2009 G.I.R.L. Scholarship

Applications are now being accepted for the 2009 G.I.R.L. Scholarship to help educate and recruit more women into the field of video game production and design. Sponsored by Sony Online Entertainment LLC (SOE) a global leader in online gaming, and administered by Scholarship America®, a leading non-profit educational support program, applications are available at https://www.scholarshipamerica.org/gamersinreallife and more details, including official rules for entry are available online at http://www.station.sony.com/girl/.

For 2009, the scholarship winner has the option of working at SOE San Diego on our forthcoming MMO Free Realms.

Applications are due by April 29, 2009.

Call for Submissions: Randy Pausch Scholarship Fund

The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) has announced the call for submissions for the 2009 Dr. Randy Pausch Scholarship Fund, established to support students in pursuit of careers in game design, development and production. The AIAS will award four $2,500 scholarships to students attending accredited universities.

The scholarship fund honors Dr. Randy Pausch, professor of computer science, human-computer interaction and design at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). Dr. Pausch, a co-founder of CMU’s Entertainment Technology Center (ETC), has had great influence within the industry through his teachings, sabbaticals at Walt Disney Imagineering and Electronic Arts and consultation with Google on user interface design.

Information on the Dr. Randy Pausch Scholarship Fund and the application process will be available beginning March 31, 2009 at www.interactive.org.

Girls in Tech NYC Relaunch Party

The NYC chapter of Girls in Tech has relaunched with a new Managing Director and organizing team. Our goal is the enrich the experience of women in technology in the New York metro area, helping them to make connections, learn valuable career and life skills, and, above all, have FUN with other like-minded women in the thriving New York tech community.

(Pssst...this event is co-ed. Gents are welcome too!)

RAFFLE PRIZE

We'll be raffling off a hot KaraB laptop bag courtesy of eBags. Your ticket for the door gets you a ticket for the raffle!

GUEST SPEAKERS

Juliette Powell is a media entrepreneur, a community catalyst and author of '33 Million People in the Room: How to create, influence and Run a Successful Business with Social Networking' http://www.juliettepowell.com/book.php

Drawing on first hand experience as a social media expert and co-founder of The Gathering Think Tank, an innovation forum that connects technology, media, entertainment, and business communities, Powell writes about the patterns and practices of successful business leaders who bank on social networking to win. Powell’s background includes a decade of experience in broadcast television as well as in interactive/new media content and formats, and a lifelong interest in people and community-building. With her deep knowledge of the people and technologies at the forefront of social media, Powell has gained a solid reputation for discovering the latest developments and distilling their social and business implications. Her consulting services have been employed by corporate,government and new media organizations, including Red Bull, Mozilla,Microsoft, Compaq, Trump International, the United Nations, the Departmentof Justice, Paltalk, Rocketboom and Nokia.

Joanne Colan has 7 years experience hosting, writing, co-producing and creating broadcast television and radio for major networks and cable channels across international markets.

A recognized name in New Media, Joanne currently hosts daily the video blog Rocketboom <http://www.rocketboom.com/>. With over 100,000 downloads per episode, Rocketboom has been awarded Vloggies Best News Vlog and was an honorary Webby Award 2007 winner.

When: Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Where: M1-5 Lounge
Cost: $10 advance, $15 at the door
RSVP: http://gitnyc033109.eventbrite.com/

Could You Imagine "Blind" Interviews?

from Women for Hire newsletter:

Before blind auditions became common in the 70s, just 10% of new hires at major U.S. orchestras were women. The theory was that women weren't very good musicians. But labor unions protested the hiring process and pushed for blind auditions where musicians would try out behind a curtain so appearance and gender were concealed. In studying personnel from 11 major orchestras, Harvard economist Claudia Goldin and Princeton’s Cecelia Rouse found that 29% of females and 20% of males advanced to the final round in blind auditions. When auditions were not blind, only 19% of women advanced compared to 23% of men. Even though sex discrimination is hard to measure, those stats speak volumes. Fortunately, since the 80s, about half the new hires at the New York Philharmonic, 40% at the San Francisco Symphony and more than a third in Boston and Chicago have been women.

Paid Maternity Leave is a Win-Win Formula

In this op-ed for the Financial Times, Michael Skapinker argues that even in these times of economic downturn, it is more beneficial to companies and to society to have paid maternity leave than to force a mother to resign if she wants to stay with her baby. Some say that it imposes extra costs -- but on the other hand, perhaps in these times, companies may want a valued worker who comes in part-time to the office.

An excerpt:

There are not many countries in the world with no paid maternity leave. The International Labour Organisation lists only four others: Lesotho, Swaziland, Papua New Guinea and the US. To anyone living in a country where paid maternity leave is well-established, the consequences of not having it are arresting. In the US, the law requires companies with more than 50 employees to offer at least 12 weeks' unpaid leave after childbirth. What do US mothers do after that?

Why Women Managers Shine in a Downtown

In this article, Michel Ferrary, Professor of Management at Ceram Business School in France, finds that his research shows that companies with more women in management seem to be better protected against financial crisis. In contrast, companies with mainly male management had their stock prices decrease more than the French CAC 40 stock exchange index. The more women in the management, the less the share price decreased. There is a significant coefficient of correlation.

Excerpt:

In conditions of high uncertainty, financial markets value companies that take fewer risks and are more stable. Several gender studies have pointed out that women behave and manage differently from men. They tend to be more risk-averse and to focus more on a long-term perspective. A larger proportion of female managers appears to balance the risk-taking behaviour of their male colleagues.