Ada Lovelace Day – celebrating women in technology

Who’s Ada Lovelace and what’s this day all about?

“Ada Lovelace Day is an international day of blogging to draw attention to women excelling in technology.  Women’s contributions often go unacknowledged, their innovations seldom mentioned, their faces rarely recognised.  We want you to tell the world about these unsung heroines.”

Who was Ada?

“Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace, born in 1815, was the only child of Lord Byron.  Born Augusta Ada Byron, but now known simply as Ada Lovelace, she wrote the world’s first computer programmes for the Analytical Engine, a general-purpose machine invented by Charles Babbage.”

Why am I here?

I’m not really sure how I ended up being an ICT Development Officer, it was never planned.  I really wanted to be a forensic scientist but couldn’t face doing a chemistry degree for 3 years … so I chose maths instead.

My dad is an engineer and for as long as I can remember has been tinkering with things.  He let me loose on his soldering iron when I was pretty young and I used to help out when he was rewiring the house. 

All the tinkering left me pretty fearless when it came to playing with technology and as a result I was usually (and still am) the “accidental techie”.  My last job included 2 office moves where I had to disconnect and reconnect everything and get it working again, luckily both were successful.

Now I work with technology full time and I really enjoy helping other organisations see how it can help them to do things better or just a bit differently.

So what about today?

I wanted to take the opportunity of Ada Lovelace day to highlight some of the women who tech here at NCVO and ask them what they think about technology.

NCVO is full of women, in fact 67% of staff here are women so we do lots of techie jobs like; web editing, e-communications, ICT capacity building, creating multi media content, writing about new technologies and managing websites.

Here’s a few of the things that the women at NCVO said about technology:

• What are the technologies you use every day and how do they help you do your work?

“I use email all the time to communicate with colleagues, discuss ideas, share links. I also use twitter to keep in touch with people outside of the organisation and update on what we’re doing. I use delicious most days to save links. I am chained to my computer…”

“My computer is my key tool but my iPod helps me get through the day.  I use email and twitter to keep in touch, delicious to share information, this blog to talk about what I’m doing, the web (and bloglines) to learn new things and doodle to organise our netball matches.”

“Web to keep up to date with what’s happening via blogs, news alerts, upcoming events, partner websites etc and source information. I like Facebook in terms of using it where and when it’s appropriate but personally, I’ve been peer pressured into signing up. Since moving to London, I look at the weather forecast way too much!!!”

“Online – twitter, blogs, Facebook etc. Mostly it’s all about keeping in touch, making new contacts, getting the latest news quickly, being able to respond. All this is also a hindrance. I find it difficult to switch off from it all and to focus on one thing and it becomes obsessive and habitual!”

• How do you think developments in technology will change the way you work over the next couple of years?

“I hope it will allow us to work more flexibly, share/learn regardless of geographical location and bring us closer together – especially with the global challenges we collectively face. I think most people are already bombarded with so much information – hopefully technology will value how precious time is and allow us to opt in or out as we want. I think it will be empowering rather than overwhelming.”

“We’re already seeing it happen but I definitely think the way we work is going to change dramatically, in terms of physically where we work, who we work with and how we work with them.  As we move to doing more online we are going to have to rethink job roles to reflect these new skills.”

“I hope that I will be able to share and collaboratively gather together more sources and intelligence. I hope to be able to broaden our pools of intelligence by following trails of recommendations through blogs and twitter. I hope to be able to work more flexibly, taking advantage of WiFi to work in different environments that are more conducive to different activities (e.g. writing, or thinking, or planning, or discussing)”

“I have to say it will continue to speed things up and will mean that we will need to be able to respond more quickly, to adapt more quickly and to be very open minded about how we engage. I think we will also find that there’s a backlash against the rampant marketing online and hopefully technology will be put to good uses and be used as a force for good more than it is currently. I wonder if things will be more closely controlled? Marketing to children for example.”

• What’s your favourite piece of technology and why?

“I love a laptop with WiFi capabilities because I love the idea that work is something that is done in a range of environments, either on your own or with others, rather than being associated with a desk in a corner of an office!”

“My computer would rate pretty highly but in terms of the things that keep me going I’d have to say my phone, I can talk to my friends and family on it and listen to Radio 4 through it when I’m out and about, in a perfect world I would have an iPhone and it would do all of these things and more.  At the moment I couldn’t be without my DVD player that is letting me watch all 5 series of The Wire.”

“I am still utterly and completely in love with my iPod. I can’t bear to be away from it. Having all my music with me is amazing and liberating.”

“My iPod. I can take on the world when I’m listening to the presets”

• Who are the women in tech/science you admire and why?

“I am ashamed to say that I don’t have that many to choose from as I don’t know that many.  But I would say that my ultimate heroes are astronauts so:

• Valentina Tereshkova – first woman in space
• Sally Ride – first American woman in space
• Judith Resnik – died in the Challenger disaster
• Helen Sharman – first British woman in space”

“One of the people I admire is Sophie Germain.  Sophie was a mathematician in the 19th century and when she started studying she had to hide the fact that she was a woman because they weren’t allowed to enroll in the university.  She made some key discoveries in the world of number theory and her work fed into the proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem.” 

“I love that [technology] allows discovery, discussion and (almost) equal access to information.”

More information about Ada Lovelace day and women in technology

• http://findingada.com
• www.pledgebank.com/AdaLovelaceDay 
• http://twitter.com/FindingAda 
• http://groups.yahoo.com/group/findingada 
• www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=47550446005
• This Guardian Tech Weekly podcast features a discussion about women in tech: www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/audio/2009/mar/10/tech-weekly-podcast-women-technology-api
• Female Social Media Guru UK Awards 2009: http://socialglue.wordpress.com/2009/03/10/female-social-media-guru-uk-awards-2009-official-line/
• Female role models in science and technology: www.pinkstinks.co.uk/role_models.php

The future’s bright, the future’s Twitter

[cross posted from www.3s4.org.uk]

2009 has already been a big year for Twitter and it’s only February.  With people like Stephen Fry and Jonathan Ross discussing it on national TV and radio, new accounts are being registered in their thousands.  But what is Twitter and can it really be of any use to the voluntary and community sector?

Twitter is a difficult beast to explain but essentially it’s a micro-blogging tool.  It allows you to post “tweets” with a maximum of 140 characters, reply to other posts that are of interest and follow what others are saying.  It’s easy to build a network of people with similar interests and opinions to you by seeing who others are talking to.  What started with asking the question “what are you doing?” is turning into a key social media tool.

This week alone has been extraordinary in Twitter land.  On Monday we woke up to the thickest covering of snow in London for 18 years and almost immediately people were rating the snow cover in their area out of 10, with results feeding into the #uksnow map.  I used Twitter that morning to find out what was really happening on the trains and on realising we were going to be stuck at home everyone used it to share their pictures of snowmen.  Just last night Stephen Fry got stuck in a lift and kept the world informed about the ordeal through Twitter.  The whole story made it into The Sun.

What might seem like idle time wasting to some only builds on the sense of community between users.  Twitter users working in the voluntary sector are already meeting at an NFP tweetup (using the American acronym for the sector) to talk face to face about issues affecting them.  In this case Twitter is only the tool which facilitates real life discussion.

But what of voluntary organisations?  Can Twitter really be of use?  Organisations such as Bullying UK, the RSPB, Amnesty UK, Voluntary Action Manchester and Dogs Trust certainly think so.  These are just a few of the VCOs using Twitter to get their message out.  These organisations have already used Twitter to update supporters with news, launch campaigns, recruit volunteers, advertise events, ask people to write letters of support, share pictures and stories and seek comment on consultations.  The interconnecting networks of users help organisations to spread their message far and wide.

The best way to understand how Twitter might work for you is to try it out, so why not get started by following someone and then see where they lead you.  The contacts quickly build up and the conversations start.  If you need someone to follow then why not try http://twitter.com/NCVOForesight.

There’s more information about Twitter and how to get started in the How to use new media guide on the ICT website.  Other information about Twitter is bookmarked at http://delicious.com/ICT_Hub/twitter.

A day at the Social Media Exchange – 2

So, into the second session and i still haven’t digested the learning from the first – i think i’m going to be exhausted tonight!

“using the mobile channel to your benefit – the what, why and how”

I’m slightly worried that i’ve just been asked for my mobile number but i’ve been reassured that it’s all part of the session, fingers crossed!

Apparently the four most used features of a mobile phone are:

• phone (obviously)
• sending text messages
• use as a torch
• use as an alarm clock

80% of people will carry a (web) connected mobile device within 5-10 years

What do you need to think about when launching a mobile fundraising campaign?

• People want a quanitifable object for their money
• They want an instant response
• getting something back
• reward/gratification

What is the journey that people go on when giving through text?

• Receive a call to donate
• Text a keyword to dedicated number
• Acknowledgement of the donation – this may include a link through to a website but be careful as you may lose people
• Money is taken off your monthly bill or pre pay credits
• Mobile companies can take 50% of the donation but work is being done to try and reduce this

Things to remember:

• Pick the right moment to send your text as you can only contact people once or twice before losing them altogether
• Make it as easy as possible for people to give – and include the option to opt out
• Think viral – get people to share with their peers

Some examples of text campaigns:

• IFAW – stop the seal hunt
• BBC World launch in America – interactive billboard
• Make your mark

Text can be used for more than just fundraising, it could be used to keep in touch with activists, renewing membership, recruiting volunteers for an event or thanking people for taking part in something.

Bulk sms is easy to do and not very expensive – use someone like http://www.itagg.com/, http://www.bulksms.co.uk/or http://www.textmarketer.co.uk/.  Search for bulk sms in Google.

I think i’m just about to be texted in the session … waiting … message received.

Off to the next workshop … when’s lunch?

A day at the Social Media Exchange – 1

I’m spending the day at the Social Media Exchange, an opportunity for people to come together and learn more about social media tools and how they’re being used in the sector.

The day is packed full of practical sessions, the first one i’m going to is from Kate Fox from the Mersey Basin Campaign (MBC), looking at how they use blogging, pod casts and other tools to engage people (both locally and internationally) with their campaign.

The MBC’s early approach to new media was much the same as other people in that they heard about blogging and decided they wanted to give it a go.  It wasn’t until Kate arrived as the new media manager that they started to look at what they wanted to achieve and then matched the available technologies to that.

MBC started their journey with blogging, using the blogger.com platform.

Some of the useful snippets that came from Kate’s session …

• To encourage people to blog who have never done it before, get them to pretend they’re writing a postcard to a friend
• Once they started the blog they made sure it linked to others using through the blog search engine Technorati
• It’s important to take time to comment on other people’s blogs – it lets them know you’re there and drives traffic to your site
• Use other blogs to get your posts out to a new audience, they may get picked up by local news agencies
• Regular posts to blogs keeps people interested and coming back
• MBC eventually replaced their staff newsletter with a blog, forcing people to use the blog and familiarising them with the blogging format
• The success of the event focussed blog prompted MBC to create a more general blog – hosted on typepad.com for a cost of £7 a month

What worked well for Mersey Basin Campaign?

• Blogging worked really well when it was linked to a specific awareness raising campaign
• One example was the adventures of sammy the salmon, celebrating the fact that salmon had returned to the Mersey for the first time since the industrial revolution
• Contributors in particular felt to write in the persona of Sammy the Salmon
• When Samantha the Salmon (Sammy’s sister) went missing on an international journey, she turned up again at www.travellingfishy.com – the further adventures of Sammy!
• MBC started using their blog for consulting with people on issues that affected the mersey and then used comments from the blog to feed in to formal consultation responses

Next up for MBC was using audio

• MBC was involved with www.riverthatchangedtheworld.com, a project featured audio content from local people
• The audio has been showcased at local museums, on BBC Merseyside and it also led to further interviews and exposure

Tips for creating audio content

• choose the right interviewee
• plan your interview – give people a copy of the questions
• take stock of your surroundings – are there any background noises?
• get people to answer questions in complete sentences
• double check that the recording has worked!
• keep hold of your raw audio
• get your podcasts transcribed so that everyone can benefit from it
• why not issue talking  press releases? – ready made content that can be used on local radio

… right, off to another session …