Girls In Tech

An old boss of mine once told me SWAG is Stuff We All Get.

Some people call it schwag. Whatever.

What’s cool about Swagapalooza is that the stuff isn’t for All.

Just 85 digital influencers will be selected to receive a bucketload of free stuff at Swagapalooza.

Among them will be members of Girls In Tech’s NYC chapter. And among those pitching their products and giving away the swag to the city’s biggest influences and digital denizens will be GIT members and their clients.

The blessed event is Thursday, Sept. 9, at Touch NY, and if you have something super-cool to pitch (or have a client who does), fill out the form here and detail what the product is and what makes it innovative (plus your name, e-mail and phone number). If you want the chance to attend for free stuff, well, you can apply here – and make sure you explain what makes you a top digital influencer (512 characters max!).

For those of you in other cities or who can’t make it to the event, GIT will be on hand to blog, tweet and vlog for those of you who can’t make it.

The night’s keynote speaker is Reddit & BreadPig founder Alexis Ohanian.

Previous attendees and speakers include Alltop’s Guy Kawasaki (@guykawasaki, the keynote speaker @ Swagapalooza SF ’10) and Tamar Weinberg (@tamar). Plus, Justin.tv broadcasts the entire proceedings.

Besides all the bloggers/tweeters/influencers who are invited to attend, major publications including Ad Age, Wall Street Journal, Tech Crunch, Huffington Post, Maxim and Fast Company have covered Swagapalooza.

And who’s pitched their products?

Equmen, ThrivNP,  feelgoodz, Bacon Hot Sauce,  Black Garlic, iChill, Barney Butter, fotobabble, Joby, BuzzKill, mSpot, Footgloss, Switch 2 Health, Re-pillable.com, The Helmet Lock, Back Flip Case, Voyage.tv, Plush Gun, Linchpin by Seth Godin, Making Ideas Happen by Scott Belsky, Surprise Industries, mSpot, Whitey Board and Idea Paint.

You know, and more.

Hope to see you there!

Tags: Alexis Ohanian, Swagapalooza
Posted in All Chapters, New York | 2 Comments »

Imagine, if you will, 400 smart, passionate and influential entrepreneurs and business leaders in one spot.

That spot is the Times Center in New York City. The date is Sept. 24.

The event is BizTechDay, an intensive one-day conference. Speakers include such luminaries as Clay Shirky, Seth Godin, Dan Schawbel, Peter Shankman (HARO), Scott Heiferman (Meetup), Lisa Gansky (Ofoto), Dana Mauriello (ProFounder), and Joan Barnes (Gymboree).

It’s being called the “Woodstock for Entrepreneurs” and is occurring in three cities — Seattle’s a few days earlier and , San Francisco’s in October.

The folks at BizTechDay are offering a special early bird discount to GIT-ers who want to attend, too.

The early price expires Tuesday (Aug. 31), and Girls In Tech members who want to take advantage can register using the promo code “GirlsinTechEarly” to save 30 percent off that discounted cost. If you register on Sept. 1 or later, you can still save 20 percent off the price, using the promo code “GirlsinTech” – so you can take your time to decide if need be.

Check out the agenda and join some of the most agile minds in the business world on Sept. 24.

Tags: BizTechDay
Posted in All Chapters, New York | No Comments »

This year:

• AOL Ventures has committed to funding the winning concept out of Startup Weekend!
• NoizIvy will hand out free hosting, consultations and a slew of other prizes.
• Hive at 55 will give away 3 months of free coworking space to one team and discounts to all other teams
• Speakers include:
  • David Lifson of Postling.com (& Etsy & Amazon)
  • Mark Lizoain of Urtak.com
  • more TBA

What do Attendees get from a Startup Weekend?

We’re glad you asked:

Startup Weekend provides an unprecedented level of networking, team building, learning, and life changes for its attendees and their communities. Five or six meals – and drinks are provided. There’s a reason most attendees come back for every event; it’s just plain fun and provides amazing opportunities you can’t get anywhere else.

Sometimes a company emerges, sometimes one doesn’t, but every time people leave with more experience, insight, knowledge, friends and resources than they came with.

We hope to see you there – especially if you have a great idea for a startup.

Tags: startup, startup weekend, Startup Weekend NYC, startups
Posted in All Chapters, New York | No Comments »

During Internet Week, the array of tech events and parties in New York City are almost dizzying.

By the end of the week, it can be difficult to keep all the events straight and remember whom you met where.

That’s why GIT’s New York City chapter is proud to be a sponsor for the DaniWeb “Dinner with Dani” event. It’s a cross between speed dating, a dinner party and old-fashioned networking.

There are 12 tables and three courses. Those invited (fill out the survey to snag an invite) are shuffled between tables over the course of the dinner according to their interests.

You might, for example, be really interested in virtualization, want to talk to folks about SEO and want to pick someone’s brain about widgets. At a typical event, you’d be stuck with whomever you were seated next to or have to seek out people with other interests throughout the evening.

At the Dinner with Dani, you’d sit at one table for the first course (Table 1, “Web 2.0,” has a focus on widgets then), another for the second course (Table 11, “Internet Marketing,” will discuss SEO then) and another for the third course (Table 4, “Cloud Computing” focuses on virtualization then).

Each table has a sponsor’s representative, who will help guide the conversation and keep it on target.

This is how the setup will look:

TABLE #1 “Web 2.0″
Widgets  |  AJAX  |  Web Services

TABLE #2 “LAMP”
Linux  |  PHP  |  MySQL

TABLE #3 “.NET”
C#  |  IIS  |  Microsoft SQL

TABLE #4 “Cloud Computing”
Windows Azure  |  VMWare  |  Virtualization

TABLE #5 “Software Development”
C++  |  Java  |  Python

TABLE #6 “Web Development”
ColdFusion  |  CSS  |  Ruby

TABLE #7 “Databases”
Databases for Web  |  Database Design  |  DBs for Client/Server

TABLE #8 “Rich Media”
Silverlight  |  Flash  |  Photoshop and Design

TABLE #9 “Hardware”
Storage  |  Network Hardware  |  Gaming Rigs

TABLE #10 “Operating Systems”
Mac OS  |  Windows 7  |  Linux

TABLE #11 “Internet Marketing”
Social Media  |  SEO/SEM  |  eCommerce

TABLE #12 “Entertainment”
Mobile Apps  |  Media Center  |  Streaming Video

Those attending will have the opportunity to network in small groups with upwards of 36 people.

Then, after the three-hour dinner, the party at The Yard (55 W. 21st St., near Sixth Avenue) opens up at 10 p.m. to the general Internet Week public, with an hour of an open bar and festivities until 2 a.m. that include Rock Band 3, raffles and the chance to get your photo taken on the red carpet, plus other surprises.

The dinner is a wholly unique event, with invitations for just 100 or so people, so fill out the survey now for your chance to attend. And either way, you’ll want to come to the party and challenge your friends to a game of Rock Band 3.

Tags: DaniWeb, Internet Week, New York
Posted in All Chapters, New York | No Comments »

Though it may seem to be a particularly rough time to start a business, many experts say a recession is the best time to get going on that entrepreneurial venture.

So I love the idea of Silicon Alley Insider’s Startup 2010 Competition (in conjunction with New York University’s Stern School of Business and sponsored by General Catalyst Partners).

It’s a one-day business plan cage match in which 10 top entrepreneurial, digital startups compete for a whole heckuva lot buzz – and $100,000. The prize includes a $25,000 cash investment from General Catalyst and the remainder in goods and services that include six months of New York City office space, legal services, web hosting and the opportunity to launch at DEMO, among others.

This year’s focus is on the meeting point between location-based digital services and the mobile market. Yes, Dennis Crowley from Foursquare will be there. In and around the 10 pitches and the judges’ questions will be breakout sessions on making money with mobile, mobile apps and VC firms talking about how they choose what they’re investing in.

Last year’s winner was legal startup ArticleOne Partners, which crowdsources patent validity – in other words, it uses the collective knowledge of the the intellectual property community to help determine if a patent application is actually for something new or based on someone else’s work.

The competition is May 20 at the Stern School, 44 W. Fourth St., and students there can attend for free. Tickets are $295. Even for those not competing for the prize, it seems it would be a good opportunity for entrepreneurs to rub elbows with their friends, competitors and potential investors.

Tags: entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship, Silicon Alley Insider, startup, Startup 2010, startups, Stern School of Business
Posted in All Chapters, New York | No Comments »

This is a guest post by Jennifer Webb, with additional details from GITNYC chapter leader, Tommy Jenkins.

Before you know it, March 12th will be here.

Why is that exciting? That’s the day South by Southwest Interactive (SXSWi) blasts off — a guaranteed good time to network with your technology peers whom you otherwise wouldn’t get a chance to meet face to face, get up to date on emerging technologies from the brightest minds in the industry and broaden your areas of interest!

GIT will kick off the week with a networking event from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, March 12th, in the downstairs room at Fogo de Chao. You can expect wonderful libations, terrific food and great company.

If you want more information on the event, drop an e-mail to Kristine Gloria for more information on the event.

I, personally, am very excited to attend as it is my first GIT event and first SXSWi Festival – I can’t wait to stop by the Women Techies United booth (Stand 219!), which will include reps from GIT, as well as Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology, Astia, DevChix, Digital Sistas, LinuxChix, National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT), She’s Geeky, Women 2.0 and Women Who Tech. These 10 organizations aim to help tech women network at SXSW.

As a Dell employee with a passion for women’s leadership and development, I set a yearly goal to get engaged in a broader “Women in Tech” network in Austin, and GIT gets me there! I look forward to seeing everyone there.

Of course, we’d like to thank the fine people at Porter Novelli Austin, Unwired Nation and Ranch Road Design and Printing for donating their time, talent and treasure! Plus, thanks to the GITNYC chapter, who got us included in the Women Techies booth, and to Sanford Dickert for providing the funds necessary for inclusion.

We’d also like to thank David Hou and Lan Nguyen from DramaFever.com for creating the Women United logo:

Without all of you, this wouldn’t be happening!

See you on the 12th!
Jennifer Webb

Tags: sxsw, SXSW 2010
Posted in All Chapters, Austin, New York | No Comments »