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Thursday 11th March 2010

Tuesday 8th December 2009 - Update from Maggie Berry, Director, womenintechnology.co.uk

This is our final monthly update of 2009 and amongst the busy-ness of Christmas we hope you will find the time to click on the links below that are of interest to you! Whether you're looking to book a place on a St John Ambulance stress in the workplace awareness course, read CIO Connect's interesting article about what can be done to attract a wide and diverse range of candidates to top IT positions or order some wine for Christmas from Women Inspired by Wine, we hope this email is useful to you. We'll be in touch with details of the courses we're running 2010 before the end of the year and if you enjoy our networking events, please put the 27th January in your diary as that will be our first event of 2010. Thanks so much!


1. Save the date!! Wednesday 27th January 2010 at 6pm - Women of Substance: Inspiring Women in STEM

2. Stress in the workplace - training courses offered by St John Ambulance in January and February 2010

3. Interesting article: What are the key elements that will help attract a diverse range of candidates to the top technology opportunities?

4. Free copy of the “Fostering A More Diverse Infrastructure And Operations Department” report

5. Beyond the Boys' Club Boot Camp - commencing on 8th January and 12th March 2010

6. whatsmysize.com - a fitting room in your sitting room

7. Women Inspired by Wine - Wine List for Christmas 2009

8. "Be Counted" - a web tool to keep track of gender diversity at technology events



1 - Save the date!! Wednesday 27th January 2010 at 6pm - Women of Substance: Inspiring Women in STEM
Our first event of 2010 will be co-hosted with the European Professional Women's Network (London) and the Women's Engineering Society at the Royal Institution on Wednesday 27th January at 6pm. Please put the date in your calendars and more details will be released nearer the time - thanks so much!


2 - Stress in the workplace - training courses offered by St John Ambulance in January and February 2010
In Britain stress, depression or anxiety account for approximately 13.8 million reported lost working days per year with 530,000 individuals believing they are experiencing workplace stress at a level that is making them ill. In 2010 St John Ambulance is branching into stress awareness, which will help businesses to identify, prevent and treat the symptoms and effects of stress in the workplace.
The three-hour stress awareness course will teach students how to identify the early signs of stress and what measures to take to avoid it and includes valuable information for employers, employees and the general public. The course also covers techniques for managing stress such as exercise, relaxation, breathing and visualisation.
The course is priced at £90.00 + VAT, and is scheduled at our Marylebone training centre on the 6th and 8th January, as well as 3rd and 18th February (and continues at two dates per month).
St John Ambulance trains half a million people every year in first aid and health and safety. Courses include first aid at work, emergency first aid at work, fire marshal, risk assessment and moving and handling principles. For information about the Stress awareness course or to book a place, call 020 7258 7014 to speak to one of our Customer Service team. Alternatively, visit http://www.sja.org.uk/sja/training-courses/courses-for-the-workplace/health-and-safety/stress-awareness.aspx to find out more.

6th January 2010
8th January 2010
3rd February 2010
18th February 2010


3 - Interesting article: What are the key elements that will help attract a diverse range of candidates to the top technology opportunities? UK organisations need to address how they can help to attract an increasingly diverse population into technology and create the next generation of CIOs. In this article, from their own experiences, three leading female IT leaders tell CIO Connect how they would create equal opportunities in IT.
The article can be read here.


4 - Free copy of the “Fostering A More Diverse Infrastructure And Operations Department” report
At womenintechnology.co.uk we often get asked to participate in new research or comment on particular issues. I was recently contacted by Forrester who were putting together a report on diversity in IT. As a thank you for putting them in touch with the womenintechnology network, they have offered us access to free copies of the report. It is US focused, and you’ll have to register, but it’s a quick (and free!) process and it’s an interesting read that reinforces many of the things that we have been saying. To read more, download your free copy of the “Fostering A More Diverse Infrastructure And Operations Department” here: www.forrester.com/womenintechnology.


5 - Beyond the Boys' Club Boot Camp - commencing on 8th January and 12th March 2010
The Beyond the Boys' Club Boot Camp is an intensive six week programme - one hour a week - that has been designed for time-pressed, career-serious executive women who are ready, and who find it very necessary, to take their career to the next level, FAST.
This programme will be run by Dr. Suzanne Doyle Morris and will use real-life applications of many of the strategies detailed in her acclaimed book "Beyond the Boys' Club".  Each 6 Week Boot Camp is limited to JUST 8 WOMEN. This is a deliberate protocol to enable delegates to get the maximum benefit, to network effectively and to learn in a fast- track exciting way new strategies for proactively taking control of  their career progression. Dr Doyle-Morris will show how to use instantly effective do-able techniques for increasing self-confidence and business savvy, how to further raise your profile inside and outside of your organisation, techniques to decrease self-doubt and insightful proven knowledge of how to gain recognition amongst 'the boys club' that supports you and what you want to achieve within your role.
Because this is the first time they have ever offered this type of time-crunched intensive programme, they are initially offering places at the heavily discounted introductory price of just £600 plus VAT. Boot Camps take place remotely, are on a Friday and commences on the 8th January 8th and the 12th March 2010.
For more information, please click here.


6 - whatsmysize.com - a fitting room in your sitting room
Whatsmysize.com is an online clothing size calculator, with sizes from a wide selection of brands. Like a fitting room in your sitting room, but without the surly attendant, hall of mirrors trauma and hideous harsh lighting.
And they’ve just won the Technology Strategy Board Competition: Feasibility Studies for Digital Britain. The competition was high, with 580 valid applicants and 84 of those assessed as suitable for funding. Whatmsyize.com are delighted to have been selected, and are committed to using the funding for high level research and development work.
The reason why we're highlighting this is that the management team is all female - Anne Currie, Co-founder, has over twelve years experience of delivering software solutions. Until recently she was Head of IT at Figleaves.com, the world’s largest online retailer of branded "intimates". Co-founder Kavita Kapoor, a womenintechnology member, runs a consultancy working with large brands such as Tandberg TV on interactive TV and Figleaves.com on the web. She co-founded Digital Delicatessen (a social networking film site) and Journey Ant (a travel site), and previously spent several years at Channel 4 serving as applications architect.  Finally, Keri Webster's twin passions of writing and shopping make her ideally suited to her role as Content Manager. Previously working for a diverse array of clients ranging from playboy.co.uk to the Japanese Government, Keri is our fashion obsessive, and is wholeheartedly dedicated to conducting as much 'research' on online shopping as her bank balance will allow.
If you'd like to find out more, go to whatsmysize.com or contact Kavita Kapoor - kavita@whatsmysize.com or 01908 501789


7 - Women Inspired by Wine - Wine List for Christmas 2009
Women Inspired by Wine very kindly provided the wine for the Leadership in Challenging Times event that we hosted at the Chicago Booth Business School in October and their 2009 Christmas List can be found here but be quick as the last date for orders is Friday 11th December! These are exclusive wines direct from their wineries in Chile and Italy at special Christmas prices.


8 - "Be Counted" - a web tool to keep track of gender diversity at technology events
"Be Counted" is a web tool to keep track of gender diversity at tech events and it consists of a database with a web interface where people who attend technology-centric events like conferences, lectures, workshops, etc. can record the gender ratio at these events. The URL of the project ishttp://b-counted.appspot.com. The project was created using Django on Google App Engine and therefore uses the Google ID system for authentication.
The long-term aim of the project is to not just collect data but also to provide more tools for sharing and visualising the collected data, in order to encourage collective analysis of the patterns behind the numbers. But for now, the project needs data. So please feed the Be Counted database if you do attend or run a tech event! If you have any questions, or concerns, or would like to help with the project, the source code of the project can be found by clicking here.


Merry Christmas and happy new year!