Girls In Tech

This program is aimed at computer science/engineering students who are either in a Bachelor’s or Master’s program in North America. One of the scholarships will be reserved for a female developer to champion women in IT. The two winning contestants will be presented a scholarship for $10,000, paid travel and passes to OSCON, and a paid internship at DataStax!

Our 6 finalists will be invited to present their Apache Cassandra project live on-stage at the Bay Area Cassandra Summit 2013 (June 11th – 12th). Two winning finalists will be selected and awarded their scholarship at OSCON 2013 (July 22nd – 26th) in Portland by the Apache Cassandra Project Chair, Jonathan Ellis!

What
In order to participate in this scholarship program, you must build any kind of application on Apache Cassandra and document your experiences using the following tools:
Create an Activity Blog (Minimum of 5 postings on your project activity)
Create a YouTube, Vimeo, etc. Channel for Video Recordings (Minimum of 2 recordings, any length)
Using Your Blog, Tell Us Your Business Case (Minimum of 1 page, describing how your application can be applied in a business setting)

Create a Working Prototype and Post to GitHub.com
Our judging panel will evaluate your work based on your working prototype and ability to document your development process’ using the tools found above. The panel will review your application and monitor your progress on an ongoing basis. Judges will review how well you’ve communicated your development process.

Who
Participation is limited to students currently enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate computer science/engineering program at a North American college or university. DataStax is committed to championing women in technology, and will reserve one scholarship for a female developer.

When
By May 15, 2013, the judges will finalize their list of 6 applicants and invite them, all expenses paid, to the Bay Area Cassandra Summit, taking place June 11-12 where they will present their projects. Summit attendees can watch the presentations and participate in a question and answer session. DataStax will announce the final 2 winners at OSCON 2013, which takes place July 22-26 in Portland; Apache Cassandra Project Chair, Jonathan Ellis, will present the awards at the show.

Looking to get started with Apache Cassandra? Find more information about getting started in our Getting Started tab.
Do you have any questions? Please feel free to reach out for assistance at brady@datastax.com.

Tags: Adriana Gascoigne, Apache Cassandra, DataStax, Developers, girls in tech, San Francisco
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Women are making strides in supporting one another in entering and staying in technology fields.  Come and hear the women leaders have a candid conversation on what needs to be done to continue to solve the gender gap in technology careers.  What socialized behavior and habits do women have that are different than men in the work place? Can these hold women back? Hear what female workplace role models have to say about the importance of: Mentorships, Networking, Career building skills and much more!

If you have ever found yourself or your women colleagues be hesitant about asking for raises or promotions, shy about self-promotion or reluctant to point out their own achievements, come listen to concrete advice from women who have paved the way in advancing careers in a male-dominated industry.

When: June 29, 2012 – Friday

Bridging the Gap Women Panel: 11 am – 12 pm

Networking Mixer: 12 pm – 1 pm

Where: Moscone Center, Main stage Tech Career Expo in San Francisco. RSVP here

Laura Slezinger M.D. Girls in Tech, San Francisco/GIT Global Corp. Dev. and Intellectual Property & Internet Law Attorney, A Venture Gained Legal

Laura has a passion for the intersection of law, technology and the creative, entrepreneurial spirit. She wants to enable others to create what they want to see in the world around them- via technology, law and innovation. She is also a fervent champion of advancing women in all areas of business and leadership – and believes society as a whole will benefit from the increased engagement of women across all industries.

She received her J.D. from the University of San Diego, School of Law where she was Editor-in-Chief of the law school newspaper. She was Fundraising Chair  for the Women’s Law Caucus and hosted a record breaking charity auction to benefit a local women’s domestic violence shelter.

She received her LL.M. from the University of San Francisco, School of Law where she was a staff editor and author on the Intellectual Property Law Bulletin. She worked at the Intellectual Property and Internet Justice Clinic where she advocated for students being sued by the RIAA for alleged illegal downloading of music. Currently she is Managing Director of the San Francisco Chapter of Girls in Tech, Director of Corporate Development for GIT Global and has a law practice  focusing on early stage startups in business, technology, intellectual property and privacy law. Follow her @GITLaura

Kendra arimoto- Executive Search of Facebook

Jerri Barrett- Vice President Marketing of Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology

As the Vice President of Marketing for the Anita Borg Institute, Jerri is responsible for the Institute’s overall branding, public relations, social media, collateral, program marketing and out boundcommunications.  Jerri Barrett came to the institute after 20 years in the telecommunications industry with experience in both large corporations and startups. Prior to coming to the Institute, Jerri was Director of Marketing for IP Unity, a Silicon Valley startup and managed the communications for their merger with Glenayre in 2007. Before that Jerri worked with a variety of companies in marketing positions including Nortel, Frontier, CNET, Inc., LinkAir and HighWired. Jerri holds a Bachelor’s degree from Mount Holyoke College and an MBA from the William E. Simon School of Business Administration at the University of Rochester.

Ivo Lukas- COO/Exec Director of Global Mentorship Programs of Girls in Tech & CEO/Founder of 24Notion

Ivo Lukas is the Chief Operations Officer & Executive Director of Global Mentorship and Partnership Program at Girls in Tech. Ivo is passionate about leading, nurturing and mentoring the next generation, especially young girls, whose aspire to be in technology. She is the advocate of encouraging positive, inspiring and improving lives of the young girls to gain an entrepreneurial spirit and leadership skills. She is leading the Global Girls in Tech mentorship program with goals to support young girls ages K-12, college professionals and young entrepreneurs on the importance of math, tech and science at a young age that will embrace, collaborate and promote growth and success for young girls to stay in the technology sector. Furthermore, She is the Founder and CEO of 24Notion, a creative digital, brand, marketing, PR and tech lifestyle shop with special emphasize in giving back to the global communities (CSR). 24Notion is an integrated, cross-functional team of experts who develop and execute innovative solutions in collaboration with client needs. Follow her @MsSonicFlare

Irina Frumkin- Senior SDE & Technical Lead of Microsoft

Irina joined Microsoft immediately out of college and has been with Microsoft for almost 10 years working on a wide gamut of products including MSN Mobile, Photography, Social experiences and Xbox Live services.  Irina has developed large scale Social Gaming services platform based on Azure and authored an application model for distributed systems. She is currently working on large scale real-time monitoring and diagnostic solution for Xbox 360 Services. Irina graduated from University of Washington with a Computer Science degree. She resides in Seattle with her husband and two very energetic sons ,Jesse 6 and Jacob 8 that keep her very busy outside of work.

To learn more about the panel and RSVP now. For additional Qs, pls contact ivo@girlsintech.net or Laura@girlsintech.net

About Tech Career Expo and Developer Jam

Find Top Talent at the Bay Area’s Leading Tech Recruiting Event. Girls In Tech member companies interested in attracting top talent should consider recruiting at the Tech Career Expo at Moscone Center on June 28-29. The Bay area’s leading tech recruiting event takes place across from the sold-out Google developers conference, Google I/O, as a powerful source for talent. This is your opportunity to showcase your company and recruit professionals ranging from web, mobile, game and enterprise designers and developers to marketers, sales and management personnel in a relaxed and creative environment. Tech Career Expo offers you the opportunity to engage with professionals as they network with peers and participate in a series of development workshops. You’ll also have access to developers who will be on-hand catching Google I/O keynotes and sessions in the live-stream theater onsite. Order exhibit space online at and save $100 using special Girls In Tech discount code GITECH.

Tech Career Expo and Developer Jam at Moscone Center Across from Google I/O June 28-29. The SF Bay Tech Career Expo and Developer Jam at the Moscone Center, held concurrent with and across from Google’s sold-out developers conference, Google I/O, on June 28-29, is open to all tech professionals at no charge.  The expo showcases jobs and careers at dozens of interactive companies from well-funded, early-stage start-ups to late-stage start-ups, established firms and public companies. Everyone from engineers, programmers and designers to marketers, sales and management personnel will have access to innovative tech career opportunities in a casual, creative atmosphere. Network with peers and engage with dynamic companies taking business and technology to the next level.

Tags: 24notion, career tech, career tech expo, gender gap, girls in tech, Ivo Lukas, jobs, laura slezinger, moscone, San Francisco, start-ups, tech, tech jobs, technology, usa, women in technology, women panel
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Join us on  on June 29th, 2012 for a free Tech Career Expo, GIT Women Panel discussion and find your next gig at Moscone Center, San Francisco

Girls in Tech Women Panel discussion: Bridging the gap and landing the perfect job in a competitive market. Join us on June 29^th at 11am on the main stage – Moscone Center Expo for a very thought provoking women panel discussion on how to find/land the perfect job, building your skillset and the importance of mentorship and networking around tech industry. Learn from women who are making it work – at work. Women panel included(but not limited to): Facebook, Microsoft, Girls in Tech leaders and more.

Quickly following the panel discussion, GIT will host an informal mixer at 12pm.  Immediately take the panel’s advice into the real world and come meet recruiters, tech leaders, and other though leading professionals in the industry. Make sure to bring confidence and business cards to really make an impression. For more info about the panel/mixer contact ivo@girlsintech.net  or laura@girlsintech.net More details to come soon.

Find Top Talent at the Bay Area’s Leading Tech Recruiting Event. Girls In Tech member companies interested in attracting top talent should consider recruiting at Tech Career Expo at Moscone Center on June 28-29. The Bay area’s leading tech recruiting event takes place across from the sold-out Google developers conference, Google I/O, as a powerful source for talent. This is your opportunity to showcase your company and recruit professionals ranging from web, mobile, game and enterprise designers and developers to marketers, sales and management personnel in a relaxed and creative environment. Tech Career Expo offers you the opportunity to engage with professionals as they network with peers and participate in a series of development workshops. You’ll also have access to developers who will be on-hand catching Google I/O keynotes and sessions in the live-stream theater onsite. Order exhibit space online at and save $100 using special Girls In Tech discount code GITECH.

Tech Career Expo and Developer Jam at Moscone Center Across from Google I/O June 28-29. The SF Bay Tech Career Expo and Developer Jam at the Moscone Center, held concurrent with and across from Google’s sold-out developers conference, Google I/O, on June 28-29, is open to all tech professionals at no charge.  The expo showcases jobs and careers at dozens of interactive companies from well-funded, early-stage start-ups to late-stage start-ups, established firms and public companies. Everyone from engineers, programmers and designers to marketers, sales and management personnel will have access to innovative tech career opportunities in a casual, creative atmosphere. Network with peers and engage with dynamic companies taking business and technology to the next level.

The first 17 Tech Career Expo participating companies include: Microsoft, Lookout Mobile Security, Saleforce.com, Activision / Beachead Studios, Ask.com, Box, Groupon, Storm8, Justin.tv / TwitchTV, StumbleUpon, Luna Data Solutions, Reddwerks Corporation, Dice.com, The Creative Group, Robert Half Technology, Indigo Solutions and Machine Zone.

The Dev Jam will include sessions, talks, roundtables and workshops for developers and tech professionals. Expect a lot of developer and tech goodness with a range of sessions presented by area meetups, user groups and other entities over the course of two days. Google I/O keynotes and key sessions will be live-streamed into the developer theater.  Interested professionals can visit the optional preregistration page, or just stop by the Moscone Center.  Interested companies may order exhibit space online.

@TechCareerExpo & Follow me @MsSonicFlare

Tags: career expo, career in tech, career job, career tech, girls in tech mentorship, Girls in tech mentorship GITM, gitm, Ivo Lukas, Job, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, tech, women in tech, women panel
Posted in All Chapters, All Chapters, Girls In Tech, GIT Mentorship, San Francisco, Silicon Valley | 1 Comment »

The Elgg Foundation announced that ElggCamp, its semi-annual conference, will be held on March 24th, 2012 at PariSoma Innovation Loft in the SoMa district of San Francisco. ElggCamp SF gathers professionals from around the world to discuss how Elgg fits into current social media trends. The conference also provides attendees with opportunities for training and networking with the entire core development team.

Tags: Elgg Camp, open source, San Francisco
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A new player has joined the hot social voice community – QWiPS. Alongside Audioboo, Fotobabble and SoundCloud this segment within the technosphere is a big trend right now that could have a significant impact on the way both consumers and bands/marketers use social media. We’ve already embraced multimedia on platforms like Facebook and Twitter through text, images and videos. But what about voice? We know how powerful voice, and even ambient sound, is — the first thing newborns hear are the sounds of the world around them and their parents’ voices. And every day we make calls and record messages for our friends and loved ones. But ultimately, it’s easier to just send that Facebook message, tweet or text. QWiPS lets you do both.

Tags: Adriana Gascoigne, apps, girls in tech, QWiPS, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, social media, social voice, technology, women in tech
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Girls in Tech are giving away 3 tickets to the World’s Largest Crowdsourcing Conference, CrowdConf2011. How would you apply the crowdsourcing principles in a unique way?

Jeff Howe of Wired Magazine first coined the term crowdsourcing. Howe explains that because technological advances have allowed for cheap consumer electronics, the gap between professionals and amateurs has been diminished. Companies are then able to take advantage of the talent of the public, and Howe states that “It’s not outsourcing; it’s crowdsourcing.” A less commercial approach was introduced by Henk van Ess in September 2010: “Crowdsourcing is channelling the experts’ desire to solve a problem and then freely sharing the answer with everyone”. More >>>

Girls in Tech would like to offer 3 tickets to our members. To be considered, simply post how you would use crowdsourcing (crowdfunding, crowdwisdom, crowdvoting, or crowdcreation) for your business or any other business out there. It doesn’t have to be a a large submission, simply comment to this post with a few lines of how you would apply the crowdsourcing principles in a unique way. Get creative, think of how the fashion world and television has utilized its concepts, non profits (like Kiva) and how crowdsourcing could possibly grow an organization like Girls in Tech… you can post as many ideas as you’d like. If you do, please post each idea in a separate comment. Post away!

More about CrowdConf2011 >>>

Tags: competition, conference, crowdsourcing, entrepreneurs, event, Events, San Francisco, Terra Khachooni
Posted in All Chapters, All Chapters, Events, Girls In Tech, San Francisco | 4 Comments »

Come and join e-signature company DocuSign for an applications Hackathon event May 14th and 15th, 2011 celebrating the opening of their new San Francisco office!  The Hackathon will lead up to the DocuSign Summit, with two days of workshops and sessions on May 16 and 17.  Participants will compete for 35 non-stop hours; with a chance to win four cash prizes totaling $25,000 USD.

DocuSign Chief Technology Officer Grant Peterson said he’s looking forward to innovative applications due to the hackathon. “Developers can go way beyond just sending a document for a signature and enable applications to completely control the end-to-end document process,” Peterson said.

The DocuSign API provides interfaces that enable developers to create standalone applications or integrations allowing external applications to send documents for signature, generate custom forms to collect data, report on the status of transactions, and embed the DocuSign signing process directly into other applications, both cloud and software based.

DocuSign Hackathon prizes:

• Most Innovative App – $10,000 USD Grand Prize
• Best Consumer App – $5,000 USD Prize
• Best Enterprise App sponsored by Box.net – $5,000 USD Prize
• Best Mobile App – $5,000 USD Prize

More Event Info:  Register

Date/Time: 9 a.m. PDT on Saturday, May 14, until 8 p.m. PDT on Sunday, May 15, 2011
DocuSign’s Bay Area offices: 111 Sutter Street, 10th Floor in downtown San Francisco
Co-Sponsors: Twilio API and Box.net
Additional Sponsors: Other sponsors include HTC and Clearwire.  ProgrammableWeb is a media sponsor.
Additional Information: DocuSign Blog

To be part of the hackathon, register at DocuSign today!

Tags: docusign, Hackathon, San Francisco, Silicon Valley
Posted in Girls In Tech, San Francisco, Silicon Valley | No Comments »

Girls in Tech San Francisco chapter Managing Director, Laura Slezinger was party to an exciting launch at Web 2.0 this week. Slezinger, and Girls in Tech are early adapters and on the forefront of new technology and tools. Girls in Tech San Francisco launched its new Facebook Page to be part of a beta testing round prior to the launch of Roost’s Social Marketing Platform. Slezinger, along with Star Varga of Vega Star Productions, and Restaurant owner Joe Hargrave of Tacolicious answered questions on a panel conducted by Chris Brubaker, VP of Marketing for Roost.

Press Release Follows:

ROOST REDUCES TIME SINK AND STRESS CAUSED BY SOCIAL MEDIA WITH NEW SOCIAL MARKETING PLATFORM FOR SMB

Free Social Marketing Tool for Individual Professionals and Small Businesses

First of its Kind Product, Solves the Biggest Headaches: What to Post and When

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – WEB 2.0 EXPO – March 29, 2011 – Roost (www.roost.com, @roost), a technology company committed to helping small business go social, announced its new social marketing platform for Facebook and Twitter at the Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco today. The Roost freemium productivity tool helps businesses who rely heavily on word of mouth and referrals tap into the power of the social Web more efficiently and more effectively.

Roost solves the nagging problem all business owners face when thinking about social marketing, “what do I post and when do I post it?” To alleviate the stress and time-sink often caused by social media, Roost developed the Campaign Creator which helps professionals plan their social marketing activities in 20 minutes per week. With the Campaign Creator, a user can set the duration and content types (post, link, quote, etc.) for each campaign. Roost automatically provides customized recommendations on post type and frequency to match the length of the campaign and to deliver a variety of content for higher audience engagement.

In addition, Roost’s suggested content feature, a first in this category, solves the problem of what to post with direct access to articles, blogs, quotes and other original content. With the suggested content feature, Roost users can easily queue up content on a daily or weekly basis by accessing a dynamic library of content related to the user’s specific occupational sector and interests. Campaign Creator is also designed to build relationships and attract more business with The Roost Bar. When friends, fans or followers view a shared link, a small, branded bar appears above the article and allows audiences to immediately “like” the user’s Facebook Page.

“Roost Campaigns are critical to disseminating strategic content in an efficient and timely manner to our various Facebook Pages, Groups, and Twitter accounts,” said Laura Slezinger, Managing Director, San Francisco Girls in Tech. “And Roost Circles allows us to connect to our dozens of national and international chapters without having to coordinate manually for each post.”

Unlike existing publishing tools for social networks, Roost is inherently social. Roost Circles, announced today in Beta mode, is a way for SMBs and individual pros to band together with their closest business associates, and by request, share each other’s posts, providing branding and engagement opportunities across each other’s networks. Whether the circle includes employees, favorite customers or vendors, the technology capitalizes on the economically relevant concept that rising tides lift all boats.

“Roost was built for the restaurant, CPA or Realtor, who doesn’t want to spend 10 hours per week on online marketing. They know they need to be on Facebook and Twitter, but they aren’t sure what to do or how to start,” said Alex Chang, CEO of Roost. “Roost is a product for real people who have little to no time, aren’t fully up to speed on all the nuances of social marketing and live and die by referral business. And best of all, it’s free.”

To create real social marketing campaigns, stay top of mind with your existing customers, find new customers and grow your social network for free, sign up at www.roost.com.

Tags: facebook, laura slezinger, roost, roost marketing, San Francisco, Terra Khachooni, web 2.0 expo
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Girls in Tech, San Francisco is migrating their Facebook presence from Groups to Pages. As early adapters, Girls In Tech was first to join Facebook anduse social media in a real way to grow their network and online presence. Facebook has made some changes (and continues to make changes) and it is important to fall in line with where Facebook and social media is taking us. Please follow us on www.facebook.com/GirlsInTech.SanFrancisco as we will have great content for you to pull from for you Pages and of course, stay updated with Events. Groups will still be a place to connect and is a wonderful arena to have private interaction with your members, however as Facebook focuses on building out Pages, it is essential to understand the importance of have a robust Facebook Page.

In reading Mashable’s article how Social is Turning Search on its Head, I realized that although many of us are on Facebook, we may still need to understand how powerful of a tool it can be. And, with all of the changes Facebook makes, it can be hard to keep up.

Reasons why to have a Facebook Page:

• Facebook Pages are indexed by Google (among other engines)
• Pages are Public, anyone can “like” your Page and follow you without adding as a friend
• It is easier to get someone to “like” a Page than to “join” a Group (joining sounds much more like a commitment)
• You don’t have to accept a friendship to have fans or followers, they can feel connected to you through Pages
• Pages are crawled as a stand alone website, sites with engagement receives a higher value and will rise to the top of Search Engines over static sites
• Everyone should have a Page, there are people who are looking for jobs and are using Pages as a way to showcase themselves, independent contractors, social media consultants, as well as restaurants, boutiques, nail salons, bars, etc. Companies are using Pages for brand and image (ex. pictures of non profit work, creating an identity through personal interaction, etc.)
• Savvy social marketers understand that followers do not want to be “broadcast at” but are engaged in a dialogue with people
• Facebook is building out it’s analytics for Pages, including Insights and Feedback
• Pages are cross marketing with each other and growing their reach
• Facebook is investing heavily to make Pages the best business presence on the web

To all Girls In Tech Groups, it is worth your while to start focusing efforts to Pages. Social Media Examiner recently talks about How to Optimize your Facebook Page and discusses Why Most Businesses Get Facebook Wrong. Unfortunately, there is no easy way to do this. Facebook used to offer a way to migrate to your Page, but it seems they have stopped this option. If anyone knows of a way to migrate a Group to a Page, please let us know! And don’t forget to connect your Facebook account to your Twitter account so you can further your reach. Roost.com makes it easy for you to post once to multiple pages and multiple accounts. – Terra Khachooni

Tags: facebook, laura slezinger, Pages, roost, San Francisco, Terra Khachooni
Posted in Girls In Tech | 1 Comment »

In less then three months, Mountain View based start up, Bizzy, has registered almost 120,000 local business favorites in the hopes of providing YOU with business recommendations for everything from a lunch spot to a mechanic.

We can all go to Google or Yelp and type in “lunch in San Francisco” or “sushi in Soho” but the thing is, we are all going to get the same results. Even if you like upscale fusion sushi and I like the all you can eat buffet. Bizzy, Bizzy.com, is changing that with their personalized local business recommendation engine powered by people with similar tastes to you.

The favorites that have been shared on Bizzy thus far have been used to make over 650,000 local business recommendations and with every new shared favorite, the recommendations Bizzy makes are getting that much better. So sign up and share Bizzy with your friends and family to get the scoop on where to eat, shop and play.

Bizzy has released lists of the most favorited local restaurants in the top 10 cities gettin’ Bizzy including San Francisco, New York, Dallas, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, DC, Seattle, Shreveport, La., Boston and Austin, Texas. Visit http://blog.bizzy.com/the-bizziest-cities-in-america to see the lists.

Top 10 Restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area
1. Absinthe Brasserie & Bar
2. Pizzeria Delfina
3. Little Star Pizza
4. Yoshi’s San Francisco
5. Nopa
6. Cafe Borrone
7. DishDash
8. Coupa Cafe
9. La Fondue
10. Tied House Brewery & Cafe

Are some of your favorites in that list? Head to http://www.Bizzy.com and enter your favorites to start getting personalized local business recommendations. If you end up trying Bizzy and their recommendations, let them know how it goes! You could win $500 with their “Rec Check Challenge! Oh, and yes, there is an app for that: Bizzy.com/iPhone.

Tags: Boston, Chicago, Dallas, DC, dinner, eat, Google, Los Angeles, lunch, New York, play, recommendations, restaurants, San Francisco, shop, Washington D.C., win, Yelp
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