Girls In Tech

Girls in Tech - along with many other notable entrepreneurship-focused organizations – is partnering with Startup America as part of the Startup Master Challenge…and we need your help!

What do we need? You, The American Startup.  One that wouldn’t mind access to excellent resources, connecting with other entrepreneurs, and gaining exposure for your company through the Startup America Partnership Program.

What’s that? It’s based on one simple premise: young companies that grow create jobs. Period.  The Partnership has three main goals:

• To provide valuable resources and connections to help young companies grow.
• Support regional startup ecosystems throughout the country.
• Recognize startups as the drivers of the US economy.

• Expertise: Training, mentors, advisors, and accelerators.
• Services: Access to services critical to the health of your startup at reduced costs.
• Talent: Recruiting, training and retaining the people that can help you grow.
• Customers: Help with acquiring new customers and expanding into new markets.
• Capital: Connections to sources of capital available to startups in various regions and sectors.

So go sign up (and help Girls in Tech represent!)

Tags: entrepreneurship, Master Challenge, Startup America, Startup America Partnerships
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I’ve always been a fan of HubSpot – people and products – and was pleased to see their new Marketing Grader tool come out.  A replacement for their longstanding Website Grader tool, it analyzes 30+ measures of marketing effectiveness and grades the business on a 1-100 scale.

The goal of the Marketing Grader is to help companies answer the following questions:

• Is my marketing more or less effective than my competition? (Competitive Benchmarking)
• Are my marketing efforts generating enough leads and sales? (Lead Generation)
• Is my web presence optimized for mobile devices? (Mobile Marketing)
• How effectively are we using Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter in our marketing? (Social Media)
• Is my blog driving results that justify the time investment or are we wasting time doing the wrong things? (Blogging)
• What are the strong points and shortcomings in our marketing? (Overall Analysis)

I played around with it a little bit. After the tool crunches the numbers for you, it then gives you a list of “things to do” to improve that particular metric.  For instance, Girls in Tech scores a 52% at the top of the funnel, but one of the things HubSpot says we could be doing better is getting people to share our content on Twitter. It then offers quite a lot of data on your site, on inbound marketing (what HubSpot is known for) and various other points such as your social media activity etc.  At first glance, it seems like a great tool to make improvements – especially those small, unseen ones – to your website.  We’ll be taking some of these into account here!

To demo, HubSpot graded all 5 Republican Presidential candidates to create the below infographic:

Another great tool by HubSpot, well worth a look!

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Eek! Do you have a full T-day meal to prepare for the new in-laws and don’t even know where to start? Good news!

The CHOW.com Thanksgiving Coach iPhone App may be the answer you were looking for. CHOW.com is one of the top 10 food websites in the world, bringing in over 7 million unique visitors every month. The CHOW Thanksgiving Coach is their first app, and won Gizmodo’s 2010 Gold Medal, beating out dozens of other popular Thanksgiving prep apps.

Features include step-by-step instructions for cooking several Thanksgiving recipes, including a timeline that walks the user through the entire Thanksgiving day—with all the prep and shopping.

Features of the app include:

• Nine classic Thanksgiving dishes tested by the expert staff of CHOW, including turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing, and pumpkin pie. Users can choose to cook only one, or cook them all.
• Shopping list, customized based on what recipes you choose to cook.
• Comprehensive timeline that changes based on the recipes you want to cook.

You can download the app here: http://bit.ly/chowthanksgivingcoach

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In case you didn’t know, Microsoft Office 365 and 85 Broads have conducted a survey of professional women nationwide to capture their insights and feelings on the topic of remote working and technology.

Some of the key takeaways:

• Remote work is common among women surveyed, working half the week (2.8 days) away from the office on average
• Nearly everyone would prefer a regular remote working schedule. While only a few (9%) would work remotely every day, the average number of days people would prefer to work remotely is 3.1
• Work/home balance is an important benefit of remote work and key reason why people choose this arrangement
• Fear of promotions/missing out on opportunities is the only perceived obstacle to remote work, though response time is considered a pet peeve

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This year’s Nobel Peace Prize winners made us particularly pleased, as all three of them were women who were not only global leaders in their own right, but leaders who’ve focused much of their work on the “non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work.”

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is the president of Liberia and the only elected female head of state in Africa. She is running for reelection to a second term on October 11, against 15 other candidates. A Harvard-educated economist, Sirleaf is praised for the growth she has achieved after Liberia’s devastating 14-year civil war, and is expected to win a second term.

Leymah Gbowee is an African peace activist who was a key figure in organizing the movement to bring an end to the Second Liberian Civil War. In 2002 Gbowee began the peace movement by organizing women to pray for peace through non-violent protest and prayers.

Tawakul Karman is a Yemeni journalist and human rights activist, who works for the release of political prisoners in her home country, organizing demonstrations and sit-ins. One of the loudest voices in the Yemeni protests, she has received death threats and has became a major figurehead of the ongoing Arab Spring opposition. A 32 year-old mother of three, she is one of the youngest people to receive the prize.

Tags: gwobee, karman, nobel peace prize, sirleaf, women's rights
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Vault.com has just come out with new Technology Consulting Firm Practice Area Rankings for 2012, highlighting how consulting firms rank in the practice areas of Operations; Outsourcing, Public Sector, and the newest category Cyber Security.

To determine the rankings, consultants were asked to vote for up to three firms they consider the best in each category.  These rankings measure perceived prestige in each practice area (as determined by consulting professionals) and not revenue, size or lifestyle.

The results are as follows:

IT Operations

1. IBM Global Technology Services
2. Accenture
3. Deloitte Consulting
4. Lockheed Martin Corporation
5. McKinsey & Company

IT Outsourcing

1.  Accenture
2. IBM Global Technology Services
3. Tata Consultancy Services
4. Infosys Consulting
5. Wipro Consulting Services

IT Public Sector

1.  IBM Global Technology Services
2. Lockheed Martin Corporation
3. Accenture / Deloitte Consulting (tie)
4. Booz Allen Hamilton
5. Northrop Grumman Corporation

IT Cyber Security

1. IBM Global Technology Services
2. Cisco Systems
3. Lockheed Martin Corporation
4. Northrop Grumman Corporation
5. Science Applications International Corporation

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The Kauffman Foundation just came out with a new paper showing promising data concerning women breaking through the glass ceiling, starting growth companies and entering the global marketing.  While some of the findings point to still-existing gaps, this data suggests the positive impact these shifts have on the economy, both national and international.

There were three steps recommended to boost female entrepreneurship in the United States:

•  Not-for-profit initiatives that advance opportunities for high-growth women entrepreneurs need greater funding and support from women executives, philanthropy leaders and industry. Networking and collaborative events between startup founders and big companies are critical to provide women entrepreneurs access to networks that can produce potential customers.
•  Successful women entrepreneurs and inventors should make themselves visible and available. Role models are critical to young women considering entrepreneurship.
•  Women must be invited at a much higher rate to join science advisory boards of high-tech companies.

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In a new study from the Center for Work-Life Policy, it was found that despite being the smallest generation – around 46 million – Generation X might be “the most critical generation of all” for employers.

We few interesting stats and insights from the study:

• Gen X college grads are impressively diverse. This is also the first generation where women are as ambitious as men.
• The vast majority (91%) of X women and 68 percent of X men are part of a dual-earning couple. More than a third (36%) of Gen X women out-earn their spouses.
• Women and minorities made up 64 percent of graduates during the Gen X college years.
• A shift in gender roles is under way with Gen X men 36 percent more likely than their Boomer counterparts to be out-earned by their spouses.
• Gen X is not only highly ambitious but their ambition is nearly gender neutral: 75 percent of women and 72 percent of men consider themselves ambitious.
• A surprisingly large proportion of Xers are delaying or even opting out of parenting: 43 percent of Xer women and 32 percent of Xer men do not have children.
• Among non-parents, 60 percent of women and 36 percent of men feel their personal commitments are perceived as less important than those of colleagues with children.

You can download the full press release on the Center for Work-Life Policy’s website.

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In March, the State Department took a Women’s Technology Delegation to Liberia and Sierra Leone to explore how technology can increase opportunities for women and girls.  Eight leading women innovators and entrepreneurs were chosen to attend, among them Trina DasGupta, who currently works as the mWomen Program Director for the GSM Association, which represents the interests of the worldwide mobile communications industry.

I was able to interview her about her experience on the delegation and what insights she brought back with her.

KB: What was the purpose of the delegation and how does it fit into the goals of GSMA mWomen?

TD: Liberia & Sierra Leone face great socio-economic challenges from a lack of basic infrastructure to complex issues with health, education and economic growth. However, the U.S. State Department believes both countries have much potential for positive change, especially with the help of the right enabling technologies. The aims of the week were to bring together influential women from both the public sector and private enterprise to explore these challenges more deeply and to explore ways technology and tech-based tools can play a transformative role in specifically helping women and girls in these countries.

The aims of Women’s Tech Delegation are closely aligned with those of the GSMA mWomen Program. In February 2010, the GSMA, in partnership with the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, identified a gender gap in mobile phone ownership in the developing world – 300 million fewer women than men own mobile phones and the potentially life changing tools that they can provide, such as access to health services, banking, employment opportunities and educational tools.

The GSMA mWomen Program that was created in response to this research is an unprecedented global public-private partnership between the worldwide mobile industry and the international development community to address the barriers to women’s mobile phone ownership in low-to-middle income countries and to deliver life-changing services, such as health care and education, at scale via mobile. The program aims to reduce the mobile phone gender gap by 50%, bringing the benefits of mobile phone ownership to 150 million women over three years, by creating an enabling market environment.

KB: What were some of the observances you saw on the ground while in Sierra Leone and Liberia?

TD: Women’s life circumstances are incredibly challenging in both countries.  Though it’s been ten years since the civil war, the war’s effects are still quite pervasive. In Sierra Leone, 1 out of 8 women die during childbirth; in Liberia 85% of the population is unemployed; in both countries literacy rates are low and access to electricity is rare.

Basic infrastructure is the greatest need – roads, electricity, healthcare facilities, schools.  So our challenge on the Women’s Technology Delegation was to think through how technology can be useful when basic needs are most critical.

KB: Were there any differences between the two countries in terms of technology usage, access of the status of women?

TD: According to our analysis at the GSMA mWomen Program, a woman in Liberia is 43% less likely than a man to own a mobile phone.  In Sierra Leone a woman is 44% less likely.

With regards to the Internet, access is incredibly limited for everyone, not only women.  According to the World Bank, as of 2009 there were 20,000 internet users in Liberia and 14,900 in Sierra Leone; their populations are approximately 3.5 million and 6.5 million respectively, meaning less than one percent of either country is able to access the internet.

KB: What were some action-items or solutions that came out of the trip?

TD: In Liberia, the Women’s Tech Del has committed to explore piloting a center that will train and connect youth, specifically girls, to micro-work via the internet.  For female micro-entrepreneurs, we are working with the mobile phone industry to try to expand the number of female retailers of cell phone products, such as pre-paid airtime.

In Sierra Leone, the delegation met with a dynamic group of female entrepreneurs who own small-to-medium enterprises.  We are working with this group to explore starting a business incubation center that will help them connect to each other for networking, support and sharing best business practices to help drive economic opportunities for women.  Training on using technology as a key business tool will be a part of the center design.

In both countries, we are exploring SMS and voice-based information services for health and civic engagement, as well as sharing best practices on how mobile phones can be used to help incentivize increased literacy.  We are also trying to help develop an enabling regulatory and market environment to expand access to the internet and mobile phones for the people of Liberia and Sierra Leone.

KB: There seemed to be a lot of discussion about access to technology and education.  What are the major hurdles to more widespread use of technology and opportunities for education? Likewise, were there any specific solutions that you saw being implemented or that the delegation was able to come up with?

TD: One of our main takeaways from the trip was that technology is not a silver bullet to solve the development challenges we witnessed in Liberia and Sierra Leone, but it can enable change.  In the realm of education, technology-based solutions are challenging, as literacy rates are low.  SMS and most internet tools require some level of literacy for impactful engagement.  The alternative is voice-based models, and currently there are few proven models on how to teach someone to read simply using voice messages without some sort of teacher or guide to support the learner.

Where we ended up in the discussion was to share with the various government ministries and other education stakeholders a successful example from Senegal.  The Jokko Initiative leveraged women’s desire to send SMSes as a way to increase demand for literacy and numeracy.  In this way, the mobile phone was used as a tool to incentivize literacy programs.

KB: How do women and girls fit into the equation in these two developing countries?

TD: In both countries, we met with women from all walks of life – entrepreneurs, weavers, teachers, nurses, students, government officials – and we were genuinely moved by their perseverance, strength and dedication after years of war tore apart the region.   Our meetings with President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Her Excellency First Lady of Sierra Leone Mrs. Sia Koroma demonstrated the inspirational leadership at the top of both countries, and women from the diaspora returning back to their home countries from the U.S. showed us endless courage and love for the betterment of their people.

These women and others showed us that although there are many challenges in Liberia and Sierra Leone, women are the driving force for positive change.  Women helped achieve peace in Liberia and are leading the re-building in both countries, along with the men who actively support women’s leadership roles.  Women are managing their families, making up the large percentage of micro-entrepreneurs, running for political office and they are determined to be the positive change they want to see in their world.

KB: On a looser note, what was the best thing you ate? The most memorable moment? Favorite local art?

TD: One of the most powerful parts of our trip was a visit to the Annie Walsh Memorial Girls School.  The girls at the school are the future of Liberia and West Africa, and each girl we spoke to was passionate and determined about their future.  The choir treated us to the most incredible performance that nearly brought me to tears; it truly was unbelievably beautiful and moving.  Here’s a short video from the performance taken by Maria Thomas, who was also part of the Women’s Technology Delegation:

Tags: GSMA, liberia, mobile technology, mwomen, sierra leone, trina dasgupta, women's delegation
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Last week, I was invited to attend Blackberry World in Orlando, Florida (which was already getting hot enough for my New York blood).  Along with a good line up of panels on subjects like social networking in the enterprise and consumer-facing mobile apps and a great party at Universal Studios, attendees were each given a Playbook (thanks Blackberry!).

I’ve been checking it out now for about a week, and thought I’d give you all some of my thoughts.  Firstly, a (big) disclaimer: I’m an Apple girl.  That being said, I did as best as I could to make an objective opinion on the Playbook and take the “but it doesn’t do it like the iPad does” out of the equation.  And so, a few notes:

Connectivity

I personally had problems connecting my device up to wireless, but I don’t think it was the device per se.  The main problem was that the Playbook needed an immediate software upgrade, and you couldn’t pass Go without it.  So between a low battery and spotty wireless connectivity, my Playbook took a while to get up and running.  Since I’m not a Blackberry user, I also couldn’t use the tethering option (Blackberry Bridge) that so many others could.

Once I got connected though, I was fine.  And it’s pretty easy to connect to wireless networks in general (auto-search, remembers past networks, etc etc).

Speaking of tethering, if you noticed at the original Playbook launch a few weeks ago, tethering was a major point of criticism, but it was quickly fixed and many considered the launch a success.

Connectivity = Great

Ease-of-Use

Again, this is where I needed to really take my mind away from iPad land.  In general, the Playbook was easy to use.  The keyboard (due to the size of the tablet) was pretty much perfect for my smaller hands, the commands are pretty straight forward when you get the hang of them, and the home page is well laid out.  I need to get used to the slightly different layout of the keyboard vs the iPad keyboard, but that’s not a fault of Blackberry.

Something that bothered me?  There is no auto-correct when you’re typing (ugh!).  I asked a Blackberry technician about this – and a few other small details – and they did mention to me that there were several features that Blackberry phone users were used to that somehow haven’t made it to the tablet yet, but they will start being implemented over the course of the next few months.

Ease-of-Use = Good

Battery Life

I messed this up when I first started using it (also the cause of some of my connectivity issues). The device has a really great battery life, but if you don’t turn it off correctly, it’ll drain.  “Sleep mode” is not the same as it is on the iPad, and if you leave something like your wireless (really, that’s the only big culprit) on and just put the device to sleep, you’ll be out of batteries in no time.

However, I heard several accounts of full 6 hour plane rides of uninterrupted video streaming and email using – with juice to spare – to consider this a user error on my part.

Battery life = Great

Size

The size of the Playbook is, well, kind of perfect.  It’s larger than a smartphone screen, which is really helpful sometimes, but it’s small enough to be REALLY portable.  My iPad is great, and certainly portable, but frankly I had been looking around for something a little bit smaller for a while.  You can hold it for a very long time and hardly feel it, you can slip into something smaller than your business bag, and it’s on the inconspicuous side.  In fact, I was eating lunch with someone at the conference, and he slipped the Playbook out of his jeans pocket (which he said was great, but looked a lot cooler when he was wearing a blazer and not sitting down…. I can imagine).

Size = Great

Applications

First thing’s first.  Blackberry has been primarily an enterprise solution.  I get that.  But I was initially really bummed about the number of applications that I would be able to use, despite the 70K+ that in are in App World. No Twitter app, no highly recommended RSS reader or news reader, no NetFlix (which would make the HDMI hookup really great!), etc etc.  HOWEVER, one of the big announcements at Blackberry World was that the Playbook will be able to run Android apps soon, which should make a big difference for individual consumers to effectively use the tablet.

Applications = Poor now for the consumer, but should be Good once Android apps can be run on the device

Email

One major downfall for me is that there’s currently no native email app, which means, unless you’re already set up on your Blackberry, you have to access email through a browser… and for someone with almost 10 email accounts, I NEED an email program.  Luckily, Blackberry has said that one is coming within 60 days.  That will make a huge difference in my book. Thanks!

Email = Poor now, but should be Good once a native email app is available

All in all, I think the tablet has a place in the line up and definitely think it has some legs.  I think it’ll be most highly used amongst current Blackberry users (of course) and likely within the enterprise (also of course), but, as soon as some of the issues above are fixed (as is the plan), it’ll also be an even more accessible tablet option for consumers in general.

Tags: blackberry, blackberry playbook, device, tablet, technology review
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