, I’m not a huge fist-pounder when it comes to demanding women rights, boohooing our position in technology, etc (Yes, I know I’m the CMO of Girls in Tech, but keep reading).  I find it equally as unproductive as the author. I’m not what you call “a feminist.”  Girls in Tech is also an organization that focuses heavily on that word “empowerment,”…. we don’t harp on the boohooing, if we see disparities, we act on them.

I, like the author, have also been fairly lucky in my life in terms of having a supportive and encouraging upbringing, a good schooling, and the confidence to, as I say, Kick Butt.  I also know many fantastic women who have likewise done the same.

However, I feel Christina’s argument is flawed in a few respects, and I would still argue that issue needs to be looked at.  Allow me a moment.

Firstly, concerning her argument:

• I find it misplaced and disjointed.  Being a consumer of technology and being a professional in the field (start-up or not) are two very different things.  I’m unclear how this connection comes to “…and the Founders will Follow”…. Everyone, male or female, would love to get their hands on purse percentage of the female consumer, but the article didn’t make a strong enough connection in my mind (or hardly any connection) to how that draws more people into founding positions or increases the strength or number of women in technology.  I’m happy to have a further conversation about this (leave any insights in the comments please!).
• All of the examples noted are not what I would consider a use of technology for most parts of the US.  I’m still buying clothes off GiltGroupe, spa treatments and dinners off Groupon, finding dates on Match.com, and talking to other women… I’m just now doing it online.  In most parts of the US, knowing how to hop on the internet and buy stuff and talk to people doesn’t exactly constitute “adding to the technology landscape.”  There are so many other examples here that could have been used.

Beyond this, I want to make a few comments on the larger picture:

• On the start-up side and especially the investing side, there is still a disparity between women-run companies getting funding and women funders.  Why?  I would so love to see more women as Angels, and especially VCs.  I don’t think the answer is just “hey, if you don’t have the chops, don’t come to the table,” is it?
• As I mentioned, I come from a lucky background.  All to often, the people that jump in these arguments saying we’ve got to stop talking about women in tech come from just as lucky of positions, such as the author or myself.  So I guess we just assume that everyone has those opportunities, right?

Nope! Here’s what I think>>

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The fifty-fifth session of the Commission on the Status of Women will take place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from 22 February to 4 March 2011. Representatives from Member States, UN entities, and ECOSOC-accredited non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from all regions of the world will attend the session. There will be a number of activities, including interactive dialogues and panels, during the two-week session. I’m in particular excited about the track panel discussion on Wednesday 23^rd- it is one of the topic that is dearly to my heart. A group of leaders from all over the world will be in discussion over access and participation of women and girls to education, training, science and technology, including for the promotion of women’s equal access to full employment and decent work. Be sure to watch the live webcast this Wednesday, 23 February 2011, 10am-1pm; Or if you are nearby pls stop by the conference room #3, North Lawn building.

This year following highlights key focus areas of CSW 2011.

• Priority Theme: Access and participation of women and girls to education, training, science and technology, including for the promotion of women’s equal access to full employment and decent work
• Review Theme: The elimination of all forms of discrimination and violence against the girl child
• Emerging Issue: Gender equality and sustainable development

Panel 1 Track- Key policy initiatives and capacity-building on gender mainstreaming: focus on science and technology

Moderator: Ms. María Luz Melon, Vice-Chair of the Commission (Argentina)

Panelist:

Ms. Sesae Mpuchane, Professor, University of Botswana, Botswana(paper)

Ms. Hagit Messer, President, Open University, Israel(paper)

Ms. Londa Schiebinger, Professor, Stanford University, USA

Mr. Bunker Roy, Founder and Director, Barefoot College, India(paper)

Ms. Anne Miroux, Director, Technology and Trade Logistics Division, UNCTA(paper)

If you are interested in watching day 1 high level round table web live cast, watch now!

Tags: 24notion, CSW, economy, education, entrepreneurship, gender equality, Gender Initiative, Girls, girls in tech, ivo, Ivo Lukas, jobs, justice, Leadership, NGO, Science, technology, training, UN, united nations, UNwomen, Women in Education
Posted in All Chapters, All Chapters, Girls In Tech | 1 Comment »

This Saturday, Blackbox will hold the class:  Web Development 101 for Business Co-founders.  This whole Saturday class is designed to be a guiding you from a web-application user to a web-application developer. We’ll focus on the real-world implementation and prototyping of simple web applications that involve all major aspects of a modern web enterprise: HTML/CSS design, programming fundamentals, MVC (and MVP), databases, AJAX, and more. We’ll also look at some of the trade-offs between various development approaches and frameworks, and when they’re appropriate.

This class will primarily focus on: PHP, MySQL, Javascript, HTML. We’ll make a lunch break and a couple of snack breaks in between.

We will attempt to give enough context to make the content presented in this workshop immediately useful and refrain from the in-depth academic & theoretical aspects of application design.

No prior programming experience is necessary. However, we will move over topics relatively quickly so those that have some degree of prior experience can look forward to further strengthening their understanding. The emphasis on this course will be to give you the knowledge and tools to learn the corresponding details on your own: It will not a tutorial for a specific application or implementation.
Tyson Malchow will be leading the class.  The class is in Palo Alto, and will be from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

About Tyson:

Tyson started coding when he was 9 and now has over 15 years of development experience across many languages and platforms. Currently he is a lead engineer at Webtab Inc., where he architected and implemented Webtab’s first product release, Bartab. He also teaches a web development course for non-programmers in San Francisco.

15 spots are available. Girls in Tech and Early birds save $50 by registering here.

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PopChips is searching for Ashton Kutcher’s vp of pop culture – a one-year paid term offering a $50,000 salary, and the chance work with PopChips and Ashton in official pop culture business. Guillermo from the Jimmy Kimmel Live show joined as Ashton’s campaign manager to help search for candidates. The search continues through March 2nd, so click here to pop over to PopChips’ Facebook page to declare your candidacy & vote for your favorites!

Posted in All Chapters, All Chapters, Girls In Tech | 1 Comment »

Would you like to be a mentor for high school girls interested in tech? Check out the Technovation Challenge, an amazing mentorship program happening in the bay area this spring. As a mentor for the Technovation Challenge, you’ll work with a team of five girls as they design a mobile phone app and learn that computer science can be fun. Courses run T/TH from 6-8 pm at Google SF, near the Embarcadero BART station. In Berkeley, we’re offering two courses, M/W or T/TH, both from 5:30-7:30 pm, near the Downtown Berkeley BART station. Help inspire the next generation of high-tech female leaders!

Training sessions for mentors are coming up soon (2/26 for SF, 3/05 for Berkeley), so email: annalise (at) iridescentlearning.org ASAP to learn more and sign-up!

Posted in San Francisco, Silicon Valley | 1 Comment »

Editor’s Note: The below is posted by our guest blogger, Larry Chiang.  He wanted to give you all a little bit more information about the Reverse VC Pitch event which he posted on Tuesday, and what exactly is the Reverse VC Pitch Franchise.  Below, an article by Remmy Oxley that breaks it down, from his perspective.  …Still have a question after reading? –  Leave it in the Comments for us & we’ll do our best to answer before the event!

By Remmy Oxley

So a bunch of VCs and I are having to pay to pitch.

When entrepreneurs are force paid to pitch, it makes negative headlines.. When VCs pay, somehow no one feels bad for us.

It’s getting a load of positive press (http://bit.ly/vc0111). At the partners meeting, we discussed countermeasures to our getting our asses kicked.

I’ve had my ass kicked before. It always propels me forward.

The Reverse VC concept is demeaning to some, but I have been selling and pitching myself since way before that one-hit wonder, founded his reverse VC pitch concept.

Here’s how I reverse pitch entrepreneurs

-1- I just show up.

There’s a funny joke…
“How do you know if a hot girl is hitting on you?! She shows up.”

Well, that’s what I do to sell myself, I just show up. If three or more entrepreneurs are gathered, I’m there in spirit. I think I just stole that from Mark Batterson, my youth group pastor, but I try to make it true either literally or figuratively.

-2- I politely sit through pitches

Sometimes I get a referral to meet with an entrepreneur. Often, I know its with a company that has zero hope of traditional funding.

I take that meeting anyway and sit through their pitch. Afterwards, I helpfully make a couple intros and ask them to check back in the hopes I don’t get a 1 star rating on Adeo Rossi’s “the Funded”.

By the way, I hacked a high rating on the Funded but that’s a blog post I’m selling for Sundance Film festival producer pass.

-3- My 19 Exits

Rich entrepreneurs sell me better than anything I can say to pitch myself.

My goal is to have 80+ IPOs squeeze out my education in my bio.

-4- Mentorship

In the same way that Baseball teams have a farm system, I think great VCs have a pool of entrepreneurial talent. I develop talent by mentoring the pre-entrepreneur

-5- I buy them Yogurt

I wrote about this HERE

-6- I host entrepreneur summits

It’s a fun, day-long party where I help people pretend they learn something by having them rub elbows with genius. Sure I have to

-7- I link to their articles

When I write, I don’t get paid. I pay.

When I syndicate, I don’t get paid. I pay more.

It makes my stuff get into more places. It makes my outbound links have a positive effect. I sell myself by linking to entrepreneurs.

Larry Chiang, I read the VentureBeat article,
“7 Ways To Get a VC You Don’t Know to Mentor You”
http://venturebeat.com/2011/01/03/7-ways-to-get-a-vc-you-dont-know-to-mentor-you/

The GigaOm post on “How to Charm a VC”
http://gigaom.com/2010/12/28/how-to-charm-a-vc-into-mentoring-you/
was actually good.

You’re welcome for the links.
You’re welcome for the article title.
Thanks for the kick in the a**

I fully expect to pitch for free at the next reverse VC event.

Posted in Girls In Tech, San Francisco, Silicon Valley | 1 Comment »

Blackbox is a seed accelerator for technology startups in the heart of Silicon Valley. Blackbox connects entrepreneurs with a global network of seed investors, mentors and market entrance partners, and helps entrepreneurs run their startups more effectively by providing cutting edge technology tools and frameworks based on the emerging science of entrepreneurship.

Each month blackbox is offering a series of workshops and talks for the entrepreneurs in the Bay Area in order to help their companies to accelerate. We want to give you all the skills and knowledge necessary to become a successful entrepreneur and founder. We are partnering up with Girls in Tech for this event to reach out for women entrepreneurs and support them in starting their own business.

Hack your elevator pitch workshop @blackbox will take place on February 21. During this workshop you can learn how to put the 5 minute pitch presentation together
-Guidance and feedback on delivery skills
-Overcoming nerves and speaking effectively

Angelika Blendstrup will be heading the session. Angelika is the founder of Professional Business Communications. She holds a Ph.D. in Bilingual, Bicultural Education from Stanford University.  Angelika teaches US business communications skills to international executives as well as classes and workshops at Stanford University, Haas Business School, UC Berkeley and Anderson School of Business and UCLA.
There are only 15 places available. Girls in Tech save 20% with “girlsintech” discount password and registering here

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