YesWeCode chat 19: How to step up your #tech/#startup game
Sunday, May 3rd, 2015
6pmPST/8pmCT/9pmET
While it’s encouraging to see more conversations about tech inclusion and the emergence of more diverse startups, coding classes and hiring of a diverse tech employees at major companies like Google and Facebook, there’s also seems to be a missing piece: a focus on how to step up your tech game and present yourself as an expert in your field both on and offline.
Does tech need to diversify? Yes! Do we (each and every one of us) also need to be on top of our game so we can make the most of the opportunities when they come our way. Absolutely!
So the question is, what are you doing to step up your game? Is your LinkedIn profile on point? Do you have spelling mistakes riddling your blog posts and making them unbearable to read? Are you a designer whose portfolio doesn’t speak great design? Are you offering “high quality professional services” with a site that says “free website builder” in the footer?
The web is powerful because it’s our face to the world. Millions of users around the world can find you because of your url, your domain expertise, your blog. How you present yourself matters.
Join the #yeswecode chat this Sun 5/3 at 8pmCT.
Here are some questions to think about:
If you were being considered for a job in #tech right now, would your online presence help or hurt you? How?
If there was one area you could most improve, what would it be? Social? Resume?
What are some ways one can avoid looking “amateur hour”?
How do you judge if your public presentation meets certain standards?
How do you find out what those standards even are?
#YesWeCode chat #17: Catching up, updates and connecting
Sunday April 5th, 2015
6pmPST/8pmCT
It’s been a few weeks since the last #yeswecode chat, and I can imagine you’ve all been busy. I’ve missed you all, and I can’t wait to find out what you’ve been up to. My husband and I just finished attending and participating in NOEW (New Orleans Entrepreneur Week), and we’re excited for all the newly engaged couples who are signing up for wedOcracy. How have all of you been? What’s new in your startup business or tech work? This week we’ll focus on catching up, getting updates and seeing how we can all support each other.
Questions to think about:
1. What are you working on right now?
2. What’s the biggest challenge you’re facing in the coming week?
3. What’s the biggest milestone you’ve accomplished recently?
4. If there was one thing you could do to turn things around, what would it be?
5. If there was one thing we could all do to support you, what would that be?
See you on Twitter!
New to the #yeswecode chats? Check out the guidelines to help you make the most out of it!
Hope you can join the next #yeswecode chat this Sunday (11/16/14) at 8pmCT. We’ll be discussing fear, it’s impact on our work and how we can move forward anyway.
The fear of being wrong can affect your success
This week, I was in the Bay Area for the WedTech conference, and while there I visited a long time friend of mine. We sat in a great Oakland coffee shop, sipped lattes and spoke about our hopes, our work, the lives of two very creative women.
Towards the end of our conversation, she mentioned that she’s often afraid of being wrong, and how that gets in the way of her success. I immediately thought about how at some point in all our lives, we all deal with insecurity. But, what happens when it stops us from becoming successful.
Imposter Syndrome is a real issue
At some point in our lives, the fear of being “found out” aka Impostor Syndrome, is a real issue. I want to bring this conversation to the tech space because I believe all of us are capable of being more than just good. We’re actually capable of being great, and doing so has nothing to do As we talk about tech diversity, it’s important to remember that we all show up with some insecurity. Are you worried that you’re not good enough, smart enough, savvy enough, capable enough? How does this worry affect your work?
#Yeswecode chat #9 questions to think about:
How does the fear of being “wrong” get in the way of your success?
If you could let it go, what would that look like?
What are some unique ways you deal with/work through feelings of Imposter Syndrome?
Once you get that dream job in tech, what’s your plan on how to make the most of it in the face of your fears?
I hope you can join the conversation. Before joining the chat please review the guidelines, which will answer some questions and help you know how to best participate. It’s important to the tech inclusion dialogue, especially because I really do believe that while access to tech skills is an important piece of tech diversity, there’s also a need to address the internal challenges that get in the way of our success.
Thanks for showing up for the #yeswecode Twitter chat, which happens every 2 weeks at 8pm Central Time. I’m excited to talk to everyone and to have you share your experiences . I started this chat a few days before the #yeswecode hackathon in New Orleans because I was participating as a mentor (and local partner via my startup) and wanted to engage the global tech community online before the in person event. I also wanted to hear what others had to say about what diversity in tech meant to them and how we could use social media to engage in meaningful dialogue.
Focus on solutions: By now, we’ve all heard the statistics about the lack of diversity in the tech industry. The questions we’re now asking are: What can be done about it? What’s already being done? Why is it so important? Where do we start? I know that sometimes talking about it get tiring. I know that we all want solutions, stat! This chat aims to answer some of these questions, create engaging dialogue and focus on solutions.
What “diversity in tech” means & why it’s key to innovation: When I say diversity, this is what I mean all of us. Yes, all of us. My family is Nigerian, American, Jewish, Swedish and Mexican. It means each and every one of us. It also means diverse tech skills (it’s not just about coding) and age diversity. It also means gender and sexual orientation. I do believe that your worldview is shaped by all of these things and positively impacts how you approach problem solving. And, innovation is about problem solving.
Rules:
It’s not easy to talk about race, gender, inequality, age, sexuality, etc, 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 nice! 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
a focus on solutions and creative ways to move forward
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.
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
