Thanks for showing up for the #yeswecode Twitter chat, happening on Sunday (7/27/14) at 8pm Central Time. I’m excited to talk to everyone and to have you share your experiences . We’ll be doing a #yeswecode recap and getting practical. If you’re looking for more information about the #yeswecode initiative, why it matters and how it relates to this event, scroll down to the bottom of the page. If you’re here to check out the guidelines, start here:
#YesWeCode Twitter chat guidelines
Rules:
It’s not easy to talk about race, gender, inequality and how we all feel about it. After all, being vulnerable can be very scary. It takes trust, faith and the desire to have the difficult conversations that often lead to change. In order to do that, we need some groundrules to facilitate the conversation. Thanks for showing up!
1. Disagree without name calling.
2. Point out where ideas might fail, but also share what you think might work.
3. Critique the idea & not the person
4. Be Brave. Be Visible. Be You. Be inspired! Enjoy this time!
Thanks for coming here to have this much needed discussion!
What is a Twitter chat?:
A live, real-time discussion taking place via twitter messages
A chat using a specific hashtag (#yeswecode)
Each participant can contribute to the conversation by adding comments using the hashtag #yeswecode
What to expect from #yeswecode chat:
an exchange of ideas exploring the digital divide & creative ideas to move forward
a network of people in the tech (mentors, VC’s, Tech organizations, startup founders, entrepreneurs) space who are interested in exploring topics related to diversity in tech
Format:
I will ask a series of questions during the hour long chat.
The question format will look something like this: Q1: Why is diversity in tech important to you?
You can respond by clicking Reply or using A1(as in Answer 1) and type in the rest of your tweet, making sure you don’t forget the hashtag (#yeswecode)
I’ll keep the questions going during the hour, and ask each one after a round of answers have received.
I will retweet your posts as long as they fit the guidelines (see below)
you can also feel free to click “reply” to any tweets by me or other participants you want to respond to
Introducing yourself & sharing your ideas:
At the beginning, I’ll ask everyone to introduce themselves & their work
You’ll have a chance to say something like this: Example intro tweet for you & your company: We build wearable tech @(companyname) & we’re also looking to mentor tech startups #yeswecode
At the end of the chat, I’ll give everyone a chance to mention any upcoming events they have. For example, your tweet might look something like this: @yeswecodehack happens** Jul 3-6 @Essence #yeswecode
The chat will be ongoing, so if we don’t cover something you want to discuss today, let me know and I’ll see if we can fit it in during another chat.
Join us for the #YesWeCode twitter chat: Diversity in tech & creative ideas to move forward Host: Uchechi Kalu Jacobson @uchechi_writes
Sunday June 29th, 2014 8pm CST
By now, we’ve all heard the statistics about the lack of diversity in the tech industry. The questions we’re now asking are these: What can be done about it? What’s already being done? Why is it so important? Where do we start? There are many organizations working to change this by teaching support underrepresented communities in technology. Just last week, Google launched a $50 million initiative to teach young girls how to code.
YesWeCode is also a twitter chat taking place on Sunday, June 29th. led by Uchechi Kalu Jacobson, a New Orleans based tech entrepreneur and startup co-founder. Her wedding planning startup, wedocracy.com, is a community partner with the #YesWeCode hackathon. The goal is to generate conversation with the global twitter community about how the lack of diversity in tech impacts all of us and find creative solutions to address it.
Join thought leaders, influencers, coders, hackers, designers and everyone and anyone interested in seeing tech become a space that not only creates products for the global community we live in, but engages the world’s diversity as part of the creative teams behind these products.
What: Diversity in Tech Twitter Chat When: Sunday June 29th, 2014 8pm CST Where: Join us on Twitter, using the hashtag #yeswecode Hosted by: Uchechi Kalu Jacobson @uchechi_writes
For more information about the #YesWeCode organization, mission and events, please visit www.yeswecode.org. For further more about the #YesWeCode Hackathon (#ywchack), go here: www.yeswecodehack.com
we will not be these women for too long take a picture of the you now
she told me
let us learn to love who we are
signs of laughter appearing at the doorstep of your eyes
you poured yourself a generous blend of a California red
sturdy, pulled from ripe grapes
ready to be tasted
you sat there with friends
cried yourself to adulthood in their presence
you got the right bra size
finally measured at the department store for the first time
you recognize dimpled skin
returning to the delicate balance of childhood
it was you turning 22 turning 28 and then 30
when you were there again
with that generous yet sturdy glass
raised now
to the beauty of this woman
knowing we will not be these women for too long
drink it in
look at your butt a bit longer after pulling the colored denim over
marvel at the kindness of skin
so forgiving in places beyond our understanding
take that photo of that girl
post it up
live her just this once
live her
she’s got it
just this once
offer her to the world
My husband and I started our wedding social network startup 10 months ago, and since then I’ve learned a lot that helps me stay grounded and focused.
One of those things is this: If you don’t celebrate the small wins, you won’t have the motivation to go after the big ones. This week I thought about what it means to celebrate each and every win.
Here are my wins from this week:
Launching my new site. Woo hoo!
Becoming sponsors of this years New Orleans Pride Parade
Fixing some site related bugs that were really bumming us out.
Did we win a pitch competition? No! Did we get a phat check from some investor who knows just how fabulous our team and our ideas are? No! Did we have 10,000 new followers on Twitter? No!
But, the truth is, we still won. And, most importantly, we knew we did.
We celebrated by going to one of our favorite restaurants for lunch instead of dinner. The sun was out, the view was wonderful and the price was right. I’ll admit, when you’re starting up fancy lunches tend to be cheaper than fancy dinners. That’s our way of toasting to our successes without breaking the bank.
Celebrating the small wins matters.
Celebrating small wins makes you give yourself props
It’s great when your colleagues notice what you’ve done, but when like us, you’re a company of 2, raising your glass is one of the only ways to show your support for each other. Plus, who’ll toot your horn if you don’t.
Acknowledging what you’ve accomplished helps you stop focusing on what you didn’t achieve and start looking at how amazing you really are. You’re also acknowledging that despite the challenges, you didn’t give up. That’s huge! That’s major! So raise a glass to that!
Celebrating small wins gives you the stamina to go after big wins
It’s the truth! I’ll admit that I’m one of those people who will find a good reason to put on some lipstick and get festive, but I’ll also admit that raising a glass to accomplishing something on your list of world domination gives you the stamina to accomplish bigger things.
If you just move on and forget to give yourself props, you’ll be running on fumes. Let’s admit that sometimes that major accomplishment (reaching 1 million users) doesn’t come for a long while.
Celebrating small wins makes you more confident
When you’ve seen yourself win, regardless of the size of the win, you’re more able to believe you can win again, and again.
Celebrating small wins makes you grateful
Accepting the idea that being grateful makes more great things come into your life may not be for everyone, but for me this works. While you don’t have to make a list of all the things you’re thankful for, taking a moment to celebrate the small accomplishments honors that fact that you know how far you’ve come and are appreciative of that milestone.
For me, this week was about raising my glass to the small wins!
What are your small wins this week and how did you celebrate? Hit me up in the comments and let me know your thoughts!
