Girls In Tech

Girls In Tech is proud to partnered with GIRLS WHO ROCK this year. 100% of tickets are donated directly to girls’ sponsorships! GIRLS WHO ROCK production costs are funded by in-kind donors and Umojawa, an online community for social change and civic engagement.

GIRLS WHO ROCK was founded two years ago with She’s the First, a non-profit that sponsors girls’ education in developing world countries and shapes the next generation of global leaders in the United States. Since 2010, GIRLS WHO ROCK has raised $23,000 for 32 girls—and aims to double that this year!

The $50,000 they raise will transform 15 girls’ lives in India, which has been known as the most dangerous place to be born a girl. Fifty percent of girls don’t graduate. Because of you, girls at the Shanti Bhavan Children’s School will be able to pursue their education, break the cycle of poverty, and achieve their dreams.

The concert is produced by an all-volunteer team of women under the age of 30 – “DIY world change” by the Millennial generation.

GIRLS WHO ROCK makes a local impact, too! This year, they’re working with the Park Slope Rock School of Brooklyn, where a group of teen girls have formed their very own rock band to create and perform an original song, dedicated to their peers at Shanti Bhavan Children’s School.

So what are you waiting for? Join us and get your tickets now 

Wear a PicBadge on Facebook & Twitter. All the cool kids are!

Follow me @MsSonicFlare

Tags: girls in tech, girls in tech mentorship, girls who rock, gitm, Internet Week, ivo, Ivo Lukas, millenial, New York, social
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SPLATT(Social Platform Leveraging Animated Texting Technology™ ) is the First And Only App that allows you to improve your texting experience by adding fun and outrageous custom videos, animations, photos and other awesome content into the body of your messages. SPLATT is revitalizing a technology that hasn’t seen advancement since the introduction of MMS. The app, which syncs with your contacts, Facebook and Twitter accounts, is available on both iOS and Android devices.

Now this is cool! SPLATT is available for iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad and Android devices. The app is a free download and free to use.

Follow me @MsSonicFlare

Tags: Android, apps, ivo, Ivo Lukas, mobile, mobile apps, mssonicflare, SPLATT, text
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Grace Hopper celebration of Women in Computing  will take place in Portland this year November 9-12, 2011. The conferences designed to bring the research and career interests of women in computing to the forefront. Keynote speakers line up would be Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook and the honorable Shirley Ann Jackson, President, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

4 days of conference with special sessions focus on the role of women in today’s technology fields, including computer science, information technology, research and engineering.

Check out daily schedule here.  Registration is now closed, as it’s a sold out conference. So, follow me @MsSonicFlare for conference updates this week.

Tags: 24notion, Computing, executive leaders, facebook, girls in technology, gitpdx, grace hopper, ivo, Ivo Lukas, mssonicflare, technology, women in computing, women in technology
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Big Data has quickly become a critical element in determining business strategy. Those who best leverage data will win. Who’s winning, and how? Who’s innovating, and where are the opportunities? These are some of the questions we’ll be asking and answering at the New York edition Strata, the big data conference from O’Reilly Media. A full week of data-focused conversations, training, and strategy is on tap the week of September 19-23, 2011 in New York City, including:

Strata Jumpstart – September 19, 2011 A crash course on how to manage the data deluge that’s transforming traditional business practices across the board-in finance, marketing, sales, legal, privacy/security, operations, and HR. Join us for an intense, day-long deep dive.

Strata Summit – September 20-21, 2011 Two days of executive-level interviews, plenaries, and essential high-level strategies for thriving in “the harsh light of data,” delivered by the battle-tested business and technology pioneers who are leading the way.  Strata Summit is for executives, entrepreneurs, and decision-makers.

Strata Conference – September 22-23, 2011 Strata Conference covers the latest and best tools and technologies for this new discipline, along the entire data supply chain-from gathering, cleaning, analyzing, and storing data to communicating data intelligence effectively. With hardcore technical sessions, case studies, and provocative reports from the leading edge, Strata Conference showcases the people, tools, and technologies that make data work.  Strata Conference is for developers, data scientists, data analysts, and other data professionals.

Register for a Super Pass now, which gives you access to the whole week of conference and evening events, at a reduced rate. Girls in Tech readers get an extra 30% discount. Use discount code GIT

See you there! Follow me @MsSonicFlare

Tags: 24notion, analysts, conference, data, data prof, Developers, girls in tech new york, gitpdx, gitportland, gitweet, ivo, Ivo Lukas, mssonicflare, nyc, o'reilly media, strata, strataconf, technology, women leaders
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Another year passed for OSCON 2011 with over 3000+ attendees flocking to Portland, Oregon for this year’s theme: From Disruption to Default.

OSCON 2011 events, tracks, sessions and keynotes raised the bar again.

Here are a few highlights of the keynote session and tracks:

-       Microsoft Keynote by Gianugo Rabelino, Sr Director of Open Source Communities is quite great as he talks about the future of community: informed trends: education, repeatable science and experience. See speakers slides

-       Rob Pike: The  expressiveness of Go programming language. Read blog

-       Ariel Waldman: On hacking space exploration. See speaker slides

-       IBM: On building native mobile apps with phone gap. Becky Gibson and Simon MacDonald showed best practices on mobile apps. See speaker slides

-       Gabe Zichermann discussed the importance of Gamification. Check out the slides

Check out full speaker list

Check out full program speaker and slides

Check out keynote and video interviews

Lastly, On Thursday, July 28th, Global Girls in Tech Mentorship Program kicked off their inaugural VIP sessions at Oscon. Fortune 500, academic, tech and entrepreneurs and leaders from all over the world gathered together to participate and support our kick-off meet-up. Thanks so much to everyone who showed up. We couldn’t have done it without your continued help and participation. Interested in participating? Drop me an email; ivo@girlsintech.net  | Follow me @MsSonicFlare

For More info about GIT Mentorship

Watch video live interview with Ivo Lukas- Director of Global Mentorship/Partnership program & MD of Portland Chapter

Join our Local PDX Chapter

(Photo credit:  Pinar Ozger & OSCON)

Tags: 24notion, education, entrepreneurs, girls and technology, girls intech, girlsintech mentorship, girlsintech portland, gitpdx, ivo, Ivo Lukas, Mentorship program, mssonicflare, open source, oregon, OSCON2011, Portland, startups, technology, women in tech, women leadership, women technology
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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
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Mayor Sam Adams gave a closing speech at OSCON this year – “Great beer selections, no sales tax; come to Portland, move your family and start your business here”. I’ve had the liberty to sit down with Mayor Sam Adams to chat about tech scene, start ups and a great lifestyle by living in Portland, Ore

Sam Adams – Mayor, City of Portland, Oregon.

Mayor Sam Adams of Portland, Oregon was elected Mayor of Portland in May 2008. Prior to being elected Mayor, Adams served as a Commissioner on the City Council for four years earning a reputation as a “policy-driven” advocate for sustainability, public transit, transportation planning, the arts, and gay rights. As a City Commissioner, Adams was Commissioner in Charge of Portland’s Office of Transportation and the Bureau of Environmental Services, and council liaison to, among others, the Regional Arts & Culture Council, the Association of Portland Neighborhood Business Districts, and Worksystems, Incorporated. In his role as Mayor, Adams is the lead Council member on Economic Development, Planning and Sustainability, Education, Arts and Culture, and Transportation.

During his first year as Mayor, Adams has launched a number of initiatives designed to showcase and provide support to Portland’s open source software community. Notably, Mayor Adams and City Council approved the nation’s first open source and open data resolution, which places open source software on equal footing with commercial software for purposes of City contracts. Also, Portland recently launched Civic Apps for Greater Portland, which is the nation’s first regional open data and open source app contest. Mayor Adams brings renewed focus to developing and implementing plans that will not only keep Portland livable, vibrant, and economically healthy, but will also increase Portland’s status as a national leader. He is proud of Portland’s open source software community, and he wants to do his part to ensure Portland maintains its reputation as an international hub for open source innovation.

Q&A

Exciting how the city of Portland is hosting OSCON again this year! How’s OSCON in Portland this year?

Portland, Oregon is the perfect host city for the open source convention. As a city, we have a wide breadth of un-matched talent; proprietary and open source software development, digital media firms, programming, coding and creative skill-sets. As a city, we are faster, cheaper and more creative. We have to be to compete with the other cities.  We have the quality and value – all in one city.

How has the tech scene evolved over the last several years?. What’s next? Where do we grow?

The Portland technology community has been able to take collaborative and open source philosophies to the next level. We’ve done some creative stuff; from digital development through productization.

Take Civicapps for example; CivicApps is an open data / open source project sponsored by several Portland-area government agencies to promote innovation in the public and private sectors. Currently over 120 civic data sets are available, including geographic, 911, transit, streets, and parks data. The aim is social change. The path is regional collaboration. The focus is local. A cool transportation app that displays arrival times for public transport in Portland, Oregon –PDX Bus—was developed using these public datasets, and it is available on a number of platforms including iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad

Technology products and services developed in Portland are most appealing to end-users because from the underlying software to the user experience we really figure them out to the fullest–we have high expectations. In the future, we need to focus on delivering value, quality and creativity in the most competitive ways. Portland has the potential be the most creative technology community in the world. We have so much opportunity here!

What’s your thought about expanding the women/girls presence in technology in Portland?

I think a mentoring approach is the way to go. We’ve had success with Rock and Roll Camp for Girls, which is a summer program that helps girls build confidence as musicians and learn about the music industry. That model could be used to help girls learn about other industries –like tech.

What current device/technology could you not live without? iPhone. It’s the one source that I rely on to get all of my news, connect with constituents. I tweet a lot, and I rely on a couple of applications for tweeting, including tweet deck. Beyond that I’m a news junky.  I use fluent news, incorporate, dig, and other apps.

Favorite apps? Pdxreporter.

What do you want people outside of Portland to learn about one of the most dynamic cities in the US?

Besides our worldclass beer and no sales tax?  We are a very open city that rewards creative thinking and values innovation.

We seek to be the best place to have both a fulfilling career and a balanced personal life. You really can have it all.

Also, this is a welcoming place and one of opportunity for people who want to make a difference. I am an example—I grew up poor, worked hard in public service, and now I have the honor of serving as Mayor.

To learn more about the city go to http://www.portlandonline.com/mayor/index.cfm

and be sure to follow @mayorsamadams

Be sure to join Girls in Tech Portland Chapter at OSCON 2010 this year at Portland Oregon. Girls in tech Portland is sponsored and powered by 24Notion

For More info for our local Portland chapter, go to our facebook page. If you are interested in being a guest speaker and/or panelist for our workshops and lectures, pls feel free to drop me an email: ivo@girlsintech.net

tweet @mssonicflare @oscon @24notion @gitweet #oscon #portland #opensource

photo by David Snyder

Tags: 24notion, business, creative, designer, Developer, girls in tech portland, gitpdx, innovation, ivo, ivolukas, marketing, mobile apps, mssonicflare, open source, oregon, OSCON, Portland, PR, programmers, startups, technology, user experience, VC, women in technology
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Paul Fenwick is the managing director of Perl Training Australia, and has been teaching computer science for over a decade. He is an internationally acclaimed presenter at conferences and user-groups worldwide, where he is well-known for his humour and off-beat topics.

In his spare time, Paul’s interests include security, mycology, cycling, coffee, scuba diving, and lexically scoped user pragmata.

Check out Paul’s closing day Keynote presentation here

Follow @pjf

photo by David Snyder

Be sure to join Girls in Tech Portland Chapter at OSCON 2010 this year at Portland Oregon.

If you are interested in being a guest speaker and/or panelist for our workshops and lectures, pls feel free to drop me an email: ivo@girlsintech.net

tweet @mssonicflare @oscon @24notion @gitweet

Tags: 24notion, Developer, girls in tech portland, gitpdx, ivo, Ivo Lukas, mssonicflare, open source, OSCON, technology, women in technology
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David Recordon is the Senior Open Programs Manager at Facebook, where he leads open source and open standards initiatives. He joined Facebook from Six Apart where he focused on platform strategies, and previously worked at VeriSign in the emerging business group. David has played a pivotal role in the development and popularization of key social media technologies, such as OpenID and OAuth. He collaborated with Brad Fitzpatrick in the development of OpenID, which has since become the most popular decentralized single-sign-on protocol in the history of the Web. In 2007, he became the youngest recipient of the Google-O’Reilly Open Source Award.

Check out David’s Keynote presentation at OSCON

David is a native Portlander. He enjoys hanging out with his friends and family

Working in Facebook, what’s the most challenging task to date?

Scale to continue to grow. Active users double in the year after year. Constantly continue to scale; new products and platforms; new version of API and more…We have about 400 Engineering team that support 500M growing users by day.

What’s current technology/device that you couldn’t live without- if you could take in a deserted island?

Kindle; I love to read.

Follow David on twitter @Daveman692

Tags: 24notion, api, david recordon, Developers, Engineers, facebook, girls in tech portland, gitpdx, ivo, ivolukas, mssonicflare, open source, oregon, OSCON, technology
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Tell us more about Chris Dibona and your Google team

Chris DiBona is the open source and public sector programs manager at Mountain View, Ca. based Google. His team oversees license compliance and supports the open source developer community through programs such as the Google Summer of Code and through the release of open source software projects and patches. In the public sector space, he looks after Google Moderator, the polling locations API. More information about Google’s open source program can be found at http://code.google.com/opensource

Tell us more about your keynote presentation tomorrow?
I’ll be sharing more about how the open source has been changing in the last 3 years. I’ve been doing this for 6 years now in open source; I will give an overview how Open source is growing. A couple years ago were about licenses. Last year was about languages and now it’s about licenses, languages and people. It’s more entertaining now. In this short, weensy eensy, talk, Chris will give an update on how open source has changed over the last three years. Is Ruby growing? Actionscript? Or is it all PHP all the way down? How’s gplv3 doing? Agpl? MIT? Will the Nasa open source license domainte? Come and find out!

You are one of the most accomplished individual; what can we learn from you?
I was actually a very bad student; I wish I would’ve paid more attention earlier then I wouldn’t be in this much farther along. It took me a while to straighten up.

Which sessions are you most excited about?
Tuesday night-Ignite was a blast. Today is all about press.

What would be a single take away for the attendees that you want them to gain from your session/keynote? Open source is vital. Tons of exciting resources. It’s a place for us to hack. More importantly there are billions of codes out there to be used. Many people have never used them before and I think everyone who has a computer could use it.

Is this your first time being part of Oscon?
No, I’ve been here before. I like leaving for another city though. It gives me a reason to get out from my town every so often.

What’s current device that you couldn’t live without?
My mobile-Nexus one

So what’s next for you your team? Any exciting development?
More data, more code… and more of everything.

Be sure to watch Chris’ keynote presentation tomorrow morning at 9am- OSCON ; follow him @Cdibona

Be sure to join Girls in Tech Portland Chapter at OSCON 2010 this year at Portland Oregon.

If you are interested in being a guest speaker and/or panelist for our workshops and lectures, pls feel free to drop me an email: ivo@girlsintech.net

tweet @mssonicflare @oscon @24notion @gitweet

Tags: 24notion, api, chris dibona, community, Developer, girls in tech, girls in tech portland, gitpdx, Google, ivo, Ivo Lukas, open source, opensource, oregon, OSCON, Portland, technology
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