Join Berlin Geekettes for an exciting evening for the screening of a new documentary she++. This film aims to “inspire girls, young and old, to take the lack of a Y chromosome and make a girl’s vision unique and useful in the world of code.”
We will kick off this screening with two talks from an engineer and cofounder of frestyl, Johanna Brewer, followed by a talk from Martin Gorner, engineer and head of Developer Relations at Google.
Special thanks to Google and Factory for sponsoring and hosting this exciting event.
Please RSVP if you can 100% attend, there are only 50 seats available for this event next Wednesday. Food and beverages will be provided, compliments of Google.
You can register here: http://sheplusplusberlingeekettes.eventbrite.com
The Program:
1st Talk:
The Unstoppable Train: How I became an engineer before I knew I had a choice
Johanna Brewer
Live music nerd. Co-founder of frestyl. Developer, designer, ethnographer & long-suffering vegetarian. Doctor (the PhD kind) of Information & Computer Sciences (University of California). Designed location-based, mobile interfaces for Intel. Developed algorithms for scientific research at the Swiss National Super Computer and Massachusetts General Hospital.
2nd Talk:
Google App Engine: Architecture for the Cloud World? (20 min + Q&A)
Martin Gorner
Martin is the Dev Relations program manager for Germany. He is passionate about science, technology, coding, algorithms and everything in between. Martin graduated from Mines Paris Tech, enjoyed his first engineering years in the computer architecture group of ST Microlectronics and then spend the next 11 years shaping the nascent eBook market, starting with the Mobipocket startup, which later became the software part of the Amazon Kindle and its mobile variants.
she++:
The Documentary (12 min: TV-14 DL) energetically proclaims ‘Hello, World’ after following smart, creative, and trailblazing technologists hard at work in hi-tech. This short documentary collects research and inspirational pieces of Silicon Valley’s unsung heroes to galvanize us to explore our potential as ‘femgineers’. Written and directed by recent Stanford University good girls gone geek, Ayna Agarwal and Ellora Israni, she++: The Documentary encourages the future CEOs, the innovative engineers, the techies and the fuzzies, the sisters, cousins, and daughters, to break away from the stereotype into a revolutionary field. As technology is becoming increasingly ubiquitous, all demographics must harness new ideas to transform and empower technology. Think of what more ‘femgineers’ could do.
Hosted at the Factory
Factory is a 16,000 square meter campus in the heart of Berlin. Six buildings adjacent to the former Berlin wall provide state-of-the-art workspace, leisure amenities, and a physical location to network for startups and mature technology companies from Berlin and beyond. Residents include 6Wunderkinder, SoundCloud, and Mozilla, and Factory is partnered with Google for Entrepreneurs. Initiated in late 2011 by two serial entrepreneurs and private investors, the Factory will officially open in the summer of 2013.
Post written by Jess Erickson, Founder of Berlin Geekettes
Yesterday, over 500 technology-curious conference goers descended upon Central Hall Westminster for LeWeb’s second year in London. Attendees listened to leaders of the New Sharing Economy, connected with like-minded people and discussed a movement that represents a major economic, social and cultural shift in our world + today. Berlin Geekettes was there to learn about emerging digital marketplaces and more importantly, find the leading ladies of Europe who were rocking the tech scene in London.
First stop was breakfast at Priya Prakash’s place near Elephant and Castle. We met Priya earlier that year in Berlin while she was building her company at an incubator called hub:arum. She is the founder of Design for Social Change and Changify - a mobile crowd funding platform for better neighborhoods. This is a woman to be watched and of course she is always welcome back to Germany to visit the Berlin Geekettes! We miss her dearly.
After a spot of tea, we ran over to LeWeb and met up with Magdalena Kron and Robyn Exton who run Geek Girl Meetup in London. GGM is an un-conference for geeky girls and women interested in web, code and start ups. We discussed creating an exchange program where 30 Berlin Geekettes could travel to London and 30 Geek Girls would head out to Berlin. The exchange would allow ladies to learn more about each other’s startups but also get a glimpse into each other’s respective tech hubs. In the near future, we’ll be setting up a one day conference on July 13th. If you’re interested in becoming a speaker, apply here: http://www.geekgirlmeetup.de.
After lunch, we popped back into LeWeb and listened to IBM software engineer - turned - founder, Leah Busque. She discussed her work and inspiration for founding Task Rabbit, an errand outsourcing service that really empowered the unemployed during the recession. “When I launched the community in Boston, I realized that many of the people who were using the platform were recently laid off. The community included lawyers, pharmacists, young professionals and stay-at-home moms.” She doesn’t believe Taskrabbit emerged from the recession, but sees it as a phenomenon where micro-entrepreneurs started to emerge and took work into their own hands. We hope they’ll launch in Berlin soon as we’ve got a long laundry list of things we could use an extra pair of hands for!
After the talk, we meandered our way through the crowds and ran into 3 outstanding ladies who were really shaking things up across Europe. We asked them what they were working on and to list one challenge that they faced over this past year, and how they overcame it:
Maeva Tordo: is developing the Blue Factory which is a startup incubator of ESCP Europe helping brave and social innovative startups grow in Paris, London, Madrid, Berlin and Torino.
“One of the biggest challenges I faced this year has been the European expansion of the Blue Factory. Initiated in September 2012 in Paris, the development of the incubator in Berlin couldn’t be a simple copy paste of the program. Understanding the local ecosystem, getting to know the main actors, identifying the needs and best value proposition the Blue Factory could offer without reinventing the wheel. The best way to solve this challenge has been to listen and observe a lot and then meet amazing local coordinators who are now developing the Blue Factory in Berlin and Madrid keeping the essence of the incubator philosophy and creating new relevant bricks for the program in the ‘lean and agile incubator’ spirit.”
Hanna Aase: Founder of Wonderloop.me, an off the record networking app that captures who you are as a person, your dreams and goals and strives to make an impact in people’s lives that we don’t even know yet. Think new people = new opportunities.
“Biggest challenge: the chicken and egg problem. No one will invest in an idea and if you don’t code than you need to have resources to pay. Looking for a technical co-founder might be easy if you live in a city with a tech environment but I have lived in a small town in Norway all my life, even a flight away from Oslo so its been a challenge from all views. Than I got a decline from the Norwegian government on funding that TechCrunch wrote about and that caused a wave in Norway that’s also been a challenge as they froze me out after that for being in TechCrunch. I then flew to Silicon Valley and have been in New York a lot. We now have some of the biggest companies and founders in the world on board and after that it all goes a lot easier but the road up to now has been a 1.5 year long one.”
Ayelet Noff: Founder and Co-CEO of Blonde 2.0 - helps companies big and small create brand awareness through social media tools and engage with consumers and influencers in the most personalized manner.
“Biggest challenge - As Blonde 2.0 has been expanding globally, I’ve needed to learn how to manage locally while traveling globally all the time. I’ve learnt that everything can be done virtually and at the same time I’m more productive since I am able to evangelize the companies that we are working with all over to the world to the top leaders of the tech space.”
It was inspiring to hear more about their work and you could really sense the passion these talented ladies had for their future projects/companies. I was excited to find more female founders in London and last stop of the day would be the home of Courtney Boyd Myers, a friend and former fellow colleague at General Assembly who is now developing her own business called audience.io, an audience development studio for startups in New York and London.
I’m so lucky to have a friend that not only enjoys connecting people in tech but also over a delicious meal. In celebration of our next chapter, she encouraged me to invite a few friends over and together we climbed up to her gorgeous rooftop in Islington and sipped on prosecco as the sunset over London. Later that evening, in true CBM fashion, she whipped up a delicious fish dish as we swapped stories with Itaxso del-Palacio, co-founder at Foudersfit (who brushed us up on some financing basics and valuations).
In the end, I was truly inspired by the ladies I had met on this trip to London. Many thanks to LeWeb for giving me the opportunity to connect, learn and grow. I hope to be returning soon and look forward to learning more about London’s burgeoning tech hub.
By Jess Erickson, Founder of Berlin Geekettes
My goal is very simple: to make a difference in my community by encouraging women to think big and take a slice out of the tech industry that they deserve.
Why?
Technology is at the forefront of pushing innovation in many different sectors across the globe. I believe there should be greater proportion of women in the creation and decision making process on all fronts. From investing, to mastering code, to jumpstarting one’s own business. If women can see that they have the exact same potential as men to succeed, the world — and everyone in it — will be blessed with more great, innovative ideas.
So how do we do this?
For starters, Sheryl Sandberg’s new book Lean In offers some excellent advice. It applies to any woman, in any industry. Perhaps it just hits home more closely knowing that she is the current COO of Facebook, former Googler ;)
I know many women who are frankly too busy to read this book, so I’m going to host a 2 day evening workshop drawing out points from each chapter and hopefully sparking a lively discussion among both men and women (all are welcome).
(Image pulled from Time magazine)
Chapters of Lean In that will be summarized and turned into discussion points:
Introduction: Internalizing the Revolution
1) The Leadership Ambition Gap:
What Would You Do if You Weren’t Afraid?
2) Sit at the Table
3) Success and Likeability
4) It’s a Jungle Gym, Not a Ladder
5) Are You My Mentor?
6) Seek and Speak Your Truth
7) Don’t Leave Before You Leave
8) Make Your Partner a Real Partner
9) The Myth of Doing It All
10) Let’s Start Talking About It
11) Working Together Toward Equality
This evening I am extremely lucky to be attending the Zeit Conference featuring Sheryl Sandberg as a keynote speaker. Many thanks to my dear friends Niko Waeche and Josefina Petrus for making this happen. I’m eternally grateful for your generosity. I promise to take good notes.
So ladies, let’s start shaping our own destiny, let’s work hard, and together we can empower one another and reach our goals faster. We can become leaders and inspire the generation that follows us. You ready to Lean In? I am.
For tickets to both workshops, please RSVP here:
Intro to the Berlin Geekettes & Attracting Talent to Your Startup
Jess Erickson will kick off this workshop with a introduction to the Berlin Geekettes community. Berlin Geekettes (BG) is an organization uniting, mentoring and promoting women in tech. BG offers the weekly blog series ‘Berlin Geekette of the Week’, monthly meet-ups, and connects women from all areas of tech expertise – spinning professional and personal relationships which provide support, connections, and inspiration for all members. BG has recently launched a mentorship program to connect current professionals with aspiring students and this spring kicked off Germany’s first all female hackathon.
Julia Hartz talks about a key element in attracting great talent to your start up: company culture. She will discuss how entrepreneurs can create an atmosphere that is geared towards both men and women – and why this matters hugely in the struggle to employ and retain the best and brightest talents for your company. At her company Eventbrite, more than 50 percent of the leadership team are female, half the workforce are female.
“Female networking groups like the Berlin Geekettes are really important in helping women interested in the startup scene to navigate the tech world. I am excited to share my own experiences in the industry with the Geekettes and to give insights into how we made Eventbrite a great place to work at - for men and women.” - Julia Hartz, Co-founder and President of Eventbrite
For more on this workshop please visit the NEXT Berlin website:
http://nextberlin.eu/event/intro-to-berlin-geekettes/
Note from NEXT Berlin Conference organizers:
Berlin Geekettes! Meet entrepreneurs, business avantgarde, designers and technological wizards at NEXT Berlin! On April 23 & 24 up to 2,000 international digital pioneers will mingle at the bcc (Berlin, Alexanderplatz). Expect inspiring sessions with Obama’s re-election campaign CTO Harper Reed, author Bruce Sterling, start-up guru Yossi Vardi, blogger Robert Scoble and with many start-ups pitching their ideas.
Raffle + Discount for Geekettes: Two individuals who strongly support the BG Workshop on social media (don’t forget to use @Nextconf & @berlingeekettes) will be selected on April 17th to each win 1 free ticket to NEXT Berlin. Additionally, NEXT has given our community a 20% discount with the code ‘geekettes13’. RSVP here: nextberlin.eu/tickets.
To listen click here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p016wm3b
For more information on the hackathon visit:
ili
*If anyone is traveling to France this month, can they pretty please pick up a hard copy for us? Merci Beaucoup!
Post by Olga Reimgen
When I got the Email from Nele Hiller with the suggestion to apply for the Berlin Geekettes Mentoring Program, I had a small eureka moment. You know since I´ve heard that every successful person always had a great mentor on his or her side, I thought why not apply and find my mentor?
Well… I would love to introduce you to my great mentor:
Chanyu Xu
She has been inspiring, guiding and supporting me through the last weeks for which I am really grateful for.
As a first-time entrepreneur, not every day goes as smoothly as you wish. It’s a lot about learning, learning and learning. You know what I am talking about. I was happy to have the possibility to ask her all the questions that where stuck in my head as she was in the same shoes just while ago.
We had great meetings combining knowledge and fun. Our first meeting was in the Wonderpot store, enjoying ice cream and talking business. How cool is that?
What was I hoping to get out of this program? Finding a female entrepreneur to talk to and to share founder stories and experiences. At the end, all of my expectations were reached while at the same time I met a great person. What more could you ask for?
During the last weeks, Xu helped me to move my startup Epiclist a long way forward, introducing me to great people and sharing her experience with fundraising – Thank you Xu!
I would like to thank Denise and Jess for bringing me together with my mentor and giving all the other ladies the possibility to meet inspiring women and grow with their experiences! Thanks a lot ladies :)
Follow Olga on twitter @OlgaReimgen
Follow Chanyu on Pinterest
We’re excited to be teaming up with Fjord, one of Berlin’s top design firms.
Workshop: Service Design for Startups with Louisa Heinrich
Location: FJORD GmbH at Friedrichstr. 210
When: Feb 13th, 2013
Runs from 3-6pm
Overview
(3 hrs)
What can service design do for your start up? We will go through a mini service design process, looking at your business through a service design lens. Come prepared to work - what you get out of this session will be determined by the energy you bring to it!
0. Introduction & Icebreaker
1. Vision & Values
What’s the point? We will examine the proposition of a startup from a Service Design perspective - what is the problem it’s addressing? For whom? What qualities must it have in order to succeed?
2. The System (not the parts)
What is the broader landscape in which this product or service lives? What affects it and what does it affect? How can this system of moving parts be put to work for the customer?
3. The Experience
What are the key moments of the customer experience? How do they join together? What is the minimum valuable product?
4. Kamikaze
Who are the key competitors? How can we deal with the challenges they pose?
5. Conclusions & Wrap-up
Special thanks to Fjord who will be providing attendees with drinks and food during the workshop! For more on Fjord please visit: http://www.fjordnet.com/berlin
http://www.louisaheinrich.com/speaking-workshops/
Louisa Heinrich is relentlessly curious. She loves getting inside clients’ heads to understand the challenges they face. She also loves listening to and telling stories, to understand how people and the world work. Building on roots in Theatre and Anthropology, Louisa has been working in digital for over 16 years, on an ongoing quest to investigate how technology can adapt to and enhance what makes us uniquely human. She has helped scores of businesses with User Experience, Service Design, Strategy and Innovation. Most recently, she was Group Director of Strategy at Fjord, where she was responsible for driving thought leadership, exploring future trends, redesigning the agency, and generally stirring things up. She now works as a consultant and mentor, and writes, speaks and conducts workshops at the intersection of Design, Business and Technology.
Tickets are limited as there are only 30 seats available. Please, please only RSVP if you can 100% make it.
Secure your seat here: http://berlingeeketteslovesfjorddesign.eventbrite.com/
Thank you!
- Channeling your inner genius to find a brilliant idea - fun!
- Working 24/7 to make this idea a reality - hard work!
- Watching people fall asleep when you pitch in public - heartbreaking!
- Structure of the pitch
- Storytelling
- Saying the things investors need to hear
- Clear and understandable slides
- Making the pitch compellig (adding humor/intrigue/emotion)
- Being aware of actions on stage
- Choreography /mis-en scène /rhetoric
- Actual communication with the audience
- Proper use of voice - “your mouth as a tool”
- “What does your body tell your audience without telling you?”
- Improvising to avoid blackouts on stage
- Trained at FilmSchauSpielschule Berlin
- Worked as actress and playwright for jungesDT
- Columnist for die deutsche Bühne & die junge Bühne
- Singing and performing for German accoustic duo “Milon”
- Pitching-skills coach for the teams of TWiSt/PitchSlam/Hub:raum accelerator/ Hy!Berlin Start Up conference
- Specialized in 1-on-1 coaching
- Degree in Business Management
- Brief career in advertising (copywriter)
- Worked in marketing for multiple startups (e-learning, Daily Deal industry)
- Consultant for startups and corporations who want to be more like startups
- Winner of multiple “best pitch” awards
- Mentor at Founder Institute/Berlin Crowd/YoulsNow12
- Pitch-Coach for TWisT/PitchSlam/Hub:raum/Hy!Berlin
Guest piece written by Berlin Geekette Chandra Arthur.
My Grandma used to say, “How can you know where you’re going if you don’t know where you’ve been?” She mainly referred to that in a more historical sense, but as the end of another year draws to a close, it’s seems only fitting that we all take time to remember the sweet successes, bitter failures, brain farts, delicious sushi and everything else in between. As we all get closer to accomplishing that next big goal why not acknowledge that where we are today is not where we were just one short year ago. And that if we’ve taken just one itty bitty teeny weeny step closer to realizing our dream(s), then we’ve made progress. And progress, no matter how small, is in fact still progress.
This year for me has been a huge learning curve. Entrepreneurship and start-ups wasn’t at all what I thought I would be doing at this point in my life. But upon the realization that my “little project” could and indeed should be classified as a start-up, I realized there was and still is A LOT of work to be done. What’s been most impressive and significant for me this year is networking through organizations like Berlin Geekettes. It’s so enriching and encouraging to be surrounded by so many women who are committed to their respective diverse projects and more importantly, value the role of mentorship in supporting other women. Networking events, discounts on classes and lectures, invitations to startup events or even just the occasional email from one of your very own female role models makes all the difference for me and many times has given me the motivation to push myself to get to the next level. In the last 3 months alone I’ve met so many amazing people through BG and am forever grateful for those opportunities. It never ceases to amaze me how many talented young women and men from all over the place have chosen the path less traveled to uproot, move away and start something new here. Truly, what an act of courage and display of bravery. As the Germans say: “Hut ab!” to all of us! Come rain or shine or snow should I say, we’ve all come a long way and are to be commended for all of our efforts.
That being said it has not and will not necessarily be easy to get that killer promotion or to find that brilliant CTO post launch, or to secure essential funding that is so crucial to the next phase of our amazing, promising idea(s), even in a place like Berlin which has the reputation for being a creative, bustling, startup hub. But whatever happens or doesn’t, remember to keep your head up or the faith (whatever you prefer) and press ahead. Not to be forgotten is also to take a break! Enjoy your family, friends and loved one’s this holiday season and remember the reasons you want to be the best at whatever it is you do. 2012 has been really good. But I have the feeling that 2013 will be even better. Happy Holidays everyone and see you next year!
Lots of love and hugs,
Chandra from theBABYSITTERSclub
