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Women Who Tech Panel at SWSX: Has The Glass Ceiling Ever Smacked You In The Butt?
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jstar/
This week the allmighty SWSX conference takes place in Texas, USA, where the world gathers to discuss new developments in technology. As women & technology is still a hot debated topic, Allyson Kapin, of Women who Tech is leading a panel on the issue.
She says in the Austin Chronicle: While 30% of the tech labor force is women and 40% of all private firms are female-owned, women only receive around 10% of start-up cash. The tough news, she said, is that women in tech must “promote the hell out of themselves. … A lot of PR folks don’t like the word ‘expert,’ but if you are an expert in your field, embrace it. Don’t shy away from it.” She added, “It’s not very insightful to hear from the same few men in tech about their perspectives on the industry.”
Women Who Tech has devised a panel to discuss precisely these issues on Saturday March 13. 2010 at 11.00 am, Hilton E
Bumpin’ Up: Has The Glass Ceiling Ever Smacked You In The Butt?
Who’s to blame for creating the digital-ceiling? Upper management? Rawk star “techies” who fill their presentations with porn? Venture Capitalists who don’t fund enough women start-ups? Ourselves? Join tech and social media gurus for a thought-provoking discussion on cracking the boys-club and getting what you want. These are the questions that are to be answered, and you can twitter your comments via #sxsw
1. Who do you think is building the digital ceiling and why does it even exist in the first place?
2. What tools and strategies should women be use to promote themselves and brand themselves as experts in their field? Read more
Being an Ambassador for Female Entrepreneurs, that is: without the Chocolate!
Nadine Hill, aka The Dream PA, is UK Ambassador for Women Enterprise. She tells TheNextWomen about her new role:
If you are a woman in her mid 30’s like me, you may remember a chocolate advert from the 1990’s where the Ambassador had many Receptions, noted in Society! As an Ambassador for Enterprise UK, I’m happy to report that I have been to many Receptions, but unfortunately, there has never been chocolate on offer!
My most recent escapade was a trip to Downing Street where I was invited to attend a Reception to celebrate the success of Britain’s small and medium sized businesses! The Downing Street events team had heard about me through Enterprise UK, and along I went with around 50 other business people, to the event where I met one of my business heroes, Lord Alan Sugar!
Female Ambassadors Program
Another newsworthy event in my Ambassadorial role was when I represented the UK and flew to Stockholm in October 2009 to speak at the launch of a Europe wide Female Ambassadors Program. There, I told the delegates about my role and how it has helped other people to start a business or become more enterprising. The event inaugurated 150 new Ambassadors to the campaign for enterprise, and feedback I got afterwards was that I had really helped them to see what they could each do in their local areas, to help inspire other people towards enterprise. It helps to hear how a woman like them has embraced and run with her role.
Visits to a Women’s Prison and my Former Highschool
But it hasn’t all been glamorous Receptions at the Prime Minister’s house or trips to Europe! I’ve been to a women’s prison to give a speech to the ladies there, watching their faces turn from boredom to interest as they realize what they could start to achieve upon their release. I’ve re-visited my former High School and handed out the certificates on prize giving night, after telling the young students about my journey from their seat to my own business via a stint in London where I had a glamorous career in fashion PR!
I’ve sat on ‘Dragons Den’ style panels to judge business ideas at colleges and at a local council event. I’ve also spoken to people who have been made redundant and are thinking about setting up their own business, answering their questions about the peaks and pitfalls.
Being an Ambassador is a voluntary role which means I’ve taken time out of my business and personal time to fulfill it, but I’ve gained more than I’ve lost. Read more
Female Internet Hero: Audio Interview with Caterina Fake of Hunch and Flickr
As part of our Female Internet Heroes series, and in conjunction with NCWIT (the National Center for Women & Information Technology), The NextWomen are publishing audio interviews highlighting a diverse group of women innovators from small companies, larger corporations, and non-profits, whose ideas and products are changing the way we think, work, play, and communicate. Listen as these women discuss how they first became involved with tech, why they chose to be entrepreneurs and what advice they would give to young people interested in IT or entrepreneurship.
Caterina Fake, Co-Founder of Hunch and Flickr and TNW Female Internet Hero
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Listen to the NCWIT Entrepreneurial Interview with Caterina Fake. |
Caterina Fake
Caterina Fake is a NextWomen Female Internet Hero and co-founder of Flickr, the popular photo-sharing site that helped transform the web into the participatory environment it is today. Flickr was launched early 2004, but Caterina’s love affair with the net and web development started as early as 1994 when she worked as an art director at Salon.com and on the development of online communities, social networks and personal publishing.
Born in Pittsburgh, PA, Fake graduated from Vassar College in 1991 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English. In 2001 she cofounded Ludicorp which in 2004 launched Flickr, later acquired by Yahoo! in 2005. While there, she worked on MyWeb and Yahoo! Answers and ran Yahoo’s Technology Development group, known for its Hack Yahoo! program, designed to stimulate innovation and creativity, and Brickhouse, a rapid development environment for new products.
In March 2009 her new company, Hunch.com which helps people make decisions and Read more
The Ladies go Gaga for Music Entrepreneurs
Here The NextWomen Events Editor, Misae Richwoods, waxes lyrical about Music4point5.
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Misae Richwoods (flickr cc: pevijo)
When it comes to the old sing-a-long, two girls who’ve been backing many an act are Petra Johansson and Rassami Hok Ljungberg, whose duo performances are made under the stage name of 2 Pears. Better known for their encore performances staging Tech Crunch Europe’s regular events, 2 Pears noticed that tech was starting to rock the music industry and put out a ballad called Music 4.5 to serenade the two together. Would it be an A-ha moment, INXS of expectations or Simply Red?
Panels
Held at Central London’s Cavendish Conference Centre near Harley Street, the line up was equally plush. An opening panel was made by The Guardian’s Jemima Kiss interviewing the head of The Performing Rights Society, Fergal Sharkey. Whilst half expecting him to break into a medley of ‘a good right these days is heart to find’, successive panels focussed on key topic areas and played a percussive chorus of music being a strong industry.
“Let’s get this clear,”
said Jeremy Silver of the FAC,
“all this talk of music being an industry in crisis is media hype. Look at the facts. Live music is massively on the up. Merchandising is on the up. The only area that technology has affected is recorded music and that’s the area that technology created in the first place.”
This was backed up by Chris Corey of the PRS
“From £1.3bn to £1.4bn last year in recorded, music is a growing industry and a great industry to be in”.
“The issue,” continued Jeremy, “is simply of an industry trying to modernise itself. And like the Post Office, it’s messy!” Read more
The NextWomen Invite Female Entrepreneurs to Dine with Michelle Dewberry and Chiconomise
Continuing with their ever popular series of Kitchen Dinners, The NextWomen are excited to announce their newest feast – Dine with Chiconmise on Wednesday March 24th, 2010 in London. Join Michelle Dewberry in The NextWomen’s very own kitchen for an intimate dinner and learn more about the ‘act of living stylishly for less’ from the founding Chiconomist herself. Enjoy peer-to-peer networking with successful online female entrepreneurs, a three course meal, speed mentoring and a fascinating keynote.
BOOK NOW
For more details visit our kitchen dinner and upcoming events pages and watch the video from our hugely successful Big Kitchen Dinner and photos.
MICHELLE DEWBERRY
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Head Hunted by a Major Internet Service Provider
After leaving school in Hull aged 16 with no qualifications, Michelle Dewberry started her career with a modern apprenticeship in business. Alongside this, she studied IT in her spare time and quickly moved up the corporate ladder. Aged just 22, Michelle was head-hunted by a major Internet Service Provider to manage one of their biggest international projects. Following the successful delivery of this project, Dewberry established herself as a self employed consultant, managing multi-million pound projects spanning across Europe and Asia. She was just 23 years old.
Winner of The Apprentice
Aged 24, Michelle seized the opportunity to apply for the second series of BBC’s The Apprentice and beat over 15,000 people to become the first female and youngest winner of the show.
Founder of Michelle Dewberry ltd and Chiconomise Read more
Veuve Clicquot Business Woman of the Year Award Finalists Announced
Veuve Clicquot has announced the shortlist for its Business Woman of the Year Award, bringing together shining examples of female
entrepreneurship. This year the organisers say the Award places a greater focus on Corporate Social Responsibility. The finalists include for the UK:
- Victoria Stapleton, Founder of fashion retailer, Brora
- Gill Riley, Founding and Managing Directorof construction
firm, GGR-UNIC
- Laura Tenison, Founder and Managing Director of retailing
company, JoJo Maman Bebe
- Louise Wymer, Director of catering company, The Catering Academy
The judging panel is comprised of business leaders, including Martha Lane fax and Gail Rebuck, CEO of Random House Publishing House. Each nominee was judged, not only on financial results and commercial success but increasingly on how each business embedded
social and environmental responsibility within their businesses.
JoJo Maman Bebe founder, Laura Tenison, was selected because of the launch of the Nema Foundation, a Mozambiquebased charity for infant mortality. Gill Riley of GGR was highlighted because her work as a champion to equal opportunities for women in a male-dominated industry. Read more
100th Anniversary of International Women’s Day 2010 sees some Remarkable Achievements
Each year around the world, International Women’s Day (IWD) is celebrated on March 8. Hundreds of events occur not just on this day but throughout March to mark the economic, political and social achievements of women.
As this year was the 100th anniversary of Women’s International Day 2010 it was a day full of very special achievements. We are listing them and keep updating this list. Send us your news to include in this list.
1.Kathryn Bigelow made history last night after becoming the first woman to win an Academy Award for Best Director.
2. Ms Neelie Kroes, European Commissioner for Digital Agenda will be awarded The Aletta Jacobs Prize 2010 of the University of Groningen, The Netherlands. She is receiving the prize in honour of the major social developments she has supported for women.
3. Female lawyers in Saudi Arabia are embracing a proposed legal change that will enable them to practise for the first time. (Source: The Lawyer)
4. ‘100 British Women who changed the World’ have been named by The Independent , including Martha Lane Fox, Clara Furse of the Stock Exchange.
4. 49 Most Notable Female Internet Heroes of 2009 have been celebrated by The NextWomen.
Please complete the list with us! Send us your tips on simone [at] thenextwomen .com
Breaking the VC Funding Glass Ceiling for Female Entrepreneurs
Astia, Spring Board Enterprise and a few other organisation are supporting high growth women-led companies to attract VC funding. The question arises why there should be a specific women focus when it comes to helping with funding. In this video, Kay Koplovitz of Spring Board Enterprises explains the reasoning.
News is Consumed through Social Media and Customized Home Pages
According to an article written by Strategy Eye, the internet has now surpassed newspapers and radio to become the second most popular medium for accessing news in the US, behind only TV, according to a new report by the Pew Research Centre. The rise of the social web is a key driver for this online growth, with 75% of online news consumers saying they get news forwarded to them through email or on social networking sites.
The other findings are:
- Some 65% of US respondents say they do not have a favourite news source
- 51% of people who access news online and use sites like Facebook say they prefer to get news items from people they follow.
- Roughly the same percentage of online news consumers say they use social media and email to share links with others.
“The advent of social media, like social networking sites and blogs, has helped the news become a social experience in fresh ways for consumers,” claims the report. “People use their social networks and social networking technology to filter, assess and react to news.”
On newspapers and paywall it finds: Read more
Brazil Means Business Symposium – A 360 Degree View of an Emerging Economy
AMSTERDAM – Joana Picq, COO of The NextWomen will be speaking at the first edition of the Brazil Means Business Symposium, that will take place March 29th 2010, in Holland, showcasing some of the fastest growing Brazilian companies in the IT and Bio/Pharma sectors. If you are based in Holland or in the area on the day, take advantage of a special discount which allows all our readers a 10% discount with the code: NW
BOOK NOW
Brazil is a Great Place to Start a Business
Brazil has become an attractive market to do business in the last decade, according to the President of the Banco De Lage Landen, in the South of Brazil, Porto Alegre, Mr. Maarten Viskaal:
“Brazil is economically developing very well. Huge investments are planned for in infrastructure, energy and oil extraction. The middle-class is upcoming and pushing domestic demand for consumer goods and housing.”, and “more and more there will be a push into high-tech solutions”.
In Brazil, De Lage Landen provides vendor finance services to the agricultural, construction, healthcare, and technology sectors.
Mr. Viskaal, who has been based in the country for several years, and has witnessed the fast pace of transformation and greater economic stability, adds that the
“The scenario of Brazil diving into a deep economical crisis combined with hyper inflation and currency devaluation is something of the past. The country is economically well run and has a strong banking sector”.
Keen Interest in R&D Carried out by European Biotech Companies
There is keen interest from European entrepreneurs to export goods, biotech imagining equipment, and services to tap the huge consumers’ market that Brazil represents. And there is interest, from Brazilian companies, in biomedical R&D carried out by European biotech companies. Entrepreneurs, investors, market analysts, and technology startups interested in going to market, forming partnerships, and investing in Brazil will be attending the Brazil Means Business Symposium, to better understand how the emerging economy is poised for growth.
Brazilian Software Companies will Have a Huge Presence Read more
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