I’ve only ever been on one blind date. It was a bust. A friend set us up because we both wore black all the time. That was obviously not enough.
The SeedNetworking experience was also a major bust. First of all, the room was full of suits.
It looked and acted like a job fair. Web agencies fishing for clueless potential clients, developers looking for funded startups, small businessmen convinced they were on the verge of Internet greatness.
The developers, wearing blue dots on their badges, were outnumbered 2 to 1 by people seeking developers (red dots). It was totally a cutthroat game of musical chairs. Red dots hovering like vultures over blues, diving for the vacant spot across from a blue dot the second the whistle blew.
So since there weren’t enough blues to go around, I tried to chat with other red dots. Didn’t meet a single red dot (other than the cute kid from tipdy I’d met at the TechCrunch thing) who seemed to take me seriously. Was it my gender? My age? Both? Should I have worn a suit? (Don’t own one.) Did I mention there were three women and about 60 guys there?
Thank gawd for Olivier (blue dot). At least I got 7 minutes of brainstorming with a super pro dev who knew me. And for Alain (blue dot) who appeared to accept that I had a brain. And for Sylvain (blue dot), who’d seen the rise and fall of punch cards. I left after four blue dots and made it home in time for La Nouvelle Star…
[May 6, 2010: Had coffee with Sylvain, who assured me he wasn't around for punch cards. He was very gracious about it, having recognized that there might have been a little hyperbole in that statement for literary effect.]
Filed under: tech events , grrls, startuppity
I was always slightly bummed that I never got a chance to try speed dating. The concept intrigued me on so many levels. Seems like it would be great blog fodder and a blast in general.
But I found a workaround. I’ll be trying an alternative version of it in April through SeedNetworking, which sets up speed dates between entrepreneurs who need developers and devs who are looking for projects. Seven minutes max per “date,” 30 developers, 30 entrepreneurs.
I am so looking forward to this. I have no illusions that I’ll find the partner and CTO of my dreams, although stranger things have happened. If nothing else, it’ll be a chance to talk to devs who are completely unfamiliar with my project and see what about it piques their interest and where I lose them (interest and comprehension). Plus you get so deep into your own fantasy universe when you’re trying to create a startup that you need to explain it to the uninitiated every now and then to see if they think you’re in total lala land. If they do, then you reassess. It’ll be a challenge and a social experiment. I love both.
SeedNetworking on Facebook and Twitter.
Filed under: tech events, web trends , startuppity
March 22, 2010 • 11:20 am
There’s a huge wave that Internet people are paddling like fools to catch right now. It’s the “women are starting to realize they’re under-represented in tech and startups, so we’d better start to care or at least pretend we do” wave. Some effects of this wave include a rise in women-in-tech organizations and an effort by tech event organizers to give women more visibility.
It’s great to see that tech events are giving women a little limelight of their own. I’m going to an event soon that has given women their very own panel! And they’ve called it “Women’s Panel.” Kind of like Women’s Room. But with the latter, there’s little doubt about who uses it or for what. But what about this mysterious Panel…?
Read the rest of this article on frogblog.
Filed under: tech events, web life, web trends , words, grrls
February 9, 2010 • 4:54 pm
I went to my first Geek Girl Party in Paris, which was masterfully organized by Sandrine Camus, founder of GamonGirls and the woman behind the Paris Girl Geek Dinners. The party wasn’t quite what I expected. I thought it would be a feminine version of all the tech networking/social events I normally attend, most of which are about startups. But I never saw a business card exchange hands at the girly geek party, and I got the impression it wasn’t serious.
The male-dominated geek events I go to manage to be serious and fun, but the all-girl party was just fun. Also, at the boy parties, everybody is buzzing around talking to strangers, like puppies who run to sniff the shoes of the person they don’t recognize. Where the boys will assertively work the room in search of serendipitous synergies, the girls stood around in their cliques and ignored anyone they didn’t know. I felt like I’d been transported back to high school.
Having a geek girl party is a great idea, unless the only purpose of it is for corporate sponsors to sell you pink tech gadgets. If girl geeks want to be taken seriously, they have to learn how to do fun and serious. Like the boys. And they need to ask for more than free panties and pancake mix…
I highly recommend this French geekette’s insightful and entertaining post on the party.
Filed under: tech events, web life , grrls, fun
December 5, 2009 • 7:11 pm
I’ve just created a Facebook group for women startup founders and management. Just a few weeks ago, I started talking to The Next Women in London about doing some blogging and interviews for them. To do that, I need access to women entrepreneurs. So I took the plunge and created Fondatrix.
It’s something I’ve been thinking of doing for a while now. You see, I’ve been on the web/tech/startup circuit for a couple years here in Paris, and the girlpreneurs are just not visible enough IMHO. And I have a very good idea about why that is… Read the rest of this entry »
Filed under: social media, tech events, web life , startuppity, grrls, fun
November 17, 2009 • 3:20 pm
Do you have a content strategy for your own social media presence? If you’re a professional, you probably should. Too many small business/startup blogs and Twitter feeds are too inwardly focused, all about features and updates or the founder’s views and activities.
I give some tips for getting a plan and making your content valuable in my Web Worker Daily article Taking Content Strategy Personally.
Don’t know what content strategy is? Find out in Paris next April at Content Strategy Forum 2010, “for anyone who develops, manages, or delivers content within their own organization or for their clients: user experience designers, information architects, business analysts, technical writers, web project managers, documentation managers, translators, web marketers, practicing content strategists, and those looking to break into the field.”
Filed under: social media, tech events, web life, web trends , content strategy, online identity
This week I’m launching an e-commerce site to accompany Francophilia, the social network for francophiles I founded. It’s running on the Zlio platform. It has some limitations, but I’m pretty happy to be able to offer my francophile members one-stop shopping for French and French-themed products!
Just found out my personal blog, frogblog, is ranked 42 of all blogs in the “France” category according to invesp consulting. And I’m in some pretty good company! But you know what they say about stats.
Got my blogging pass for LeWeb ’09. I’ll be there for Web Worker Daily again this year. I discovered some exciting startups to write about there in ’08.
I have a new dog. Well, actually, he’s a “used” dog. I even wrote about one of the reasons why someone with my lifestyle should get a dog on Web Worker Daily the other day. It was published on the day I got him from the shelter! His name is Wiley. But we also call him Firefox because he looks like a fox. And, of course, we are Firefox fans.
I got an iPhone! Like Wiley, it’s used — Vincent gave me his 2G when he got a 3GS. I spent Saturday morning playing with it in bed…
Filed under: social media, tech events, web life , blogging, Francophilia, Geeks In Love, toys
This is not a ladies luncheon, girls. No cucumber sandwiches. Instead, the Women Who Tech 2009 TeleSummit offers a dozen different panels on hot topics moderated by women who know what they’re talking about (from SlideShare, BlogHer, YouTube, MoveOn and more). Panels include Launching Your Own Startup, Social Networks and Diversity Barriers, and Innovation and Tech Career Reinvention. $10 per panel. I’ll “see” you there!
Filed under: social media, tech events , grrls, startuppity
Even though I was just at a barcamp a few weeks ago, I couldn’t pass up the chance to attend TDWCamp yesterday, a barcamp for web workers organized by Olivier Chambon, author of the blog Travailleurs du Web. I wanted to mingle with some of Web Worker Daily‘s audience, and to hear from them firsthand about their interests, needs and concerns. And besides, it’s always gratifying to meet and exchange with people who understand your way of life… We web people are still on the fringe. For the time being.
Read the rest of this entry »
Filed under: tech events, web life
Oh lucky me! I discovered Ykone, a sizzlin’ French startup last night when I saw their presentation at the Keiretsu Paris investors’ meeting. It’s a social network built around fashion brands that has really taken off in the couple of months since they launched. Delicious site (visually and in terms of interactivity), impeccable concept, an encyclopedia—literally—of content for the fashionistas. This is one to watch. Read the rest of this entry »
Filed under: social media, tech events, translation, web life , funding, startuppity, toys
I attended an Entrepreneur Academy at the newly created Paris branch of Keiretsu Forum (the world’s largest business angel network) in January. It was a three-hour workshop on how to put together a successful investor presentation. Read the rest of this entry »
Filed under: tech events , funding, startuppity
I was at the E-reputation barcamp held at La Cantine yesterday, where I attended a session on personal branding given by Fadhila Brahimi. In Fadhila’s session, I was primarily interested in the questions, hopes and fears of the other attendees, so that I could address them in future talks and posts about online identity and personal branding myself. Read the rest of this entry »
Filed under: tech events, web life, web trends , online identity, personal branding, tips
Filed under: apps, social media, tech events, web life, web trends , Francophilia, netiquette, online identity, personal branding, startuppity, tips
I like teaching and public speaking because I love opportunities to share things that I find exciting. I gave my latest talk, The Sum of Your Parts: The Importance of Online Identity, as a keynote address at the annual conference of the Society for Technical Communication – France. Read the rest of this entry »
Filed under: social media, tech events, tech writing, web life , online identity, personal branding, tips
February 26, 2009 • 7:08 pm
