1. Super-classy handling of the Sqoot debacle by Cloudmine!

    cloudminellc:

    Some unfortunate events occurred during the afternoon, related to some very poor and offensive wording in the flyer for an event that we were sponsoring. A short summary of what happened:

    1. An event posting for the Boston API Jam was created containing clearly sexist language. We were listed as a sponsor of the event at the time.
    2. The sexism in the event details was pointed out to us by many followers on Twitter (special thanks to @coolaunterin!)
    3. Before the flyer was posted, we were unaware of the specific wording that was going to be used in the flyer.
    4. We, and other companies, pulled our sponsorships from the event.

    All of us at CloudMine agreed that this type of language is not acceptable, and we made an effort to contact the organizers of the event to get this changed as quickly as possible. Sexism in tech is a serious problem. Events like what happened today are, unfortunately, not uncommon. Catering exclusively to men in a sexist manner in your marketing materials is not only wrong, but it undermines those trying to make real progress. It hurts everyone when something like this happens—it can make women feel like outsiders in their own field, and it normalizes this type of behavior as okay (which it absolutely never is, even if there was no intention to hurt).

    Having said that, we sincerely apologize for any offense that was caused. We never would have posted something like that, and do not endorse anyone who does.

    Since we are no longer sponsoring this event, we now have extra funding to sponsor a different event which is more aligned with our views. We love hackathons—our company born at one—and we’d like to put this money to good use at an event that will bring all hackers (women and men alike!) together. Give us your suggestions in the comments or on Twitter (@CloudMine).

    philadelphia  Philly  fail  programming  women  women programmers  sexism  sqoot 
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  5. Our pal Amit srsly needs your help!

    Amit, founder of Photojojo and generally awesome person, was diagnosed with acute leukemia about three weeks ago. He began treatment immediately and the preliminary results are good. He’ll continue chemo for a couple more months and then he will need a bone marrow transplant.

    And this is the tough part.

    Amit is Indian. All minorities are drastically underrepresented in the national bone marrow registry—a caucasian person’s chances of finding a match are 8 in 10, Amit’s (being of South Asian descent) are 1 in 20,000. We have to change those odds.

    Amit’s friends are on a mission: get more brown people registered as potential bone marrow donors. Testing is easy. You can register for a free kit at BeTheMatch.org in about 3 minutes and they will send you a swab kit in the mail. You swab your cheeks and mail it back. And by the way, donating bone marrow isn’t nearly as scary or painful as it used to be; in most cases it is a non-surgical process similar to a blood transfusion.

    If you are in Philadelphia and want to get swabbed, click on the handsome face above for info about the bone marrow donor drive Web Start Women is organizing at BarCamp Philly. We’d love to see your cheeks on the 22nd!

    Already in the registry? Good for you! Please share Amit’s story with your friends and family and encourage them to join the registry too.

    ISwabbedForAmit  4Amit  entrepreneur  Amit Gupta  South Asian  Leukemia  AML  bone marrow  photojojo  BarCamp  philadelphia  BeTheMatch  marrow.org  100KCheeks 
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  8. Wanted: A few nerdy women

    As we get the ball rolling in Boston and continue to grow in Philadelphia, we’re looking for instructors who love geeking out on web development as much as we do.

    If you have the knowledge and the confidence to lead a group of smart, determined women on any of the following topics, we should talk!

    • HTML / CSS
    • JavaScript / jQuery
    • PHP / MySQL
    • Ajax
    • Photoshop
    • Git
    • WordPress
    • Drupal
    • Graphic Design
    • Business (as it pertains to the web, ‘course :-)

    Many of the courses already have curriculum created, so your job is just to come in and teach it. For an example of our material, check out the notes from our first class in the HTML/CSS series. Other topics have not been run yet, and you’ll have the opportunity to help us develop that material (compensation will be higher).

    Class commitments are usually a couple hours, one night a week or occasionally a half an afternoon on a weekend.

    If this sounds like fun to you, send us some information about yourself and your background to instructors@webstartwomen.com.

    And, if you don’t fit the description above, but you know a woman who does, please let her know! The more talented, awesome instructors we can find, the more classes we can run, and the quicker more women can start coding their ideas into reality. :-)

    http://webstartwomen.com/gigs

    webstartwomen  women programmers  Boston  Philadelphia  PHP  HTML  CSS  web development  JavaScript  jQuery  MySQL  WordPress  Drupal  Ajax  photoshop  Git  design  code  education  learn  Cambridge 

  9. Have you heard about the PA Conference for Women? It’s a one-day event jam-packed with great speakers (e.g., Gloria Steinem, Marion Jones) taking place in Philadelphia on October 25th.

    The folks at the conference were nice enough to send us a discount code to pass along—feel free to share with your friends! Use the code PACP24 for a rate of $135 for individual registrations (regular rate is $150). Going with friends? Register a table of 10 for $1,250 (regular rate is $1,400).

    webstartwomen  philadelphia  women  startups  Gloria Steinem  events  entrepreneurship  development  inspiration  learn 
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