Rockin' Robin: Robin Goldfarb Wilensky's Weblog

Session/Event:Entrepreneur Panel: Live your Idea, Making an Impact as Entrpreneur (Day 1, Session 2)

Commentary:
I was a little late getting to this session after leaving my own but there were some good points made that I'll list below.

Funding
Funding typically comes from a variety of sources. In order friends/family, Angel Investors and Venture Capitalists. Obviously, friends/family is the easiest way to get started. [Ed. Note. Check out Fundable as a way to raise money from people you know.] Angel Investors usually want a piece of the business and offer smaller amounts of funding. Go to venture capitalists wen you are ready to be incorporated. You need to already have a large user base.

Starting A Services Company

• Can grow organically (while you keep your day job) unless it violates any conflict of interest clause.
  
• Venture capital probably NOT required to start, but will be needed to scale
  
• Margins are typically larger when resources are best utilized. If you hire & resources are not fully utilized, your margin will be lower.
  

Action Items:
1. Stop by the NCWIT table (at Grace Hopper)
2. Go to NCWIT for lots more entrepreneurship info including audio podcasts, competitions, and more.

Session/Event:Using Technology to Solve Environmental & Societal Issues (Day 1, Session 3)

Commentary:
I enjoyed this session both because of my personal interest in the topic and also because the speaker was from Intel and it was interesting to hear the different perspectives she brought to the table.

IT contributes as much carbon emissions as the aviation industry!!!

So, what do we do about it. Technology that helps the environment:

• Electronic Banking - If everyone in the US started paying bills online, we could save 18.5 million trees each year and reduce toxins in the air (from paper creation and transport) by some 2.2 billion tons.
  
• Websites: OpenEco.org, Planet Save
  
• e.g. Interface Carpet Company - Interface Carpet Company: new computer controls on the boilers in a fabric factory reduced CO emissions by 99.7% (2 tons/week to 200 lbs/year). Computer controls also improved efficiency of boilers by 23% by minimizing human error and by monitoring temperatures more precisely.
  

Green Tech Actions to help minimize effects.
1. The Intel Employee Sustainability Network - Steering committee/mailing list gets speakers & maintains discussions.
2. Hub & Spoke model:
Hub: Minimize Eco Impact
Spoke 1: Reduce (Optimize x)
Spoke 2: Reuse (Use x as y)
Spoke 3: Recycle (Extract materials from x)
Spoke 4: Rethink (Increase awareness)
Spoke 5: Reparation (Compensate for x by doing y)
Spoke 6: Reconsistute (Replace x with y)

Green Tech Actions to help enable
Hub: Enable
Spoke 1: design & invent: design green buildings.
Spoke 2: optimize & automate: efficient route planning (for UPS for example)
Spoke 3: monitor & model: Trying to monitor computer systems and only keep those needed on
Spoke 4: operate & sell (online stores are much more eco friendly than running a physical store)
Spoke 5: educate & persuade (create websites to help educate people on how to switch)
Spoke 6: minimize (ie: instead of going to a meeting, have a teleconference to save the trip/save miles)

Tech & Environment Case Study
Data Centers: 1.5% of all US electricity use is by data centers.
Solutions:
1. Virtualization/Site Selection - move DC's north to cooler areas.
2. Use renewable sources of energy
3. Add insulation
4. Deploy systems with lower power consumption (built by vendors)
5. Plan for utility computing
6. Utilize power aware systems

Pillars of Sustainable Innovation
1. Control Risks: RoHS
2. Cut Costs: Adobe spent about 1.1 million to restructure their buildings and yet they're saving 1 million each year. Even little things like replacing all their light bulbs to more eco friendly bulbs are contributing to their company's improvement.
3. Enhance Brand: GE Ecomagination - GE managed to increase profits by introducing their new brand
4. Create Revenue: Toyota Prius

Using Technology for Social Good
1. Global Giving: Using the power of the net to connect grass root humanitarian efforts with resources.
2. TechBridge World, CMU: Education to help bridge the technology gap in countries. Engineering students at CMU developing tools to help these people with their day to day problems.
3. United Villages: driven by Wifi Technology. To help bring online contact to these communities, people are able to write emails at a computer center and then when the local bus drives by, the bus provides wifi to the computer center and sends all the saved emails at that time. It is not constant internet however it allows them to be in contact and use their current infrastructure to get temporary access to as many cities as possible.
4. Rural telemedicine: Using technology to connect medical support to rural areas. Video conferencing etc. to help diagnose from afar
5. yara's Precision farming: decision support tools to help farmers apply fertilizer where it is needed.

Action Items:
What you Can do...

• Engage More
  
• Form/Join employee groups
  
• Look for opportunities to use your tech skills towards your cause
  
• Volunteer for your cause
  
• Look for partnerships with non-profit organizations
  
• Read this speakers wiki notes.
  

Session/Event:Girl Geeks in High School (Day 1, Session 4)

Commentary:
All the girls go to private school. 2 go to an all-girls school. None of the girls invited from public schools accepted the invitation. All of the girls have other interests besides the STEM interests.

On Tools & Methods:

• Hands-on works best. (E.g. Carol the Robot - uses basic java)
  
• Learn how to attack problems in different ways. Best way to innovate.
  

On Laptops

• Teachers may let students use their laptops for in-class projects.
  
• For their own laptops or school PC's, teachers may "freeze" the laptops while assignments are being given or discussions are happening.
  
• The girls feel that kids know they should pay attention in class and that's it's about discipline. Also, how interested they are in the class.
  
• Not all the schools allowed laptops in the classroom.
  
• Nobody is using tablets really. Do use SmartBoards - teachers use and move to PC via email.
  
• There is also a difference between class structure - some are static vs. interactive.
  

On female STEM teachers

• Middle school teachers encouraged them to stay in math & science. Having anyone who encourages you in important (male or female).
  
• Main difference: Female STEM teachers encourage them to pursue this as a career. Male STEM teachers encourage them to pursue it for fun & don't really give career advice.
  
• Mentor gender mattered more to them then teacher gender.
  

On User or Creator of Technology (and their peers)

• They "use to create"/Peers are scared of technology.
  
• Create webpages, designs, layouts. Users - way of accessing "Facebook".
  
• NeoPets - at age 11, one girl made a webpage for her pet.
  

On Online Safety

• One girl said she was taught at age 6 about online saftey but most of her friends don't know about safety.
  
• Regarding MySpace/Facebook. There are security problems (personal info, etc...). Police officers spoke at school so peers are careful with Facebook.
  
• Think adults underestimate them.
  
• Know to be safe like you would outside. Use your gut feeling. Turn back if you feel uncomfortable.
  

On Girls vs. Boys in Tech

• One girl said she doesn't hang out with boys who don't think it's cool that she's into tech.
  
• Another said she is the only girl of her friends who is into math/science. But she got to know others who are in her classes.
  
• At the all girls school, lots of girls are interested in engineering. Environment may encourage it.
  
• One girl said, "either boys don't think you are smart enough and take over or they think you are smart and let you do all the work".
  

Action Item:

• Read
  the session wiki.
  

Session/Event:How to Land Your Dream Job(Day 1, Session 5)

Commentary:
This was mostly geared at educators but here are the 2 points I got out of it.

• Internal transfers are the best way to make changes.
  
• For career changers, look at transferable skills.