Girls In Tech

Event Details:

Date: Thursday, October 13th
Program: 7pm – 9pm
Where: dzine it studio on 26 West 23rd Street, 4th Floor, New York City

Initiating conversations about salary negotiation with the successful women in our network is the first step to acquiring a negotiation muscle.

I saw how tapping one’s network can positively impact a woman’s career after making an introduction to two female friends. One was an executive with great deal of professional experience, and the other was just about to start her professional career and seeking career advice. Let’s call the first friend C and the second E.

The more experienced friend gave friendly advice to E who had just received her first job offer. C encouraged E to negotiate for a better package and to not settle for the first offer. But E countered this advice with a great deal of hesitation. She was afraid she would risk losing the job offer by asking more for herself. She was having trouble seeing herself as deserving more than what was given to her.

Don’t get me wrong — E is hardworking, highly qualified, and someone I greatly admire as a person. I could see she deserves more, but she couldn’t. Like many women, she didn’t know how to negotiate, or that she could even negotiate. Gently prodded by C, E decided to work up the courage to ask for a better term. She later happily reported that the negotiation worked out in her favor.

Three things dawned on me from watching this conversation unfold:

1. Negotiation is a learned skill that improves with practice. C has a great deal of negotiation experience from both sides of the table and was thus able to give great, practical advice to E. Learning to negotiate is a skill that women may need to focus greater effort at developing than men, who in general seem to have a natural propensity to negotiate. According to authors Linda Babcock and Sara Laschaver “Women Don’t Ask”, men initiate negotiations four times as often as women.

With more women entering the workforce, entrepreneurship, and leadership ranks, it’s high time that more women raised their hands and asked for what they want. It’s time for women to develop and flex their negotiation muscles.

2. We need to talk more about initiating negotiation. Watching C provide guidance to E made me wish to facilitate more opportunities for women to connect and learn from each other on this topic. Furthermore, it is imperative that we have informed discussions about salary negotiation as part of the larger, on-going discussion around wealth creation for women and closing the gender pay gap.

3. Women who successfully master the art of negotiating earn more money and are more successful in their careers. Another study cited by Babcock and Laschaver calculated that women who consistently negotiate their salary increases earn at least $1 million more during their careers than women who don’t.

A crucial step in learning to negotiate is to learn from the women in our own networks who successfully asked for what they want and got their worth in the workplace.

This is the thought process behind the panel discussion I’m moderating with wimlink in New York City on Thursday, October 13. At this event, three talented women leaders in fields as diverse as executive coaching, law, and digital media will share their wealth of experience and insight on how to get your worth in the workplace. Featured speakers are

1. Julia McNamara, founder of Helix Career Management and certified executive coach

2. Carla Varriale, partner of law firm Havkins Rosenfeld Ritzert and Varriale, LLP

3. Bethany Hillman, VP of Operations at TVGenesis

Click here to read the full bios of each panelist and register for this event.

Whether you are starting a job search, a new job, or salary negotiation, this session will provide you with tips, inspiration, and guidance to take your career to the next level.

Learn to flex your negotiation muscle. Learn from the rich experiences of women leaders. Be richly rewarded for the value you bring to the table.

Written by:

Jamie Lee
Operations Manager
Tipping Point Partners
@jieunjamie

Tags: event, negotiation, networking, New York City, women
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As a fan of Girls in Tech and as a member of the NYC technology and startup community, I have immense respect, admiration and appreciation for tech startup entrepreneurs and founders – especially female tech startup founders.  So, when I was asked to blog for Girls in Tech, I brainstormed various ways I could channel my interests into the forum and create a space for founders to really tell tidbits about themselves – which brings me to the “Seven Question Series for a Startup Founder.”  Each week, GIT will feature a different female startup founder and ask them seven random questions- some related to their business, their journey, their past, their future, and of course, their passion.

I am starting off the first Seven Question Series with a truly fantastic founder from a fabulous NY startup doing big things: Jennifer Fleiss, Founder and President of Rent The Runway.

For those of you unfamiliar with Rent The Runway, it is the premier destination for luxury designer dress rentals, and provides access to premier dress and accessory rentals online for just 10% of retail price, while working with over 120 renowned designers such as Herve Leger, Missoni, Vera Wang, and Diane von Furstenberg.

1.  Who or What inspired you to start Rent the Runway?

JF:  I’ve always been an entrepreneur at heart and love brainstorming on ways to improve consumer experiences.  At Harvard Business school I would frequently have lunch with Jennifer Hyman, fellow RTR co-founder, to discuss entrepreneurial ideas.  After a Thanksgiving break home to visit her family, Jenn came up with the idea of Rent the Runway because her sister Becky was having a “closet full of clothes but nothing to wear” moment.  We spoke to over a thousand women to evolve the concept and did a test run where we rented dresses to women – it was the pure emotional reaction of a women putting on dresses and feeling so fantastic that they were twirling around in front of the mirror that led to the evolution of the concept and my motivation to make Cinderella moment dreams into a reality.

2.    Who are your own style influencers or favorite designers?

JF:  Some of my favorite designers include Proenza Schouler, D & G by Dolce and Gabbana and Tibi.  I’m also very inspired by some of the stylists we have at Rent the Runway who have such unique everyday style.

3.    How would you describe your management style?  Has it changed since you became an entrepreneur?

JF:  Yes, I think it’s changed since starting Rent the Runway.  I’ve learned to adjust my management style based on who I’m managing and really listen to each team member’s feedback.  I think it’s really important to be flexible in managing a team and determine the best way to manage each individual.  It’s also important to ensure that there’s a balance where employees can work on projects that excite and motivate them while also driving the company forward.    Knowing how fantastic it feels to be an entrepreneur makes me want to give the people I manage maximum responsibility so they too can have the feeling of creating something from scratch.

4.    What is one piece of advice you would give yourself if you could go back in time five years ago?

JF:  Five years ago I would have told myself to really do what I love and not hesitate in taking risks to get there. I spent several years in finance during which time I learned an invaluable amount but I didn’t love what I did on a daily basis.  Entrepreneurship is FUN and teaches you more than any job possibly could so it’s an amazing way to spend time and learn really valuable skills.

5.    If Rent the Runway was not based out of New York City, what other city in the world would you choose as RTR HQ and why?

JF:  I’d probably choose Los Angeles or San Francisco.  In Los Angeles there are so many occasions and events that women are dressing up for, and in San Francisco there is incredible tech talent that’s hard to find in other parts of the country.

6.    Where do you see Rent the Runway in five years?

JF:  In 5 years we really plan to grow the company exponentially so that renting clothing is part of women’s everyday lives.  We plan to change the way women shop for special occasions all across the world.

7.    What are two books that you would recommend to women in the technology and startup community?

JF:  “Delivering Happiness” which is the story of Zappos success and “Getting to Plan B” by Randy Komisar who provides great insight into how having a bias towards action is a huge part of starting a company – something we live by at Rent the Runway.

WYR:  Would you rather: Never wear a designer dress again  OR  Never be able to read a new book again

JF:  I truly can’t pick!  Both would be terrible to never have the opportunity to do again.  Both are such fun and interesting new ways or learning about different things and constantly having different experiences!

Tags: Aishwarya Iyer, female founders, New York City, startup CEOs
Posted in All Chapters, Girls In Tech, New York | 1 Comment »

How powerful is a tweet?

Last December at Vator Splash NY Competition where JumpThru founder Deborah Jackson served as a judge for the event, she met the executive director of Iridescent, a non-profit that provides STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education for underserved and underrepresented youth. On the spot, she helped Iridescent connect with like-minded organizations such as Girl Develop It and Women 2.0. She also introduced the non-profit to Heart & Soul Charitable Fund that is now going to fund Iridescent.

Deborah thought she had done her part in making connections for Iridescent. Little did she think that one of her tweets would have an impact as powerful as a personal introduction.

Fast forward to this week, when she received a thank you email from the executive director of Iridescent. The executive director wrote that, thanks to Deborah’s tweet about Girl Approved founder Heidi Dangelmaier, Iridescent learned about Girl Approved, an organization focused on girl empowerment through innovative product development. In fact, the executive director reached out to Heidi who agreed to be one of the keynote speakers at Technovation Challenge Pitch Night on May 9th at AOL Ventures in NYC.

Here is more detail on Technovation Challenge Pitch Night:

“The Technovation Challenge program was founded in 2009 by Anuranjita Tewary, who wanted to offer young women the experience of participating in a “start-up company” and understand what it takes to be a high-tech entrepreneur. The pilot program was run in the spring of 2010, with 45 girls and 25 mentors from all over Silicon Valley. The Technovation Challenge has now expanded to New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Mountain View and Berkeley, CA, supported by the Office of Naval Research (ONR). View our current programs here“

Girls in Tech was highly involved with the first Technovation Challenge, from inception to Pitch Night, in the Bay Area in December 2009.

So, a tweet, as Deborah found out, can be quite powerful. Particularly when sharing connections and promoting collaboration among an increasingly interconnected community of “tweeps” passionate about female entrepreneurship, technology, and education.

Keep on tweeting!

This post of was originally posted on JumpThru’s tumblr blog.

Tags: entrepreneurship, Girl_Approved, Girl_Develop_It, iridescent, JumpThru, networking, New York City, social media, social networking, Technovation_Challenge, tweet, twitter, women in technology
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If you ever planted super berries on Farmville for a quick profit or downloaded a Katy Perry song via Tap Tap Revenge on your mobile device, you experienced the convergence of social media, mobile gaming, virtual goods, and an innovative business model.

Every day, a growing number of people around the globe connect to social media for networking and entertainment, and many of them are doing so on their mobile devices.  Entrepreneurs, business leaders and practitioners are coming up with new and original ways to capitalize on this growing trend and to make money through social media.

Learn how industry leaders in online marketing, digital media and mobile gaming are creating and executing these business strategies at Socialize: Monetizing Social Media, a two-day conference presented by Mediabistro, SocialTimes & AllFacebook. Diverse perspectives will be represented at discussions focused on four core themes:

• Gamify. Social games keep getting hotter: the virtual goods market will surpass $2 billion in 2011
• Mobilize. The social web has gone mobile: lessons for social sharing, search, browsing, and networking
• Optimize. Learn how to effectively track and measure social media campaigns
• Monetize. At the root of all these topics, uncover key revenue drivers: content, apps, and more

The conference will be held from Thursday, March 31 to Friday, April 1, 2011 at The New Yorker Hotel in New York City.

Click here to register for the event.  At checkout, Girls in Tech members can use this 15% discount code: SZGIT.

Tags: conference, entrepreneurs, event, facebook, gaming, iphone, marketing, MediaBistro, New York City, social media, tech
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By: Kayla Zerby

Years ago, you’d be crazy to think that a no-name blogger could ever rub elbows with the editors of Vogue or Harper’s Bazaar at a runway fashion show.

Today, it’s the norm.

And, as New York Fashion Week descends upon NYC’s Bryant Park next week, the industry’s shift from traditional media to social media will be more apparent than ever.

For an industry so heavily reliant on networking and word-of-mouth buzz, it’s no wonder that so many in the fashion world are turning to social media to build their brands.

Chictopica, for instance — “the most valuable online resource for style inspiration and shopping guidance” — is tackling the social media trends in the fashion world head-on during NYC’s fashion week. From February 13-14, more than 300 bloggers are expected to attend the “Social Influence Summit,” a two-day conference featuring presentations from the CEOs of Polyvore and Modcloth as well as online tastemakers, fashion and retail executives, brands and media.

If you’re not able to make it to the Chictopia event, you can always follow this fantastic list of the “Top 20 Fashion Sources You Should be Following on Twitter” to help you stay in-the-know.

And a testament to just how far the fashion world has delved into social media, check out the first-ever Fashion 2.0 Coalition Awards, sponsored by sample sale site ideeli and blogging network Style Coalition. With seven different categories ranging from Favorite New Social Media Site to Best Twitter Account by a Fashion Designer or Brand awards, this is the first time big-name fashion designers and brands will be recognized for innovatively connecting fans through social media. (Hurry! Voting ends on Feb. 8, 2010 at 11:59 p.m.)

What’s your favorite chic geek fashion site or fashion Twitterer? Post a comment and let us know!

Tags: Blogger, Chictopia, fashion, Fashion Week, New York City, Runway, social media
Posted in New York | No Comments »

Photo by Caroline Taillandier @caro972

Asli Bilgin, a great heart and community leader in New York City (via Microsoft) dined via candlelight in a charming French Restaurant in the heart of Gramercy, Park Avenue, NYC. Alissa Emerson trudged through the snow with a 5 inch by 5 inch Tiffany-blue plastic box neatly packed in her editfashion.com-approved hand bag, joined by Michael, her husband, to sit among friends at the restaurant’s inner balcony.

There, Alissa introduced an interesting gift idea that is simple and elegant – yet can be distilled into binary. Asli was treated to a projected slide show of pictures and a usb drive made of Philips metal embossed by Swarovski crystals so that as she jet-sets to Dubai to educate global leaders on new Microsoft technology – her friends go with her – a fun way to bring back old traditions like watching slides with one another. The best wishes for her in her travels.

Speaking of binary, and since Asli also loves math, on vacation, I happened across a superb explanation for binary, by Brian Hayes in his collection Group Theory in the Bedroom. On page 180, he writes:

The most important numerals are all constructed according to a place-value system. In decimal notation, the numeral 19 is shorthand for the expression:

( 1 x 10¹ ) + ( 9 x 10⁰ )

Or, as you might recite in a primary-school classroom, “one ten and nine ones.” Likewise, the binary numeral 10011 is understood to mean:

( 1 x 2⁴ ) + ( 0 x 2³ ) + ( 0 x 2² ) + ( 1 x 2¹ ) + ( 1 x 2⁰ )

which adds up to the same value. The ternary version of the same number is written 201, which expands as follows:

( 2 x 3² ) + ( 0 x 3¹ ) + ( 1 x 3⁰ )

In this case we have two 9s, no 3s, and one 1.

The general formula for a numeral in any place-value notation goes something like this:

d₃ r³ +d₂ r² +d₁ r¹ +d₀ r⁰ …

Here r is the base, or radix, and the coefficients d _i are the digits of the number.

Hint: Brian is a balanced ternary fan, which is very pretty and arguably more efficient than binary, and on which he continues to write on page 189:

the digits of a balanced-ternary numeral are coefficients of powers of 3, but instead of coming from the set {0 1 2}, the digits are -1, 0, and 1 (sic)

The decimal number 19 is written 1101 in balanced ternary, and this numeral is interpreted as follows:

( 1 x 3³ ) – ( 1 x 3² ) + ( 0 x 3¹ ) + ( 1 x 3⁰ )

Tags: Asli Bilgin, Binary, Bits, Brian Hayes, Crystals, holiday, Math, New York City, Philips, Swarovski, Ternary
Posted in Girls In Tech, New York | No Comments »

….well, sort of.  At least that’s the idea behind a new game called Switch, one of the final games funded by the John S and James L Knight Foundation this year.

According to those involved in developing the game, “Between 2005 and 2030, the [New York City] will have to come up with about 22 million additional megawatt hours annually to meet our growing electricity demand, according to the Bloomberg administration’s sustainability plan, PlaNYC 2030.”

With growing concern over the city’s increasing energy usage, the game allows users to “test” a variety of options – ones that are actually being considered and some that aren’t – and determine whether they’re a good fit for the city in it’s efforts to reduce energy consumption in the next few decades.

What are some of the options? Solar powered apartments and buildings, tidal power, offshore wind farms, and many more.

Some say the game is addictive.  To give it a whirl, flip the switch!

Tags: Electricity, Energy, James L. Knight Foundation The John S, Michael Bloomberg, New York City, PlaNYC, switch
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Guest blogger:  Charlene Jaszewski

When she’s not writing on The Redhead Said about geek stuff , including social media, usability and behavioral economics, Charlene spends her time appeasing her appetite for all knowledge, and making homemade marshmallows dipped in chocolate.

She makes her living helping people make their websites easier to use, editing books so that their ideas are crystal clear, and making marketing materials sound less markety. Wanna see stuff she’s done? Click on over to charlenejaszewski.com.

Traditionally, society forces us to choose between working at home for ourselves, or working at an office for a company. If we work at a traditional 9 to 5 job, we get community and structure, but lose freedom and the ability to control our own lives. If we work for ourselves at home, we gain independent but suffer loneliness and bad habits from not being surrounded by a work community.

Coworking is a solution to this problem…coworking provides the office of a traditional job, but in a very unique way.

- I’m Outta Here: How Coworking is Making the Office Obsolete.

The world of work is changing. While many of us are already freelancing, with the current economic climate, more of us are taking the opportunity to start new businesses and work on our own terms. But where are we working? Most of us think of two options: a home office (or, a corner of the kitchen table), or working at Starbucks. But there are more options available that you might not be aware of that offer more than just a space to lay your laptop. In the right environment, coworking provides collaboration, cooperation and inspiration.
Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Amy Cham, charlene jaszewski, coworking, New York City
Posted in New York | 2 Comments »

Guest blogger: Tommy Jenkins

Tommy Jenkins

Tommy Jenkins is an associate with a New York investment firm where she is responsible for investment analysis and management. Her passion for technology there has further lead her to become an avid programmer. She is currently working on bringing her enthusiasm for information theory, communication and charity to the web. Her areas of experience include marketing communications, visual design, natural health, and nutritional writing.

Tommy is Manager, Biz Dev & Strategic Partnerships for Girls in Tech NYC.

“Who am I?”

In Unlocking the Clubhouse,  Jane Margolis and Allan Fisher point to secondary school as the juncture where women seek to define themselves with this important question and assert that, in this quest, many women are deterred from computing. Yet to many women entrepreneurs and members of the changing and vibrant New York tech community, the experience seems somewhat different.  Here, innovation and reinvention become synonymous with self.  Girls in Tech in New York aims to capture that spirit and help to awaken it through community.

In a study of women entrepreneurs using relational theory (the conceptual framework of relationships), NYU Stern grant recipient E. Holly Buttner notes that levels of entrepreneurship among women are increasing: as a group, they now employ more of the workforce than all Fortune 500 companies put together.

Buttner saw an opportunity to study women management and client-interaction models, and showed that women tend to be more interactive and focused on connectedness.  She concludes that women leaders can strike a new balance between social benefits (ethics) and economic gain.  I am reminded of In Good Company,  a Flatiron business helping to revolutionize our relationships within the workplace environment, putting itself on the increasingly populated map of coworking sites in New York City.  Social technologies and trends parallel women who are social, business-oriented, and technical.

As the economy forces us to redefine our selves and our relationships to one another, so too does the prevalence of the internet and our interconnectedness. Mike Masnick argues that no longer is there scarcity (defined by infinite need and finite resources) in the internet-driven economies, and that, even with market abundance, the economy can thrive.

Politically and economically, access to abundant resources means mastering the art of forging and organizing new relationships to capitalize on accessibility (whether with regard to information or capital).  It becomes the art of inclusion.  This revolution in perspective–constant access, abundance of information, and transparent public relationship–opens doors for women…and women are well-equipped to lead the effort to build our renewed economy.

Steven Weber (The Success of Open Source) writes:

“the production, flow, and control of information are core defining features of a community, economy, and society….The role of technology and organization is simply to liberate that creativity (like poetry).”(sic)

Women understand that interactivity, social ethics, and relationships are here to enable us to connect, and to do so effectively. Women influence 80% of purchasing power, and typically increase their workforce numbers during recessions.

How do we:

• Preserve innovation and invention?
• Market to and value women in the marketplace?
• Help drive and build market recovery as entrepreneurs?
• Increase the presence of girls in technology?
• Create strong and lasting connections?

Get involved and connect.

Through my work with Girls in Tech NYC, I feel privileged to benefit from the passion and drive of the many talented women who want to help to build our local community chapter in the same way.  Not the least of these are Girls in Tech NYC’s Amy Cham, Open Source community champion and builder, and Janine Just, Avid Group leader and innovator and co-community-catalyst with NextWeb . I’m further looking forward to exploring the fascinating subsection of the vibrant NYC community that will participate in April’s New York City Entrepreneur Week.

More soon on these guiding lights and partners in the New York community!

Now, your story:

How do you show your spirit in business, technology or in connecting with others? What part will you play in building communities? How do you include others and promote interactivity? How can you, we, or all of us help?

Comment here, or send feedback to tommy@tamikojenkins.com if you prefer to remain anonymous!

Information on the Girls in Tech NYC Relaunch Launch Party: the details and the RSVP!

Tags: community, entrepreneurship, management, New York City
Posted in New York | 1 Comment »