Ottawa is having their very first WordCamp on April 27th and it's going to be great. You usually have to travel to Toronto or Montreal to catch one of these events and we are fortunate to have it in our backyard in a couple of weeks.
This session has 3 tracks
“Content Creators” with presentations that will help users that create content in WordPress sites.
“Site Creators” with content for those who are more experienced users, but not necessarily designers or developers.
“Code Creators” will include presentations for designers or developers about site set-up, theme design, plugin development, best practices for development, and more
They will have an unconference session on “The Role of Women in the WordPress Community”, a panel discussing “Building Your Business, Cause, or Brand using WordPress”, a pre-camp “Introduction to WordPress” and a the “Happiness Bar” where you can get one on one help with your WordPress questions.
So these women, on top of an already gruelling process of pitching and
due diligence, had to overcome additional obstacles, including investor
bias. So wouldn’t it make sense that this additional selection, though
unfair, means that only the very best women are able to get funding and
grow their businesses to successful exits? Viewed like this, the study
results are not surprising.
...
To me, the additional selection imposed on women through overt and
subtle stereotypes, biases, and differential treatment contributes to
fewer women in male-dominated fields, like running a tech start up, but
it also results in higher quality. This is analogous to survival of the
fittest.
What do you think? Do the women running these startups just happen to be better than average because they were the ones tough enough (or smart enough, or whatever quality you want to insert here) to make it? Is the same true of women in highly male-dominated fields like computer science and engineering in general?
I came across this video and wanted to share it with you. It's about Sabrina Gonzalez Pasterski who is very passionate about planes. She took her first flying lessons at the tender age of 9. By the age of 14 she build her first aircraft and flew it at the age of 16.
Her advice is to never let an opportunity to pass you by.
There has been a sudden increase in "top women in tech" lists lately, which is pretty awesome. Just wanted to stop by to share some of my recent favourites:
I was very happy to know I was one of the 4 students attending this event. However, I was a little surprised when I searched for the schedule and I saw that the first event was a PJ party :-) and I didn't know if it was literally a PJ party until I saw this video with Mary Cavanagh and Laura Brooker promoting the event. Mary was actually wearing her PJs on TV!
So, I prepared my PJs and arrived to the event. I have to say that in the last couple of year's as an executive of CU-WISE and WISE Ottawa I have been fortunate to participate in many networking events, but this one was out of the ordinary! Not only because we could be pampered with massages and facials, but also because you feel like being with girlfriends and honestly, once you're wearing your PJs, all communications barriers are down. I felt so comfortable talking to other people, not as frightening as business networking event seem to appear for WISE women. So, if you're organizing a networking event for women, I would suggest to follow this example.
You can see more pictures about this event at the event's Facebook page.
Next day was full of talks and more fun events. Although this event was focused for Female Entrepreneurs, most of the advice and suggestions given by speakers and panelists can be applied to all women pursuing a career.
One of the first speakers, Lisa Lajoie talked about listening to our intuition, what feels right, and what really raises a flag. As a scientist and engineer, sometimes I forget about it, so this was a nice reminder. She also mentioned how we can be our own enemies and we can be our worst enemies. This sounds very familiar to the impostor syndrome and that feeling of boicoting ourselves that we've discussed in previous posts. Some of the speakers also reminded us to be authentic, know what makes you unique and share your gifts with others.
Lorraine Mastersmith from Women Entrepreneurs of Canada announced the Ask Campaing which aims to ask women where they want them to be, we want to help provide women the tools to make the “Ask”. If you would like to contribute to this campaing, you can answer this poll. She suggested some tips to ask:
Do your homework and find the people whom you should ask.
Make the Ask in a say to secure the Answer you're looking for (make sure you propose a win-win deal). Don't ask, offer!
Go with a Big Ask.
We also had a social media showcase, where experts in social media (Facebook, Twitter, Forums, Newsletters) including Natasha D'Souza made a short introduction and went afterwards to separate tables to show how your company (or your career) can benefit from social media. Every now and then, Maryse Senecal from Myo-precision would remember us how we can take breaks of 5-10 minutest to strech and release tension in our upper body. Some simple movements can go a long way when you're 8-10 hours in front of the computer. I have now programmed a reminder to do some excercises every 2 hours and I can feel the difference.
The panel of Ottawa’s Million Dollar Women in Business includedHeather MacLachlan (Business Women of the Year 2007), Lisa Larter from Group which encompasses Parlez Wireless, an Authorized TELUS Dealership, and Lisa Larter Consulting. They shared that ont their own experience, is not about the numbers, or the million dollar in revenue, but doing things you're passionate about, giving back to the community and satisfying your standars, and not only your client's standards.
Balance: there's never a right or wrong, seek the balance in all things.
Evolution: evolution happens between order and chaos, find the gift in the chaos.
Interconnectedness.
Focus.
Purpose.
Gratitude.
For more blog posts about this event, you can check out the official Connect the Dots blog.
It was nurturing and empowering to meet all these women that shared her experience and advice with us. If you are thinking about being an Entrepreneur, I would encourage you to attend Connect the Dots 2010, which will take place in the Hotel Crowne Plaza in Ottawa and check out some of the Women's Newtorking Groups participating.
While doing some research on companies that are involved in sustainable and renewable energy (part of my job searching), I stumbled upon an article written last summer by TheStar titled "Women with Energy". What a neat title! The article states:
The first-annual event, called Women of Energy, was also about highlighting the progress that women have made in the sector, and the need to build a support network that also encourages female ranks to grow.
Why now? The invitation to the event explained it simply: "For the first time in Canadian energy history, there are three female presidents at the leading energy utilities."
And all of these women are based in Ontario!
from left to right: Laura Formusa, president and chief executive officer of Hydro One. Janet Holder, president of Enbridge Gas Distribution. Julie Dill, president of Union Gas.
Not surprisingly, one of the first questions asked of Formusa – the only one of the power trio with children – was about balancing a career with being a mother. "We have to show our children that moms can do it without killing themselves. That's why a support network is so important," she says.
Enbridge's Holder says it's a network the energy sector has lacked. "It's hard for women to look inside their organization and find other women with a similar life and values." Enbridge, Union Gas and Hydro One have agreed to take turns hosting the annual event, with an eye to building the network across Canada.
Somebody pinch me, I think I'm dreaming. Definitely looking forward to looking into this some more as I am quite passionate about sustainable energy, female support networks, and having a leadership role.
Just today I spoke to a friend of mine about a business idea she has. Listening to the passion in her vision made my heart race. I love it when women have great ideas and even better when they know exactly what they want to do with their ideas. Not everyone gets to that point at age 26 like my friend here. So the wheels in my head started turning and all sorts of resources came to mind (thanks to networking through WISE). I thought about it, searched the internet a little bit, and I realized that there is a lot of help available out there. Here is my advice to all of you entrepreneurs at heart:
Begin by making sure that your online presence is superb. Networking online is huge. Start with updating your profile on LinkedIn. Find people to connect with and ask people to write you recommendations. Join relevant groups, like the "Ottawa Talent Initiative Alumni and Friends","On Startups - The Community For Entrepreneurs", "Women for Hire", "She Geared", as well as all the groups I listed below. And don't forget to join the below organizations' mailing lists and contact them too.
Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) focuses on "stimulating knowledge transfer through the development of bright minds, moving their skills to the market". They provide workshops to help you get your business ideas together. It's focused on research and development in science and technology, but their workshops would help anyone for any business. And best of all the people who teach these workshops (ex. marketing) have a passion for helping young people do what they love in a business setting. I met a few of them and I've seen it.
The Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation (OCRI) is "Ottawa's lead economic development corporation bringing business, education and research together to help local technology companies thrive locally and compete globally". They hold lots of events that may help you network and gain knowledge. I know that a while back OCRI and OCE (as well as INSA) organized a keynote presentation by Apple Computer Inc. co-founder Steve Wozniak. Unfortunately it cost $60 for members and $80 for non-members, including lunch. I do wish they would have made Steve a little more accessible while he was in town. Oh and look into OCRI's e2 Entrepreneur's Edge Program as well.
Women 2.0 is "committed to increasing the number of women entrepreneurs starting high growth ventures by providing the resources, network, and knowledge for the launch and growth of their company". Their vision is "to be a catalyst for change, mobilizing a global community of ambitious women entrepreneurs seeking to advance the world through technology". Women 2.0 is headquartered in San Francisco. For example, they have contests for best business proposals and help the winner start her business economically and socially. You can find them on LinkedIn, Facebook, etc..
This should get you on the right track. Just follow your gut and your heart. And drop me a line if this helped! It will make me feel warm and fuzzy inside.
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