I'll meet you at the Ladies Room at Philly ETE

Every year at Philly ETE, I joke with some of the technical women that I know, that this is one of the few events where it is really easy to get into the ladies room.

The sad truth is last year, we only had 7% attendance of women in our audience.  My co-chair, Andrea, and I are constantly asked to increase the number of women speakers (which we have been diligently working on), but no one asks us to increase the number of women in the audience.

Well, I am starting a campaign called - A Line at the Ladies Room.  This year, I want a line that is reasonably long. I want to complain about how much time I had to stand in line.  Because attending conferences like ETE are important for professional development for technologists.

I asked my friend, long time attendee and ETE committee person, Audrey Troutt, why she attends ETE year after year.  She sent me this reason:

I make it a point to go to Philly ETE every year; I've been to a lot of technical conferences and it is the only one that I make a point to return to every year. There's always something that I learn about that ends up being useful in the coming months at work and in my side projects.

In this line of work the tools and platforms that we work with are constantly changing, so we need to be constantly learning and trying new things. There's a lot that you don't learn in school and that you won't pick up if you just keep your head down at work every day hammering on the same old problems with the same old tools. You need to seek out new knowledge and understanding. Reading blogs, wikis, stack overflow, reddit and trolling github will only get you so far. Philly ETE is a great conference for catching up on current and up and coming tools and practices. The talks are never about marketing, so you know that you are going to get intelligent, practical insight about the topic or tool.

It also helps to know a lot of other technical people because when you get stuck on an hbase problem it helps to have a hbase expert as a friend that you can reach out to. Philly ETE is great for that too because it's not too big, not corporate--it's an exciting and friendly environment in which to get to know other technical people in the region. The audiences are small enough that you can ask questions while still big enough to feel comfortable if you just want to sit and listen.

It's local, it's intelligent, it's friendly and it really is a bargain compared to any other conference I have been to of this quality. Win. Win Win. You should go.

Please help me in my quest.  Encourage the women techies you know in your life to attend this year.  And have them introduce themselves to me when they attend. I will be the one in the line.

Off to the next adventure, thank you PSL

Last night was my last duty as a Philly Startup Leader board member. Knowing that this was coming has given me some time to think about the last 5 1/2 years of one of the most satisfying volunteer gigs I have ever had.

Chris Cera said it best last Thursday at Founder Factory, the startup community was not exactly jumping when PSL was started. There was no Start Up Weekend, no Technically Philly, no DreamIt, Ventureforth, Benjamin's Desk, SeedPhilly or Philly tech meetup. But there was a group of people who wanted to connect with each other, learn from each other and try and build tech businesses.
I feel pretty lucky that I have been able to help in the building what is now the largest community of entrepreneurs in Philadelphia. I love my city and I believe our region has special qualities that allow us to build great companies. I have meet others in our city and region who feel the same way, many of them who have become life long friends.

As much as I have given to the community, I have received back in new knowledge, connections and experience. I know we have built a sustainable organization that at its heart will continue to lead the region’s entrepreneurs in new and better directions. I am excited to see what the new leadership team will create over the next several years.

And if you are thinking of getting involved in PSL, don’t wait to be asked, just jump in.  It will be one of the most worthwhile experiences you will ever have.

So thank you to everyone on the board and leadership team.  It has been a privilege to work with you.

Tracey

Open Letter to TechCrunch

"I’m as mad as hell, and I am not going to take this anymore" – Howard Beale, Network  (1976)

I opened my Facebook stream Monday morning to be greeted by an article posted by a friend about the debacle that was the recent TechCrunch Disrupt Hackathon.

I usually avoid commenting on these issues. I am more concerned about creating positive action to combat some of the negativity caused by a lack of sensitivity or just plain boneheadness by men in the tech industry.

But then I was virtually punched in the gut by Titstare.com and a presentation that included simulated male gratification at what was supposed to be a leading tech conference -- and I realized I can't stay silent anymore.

There has been much made of the gender divide in recent years. For more than a decade, I’ve been working in technology and studying this problem up close, which is how I came to realize there is no one silver bullet to this issue. The solution involves many steps and many people pitching in.

The only way to maximize the value of the untapped resource that is women in tech is to change the culture, not just in the workplace, but also in society.

Groups like TechGirlz and Girl Develop IT can train and teach and create girls and women who are ready to be tech workers. But if the culture does not change -- if women are not considered part of the team or are thought of as sexual objects in an overt way or if we are treated like we don't belong -- this gender gap won’t be solved. And all the work that groups like ours do will be laid to waste.  

That makes me angry. 

For four generations, women have been cut, prodded and dissuaded from the technology picture. The first computer programmers on the ENIAC were simply cropped out of the Army’s publicity shots. In the 1980s, the percentage of women studying computers in college began its decades-long decline. We can’t forget the first Danika Patrick ad for GoDaddy in 2010, though I wish I could.  And now one of the most respected media outlets covering tech allowed not one, but two, travesties at its conference. 

That makes me mad as hell.

So, let’s put this in terms that will make those who sponsor events like TechCrunch and those that depend on educated tech workers think twice: you need us.

The number of job openings versus the number of qualified tech workers is widening. There are not enough men to fill open positions. Women are getting more college degrees and becoming a greater part of the workforce. 

If you want to make sure your companies will be sustainable for years to come, don't allow this behavior to continue.

The media frenzy around this event and the ensuing flurry of content and discussion will fade shortly ... then return again with the next round of idiocy.

My question for you: What are you doing to create lasting change?

TechCrunch screwed up, issued a lame apology and offered up a process for the next Disrupt. That is great, all good stuff, but the most important thing was still missed: regular positive action to increase the number of women in tech and to create a welcoming workplace culture.

Now is the time and TechCrunch has the opportunity to make significant cultural changes. I have some suggestions:

● Assist TechGirlz.org, Girl Develop It, Black Girls Code, ChickTech, CyberJutsu Girls and the numerous groups doing the heavy lifting by helping them raise money by getting our message out.

● Create a dedicated new channel on the website to generate stories and videos which encourage women and girls to enter the field. We know that knowledge is power.

● Help us with research. There is a lack of good, up-to-date data on why this problem continues to exist. Most of our groups don't have the resources to conduct this.

Yours truly,

Tracey Welson-Rossman

Founder, TechGirlz.org

CMO, Chariot Solutions

TechGirlz Board of Trustees

Anita Garimella Andrews

Tech Girl and VP, Client Analytics Services @RJMetrics

Amy Larrimore

Managing Partner at The Empire Builders Group

Neelan Choksi

President and COO of Tasktop Technologies

Steve Rossman

Drucker and Scaccetti

I am Voting on Tuesday

Dear friends, family and colleagues,

I am writing this today about the election to urge you to vote and to take the time to encourage other women to do the same.

This election, more than any other in the past, allows women to show why our voices and ideas should be heard.  We comprise over 50% of the population, our constituency can tip many of the races that are dominating the country.

Our issues are not only about equal pay, women's health and access to medical services, protection of women's rights, but also the economy, the budget and how it affects social services, and foreign affairs.  

As women who are invested in our community, please pass this note along to your networks and show that women are a formidable voting block.

 

I will be proudly be casting my vote for Barack Obama.  I believe that he is invested in protecting women's rights today and in the future. 

Best,

Tracey

What I did not get to say at the Philadelphia Geek Awards

This past Friday, me and my co-organizers of the Women in Tech Summit were fortunate enough to have been chosen the winners of the Event of the Year at the Geek Awards.  I honestly was not expecting to win.  I realized after we left the podium how much I did not get to say. I knew I should have written a few words down!

First, I forgot to wish my husband a Happy 22nd Anniversary.  Without him supporting all of the activities I am involved with in Phila., I do not think this or other events would happen. 

Next, I did not thank my co-organizers.  Gloria, Amy, Yasmine, Kimberly, Roz, and Pam took a chance on this idea of bringing all parts of the women in tech community together.  Creating an event that was a different direction than most women’s events out there was a challenge and a risk.  Their guidance and added vision made the event the success that it was.

Third, I did not thank my employer, Chariot Solutions, for encouraging and allowing me to work on these extracurricular projects.

Last, I want to recognize the Philly tech and startup community.  I believe the  reason we have been growing is due to the support we receive from everyone in the community.  I can't speak to other cities, but I do not see this concentrated activity anywhere else. This encouragement and help we receive allows each of us who is running these programs (Girl Develop IT, TechGirlz, Geek Girl Dinners and more) to further succeed in our missions.

Customer Service and Social Media

I recently had an experience with a national retail chain that had me thinking about the relationship of customer service and how a company uses its social media presence to solve issues.

Let me give some background.

The chain in question will remain nameless, but I recently had a rant on my twitter account if you are curious.  I will tell you it is a men’s specialty store, My son, preparing for his first prom, and I had visited the store for his fitting and rental.  When he went to pick up the rental, the tux was incomplete, the jacket was missing from the order.   The store clerk gave us a UPS tracking number and promised us it would be in the store the next day.

Before leaving the office to pick up the jacket the next day, I decided to check the UPS information.  The tracking number given was for the original delivery. Curious and suspicious, I thought it best to call the store first.  On hold with the store for 10 minutes, it did not surprise me that the store manager had no clue about the missing jacket.  Prom is the next day.  Second fail.

Next fail came when I had to ask the store manager the plan of action.  He promised it would be there the next day after I raised me voice to the next level.  Third fail. I asked how I would be compensated for my inconvenience after not being offered anything.  Did anyone teach these folks how to handle an angry customer?

Being a bit hot under the collar, I took to twitter and facebook to see if I could find anyone in corporate who could help.  I posted a disgruntled twitter note which posts to my facebook account as well with the company's twitter name.  I noticed their account was  pretty much inactive.  I posted directly on their facebook page, which talked about sports and had nothing about suits.  My reach after a retweet by a friend, about 2500 people in all. No response from their office. Fourth fail.

The story does have a happy ending after I called the corporate office directly (which took a while to find the contact number on their website).  I had an extremely competent customer service manager who helped get the jacket in time.

But, this was after I think the damage had been done.  About 10 of my friends asked me directly what had happened at the store.  Remember, not all social media happens on line. 

There was no direct answer from their marketing or customer service center, even after I had alerted the corporate office (I managed to talk to the head of North America's customer service) to the fact I had posted on their site.  How damaging was this to their brand, how many other people have reached out to them this way and it has been ignored?   

Remains to be seen but I did hear recently their stock dropped 15% the week after my tirade.  Coincidence?