:: Netwoman ::

:: Saturday, September 08, 2007 ::

Know and Network - Social Networks with Women in IT

Know and Network is an online social network (think MySpace or Facebook) for Women in IT offering personal and group blogs; a chance to communicate with others and advertise events, seminars and conferences; and a chance to share knowledge and ideas with a community of 'friends'.

It is hoped that women in IT can use this social network to construct their professional identities and networks online. Come join us!

Explore the network by checking out what people are saying right now, and find others with similar interests and goals.

The KAN (Know and Network): Women in IT project based at the University of Salford is partially funded by the European Social Fund (ESF). Social Networking is a fast- growing cross-disciplinary area of research. Our aim is to create a social network and research into this area.

The project's aim is to support networking amongst women throughout England working in IT by developing online social tools and we invite you to join our online network.

:: Netwoman 12:55 PM [+] ::
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Women in Technology: Hear Us Roar

Tatiana Apandi is the Women in Technology series creator and is an associate editor at O'Reilly Media Inc., where she has worked since December 1998.

"We are volcanoes. When we women offer our experience as our truth, as human truth, all the maps change. There are new mountains."
Ursula LeGuin

This series is comprised of articles written by women on the topic of "Women in Technology," which will run through September. My hope is that the myriad of experiences you read about here will showcase how valuable it is to hear from different women at all stages of their careers and lives. Whether you believe that there is gender inequality within the tech community that we should all work to improve or if you think that there are no issues at all, one underlying truth is that we should support each other as individuals.

The animal that I've chosen to represent this series is the lioness. Although the lion is often called the King of the Jungle, lion society is actually ruled by its females. Lionesses are the ones primarily responsible for providing sustenance for their entire pride. She is a natural leader. When hunting, each lioness plays to her strengths. She even adjusts her individual role in the hunt depending on the prey to ensure capture for the pride. She can adapt to suit the task at hand. A lioness also will nurse any cub, indiscriminate of whether that cub is her own. She will give with the greater good in mind.

Thank you to all the women who have given their time and effort for these articles and interviews. And thank you to the many, many other women pioneers who have struggled personally to prove that a woman can get any job done.

:: Netwoman 12:52 PM [+] ::
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Catching Up

I've just returned from a summer on the West Coast, where I worked with the Microsoft Corporation. Working with Sociologist Marc Smith, my work was focused between two groups - Community Technologies Group and the Games User Research Group at a smart and interesting group of researchers at Xbox. Blogging was scarce, and Facebook has crept into my online time.

The twelve weeks in Redmond Washington flew by quickly. There were two key projects that I worked on - the first, looking at how household members game together and the dynamics surrounding game play and interaction. The second project I looked at the online gaming community of GamerchiX, and how this group of women form a solid community that mentors one another and offers social support in not only gaming, but also personal issues. In particular, I looked at how women are harassed in online gaming spaces and while this is a barrier to participation, Gamerchix members offer valuable support to one another when these incidences occur. My research was framed around the notion of - how do we get women more interested in gaming (reaching the non-traditional gamer & broadening the market) and what can we do to keep them interested in gaming (gamer retention).

I will be posting tid-bits of my presentation here on my blog over the next few weeks, and will be presenting my research at conferences (TBA) in the future.

:: Netwoman 12:34 PM [+] ::
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