Girls In Tech

Last week wrapped up the Grace Hopper Celebration Women in Computing 2011 in Portland, Oregon. 3000 attendees (over 140 companies, 235 academics representation and closed to 90% women attendees) from all over the world flocked to attend this 4 days conference. What if, is the topic of the conference – It is about creating the next generation to be the leader in STEM/Tech (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). Telle Whitney opened the conference by introducing an initiative by Anita Borg/Grace Hooper “TechWomen” change agent scholars: 6 women mentees (Algeria, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine and Egypt) selected as up-and-coming leaders who will advance in women’s participation in technology and help support more women in their hometown and expand STEM education. TechWomen pairs technical women in the greater San Francisco Bay Area with their counterparts in the Middle East and North Africa for a professional mentorship and exchange program at leading technology companies.

Keynote speaker, Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook gave a career advice for any young woman who wants to move up the ladder in the career of technology:

1. Believe in yourself
2. Dream big
3. Make your partner a real partner
4. Don’t’ leave just yet
5. Start talking about this

The conference sessions range from career, academic, technical, theme and industry track. With Saturday dedicated for an open source day: Codeathon for humanity.

Grace Hopper Aspirations computing by NCWIT took place on Thursday night. More than 1200 applicants applied for and top 30 young women were chosen to attend this conference. The Aspirations award is the catalyst that propels young women into studying computer science in college and ultimately pursuing a career in computing and information technology. Event sponsored by Microsoft, Intel, viawest, Lewis and Clark, puppetlabs and 24Notion

Career fair and exhibitors from Google, yahoo, Microsoft, NSA, Deutsch bank, Lockheed martin, Amex, Intel, Pixar, Facebook, Twitter and hundred others gathered to recruit the brightest STEM young leader to lead their company. (Did you know that STEM jobs paid 20% more than regular career?).

Leaving the conference energized and excited that at Girls in Tech Mentorship Program, we are here to support and developed the next generation to raise them up the top. So, what are you waiting for? Get into it!

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Tags: 24notion, engineering, girls in tech portland, GIT Mentorship, gitpdx, grace hopper celebration, Ivo Lukas, mathematics, mentorship, mssonicflare, Science, sheryl sandberg, STEM, technology, women in computing
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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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I had the pleasure to chat with Shari Goetsch, Director of Digital Media Communications from SeeYourImpact. A great non-profit organization of making a difference whether you would like to contribute in a small or large scale.

Tell us more about SeeYourImpact.org, your role and your team?

SeeYourImpact.org is a non-profit that shows donors exactly who they’re helping and how. If you give a $25 home garden to a woman in Rwanda, we’ll email you the photo and story of the real person you helped in just 2 weeks. We want people to know exactly how their donation impacts a life. In fact, we’re so committed to the idea that we ensure 100% of your donation goes to the gift you selected.

We’re a start-up technology organization, which makes us a little different. Our focus is on helping effective non-profits leverage technology to show you who your donations are helping. We let you help people directly in countries all over the world. If you’re passionate about water, $10 will help build a well for a family in Cambodia. Or if you’re passionate about girls’ education, you can cover the monthly tuition of a child in India for $20.

Sometimes, it’s hard for people to believe they can make a tangible difference. My role at the organization is to help empower people to take that first step. We launched last year in September 2010. Our team of volunteers and supporters is growing quickly. Our job as a team is to make your giving experience so unforgettable that you’ll want to tell your friends.

Tell us more about SeeYourImpact and the initiatives you’re currently working on?

Currently, we’re helping people find inventive ways to make philanthropy a part of their every day lives. For example, children like Ellie are dedicating their birthdays to fundraise for people in need. Parents want to raise kids who give back, but it’s usually so hard to teach children what that ethereal concept “philanthropy” is all about. But when a child raises money, and in a matter of days, they see the face of a person they helped, suddenly giving is brought to life. And it’s not just the youngest of the citizen philanthropists who are getting involved. Businesswomen are donating their birthdays. Even couples are dedicating their wedding registries.

One mom whose children are from Ethiopia recently reached out to us. She had been watching the devastating famine in East Africa unfold on the news, and she knew she had to do something. Her adopted children could have been 2 of the many children who have died from hunger. So she launched a campaign called Ask $5 for 5 to deliver life-saving food and water. Over 700 people are already involved! It’s easy to help, and I hope you’ll consider joining us.

Where does SeeYourImpact.org work?

We have over 100 innovative gift solutions in 18 different countries. We’re in Latin America, Asia, Africa, and we’re also partnering with organizations doing powerful work here in the US.

What’s next for SeeYourImpact.org? How can corporations help make a difference?

We tailor partnerships to the vision of the organization. Some companies boost staff morale through employee campaigns. Others provide matching gifts. Still others look for ways to promote our work to their customers. In every case, we look for ways to show the results of the company’s work. Not just in contributions raised, but also by showing how people have been helped.

You’ve mentioned using technology as the means to drive this effort; what type of technologies drives this initiative?

We customize open-source technologies that receive broad developer support. We look for solutions that provide flexibility and stability, in addition to the creativity that comes with an army of free developers. We see social media as content delivery platform that connects our supporters to one another and to their Impact Stories. By using Facebook connect, we can send the updates of which the donor is helping to them through email or to Facebook. When people share their Impact Stories in their news feed, it invites their friends to get involved. And that’s a crucial part of our strategy. We know most organizations spend a lot on fundraising. But we think this is a new era. People don’t want to see organizations spending their donations on fundraising. They want to see their contributions going to work. By integrating with viral platforms, we help people share our work through word-of-mouth recommendations, and that’s the best way someone can hear about us for the first time.

 How can we help spread the word?

1.Go to Seeyourimpact.org and learn more about our work.

2. Women entrepreneurs: look for a way to give back through your company! Contact us, or set up a business page.

3. Upcoming women leaders and entrepreneurs: volunteer! If you’re looking for a way to use your skills to give back, we’d love to connect you with an opportunity to change the world. Email us.

So what are you waiting for? Spread the word and make a difference today!

Follow me @MsSonicFlare

Tags: ivolukas, mssonicflare, nonprofit, Philanthropy, seeyourimpact
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A recent article from Inc noted that women in technology still face an uphill battle. Quite true!

According to the article, “Women make up half of the U.S. workforce but represent only 25 percent of the technology industry. Despite growth in entrepreneurship, women lead only eight percent of technology start-ups.”

Is this a problem of widespread gender stereotypes? Lack of aspiration to the technology sector by young girls? We need to balance the energy of building awareness with keeping more women in tech arenas. 75% of women in technology report “loving their work,” yet women leave technology careers at a staggering rate.

Finding support and guidance is quite a challenging task. Being in this field for some time, I’ve seen many inspired young women/girls have a hard time finding established women and entrepreneurs in tech to help them maneuver within the industry or corporations. We need more families and friends who can embrace and mentor them within the field.

How do we address this issue? My take is that it starts by exposing, educating and engaging girls from an early young age. Many parents continue to say , “Hey, I would love to have my kids become lawyers or doctors” but you hardly ever hear parents encourage their young girls to become a scientist, or explore technical or mathematicians occupations. Especially at a young age, girls are exposed to more traditional games and toys, but why can’t girls play with Legos? Or create a robotic science project at school?

We invite you to make a difference. We have launched the Girls in Tech Mentorship program in summer 2011. There are huge opportunities to build up the next generation of young girls in technology and entrepreneurship. Our goal is not only to inspire, share knowledge and help young girls to take notice of how cool technology can be, but to expose and educate their parents by encouraging their girls to take part in science, math and tech fairs.  We are looking for mentors, mentees, sponsors, media partners and more. If you are interested in learning more or being part of the program, drop me an email: ivo@girlsintech.net

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Tags: entrepreneurship, girls in tech, Ivo Lukas, Math, mentorship, mssonicflare, Science, STEM, technology, women in tech
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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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I had a chance to sit down with Rob Pike from Google last week at OSCON 2011.  Rob Pike is a Distinguished Engineer at Google, Inc. He works on distributed systems, data mining, programming languages, and software development tools. Before Google, Rob was a member of the Computing Sciences Research Center at Bell Labs, the lab that developed Unix. While there, he worked on computer graphics, user interfaces, languages, concurrent programming, and distributed systems. He was an architect of the Plan 9 and Inferno operating systems and is the co-author with Brian Kernighan of The Unix Programming Environment and The Practice of Programming. More recently he was a co-designer of the Go programming language. Other details of his life appear on line but vary in veracity.

Tell us more about you, your role at Google and your team?

I was at Bell Labs for over 20 years, most of which were wonderful, but the last years at Bell Labs weren’t as much fun.  In 2002, I moved to Google, where I work on infrastructure- the technology behind the scenes. Lately I’ve been working on the Go team. At Google, I’m having fun. There’s strong interest from the engineers to learn more about Go, and we have users from from neophytes to experienced gophers. About 3 years ago, a few of us decided to address the problem that the programming languages we were using at Google for building system software were old and not well suited to the problems and the machinery we were working with. Right now, there are about 10 strong engineers on my team. We work on helping Google use this new language, but do all our language and library development as open source. As it says in my talk abstract, Go is not a small language but it is a simple one. By “simple” I mean that it is built upon a small number of ideas that combine orthogonally to generate power. Go may have fewer features than most mainstream languages but in expressiveness I argue it is ahead. Orthogonality lets elements be combined without unpleasant surprises. Simplicity makes Go easy to understand, fast to use and fast to compile. Go launched in november 2009. We are all over the world. we have team across the world from US to sydney as well.

What does the future look like for Go in the next 2 years?

It’s a maturation process. We want to grow a much larger community of users, which means we need a lot more exposure. Our focus now is to have it adapted by many users while we to continue to develop the language, libraries, and tools. We are giving talks and doing lots of advocacy. From the technical side, we are working on better libraries and making it even faster. It’s already very competitive; we just need to get the word out there: fun and fast.

What would be a single take away for the attendees that you want them to gain from your session?

You can have a nice language that is fun to use, safe *and* efficient

Whats next for GOOGLE?

Couldn’t speak to much besides my project, Go. But, this success of our social networking experiment, Google+, has been awesome!

You are one of the most accomplished individuals and a successful engineer, What can we learn from you?

it is important to do what you believe in. Some IT jobs can be very unrewarding and you can get trapped doing something that you dislike. So, if you find yourself in that position then you must switch to something you’re passionate about. What is  your goal and your interests?  What excites you the most? You should find them and make them what you do!

Which session(s) are you most excited about?

Sad to say I haven’t been focusing on others, except things related my project, and our sessions. I’ve just been swamped, but I know that I’ll be catching up by video afterwards. (I wish my talk had been videoed, hint hint.)

Is this your first time being part of Oscon? If not, then how’s it different from previous years?

This is my second year here. Last year, Go did not have a big presence – I was just a newcomer myself, although Google has been a major sponsor for years. This year, our team is more visible, with multiple talks and giveaways. Have you seen our Gophers? My wife, Renee French is an artist and she designed the gopher. There’s a plush incarnation, made by Squishable, and every attendee got the vinyl version, made by KidRobot. Renee’s name and a link to the Go are on the bottom of the vinyl gopher.

What’s a current device that you couldn’t live without?

Either my 11 inch mac air or my little digital camera. If there is no wifi, then it’ll be my digital camera for sure.

Read, download and check out the presentation by Rob on “Go” here. Good Luck Rob!

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Tags: 24notion, Engineer, girls in tech, gitpdx, go, Golang, Google, gopher, Ivo Lukas, ivolukas, mssonicflare, OSCON, OSCON2011, Portland, programming, technology
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We are a supporter of United Nations Women- Gender equality and the empowerment of women. Say No Campaign is one of the efforts to end violence against women.

UN Women has launched an online Quiz that tests your knowledge on violence against women and girls. Available in English, French and Spanish, it addresses questions such as: How widespread is violence against women and girls? What solutions have worked to stop it? How many countries have laws to address common forms, such as domestic violence?

You can use it as an awareness raising tool with your friends and constituencies, in your schools, workshops and meetings. Each time they take the quiz, they can learn more about the issue! Play your part in ending violence against women and girls! Here is how:

• Test your knowledge on violence against women by taking the quiz now and share it with your friends, family and colleagues!
• Upload the Quiz Banner on your website or blog and link it to www.saynotoviolence.org/quiz.
• Share the quiz on social media – tweet about it using #SayNoUNiTEquiz and post a message on Facebook to engage your fans and followers (or simply RT @MsSonicFlare @GITweet @SayNO_UNITE )

Find out in the Say NO – UNiTE Quiz today!

Tags: gender equality, global world, Ivo Lukas, mssonicflare, sayno campaign, saynounite, UN, united nations, women empowerment, women leadership
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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
Posted in All Chapters, All Chapters, Portland | 1 Comment »