Girls In Tech

It’s hard to believe that less than a decade ago “twitter” was just a word used to describe the sound from a bird. “Thefacebook” was a website project created by a Harvard sophomore.  We all know what happened next.  Twitter, now with more than 200 million global users and Facebook, a social media giant with more than 800 million global addicts… er… users are at the heart of the social commerce boom.

What exactly is social commerce?  Social commerce is the fusion of two of the decade’s biggest digital trends – “social media” and “e-commerce”.   According to Moontoast, a Boston-based distributor of social commerce solutions, today’s brands have a lot to gain with this new way of purchasing and selling products and services.  In its e-book, “The Social Commerce Opportunity: How Brands Can Take Advantage of the Next Evolution Commerce”, brands who supplement their social media strategy with social commerce will not only “increase revenue, but also increase community growth”.

If you’re a business, off the bat you should ensure you have an online presence.  Furthermore, if you’re looking to rapidly increase brand recognition, best believe that social media must be a component of your marketing arsenal.  Moontoast’s e-book touts some very compelling stats by Nielsen and Gartner illustrating how much time Americans spend on the Web and how much companies are expected to generate in revenue from the Web via social presence and mobile applications, respectively.

“The Social Commerce Opportunity” e-book outlines the following opportunities unique to social:

• Brands can reach engaged audiences than ever before.
• Brands can present offers better than ever before through a digital “word of mouth” phenomenon presented by social.
• Social drives adoption through confidence via repetition, user experience and trusted payment methods.

Building on this, it’s also important to note that today’s savvy, digital consumers also use the Web as a resource for savings.  In its Times & Trends Special Report, “The Downturn Shopper:  Buckled in for a Wild and Crazy Ride”, market research firm, SymphonyIRI, reported that the Web is rapidly becoming an integral component of what it calls the downturn shopper’s money saving strategies, pointing to a steady rise in shoppers using the Internet to research products and gather coupons.

The lesson here is this: social media is here and it’s here to stay.  People are spending lots of time on Web and even more on social media.  Many are already relying on social media to learn about products and deals, and it won’t be long before social media becomes the driving force for a majority of online purchases.  The folks at Moontoast say it best, “Social Commerce will not only help brands monetize social media efforts, but it will fit in seamlessly with social media strategies and offer new ways to reward people through exciting offers and a better user experience.”  Get with it.  Get social.

Tags: branding, e-commerce, facebook, Gartner, Moontoast, nielsen, Pamela Njissang, Social Commerce, social media, SymphonyIRI, twitter, word of mouth marketing
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Please join Girls-In-Tech for an evening of fabulous wine, keynote speakers,
and networking with the Bay Area’s top employers.
This event is an outstanding opportunity to connect with some of the Bay Area’s most accomplished leaders,
recruiters, and job seekers.

Register Now: http://gitajob2011.eventbrite.com/

Together, we’ll eat, drink and empower each other professionally and personally – providing an exclusive opportunity to join job seekers with outstanding employers, and learn insights from our keynote speakers about the job market today.

Companies attending the event will have access to the Girls-in-Tech membership and all resumes from event participants.

This event will sell-out and space is limited to the first 200 registrants. Early Bird registration is available for both job seekers and companies for a short time period. Once GIT publishes the finalized list of employer-attendees, prices WILL go up! Please note, without advanced tickets your resume will not be distributed to employers in advance of this event.

Speakers:
Rebecca Meissner, BranchOut

Rebecca Meissner is the Director of Enterprise Products at BranchOut, the largest professional networking application on Facebook.  In this role, Rebecca leads the product, design, and development teams building all BranchOut’s corporate offerings.  Prior to BranchOut, Rebecca worked as a Product Manager for Disney Interactive Media Group, an HR Business Partner for Playdom, and as a recruiter for a number of VCs, private equity firms, and large investment banking groups in San Francisco.  She has degrees from both Boston University and the University of California, Berkeley.

Olivia Watkins, Twitter

Olivia Watkins is a Technical Sourcer for Engineering at Twitter.

More Speakers TBA!! Stay Tuned!

Sponsors:
CloudCard – Share business cards from phone to phone.

Use our apps to share your card directly, peer to peer, from phone to phone. You can even share your card with multiple people at the same time if they have our app installed. Or, send your cards directly via email. Only person in the room with Cardcloud on your phone? Send your card directly to (multiple) email(s). Recipients receive a beautiful card with your logo, contact information and social networking profiles. They can store the card directly on their phone thanks to Cardcloud’s vCard support.

Featuring Guidebook App:

Guidebook is the best and simplest way to create a mobile guide – Going mobile has never been this easy! Guidebook allows attendees to access your event’s entire schedule right from their mobile device. Plus, they’ll never miss a session, panel or activity with our easy-to-use mobile alerts. Guidebook, located in Palo Alto on California Avenue, is looking to add talented mobile developers to our team!

Special Thanks to Founders Den for hosting our event!

Founders Den is a shared office space and private club for experienced entrepreneurs and their friends. Founders Den’s unique approach combines a selectively curated startup community with a focus on experienced entrepreneurs and graduates of accelerator programs. Space at Founders Den is offered on an invite-only basis to startups referred through the networks of the Founders Den community. Founders Den also provides a home base for experienced entrepreneurs who are between projects.

May 24th, 2011
Founder’s Den http://www.foundersden.com
665 3rd, Suite 150
San Francisco, CA 94107
6:00-9:00 PM

Tags: branchout, event, facebook, founders den, Job, mixer, networking, recruiter, twitter
Posted in Events, Girls In Tech, San Francisco, santa cruz, Silicon Valley | No Comments »

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 aren’t a Michigander, it might surprise you to learn that we’re working hard to become known as a hub for entrepreneurs and technology, digital and art enthusiasts. From Quicken Loans Founder & Chairman Dan Gilbert committing to turning a portion of downtown Detroit into a center of software and high-tech innovation, to five-day events like Art X Detroit that present newly commissioned works from local artists, the creative revolution that has quickly gained ground over the past several years is both infectious and long overdue.

The Girls in Tech Detroit chapter wants to educate our GIT counterparts around the world about how our region is contributing to the development of the technology and digital spaces, so we’d like to start by introducing you to the FutureMidwest Conference (disclosure – I’m part of the communications team), taking place April 28-29 in Detroit.

FutureMidwest is the Midwest’s largest digital business conference. Initiated in 2009, the two-day conference is designed for executive management and decision makers from corporate, small and midsized businesses, entrepreneurs, brand managers, marketing, communication professionals, students and professionals in the digital/technology spheres. Presenters offer advice on implementing digital strategies to engage audiences and boost company profitability. FutureMidwest focuses on the impact of technology in five areas: integrated marketing, user experience, mobile, business intelligence/analytics and regional growth.

In two conference sessions, led by digital and marketing professionals, participants will learn about emerging business technology trends and ways to incorporate digital strategies into their marketing and business operations. A third session will be devoted to networking with professionals from the startup community, venture capital firms and other industries.

One new element added to the FutureMidwest Conference this year is Funded By Night, a one-day competition to fund technology startups that will compete to win a $100,000 convertible note from two metro Detroit local venture capital firms.

Not the typical conference you would expect to take place in Detroit, right?

While the conference program differs each year, you can check out the following presentations from 2010 presenters Joe Jaffe and Ken Burbary to get a sense of what you can expect.

I welcome you to check out the FutureMidwest Conference website, Facebook page and Twitter stream to learn more about this technology and digital conference. Feel free to ping me directly on Twitter with questions.

What technology events or movements are happening in your neighborhoods that you want the GIT community to know about?

Photo credit

Tags: Art X Detroit, business, creativity, Dan Gilbert, Detroit, digital, entrepreneurs, facebook, Funded By Night, FutureMidwest Conference, Girls in Tech Detroit, innovation, Joe Jaffe, Ken Burbary, Michigan, Quicken Loans, technology, twitter
Posted in Detroit, Events | No Comments »

You can never be too careful about what you post on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media networks.

A recent survey by California-based data security company Proofpoint found that 20% of the companies surveyed had investigated whether confidential company information had been exposed on a social networking site (including Facebook, MySpace and Linkedin) during the past twelve months (up from 12% over the last two years).  In addition, 20% of the companiessurveyed haddisciplined an employee for violations of company social network use policies (up from 10% in 2009) and 7% reported that they had terminated an employee for violating such policies.

It’s no secret that companies are also monitoring employees’ social network accounts and tweets more frequently than in the past to determine everything from whether employees’ online conduct might be harming the company’s public image to whether employees are lying about being out sick.

Here’s a roundup of some recent cautionary tales that have hit the news:

• A Connecticut school superintendent was fired after posting inappropriate status updates to his Facebook page during his first few days on the job.  The postings, which cost him his $150,000-a-year job, included: a comment that he slept in until 10:00 a.m. on his first day of work and that it would be “the best job ever” if that happened every day; and “counseling an administrator to retire or face termination. : )”.  (Reported by several Connecticut news outlets, including: www.necn.com and www.ctnow.com)

• Five nurses were fired from a hospital in Oceanside, California after they were caught discussing patient information on Facebook (causing concerns about HIPPA violations).  They were fired despite that fact they did not post any patient names, pictures, or other identifying information. (Reported by several San Diego news outlets, including: www.nbcsandiego.com and www.signonsandiego.com)

• An employee at a European insurance company was fired after her employer discovered she was actively using Facebook after she had requested leave, saying that she felt ill and needed to rest away from her computer.   (Reported by the Economic Times)

Maybe the above examples sound like something you would never do, but people have been fired for things far less obvious.  The new Facebook group “Fired Because of Facebook” has created a forum for employees to share their woes.  These incidents may not have made the news, but they are definitely anecdotes that people should read.

Meredith Davis Williams is an employment law attorney at Miller | Williams LLP in Los Angeles and can be reached at (213) 426-2144, mwilliams@millerwilliamslaw.com, or @MerEsqLA.

Tags: facebook, Fired Because of Facebook, Fired over Facebook, girls in tech, linkedin, Los Angeles, Meredith D Williams, social media, social networks, twitter, Using Social Networks at Work
Posted in All Chapters, Los Angeles | 2 Comments »

PLEASE NOTE: THE DATE HAS CHANGED FOR THIS EVENT – SEPTEMBER 2ND

Tags: Evan Williams, girls in tech, KickLabs, microblogging, twitter, women in tech
Posted in Events, San Francisco, Silicon Valley | 2 Comments »

Talk about “girls in tech” — a new live chat on Twitter hosted and moderated by seven savvy women seems to epitomize the phrase!

Launched just two months ago in June 2010, #luxurychat is a live chat on Twitter discussing the intersection of social media and luxury. The list of all the co-founders of #luxurychat can be found in the image below. The live chat takes place on the third Wednesday of every month. Being a PR and social media consultant for luxury brands, I have been increasingly approached about the void in live Twitter chats addressing the topic of how luxury brands can effectively use, and have effectively used, social media to market their brands.  Having corresponded on Twitter regularly with six other tech and marketing savvy women in similar industries, we banded together and formed #luxurychat.

The response has been overwhelming.

In just it’s very second incarnation, we featured travel industry expert, and social media pioneer Mr. Simon F. Cooper, President of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company. We already have plans to feature more high-profile industry experts in the coming months…and believe we have touched just the tip of the iceberg of the scope and reach of #luxurychat.

We hope you join us live for our next #luxurychat on Wednesday, August 18!

Christine Kirk can be reached via e-mail at christine@socialmuse.com or on Twitter @LuxuryPRGal.

Tags: #luxurychat, Christine Kirk, luxury, online brand management, social marketing, social media, Social Muse, twitter, women in technology
Posted in All Chapters, Los Angeles | 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 »

Attensity360’s IdolStats.com monitored millions of conversations to choose Casey James as this week’s American Idol cast off and if the current social media buzz is correct, we may have a winner in the underdog this season as Lee currently has a HUGE percentage of the American Idol conversation happening now.

Idolstats uses the Attensity360 social media monitoring and analytics product to track the power of social media conversations to predict which contestant will be voted off each week. Millions of tweets, comments and social media conversations about American Idol are analyzed in order to gauge American sentiment toward contestants.

In addition to predicting a cast off each week, the team at IdolStats has also been reading the tea leaves on how heart-throb status , fan-dialing and the judges opinions contribute to who will actually come out on top.

Fans can view the real-time data at IdolStats.com throughout the week to find out America’s uncensored opinion and tweet their own predictions based on updates and new data. Fans can visit the Idol Stats blog, http://blog.idolstats.com and follow the Twitter hashtag #IdolStats to keep updated on IdolStats.com and the community.

Success in selecting the American Idol cast off comes on the heels of Attensity Group’s acquisition of Biz360 enabling them to now offer the industry’s most powerful and easy-to-use analysis, delivery and response capabilities, enabling businesses to effectively listen, analyze, relate, and act on information, both inside and outside of the firewall.

Tags: american idol, attensity, attensity group, biz360, casey james, idol, lee dewyze, social media, social web, twitter
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On April 22, the Los Angeles chapter of Girls in Tech hosted an incredibly successful PR & Marketing 3.0 panel. The turnout was above and beyond what we expected and we were thrilled to be able to engage so many great minds on such a relevant topic.

The amazing panelists (if I do say so myself) were: Rynda Laurel @rynda (AF83, Bearstech & Hackable:Devices), Heather Meeker @heathermeeker (Whrrl), Babette Pepaj @bakespace (Bakespace, TechMUNCH & The Daily Bits), Amanda Coolong @acoolong (Tech Zulu, ThisWeekin.com & Beta PR) and me, Christine Kirk @luxuryprgal (Social Muse Communications). Unfortunately, the equally wonderful Nicole Jordan (Mobile Roadie) and Andrea Scott (Pom Wonderful) had last minute commitments that kept them from being on the panel as originally scheduled.

#GITPR Panelists

One thing for sure is that we were a group of opinionated, passionate, and incredibly intelligent ladies who had a lot to say. Online communications and the digital world is something we are all deeply involved with in our daily personal and work lives, and it couldn’t have been a livelier conversation.

If you couldn’t make it to the event last week, we hope you come out to the next one (we know it’s tough economic times, but price of entry is ten bucks, and you get to schmooze with gorgeous, smart women – what more can you ask for?)

At a high-level, some of the “golden nuggets” (if you will) provided by the panelists were:

• Press releases are NOT dead. They have undergone an evolution with the advent of the social media press release and are still relevant for SEO purposes. They are also a vehicle to disseminate your brand’s messaging the way you want, and in a controlled environment.
• Twitter and Facebook aren’t about the number of followers and friends that you have. Social media is about building brand awareness and making a direct connection with your customers and consumers and having a two-way dialogue with them.
• Twitter Lists are your friend! Use them to create organized groups on different topics, industries, etc. Start with www.wefollow.com for help.
• Social media is but one arrow in the quiver, don’t get caught with tunnel vision on this one channel of communication, and remember to use the many other avenues available to get your brand out there.
• Use geolocation services (FourSquare, Gowalla, Whrrl, etc.) as personal brand builders and “legitimize your work through your lifestyle.” If you represent hospitality brands for example, checking in to restaurants, hotels and spas builds confidence that you practice what you preach.
• How can you avoid Internet stalkers when using geolocation services? Check in when you check out. Only check in when you’re LEAVING a venue, not when you arrive.
• Twitter is great way to create relationships with media you want to pitch stories to. Use Twitter to really learn who a journalist is, what they cover, and how they liked to be pitched. Ask them questions, send them interesting articles and acknowledge them when they post a story they wrote. Build a legitimate relationship and they’ll be more willing to open your e-mail the next time you send one…
• Only small niches of people are actively on Twitter, so your message may not go far. Identify key influencers in other places online and off who can take your message beyond social media.
• Geolocation is here to stay, so you better start learning FourSquare, Gowalla, and Whrrl to stay on top of your game.

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: Amanda Coolong, Babette Pepaj, Christine Kirk, facebook, FourSqaure, geolocation, Heather Meeker, online communications, Rynda Laurel, social media, twitter, Whrrl
Posted in All Chapters, Los Angeles | 1 Comment »