Promoting the
Twin City
advancement of
women in computing
professions
Connections
Next Meeting: Volume 2, Issue 2 October 2010
Generations in the
Workplace
Meet the President
Presented by: Diane Cone, AWC-TC’s they own and how that realizing her member-
Katie Bedney new president, has been helps or hinders them in ship goals. Several pan-
a member since 2002, serving their customers elists from the Septem-
Thursday, Nov. 18, 2010
- 5:30 PM Networking and a board member for and clients.” ber meeting expressed
- 6:00 PM Presentation much of that time. their intent to spread the
AAA of Minnesota/Iowa When asked about her word about AWC among
5400 Auto Club Way. Since Diane’s job as an goals for this year as the their female students
St. Louis Park, MN 55416 Enterprise Architect / chapter’s president, and encourage their
Consultant for IBM re- Cone replied she wants participation.
quires her to travel to to “continue to offer rele-
Inside this issue: client sites, she says, vant education and in- Thanks, Diane, for
“Keeping connected to formation to our mem- agreeing to take on the
my local community is bers and guests.” responsibility for leading
Meet the 1
extremely valuable.” the group during the
President She also hopes to in- next 10 months!
Diane’s background is crease membership
impressive, as evi- ands see more diversity Members are encour-
Tech Trends 2 denced by her 6-page in the group. aged to provide their
Curriculum Vitae. ideas and input to Diane
In her current position Happily, Diane might or other board mem-
In Transition 2 with IBM, she “helps cli- have some assistance bers. A list of their email
ents understand what addresses is on page 3.
The Scoop on 2
Jobs
From Diane’s CV:
Tech Humor 2 Enterprise Architect with a Master of Science in
Telecommunications and over 20 years of diverse
project experience in the telecommunications, air-
Meeting Recap 3 lines, financial, insurance, petroleum, utilities, local
government, manufacturing, and professional ser-
vices industry sectors. These projects have been
varied including strategy and planning, enterprise
Social Media 3 architecture, network architecture, infrastructure
Watch assessments, communications infrastructure and
call centers.
Recommended 3 Certified TOGAF and IBM Enterprise Architect, IT
Reading architect, Network Architect, Business process de-
velopment, project management, IT strategy and
planning.
October 2010 Page 2
Tech Humor
Tech Trends
Although Skype started out the article is directed at small Companies can utilize Not all tech, but
being a tool for making free businesses, large organiza- Skype as a customer ser- humorous anyway. . .
VOIP telephone calls, it has tions looking for cost-saving vice tool by placing a but-
evolved to also be quite use- ideas might also find them ton on their website for cus-
ful as a video conferencing valuable. tomers to click and reach Part of a best friend's
and file transfer technology.
Screen Sharing is perhaps
someone who can assist
them.
job should be to imme-
Once the domain of families one of Skype’s least recog- diately clear your com-
and talk shows, businesses nized, and more valuable, Do you use Skype? We
are now jumping on the features. Used for training or would love to hear from puter history if you
members who have used
Skype bandwagon. Of the collaboration, this free utility
Skype in a business setting
die.
estimated 500 million Skype can replace other more
users, at least one third use costly tools. or who know of other simi-
it to conduct business. lar applications we should There is great need
Plug ins, known as “Extras,” highlight.
In his article, 5 Tips for Utiliz- range from call recording to for a sarcasm font.
ing Skype for Business, Ben small business collaboration Read the entire article here:
http://bit.ly/a8F1VM
Parr offers ways to get the
most out of Skype. Although
tools.
Map Quest really
needs to start their
In Transition directions on # 5. I'm
pretty sure I know
Many recruiters use a phone adequately prepare. • Take as few notes as
interview to narrow the list of possible to avoid long how to get out of my
candidates that will be in- • Make sure there are no pauses. But, make sure neighborhood.
vited for an in-person inter- distractions or back- to jot down notes imme-
view, especially if the posi- ground noise. Turn off diately afterwards while
tion requires telephone con- your cell phone or take it is still fresh in your Even under ideal con-
tact with customers or busi- the land-line off the mind.
ness associates. hook, turn off radios and ditions people have
Here are some tips from Net-
televisions, etc. • Write a thank-you note trouble locating their
right away, too. Let the
Temps for acing a phone • Dress for success. Even interviewer know of your car keys in a pocket,
interview: if you are at home with interest and what value finding their cell
nobody else around, you bring to the organi-
• Allow at least 24 hours dress professionally. It zation. phone, and pinning the
to prepare for the inter- will make a difference in
view. if at all possible, how you conduct your- You may read the entire list
tail on the donkey -
decline last minute inter- self and boost your self- of suggestions here: but everyone can find
views to have time to confidence. http://bit.ly/cbVHJN
and push the snooze
button from 3 feet
Here’s the Scoop on Jobs away, in about 1.7 sec-
onds, eyes closed,
The following companies St. Jude Medical (23) Hopefully, this will give
have multiple technology http://bit.ly/cUtwOr those who are looking for first time, every
jobs available. The number
Solution Design Group (2)
their next opportunity a
measure of hope that
time!
of currently-open technology
positions is in parenthesis http://bit.ly/9P7XYW technology jobs are plenti-
and a link to each company’s ful, even as the economy Can we all just agree
career website (shortened Tailwind Technologies (5) continues to recover.
using bit.ly) also is provided. http://bit.ly/cmn80Y to ignore whatever
Target (61) Send job leads of interest
comes after Blue Ray?
3M (6)
http://bit.ly/b06IZm http://bit.ly/cOWspl to AWC-TC members to
the editor at Printing generously donated by:
Cargill (27) Wells Fargo (14) cwi-ltd@comcast.net Postal Dispatch
http://bit.ly/sZXbN http://bit.ly/QMmbd Business Center
www.postaldispatch.com
October 2010 Page 3
Promoting the
advancement of
women in computing Meeting Recap
professions
A big thank you goes to the four gracious panelists who presented at our September
AWC meeting and discussed the programs at their respective institutions. Whether
interested in project management, network administration, programming, or other
technology-related degrees, there seems to be a program and a learning style suited
2009-2010 most to adult learners’ needs. The panelists discussed the costs and time required to
Board of Directors
pursue an advanced degree and how their institutions assist graduates find employ-
President: ment. They all agreed that there are still too few women entering technology profes-
Diane Cone sions and were pleased to know a group such as AWC exists.
(president@awctc.org)
Program Co-VPs:
Cassie Frame & Heike Peters
(programs@awctc.org)
Communications VP:
Marti Rollins
(communications@awctc.org)
Finance VP:
Katie Bedney
(treasurer@awctc.org)
Web VP: From left to right: Becca Furman (Capella University), Steve Zitnik (Augsburg Col-
Jane Sheedy lege), Joy Lewis (ITT Tech), Sharon Jirak (Dunwoody College)
(webteam@awctc.org) Social Media Watch
Membership VP: Social Media Watch
Heike Peters When a family is in the mid- not strictly be considered as a source of comfort and
(membership@awctc.org) encouragement for stressed
dle of a medical crisis, the social media, the ability to
National Representative: last thing they need is doz- update medical status, up- parents, spouses, siblings,
Heike Peters ens of phone calls, or having load pictures, or leave sup- or children, and a way for
(nationalrep@awctc.org) to make dozens of phone portive messages makes it a those involved to process
calls to keep concerned fam- kind of Facebook for people the experience by writing
ily and friends apprised of in crisis. about what is happening and
the situation. how they are feeling about it.
Enter CaringBridge, created For anyone who has not
in 1997 by Sona Mehring to visited a friend or family
meet a specific need. To member’s CaringBridge site,
date, more than one billion there are a number of per-
people have made visits to sonal testimonies at: caring-
one or more CaringBridge CaringBridge is a free brige.org/stories
sites. And, every day, half a service and acts as a lifeline
Editor: Mary Jo Koplos
Come Write Inn, Ltd million visits are logged. for worried friends. However, Donations to CaringBridge
cwi-ltd@comcast.net perhaps the most important are always welcome.
Suggestions and submissions welcome. Although CaringBridge may function the site serves is as
WWW.AWCTC.ORG Recommended Reading
Whether you believe, like meteoric rise of Facebook is
Betty White suggested on unparalleled in business and
Saturday Night Live, that technology circles
Facebook is a “Colossal
waste of time”; or you agree In his new book, The Face-
Twin Cities Association with Jared Cohen of the State
of Women in Computing book Effect, technology writer
Department’s Policy Planning David Kirkpatrick provides a
group that “Facebook is one fascinating peek into the his-
of the most dramatic tools for tory of the mega-company
democracy promotion the twenty-something Mark
world has ever seen”; or are Zukerberg started in his Har-
somewhere in between, there vard dorm room. www.facebook.com/
can be no argument that the thefacebookeffect