SFWoW

San Francisco Women on the Web: serve, educate, empower

November 5, 2008

Social Marketing Handout

Filed under: SanFrancisco, community, event, technology — anna @ 3:29 pm

Instead of ruining the environment by passing out mimeographed copies of our tool list, we’re putting it here on ze blog! Enjoy. From the Social Media Tips & Tricks talk at McCann 11/5.

Micro-blog sites

Aggregators

Twitter toys

Micro-blog clients

Bookmarking sites


Tracking your brand

ROI and Analytics, Commenting

Communities

More Reading

Thanks to (from Anna):

Follow me!

February 8, 2008

The Year of Knowledge Sharing — Effective Use of LinkedIn (January 24)

Filed under: event, technology, women — djunia @ 10:52 pm

January 24th was another in our long string of rainy nights. Nonetheless, as SFWowers showed up for our get-together on the subject of LinkedIn, at WineBarSF, we had to move to a larger table. In attendance: Doris Beers, Teri Gardella, Maritess Hoy, Megan Keane, Ellen (?), Anna Papina, Rebecca Kidder, Erin O’Neill, and myself. It really makes a difference to have those names we see on the list come to life as real people.

We ended up sharing information one-on-one rather than shouting around the table. I
was seated beside Maritess, who I thank for her LinkedIn tips:

  • ping people in my network from time to time
  • let my contacts know if I am seeking info on a particular company
  • participate in the “Answers” section to increase visibility.

Rebecca later added a tip about recommendations

  • rather than collect general recs, wait until you have a specific employment target, and then ask for a recommendation directed toward the target.

Needless to say, I began adding to my LinkedIn network right after the get-together!

As Susan Stearman has stated: the event was ultra simple to arrange: I just picked a date, time, and place. Thanks to everyone who showed up - I enjoyed meeting and talking with you all.

Eleanor Beaton

December 9, 2007

Holiday Potluck

Filed under: event, women — djunia @ 5:30 pm

Thanks, indeed, to Mary and her family for hosting the December meeting/holiday potluck.

The food was lovely (Mary’s mac and cheese, Susan’s vegetarian lasagne, lots of pie, amazing ice cream, and more) but what I enjoyed most of all were the conversations.

I am a bit embarrassed to admit that I had no clue how wide the audience is for podcasting or that it can be a road to fame and diva-dom. I feel at least two trends behind (I have no personal blog). We weren’t all sure about whether the fame in the podcast domain “is real” (translates to money, power, or fame in other media?) and how much of the content is useful. Podcasting seems to be more popular in Europe than in the US. Most of us at the table were surprised to hear just how common and popular podcasts are. Unsurprisingly, the adult content market was out in front in seizing a new technology and distribution method. I was surprised that evangelicals are also major players in this market.

There was also talk about acceptable behavior in the workplace — is it OK to swear? How rough (free? loose?) can behavior get before it is hostile or inappropriate or harassing? Does it depend on the kind of workplace (bank vs. ad agency, for instance?). Do creatives get a free pass because of the nature of the work? Are you willing to put up with things that are close to the line so you can be yourself, too? And how hard is it not to swear once you realize you shouldn’t?

Unsurprisingly, wowsers described fascinating, cutting edge projects they are working on. I will leave it to those individuals to share when and what they can. What can be discussed in person is not always what can be written about.

You should come next time.

While the monthly meetings are generally meant for sf-wow business, there is plenty of time for conversation. Scrappy hours are designed just for getting together and letting off steam. They started when happy hours stopped being quite so happy (any wowser can set one up where and when she chooses). Announcements of the next scrappy and of the next business meeting will be posted to the list and to the events page here.

July 10, 2007

Salary negotiation recap, 6/28/07

Filed under: SanFrancisco, event, women — megan @ 8:40 pm

Okay, I consider myself a fairly outgoing person. Yet asking for things–especially asking for things that have to do with my career is something that I dread doing. So when I heard about SF WoW’s Salary Negotiation Panel event, I figured this was probably a good thing for me to attend.

I found the panelists to be very approachable and they gave a lot of good suggestions on negotiating on behalf of yourself in any situation, not just in salary negotiation. The presentation was very informal, with a lot of back and forth discussion between the audience and panelists.

The following tips stuck with me the most when I left:

–Above all, believe in yourself (ok, even if you’re not so sure of yourself, act as if you believe in yourself). You made it this far (i.e. the job offer) and you and your skills are worth bargaining for. Repeat this message to self as needed.

–On the hiring side, HR or other person knows it’s a negotiation situation and will bargain accordingly in their favor. Their first offer will be mid-level range, at the highest. Don’t be low-balled.

–Salary, vacation time, benefits, flex-time, etc. are all potential bargaining chips

–Never reveal your bottom line, but know what you bottom line is before going into negotiation discussion. Your “bottom line” should be that ick factor–what is the minimum you are willing to accept and still feel ok about coming to work every day

–Always be prepared. Do your research. Know what’s an appropriate range for the job title, industry (i.e. private/nonprofit/government/education/etc.) and type of job (i.e. contract/full-time/etc.)

–Defer salary discussion to another time–avoid having conversation over the phone when you’ve just gotten job offer (this usually isn’t possible in a contract situtation, but works with a permanent position)

–Be polite, but know how to re-frame questions and re-state your position effectively. Focus on the value you can bring to the job and your passion and enthusiasm for the position. Avoid getting personal or saying what you “need” in the job.

–Practice with a friend, partner, etc. before going into salary negotiation discussion.

Afterwards, I looked into one of the books recommended by the panelists: Sink or Swim. I’m finding it to be a helpful read, with lots of common sense on-the-job tips. Other books panelists recommended included The Power of Intention and Women Don’t Ask: The High Cost of Avoiding Negotiation–and Positive Strategies for Change.

April 18, 2007

Web 2.0 a yawn

Filed under: event, technology, women — Susan @ 4:43 pm

So I got a free exhibit pass via the Mobile Monday yahoo group and decided that Tuesday was my day to visit the Web 2.0 Expo event.

The event was a bit of a yawner if you ask me. I don’t see the paradigm shift that many people are talking about; it just seem likes a new branding of the same all stuff; some of it will make money and most of it will burn out in a flame of dust.

In the am. I sat through all the presentations. Not much to say about them. I had seen 2 of the 3 launchpad companies already Tellme and Vidoop. I did get the special invitation to signup for Vidoop at their booth but haven’t had a chance to do it yet. Their thing is a secure login using visuals rather than keystrokes. Tellme was just acquired by MSFT and they do voice search services that are pretty good. Eric Schmidt talked about Google’s acquisition of Double Click - ho hum.
The exhibits were open in the pm. It was difficult to tell what a lot of the companies were really doing. There were several booths showing corporate Wiki applications and they all looked the same to me. I agree that Wikis can be a great corporate groupware tool; but is that all there is to Web2.0?
And some of those companies need real marketing help — one booth only had the company name with no indication of what they do and no one really interested in telling me about it. Lots of the booth signage was really not informative.
Another interesting note - I haven’t seen so many free t-shirt giveaways since the height of the dot-com boom. And there were fun giveaway toys at a lot of booths. An ominous sign.

Unfortunately I was not at the event on Monday so I missed the opportunity to boo and walk out on the Spock demo - unbelievable that MCPs are still willing to show their stripes in SF these days; but there is no accounting for cluelessness among the supposed-Digerati.

I never heard of Spock but apparently they won the voting for the best Launchpad for Monday. Imagine that. On Tuesday the realtime voting count was available but not on Monday so they announced it on Tuesday. That was when I first heard the name but no one was talking about the demo, as far as I heard.

Later I heard about it from the 2 women at the Women 2.0 stand. My first encounter at their stand was with a Frenchman who was trying to understand why there would be a need for such an organization and claiming that there wouldn’t be a need in France (which I quickly corrected for him, having worked at 2 french companies in my last 2 jobs)

After he walked away, the Spock demo came up. I told the women that this was a perfect explanation for why we need organizations like SFWoW and Women 2.0 and they should be talking about their disgust at the demo and how it simply strengthens their commitment to their organization.

Next up for me is NAB in Las Vegas, its bound to be more interesting.

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