A gleaming highlight of the Lotusphere 2010 week was sitting on the Nerd Girl’s Revenge panel with the following panelists:
· Sandy Carter, Vice President, IBM Software Group Channels
· Akiba Saeedi, Program Director, Unified Communications and Collaboration, IBM Software Group
· Mary Beth Raven, IBM Senior Technical Staff Member, Lotus Product Design
· Eileen Fitzgerald, Vice-President Product Management and Customer Delivery at GSX
· Kristen Lauria, Vice President, Marketing and Channels, IBM Software Group
· Moderator: Gabriella Davis, Technical Director, The Turtle Partnership
To sum it up – WOW! What an extraordinary group of women - each bringing a unique perspective to the panel. I certainly gained a lot listening to the experiences shared amongst the panel and the audience. There has been some chatter in the community about why such a panel or BOF is even necessary. Do women really still have issues of equality in the IT industry? Are women passed over for promotions or treated differently with regards to job performance than men? Sadly - yes. And not just in the Americas, but all over the world. But the panel discussion wasn’t just about equality issues. The topic of establishing mentoring relationships and the different types of mentors was discussed. The panel also touched on how women might become more effective leaders or managers and ensure that young girls might follow their interests and pursue careers in information technology, engineering or science. [See WITI – Women in Technology International.] For a transcript see Lotus User Group for Celia Hamilton’s write up of the discussion.
I also attended the BOF Thursday morning. Again the need for networking and the use of social network tools like Twitter, Facebook, Skype, or LinkedIn to establish informal or formal mentor relationships. [A LinkedIn group – Nerd Girls – has been created as a follow-up.] Be sure to check out the group, contact me or the panel moderator if you have any suggestions for further discussion topics.
