Introduce Yourself

[Leslie Poston]

My name is Leslie Poston. I am the Founder of Uptown Uncorked, a writer for Blorge and Mashable, and the host of regular podcast Topics on Fire, where the idea for the Strong Women in Tech campaign was born in Episode 6 (http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/23040) where I was joined by Jen Nedeau, Leslie Bradshaw, Meg Fowler and Shireen Mitchell to tackle the issue of gender gaps and technology/new media.

I am passionate about finding solutions to real world problems using tools like social media in tandem with off line solutions and that is what the podcast is about each episode. The Strong Women in Tech campaign(s) could be the first large scale attempt to erase gender as an issue in technology and new media. It's a big goal, but I think we have the network to handle it, don't you?

[Pamela Reinsel Cotter]

I'm Pamela Reinsel Cotter, online news producer at projo.com. A Pittsburgh native, I've been living in North Kingstown, RI for almost 9 years now. I've seen a lot of women in my field (journalism) shy away from the tech end of the business, and I'd like to change that. New media seems a perfect way to reach women and girls and show them that they can do it, too!

[Julie Donnelly]

Hi I'm Julie Donnelly. I'm a displaced worker from the old media side of journalism. I am just the type of hapless victim of technophobia that Pamela speaks of! As I wade slowly into the new media waters, I would love to do anything I can to encourage younger girls and women.

[Laura Norvig]

Hi, I'm Laura Norvig, librarian and online content manager for The Resource Center I'm also the unofficial evangelist for social media within our company and externally for the audience our website is geared towards (nonprofit service organizations). I'm a bit of an incidental geek. Building websites that make it easy for people to find stuff is my focus, and I prefer to do so with tools that do not have a steep learning curve. I would like to see more women in hardcore tech roles too, though, because a) I sometimes find it easier to work with women and b) it's about time.

[L.P. "NEENZ" FALEAFINE]

Aloha my name is L.P. Neenz Faleafine. I am the Chief Evangelist for Alltop and the founder of Pono Media - a Hawai'i based company focused on implementing social and new media strategies for individuals and organizations.

I am honored to be amongst all of you women, one member at a time, one solution at a time, one idea at a time -- the movement can happen.

[electromute]

I'm Ingrid Alongi. I live in Boulder, Colorado and work as a Java developer at http://me.dium.com. I also do PHP/CSS/Javascript/ColdFusion, web strategy, etc. Prior to this gig, I worked as Director of Technology at an Interactive Agency, so I've got the consumer strategy side down too. I got my Master's Degree in Women's Studies from SDSU and did my thesis on Feminist Pedagogy and Distance Learning. I'm addicted to Twitter and my iPhone, along with yoga, cycling and cross-country skiing, coffee and wine. I figure they all kinda balance each other out.

[iGrandma]

I am Patti Serrano. from Oceanside, CA and Colorado Springs, CO. I am the founder of the Entrepreneur Club, a Networking/Training group of business owners ( http://www.eClubNetworking.com ) and I am a former radio talk show host turned podcaster/videocaster. I also, train people to become one, too.

Currently, my shows are:
Audio: Entrepreneur Club http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/30914 and an Online Classroom
Video Show http://www.GRANDMAandTheGEEKS.tv
http://twitter.com/PATTIwithan_i and http://twitter.com/iGrandma

My passion is to mentor younger woman to get into event organizing. I personally feel if more women would organize events the field would be leveled. The men will come and see how strong women really are.

Please contact me if you have any questions about putting on events...Thanks Leslie for this forum, Patti

[Glennette Clark]

My name is Glennette Clark. I am currently a project manager and online strategy consultant at CITI. CITI is a IT company that works solely with nonprofits, associations and progressive for-profit companies. I graduated from Howard University with a degree in Print Journalism, but I have worked as a web designer for the past 15 years.

I am passionate about the Internet as a communications tools. I believe that it can be a tool for building many bridges and the key to unlocking the doors to access for the disadvantaged and disenfranchised of this world. I believe that we must over come the great digital divide in order to progress as women and as a society.

I am also addicted to twitter.com/glennette.

[Kenya]

I'm Kenya Allmond and I live in the Washington, DC area. I'm currently an IT Manager but my role is that of a computer forensic investigator. My educational background is computer science (bachelor) and forensic science (master). Before getting into computer forensics I was a programmer for 8 years.

I am a mentor with Coaching for College, a program that shows inner city junior high kids that college is a viable option, and MentorNet, an e-mentoring program targeted at women studying science and engineering.

I love technology and social media. In general, I believe that the internet can be a great equalizer in terms of access to information for underrepresented people including women and minorities. I agree that closing the digital divide is important. I'm looking for ways that I can assist with that as well as getting girls interested in technology.

I'm on twitter at twitter.com/koa.

[Jen Nedeau]

Thanks for reminding me to join - I'm glad to be here & to have been part of the show that began this thing.

I'm Jen. I work in online marketing. I have a background in journalism and I am the editor of the Women's Rights Blog at Change.org.

Cheers!

[Holly V. Maust]

Hi I'm Holly Maust. I'm the Online & Social Media Director at BarkleyREI. It's a dream job being able to run two departments working in the space that I absolutely love. I get so excited talking to clients on how they can play a role in this space.

I'm also a mom to an 18mo old which keeps me very busy. My husband and I live in Pittsburgh but I'm originally from NY.

I am so excited to find you all! It's hard to find woman who live in our space AND who are respected. I agree with you Leslie that we have a big goal ahead of us but I would love to be a part of a movement!

You can find me on Twitter or Facebook.

[E. Janine Perry]

Very cool networking site. Technology is a place where gender and color and preference only should play a part when gathering statistical information. My name is Janine Perry and I am a vocal advocate of fixing things that are broken. I look forward to participating in this site and in discussions as time will allow.

You could say I'm a computer science geek, a gamer, a writer, and wannabe intellectual. The animal in the picture is my cat Frodo, who (yes) was named after the Hobbit. I'm married to a phenomenally-talented man who does regularly glaze over when I talk about technical stuff. (I apparently find it a lot more fascinating than he does.)

Most of my time is spent working for a Fortune 500 company as a build/change/integration/release manager, where most of the software engineering field needs some attention, and as a writer on technical issues like these. My background is in software engineering and my passion is architecting solutions that work. I'm also working on a case study and some more scholastic-type writing and evaluation. You know, in my spare time... :)

I definitely see a gender gap, which led me to do a Google search on "strong women technology" and where I found this site in my return hit list. I Googled that phrase because it occurred to me (I'm a little slow...) I am actually a minority. I've spent most of my time as 'one of the boys', so I've been generally oblivious to the fact I am not really treated the same way. (It's funny, but I've been so busy working it never occurred to me before how different things actually are.) I figure I should start paying attention.

One thing that I've kept close is something I was told years ago: It is better to be respected than to be well-liked. In this realm, that is a fine line to walk. Throw in a discussion about the importance of naming variables correctly and people look at you as if you fell from the ceiling. I look forward to discussing things like this here.

Oh, and here's where I live on Twitter and on MySpace.

E.

[Rose]

Hello all -

I'm Rose. I live just south of Seattle and work as a .NET developer (both software and web applications) for a small software company. I've been a developer for most of my professional life, although my educational background is in graphic design, which I've never done professionally.

As a developer, I work in such a "boys club" that it's great to see a group like this with so many technically inclined women!

You can find me on Twitter here.