Girls In Tech

Guest blog entry written by Cliff Michaels, Author of “The 4 Essentials of Entrepreneurial Thinking”

Friends and I recently discussed social media nirvana at a birthday party. Main topic > All things being equal, who uses social media more effectively; men or women?

Members of our little soirée included 10 girls and 10 guys, ages 21 to 39. We had students, executives, artists, and athletes. There were no-tech and high-tech peers alike. Single, married, and parents were accounted for. Fair to say it was a diverse group.

Some were tech-haters and others were full-time social-media mavens. But everyone, in some fashion or another, used all three major tools (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter). After hours of debate, we also realized that everyone used social media for one of four objectives:

1.) We want to SELL something (product, service, idea)
2.) We want to SHARE content (news, music, photos, information, entertainment)
3.) We want to BUILD RELATIONSHIPS (friends, partners, clients)
4.) We want to COMMUNICATE something (humor, causes, knowledge)

Sell. Share. Communicate. Build relationships. Since selling and sharing are just forms of communication, it really boils down to two things: Communication and Relationships.

Soon enough, and almost unanimously, our group conceded that women were superior at the two skills needed for social media acumen (communication and relationship building). And although a late-night survey of 20 people at a party hardly serves as a global social study, we men were willing to concede 10 points across the board …

Top 10 Reasons Women are Better than Men at Social Media?

1. Emotional Intelligence> Women tend to be more self-ware and self-disciplined about their choice of words, therefore communicate better to a broader audience.

2. Social Intelligence> Women tend to empathize, get along, and read people better than men.

3. Listening> Women tend to listen better than men.

4. Open and honest communication> Women tend to share their feelings more than men which helps build trust in relationships

5. Humility> Women will admit when they’re wrong or share what they don’t know sooner than men. Men will drive around for hours before they ask for directions.

6. Commitment>The running joke in many relationships is that men have a more difficult time with commitment. If that’s true, women have a leg up on social media relations.

7. Curiosity> Women will often ask far more questions to learn about people. As a social skill, there’s no greater relationship-builder than showing genuine interest in someone before talking about oneself.

8. Diplomacy>The rule in social media is to share ideas and resources. While women are just as competitive as men, they tend to be more diplomatic in terms of sharing before selling.

9. Long-Term Thinking>Women are willing to put in more time to build relationships that last. Men prefer instant gratification.

10.Multi-Tasking >Enough said.

Final Thoughts

Naturally, there are exceptions to every rule. I know a few guys who can multi-task and a few girls who don’t communicate well. So be humble, honest, and authentic. As a famous President once said, there’s a “Tweetable” moment here.

Tags: Adriana Gascoigne, Cliff Michaels, girls in tech, social media, social networking, Women in Social Media, women in tech
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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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All the tech stars were aligned for the rock star themed Fashion’s Night Out, which was graciously produced by Hillary Gadsby of A Gadsby Affair, and hosted by Saks Fifth Avenue in Beverly Hills.  In case you didn’t hear the pre-event buzz, Fashion’s Night Out is a global initiative created by Anna Wintour of Vogue to celebrate the world of fashion.  And, let’s face it, it’s a good excuse to buy that coveted pair of shoes or the must have bag of the fall season.

The Girls in Tech enjoyed our signature GITini’s and snacked on hors d’ oeuvres and cupcakes by Frosted Cupcakery in our private VIP lounge.  Mingle Media TV covered the event and we will be posting interviews with shortly of some of our tech divas.  Other highlights of the evening included hair done by Blow LA, rock star makeovers, and let’s not forget a generous 15% off throughout the store, with 5% of proceeds going to our featured charity, Dress for Success.

Ladies shopped, mingled, and danced to a live DJ on every floor.  I even bought a fabulous new pair of Elizabeth & James heels, hey it was for charity!  This was one of our best events to date and we hope you will come next year to celebrate a night of fashion, technology and community.

Brought to you by LaurelK.com

Tags: a gadsby affair, beverly hills, fashion, Fashion's Night Out, girls in tech, hillary gadsby, laurel kaufman, laurelk, saks, saks fifth avenue, social networking, technology
Posted in All Chapters, All Chapters, Los Angeles | No Comments »

Girls in Tech LA is proud to announce its newest partnership – the Startup Demo event at Social Media Week LA.

Please join us for an evening of fun mingling with other startups, VCs, entrepreneurs, and technology enthusiasts.  StartupDemo (www.startupdemo.com) is an opportunity for early stage startups to showcase their new products and/or services. Founders use StartupDemo as an opportunity to get frank feedback from VCs, angels, peers and the technolust.  At StartupDemo, we’re all about one thing:  uncovering the latest and greatest technologies.  StartupDemo is produced by the same folks behind Schmoozd. Follow them  @startupdemo for more info and updates leading up to the event.

When: Wednesday,  Sept 22nd, 2010 – 5:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.

Where: Wokcano, 1413 5th Street, Santa Monica, CA

What: A Startup Demo event

Price: FREE

Register Here

Tags: event, social networking, startups
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Open – it’s a web buzzword so buzzy you can practically see the vuvuzelas flaring behind it. But, what does it really mean? And, why does everyone care so much?

But first, a little background. Most websites run like their own unique countries. They have specific rules, structures and languages in place to help the site communicate with its users, with its databases, with its developers, etc.  Because every site operates differently, it’s been historically difficult for programmers to create sites that can clearly communicate with each other in an efficient manner. That’s where the API – or application programming interface – comes in. To really simplify things, an API is like an interpreter that allows different sets of site code to communicate with one another coherently and consistently.

The past few years have really seen the rise of the API as an important part of a site’s structure, and as a major selling point for companies like Facebook and Twitter, whose API’s have allowed them to become more than just stand-alone websites. Thanks to API’s, these sites are now more like platforms, from which other developers can draw on the site’s databases and core functionality to create new features, programs and applications. They also allow sites to use information about the entire breadth of a user’s internet use – from the music you like on Pandora being promoted on your Facebook page to the friends you chat with on Gmail getting automatically loaded into your LinkedIn address book. And that’s where the whole open web thing comes into play.

The open web is basically a movement to standardize certain practices across the web, and to share data between developers and the sites they work for. It’s being heavily promoted by groups like the Open Web Foundation, who works to foster communication and collaboration across the web. But, it’s more conceptual than concrete.

Open Social, OpenID and the Facebook Open Graph are all concrete, code-based examples of the movement towards making the web more open.

Open Social, which was developed by Google and MySpace with help from various other partners,  is basically a set of APIs that allow users to sign in and share with one ID across sites that have implemented the OpenSocial code. Facebook’s Open Graph allows users to use their Facebook login information and data across a network of partner sites, and send and share content between their Facebook profiles and their profiles on these partner platforms.

Similarly, OpenID provides users with a single username and password, which can then be used across a variety of sites, including LiveJournal, Google and Yahoo. And, services like OAuth, which Twitter uses,  use the same sort of concept to allow users to give a single set of sign-in information for multiple sites – often with some restrictions on what kinds of data the sites you sign in to using those credentials can get access to.

These are all examples of a single service trying to make it easier for a user to take their login information, personal data and any content they’ve created or shared from site to site across the web. But, that’s not where this story ends. Now that so many of these services exist, there’s a bit of a battle going on to see if any one service can become the standard for everything social and shared across the web.

If any one service can stand out as the single place for users to get login credentials, store their data and share their content from, then the company behind it will have all sorts of power and influence on the internets. Not to mention major monetization opportunities, and unmatched access to all sorts of interesting information about pretty much every person who uses the web. Forget that silly little ring. On today’s web, it’s all about one registration to rule them all.

Of course, it’s not all as big brother as it sounds. In fact, these open web services are responsible for some of the coolest cross-site mashups and mobile apps around, and giving sites the ability to easily communicate with one another and share information across the internet is a surefire way to guarantee even more amazing innovations in years to come – and to save developers a whole lot of money on the Aspirin required to cope with the dizzying array of different standards and systems on the web today.

At this point, only time will tell how all of the new open web standards and services shake out. All I can say for sure is that it’s a really interesting time to be a web user – not to mention someone who works on the web.

And that, my friends, is what all the buzz is about.

Tags: Sharing, social networking, web
Posted in Los Angeles | 2 Comments »

Geek Girl Happy Hour!

Girls in Tech, Minneapolis welcomes Summer of 2010 with friendly drinks and sparkling conversations among our women in  technology, industry and academia, and all enthusiasts.

Please attend Girls in Tech Minneapolis for our “Geek Girl” Happy Hour!

This is a “just for fun” event . Let’s get to know each other well in fun non stressful way

When: Thursday, June 24th, 5.30 PM – 6.30 PM

Where: Joe Senser’s, 4217 American Blvd, West Bloomington, MN 55437

Cost: Free admission to this event.

RSVP: (required, in advance) http://gitmspgeekgirlhappyhour.eventbrite.com

Happy Hour Specials:

$2.50 short domestic taps/bottles, rail & call drinks, house wine, short senser teas, more…

Visit our website: Girls in Tech Minneapolis Chapter

Become a member: Register here!

Follow us on Twitter: @GitMinneapolis

Join us on Facebook: Girls in Tech Minneapolis

Attend This Event

Tags: event, girls in tech minneapolis chapter, happy hour, mixer, social networking
Posted in All Chapters, Event, Events, Minneapolis | 2 Comments »

I admit that this is a pretty self-indulgent blog post, but so many people ask me about my work experience and the launch of my new company, that I thought I’d dedicate a post to it.

I’m Christine Kirk, but many simply know me by my Twitter handle, @LuxuryPRGal. I definitely respond to both names so feel free to call me whichever you prefer. I started my career in PR at various in-house positions including a law firm, and renewable energy company. I eventually merged into agency life at a tech/consumer lifestyle shop in LA, where in the early 2000s, I was introduced to social media as we know it, with the start of Friendster and developing my blogger relations skills. I was hooked right away, and was then brought on-board at a luxury hospitality agency to introduce many of their high-profile clients to social media. In December 2009, I finally took the leap and launched my own company, Social Muse Communications, a social media marketing consultancy firm for luxury travel, restaurant, tech and lifestyle brands in Los Angeles.

Meet the Muse

PR agencies across the board have gone through hell and back in the past 2 years — due to the economic climate, and the rapid changes in traditional media as we know it – and at the same time. Let me be clear here — traditional media is not dying. It is changing, and in my opinion, for the better. Print and boradcast media outlets are interacting with their readers and viewers in ways they never had the opportunity to before — and it’s making the news much more relevent..and even accountable. For various reasons (including finances, fear, ignorance, etc.) many PR agencies have not quickly adapted to the changes taking place all around us. Some have done a great job, while others are still playing catch-up. Personally, I never want to “catch-up” to anything, and would prefer to be at the forefront of one of the most exciting revolutions in recent history. There are many PR people who have embraced this “new PR” and who are inspirations of mine including, @NicoleJordan, @BrianSolis, @skydiver (Peter Shankman).

Social Muse Communications is employing a whole new type of public relations and Return on Influence (the new ROI) – there is no one way for a brand to reach their target audience. Simply securing a placement in a glossy magazine, or a news segment on television, is not going to cut it anymore. To go from a good, to an excellent communications strategy, a brand must get in front of consumers through many different levels of media – print, broadcast, online, blogs, and social networking sites. This new world of PR gives PR practitioners the opportunity to communicate not only with media, but also with a brand’s customers directly — and that “high-touch” level of communications is what is most effective to enhancing a brand’s bottom-line. Through real relationship building, both online and offline, people (consumers) are more receptive to hearing and acting on PR messages when it comes from a PR person who has taken the time to get to know them. I personally have over 7,500 followers on Twitter and cannot believe the amazing wealth of knowledge, expertise, inspiration, new business leads, media contacts, bloggers contacts, humor, and friends I have made.

Social media is not, and should never be the only tool in a PR pro’s toolbox, but it just might be my favorite.

Christine Kirk is founder and principal at Social Muse Communications, a social media marketing consultancy firm for luxury travel, restaurant, tech and lifestyle brands in Los Angeles. She also holds the position of PR Manager for the Los Angeles chapter of Girls in Tech. She can be reached via e-mail at christine@socialmuse.com or on Twitter @luxuryprgal.

Tags: @LuxuryPRGal, Brian Solis, Christine Kirk, facebook, Friendster, HARO, Nicole Jordan, Peter Shankman, PR 2.0, PR 3.0, public relations, social media, social networking, twitter
Posted in All Chapters, Los Angeles | 2 Comments »

Girls in Tech’s Minneapolis Chapter, is launching and we want to see YOU at the celebration!

Come and connect with your fellow tech ladies and enthusiasts, and find out what the Minneapolis chapter has in store for you.

(PS: This event is co-ed. All  are welcome!)

When: Saturday, May 15th, 4.00 PM – 6.00 PM

Where: Grumpy’s Bar and Grill, Downtown Minneapolis, 1111 Washington Ave. S

Cost: Free admission to this event.

RSVP: no later than 11.00 AM on May 15^th

http://gitmsplaunch.eventbrite.com

Visit our website: Girls in Tech Minneapolis Chapter

Become a member: Register here!

Follow us on Twitter: @GitMinneapolis

Join us on Facebook: Girls in Tech Minneapolis

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Urvashi Mishra

Managing Director, Girls in Tech, Minneapolis

@urvashi_mishra

Tags: facebook, girls in tech, girls in tech minneapolis, girls in tech minneapolis chapter, GIT, launch, Minneapolis, minnesota, networking, party, social network, social networking
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In celebration of Women’s History Month, Girls in Tech is offering the fourth in a series of interviews with leaders in the technology field. Today, we’re featuring Sophie Farrell, account manager with Google Online Sales. Stay tuned for the final in our series of posts Leena Rao, TechCrunch.

Cheers,
The Boston GIT Team

1. What’s the biggest mistake you’ve ever made and what did you learn from it that’s worth passing along to others?
While it can be uncomfortable to take a problem with a teammate and tackle it head on, I have found that the most difficult situations I have been in and the biggest mistakes I have made have come from times when I chose to shy away from a difficult conversation. These are times when just one meeting or discussion would have undoubtedly fixed the problem, repaired a line of communication or mitigated frustration before it grew into something bigger. If you see a problem or identify a teammate who is not holding up his or her end of a bargain, tackle the situation head on as quickly as you can – you’ll thank yourself later.

2. What’s your biggest success in the workplace?
Diversity of experience. I take great pride in the fact that, during my time at Google, I have had the opportunity to develop a variety of skills at work. Whether fulfilling the role of strategic advisor to my clients, mapping out the global roll out of a new Sales operation or partnering with marketing to drive user adoption across Google products, I have created and taken advantage of an array of opportunities. While these experiences have afforded me opportunities to succeed, I consider my greatest success to be the variety of situations that I have pushed myself to succeed in.

3. What’s your life or work motto?
“Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from indomitable will.” This is a Mahatma Gandhi quote that I have always kept on a note above my desk. I have heard it recited by Lance Armstrong and co-workers alike and I believe it speaks to the true source of our power. There will always be someone more qualified, smarter, faster or more experienced, but it is completely up to you as to whether or not anyone will have a stronger will than you. I believe an indomitable will can translate to incredible success.

4. What woman in history inspires you most and why?
While she is not a historical figure, I have a genuine admiration for Ursula Burns, CEO of Xerox. As the CEO of a major American company, Ursula remains true to herself and the principles of hard work. She worked tirelessly to rise to where she is and appears to balance assertive and respectful in a remarkable way. As she says, there is “stuff that happens to you and then there is stuff you happen to.” I admire the grace with which she handles the stuff that happens to her and the tenacity with which she makes the rest of it happen.

5. What piece of technology can you not live without?
In thinking about this question, I have realized that, during the past year or two, my answer has transitioned from my computer to my cell phone. Assuming that is the case for more people than just me, it speaks volumes to the potential that lies ahead for the mobile industry as we continue to transition our dependence on the Internet from desktops to mobile devices. That said, whether it’s talking to my friends and family, checking my email or listening to Pandora, I couldn’t live without my cell phone!

6. What tech trend are you following for 2010?
Geo-located social networking. This space is flooded with innovation from small startups (Foursquare, Toodalu) and strong companies (Google, Facebook, Twitter) alike. I am personally drawn to the way Toodalu.com is building a visual, maps based approach. This type of technology will transform the way we interact within our social circles.

7. What one piece of advice would you give the Girls in Tech of tomorrow?
If you want it, ask for it. If you’re inspired by somebody, ask to have coffee with him or her. If you have an idea, find someone who can help your grow it. If you have a passion, chase it. I believe most people fall into three buckets. Those who wait for things to come to them, those who work hard and believe that in time that will get them where they need to go, and then those who not only work hard but spend time knocking on doors, tackling challenges, and asking for guidance, advice and a seat at the table. It’s the third group, the trailblazers, that not only get to do exciting things, but they accomplish great things.

Cell phone, a pen and sunglasses. The phone is my connection to everyone and everything. The pen is because I have found myself in some of the most inspiring and interesting conversations that I have ever had while living in Silicon Valley – having a pen to write down ideas, contact information or even questions has become crucial. Finally, the sunglasses are for the weather in California. After growing up in the Midwest and then spending four years in Boston, it wasn’t difficult to get used all the sunshine out here!

Tags: Boston, girls in tech, GIT, Google, San Francisco, social media, social networking, tech, women, women in tech
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Since its launch in February, Google Buzz has dominated headlines from the blogosphere to the twittersphere, and every social media sphere in between. From people decrying it as yet another nail in the coffin of personal privacy to people applauding it as a bold step forward for communication and collaboration, Buzz has certainly lived up to its name – at least in terms of all the attention its gotten in the past month.

So what is Buzz? Well, according to Google itself “Google Buzz lets you share updates, photos, links, and pretty much anything else you’d like with your Gmail contacts; it’s an easy way to follow your friends, too. When you click Buzz in your Gmail account, you’ll see the stream of posts from people you’re following, and a box for you to post your updates.” So basically, Buzz is a way for you to post items that are shared with your Gmail contacts, and people who follow you on the service. Sort of like a Facebook status update for your Gmail.

Of course, like any good web product, there’s a lot more to it than just the elevator pitch. Buzz is already proving to be a valuable tool for soliciting feedback on a project, gathering opinions on a popular topic and finding targeted information that’s relevant to you. Which, of course, makes it a social media marketer’s wet dream, and has advertisers salivating over the possibility that Google may now have yet another place to distribute its patented brand of extremely targeted ads.

But, if you’re not looking to solicit feedback from your friends or sell something to your followers, why should you use Buzz? Well, the answer lies in that whole targeted information thing. That’s right, Buzz is yet another stream of information you can tap into to find out what’s trending and what your friends are talking about. But, because it maps back to your Gmail contacts, the theory is that it’s even more targeted than Twitter, more focused than Facebook and more interesting than random RSS feeds. The idea is that if you’re subscribing to people you already communicate with regularly via email, you will be more interested in what those people have to say than what Followed #4,238 on Twitter is talking about. And, of course, there are all those nifty Google algorithms to help really steer your Buzz stream.

I’ve been using it for a few weeks now, and I have to say my feelings are mixed. Mostly because I haven’t yet been able to really slot Buzz into my daily social media habits. Between Twitter, Facebook, Google Reader, Reddit, Delicious, Stumble and the occasional email update from my mom, I’m pretty well situated when it comes to keeping abreast of the news and information I care about. So far, Buzz hasn’t yet evolved from a fun distraction into a daily information addiction the way those other services have. That said, now that there’s a Buzz iPhone app, I might finally be able to find a way to fit that fun new distraction into my daily routine. If only so I can make more “I just got so buzzed” puns on Twitter.

Tags: buzz, Google, google buzz, social media, social networking
Posted in Los Angeles | 1 Comment »