Live From PBWC: Lynne Twist

Author and Philanthropist

Not a dry eye in the house. Lynne talks about her inspirations in Ethiopia surrounded by 7 women who grieved together and honored all of their children who had died from starvation. It took 5 days night and day. All were uneducated. 4 of them have gone one to be attorneys and a government minister in ethiopia.

Reallocate the worlds wealth away from spending on fear towards love. Money is a tool, an instrument.

There is a myth of "more" ... How much more to we really need?

Women can midwife the birth of the future of how money can change the world.

What you appreciate appreciates.

Her book: "The Soul of Money"

Posted with LifeCast

Live From The PBWC: Naomi Tutu

Keynote by Naomi Tutu, daughter Desmond Tutu.
Poem "The Pearl of Great Price"
It is not the times that are easy that you are the great person you are meant to be... It is at the hard times that the gift you are meant to be in the universe. You are a gift to the universe that the world needs. Our elders are here to help us bring for our gifts out. It is more important than ever to emphasis to our young people that they have the gift and they need to use it.



Posted with LifeCast

Live From The United Way Campaign Kickoff

I am sitting in a room of more than 500 people from agencies and the local private sector as we kick off the 2008/2009 giving season.

Placer County Sheriff, Ed Bonner is talking about how services supported by United Way are positively impacting the lives of children and families in our region. He mentioned that we all know some who needs the 3 H's: Needs hope, needs help, needs hand.

It's grarifying that even on tough economic times to see support from so many in our community. There are more families and children in need due tough financial times.

I am proud to contribute and co- lead Women in Philanthropy with our focus on Foster Youth and am Looking forward to a great campaign!

See http://www.yourlocalunitedway.org

Posted with LifeCast

Posted with LifeCast

Joining the mobile bloggers

Well, this is an very small blog entry as it is being created on a small device - my iPhone 3G. I am enjoying this device for the most part. However, due to the fact that I wear nails long, speed typing is still sometime in the future. Getting faster all the time... But it does beg the question of why I would bother to try and blog this way.

Well, the truth is I love technology and am happy to see progress in content creation for small form-factor compute devices. The overall explosion of innovation around apps for iphone has been a true delight to see! Games seem to lead the way but other catagories are flush with useful tools. Some of the richer apps are extensions of existing content repositories and many have taken advantage of iPhone capabilities to enhance the experience. Urbanspoon does a fantastic job of this.

Have to get ready for work so signing off for now. More soon!

- Maven

Posted with LifeCast

Running on fumes?

I just read an article posted on Forbes Entreprenuer a few months ago by Maureen Farrell titled "How To Run On Fumes."


While focused on what do do when you have more on your plate then seems doable, the main take-aways were around the health factor and the importance of eating healthy, working out and sleeping (although apparently working out means you need less sleep).


In my experience, in addition to the healthy factor, there are a few things that really help.

1. Get focused. Figure out what in and what's out in your life and make the tough decisions. In my case, I was involved at a detailed level in several businesses. Getting focused meant I had to decide what my level of involvement was going to be and did I even need or want to be involved. One business was moved out of a storefront to completely online which dramatically reduced all kinds of distracting overhead (money and time) and significantly improving my ability to focus on other things.
2. Delegate. Employees can't grow and learn if you keep doing all the work. Or as I like to say, "No one can step into a spot you are already occupying." On the home front, figure out if you can get a housekeeper or use an errand service. These things are often much more affordable then you might think and they free you up to spend time on more higher value things. I have personally gone back to using a housekeeper and this has reduced my worry about the basics around the house tremendously. Now, if someone would only come in and do my laundry I'd be set!
3. Create routines and rituals. Wherever possible, create routines and socialize them with the appropriate people in your life. On the home front, having the kids go through the same bedtime routine at the same time every night greatly reduces the normal "run and chase" that is normally associated with the process. On the professional front, setting up repeatable tasks with assistants and employees starts creating good habits and make sure the critical things get taken care of without your constant babysitting. On the professional front, small rituals, such as 5 minutes listening to music and thinking of nothing, can greatly reduce stress and improve your feeling of well being.
4. Keep in touch with friends. For me, this always seems to be the first thing that gets "cut" from the list. I can't always do "girls night out" but I can keep in touch with friends thanks to technology. A quick cell phone call, a "how are you" SMS text message, and email or even a 5 minute IM session keeps me in touch and from feeling isolated from my friends.
5. Just let go. Give yourself a break. You can't do everything. Be sure to ask for help from others. Somethings are just going to have to slide... either cancel them or postpone them. But don't try to do it all at once. Sometimes laundry just has to wait.

"My purse was stolen from my gym locker..."

I received the following email from a good friend of mine last week. She really provided some very important tips and tricks so I wanted to share it with everyone.

"Since I’m a big-believer in 'the power of information,' I wanted to send you all an email. My purse was stolen this past Sunday night at the 24 Hour Fitness in Carmichael. I had my purse in a locker with my pad lock.

While I was working out, someone cut the lock with bolt cutters and stole my purse. The purse was a Coach purse and I had my new Blackberry and blue tooth inside as well as Chanel sunglasses, a nice wallet, my keys, my checkbook, make-up, etc. No one saw anything and 24 Hour will not take responsibility for any lost or stolen items.

I’ve been dealing with getting everything cancelled and replaced for the last couple of days. Although I quickly cancelled everything, the thieves got a $500 charge on my debit card from a card room/casino in Citrus Heights. I will eventually get that reversed.

Please pass this email along to anyone you know. Thanks, Amber.

Few helpful hints I learned from this experience:

• Don’t EVER lock your purse in a locker room. Locks can easily be caught. Keep your purse at home. Don’t lock it in your trunk either. They’re watching you do that.
• Don’t carry your checkbook. I usually don’t, but I had just written a check for someone and kept it in my purse. I cancelled all of my checks and closed my checking account, but now the thieves can try and produce fake checks with my information.
• Don’t carry your social security card in your purse. I’m pretty sure we all know this one!

If your purse is stolen:

• Cancel your debit card, gas card, and credit cards immediately. I knew these 1-800 numbers by memory so it was easy to call. If you don’t know them, keep the numbers and account numbers handy at home. Remember to cancel other memberships (AAA, health insurance card, video rental memberships, etc.)
• Write down everything you had in your purse.
• Close your checking account if they took your checks. They have your account number on the bottom of the checks.
• Turn your cell phone off.
• File a police report! If there ever is identity theft, this is your proof that your items were stolen.
• Call the three credit bureaus (see below) and place a fraud alert on ALL bureaus. Even if they tell you they’ll alert the other bureaus for you, call anyhow. They will contact you if someone tries to apply for credit in your name. I’m going to get the Lifelock monitoring ($10/month) on my identity so I’m notified of every inquiry, and I can check my credit reports at any time.
• Credit Bureaus:
• Experion 800-397-3742 Experion.com
• Transunion 800-680-7289 Transunion.com
• Equifax 888-766-0008 Equifax.com
• Take sure you have an extra set of car keys and that someone has your house key. I was able to call my friend Katie to come pick me up since she has my house key.
• If you’re a homeowner, you have homeowner’s insurance for this kind of stuff. If you’re a renter, get renter’s insurance! It’s only $25 or $30 a month. This incident is covered under my policy, so I will get some costs replaced. Keep receipts for big purchase items (purse, phones, sunglasses, etc.). This makes the value of items easier to prove.
• Keep your old cell phone if it still works. I had my old phone in a drawer and was able to activate it yesterday at no charge. Now I can wait until I get some insurance money before buying a new phone.
• KEEP NOTES about everything you cancelled, replaced, the name of every single person you talked to, the date, the phone numbers, account #’s, claim #’s, etc. I have a notebook with all of this information in it.
• If they took your house keys, get your locks changed.
• Go to DMV and get a new license.
• Count yourself lucky. It could have been worse. I’ve dealt with some “not-so-great” people these last couple of days, but I’ve also dealt with some really kind, compassionate people that helped me quickly. "

Why women quit technology careers (article and commentary)

Article Link: http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=319212&pageNumber=1

Maven Commentary:
The Athena Factor study finds that having a mentor or a sponsor is a key factor in order to stem the flow of technical women away from their chosen careers. I do agree with the assessment that this is important, however, I think that it is equally as important for women to take a page out of their brethren's bible (so to speak) and make sure they are well and purposefully networked. Mentors are a vital part of that network but should not be the sole connection.

What stands in women's way of strong networks? Mostly themselves. The tendency to form or desire close personal relationships with mentors and others in their networks tends to limit the perceived options. The belief that they have limited things to give in return further complicates things. Moving beyond the need to be BFFs (Best Friends Forever) and understanding that they have many things to give in return opens up many more options.

Maven simplified categories of who should be in your network:
Colleagues - People you work most (current and former)
Mentors - People who take an active part in helping you develop your career
Recommenders - People with whom you've done business (i.e. clients or vendors) who would recommend you to others, should you ask
Champions - Influential people who will actively champion you to their networks, advocate for you, let you know of opportunities and open doors

Branch out. Do not be limited to workplace only connections. Some of the most important connections often come from the least expected places.

What I'm reading… "The Joys of Much Too Much"

I just finished reading the book The Joys of Much Too Much: Go for the Big Life--The Great Career, The Perfect Guy, and Everything Else You've Ever Wanted by Bonnie Fuller.

If you are looking for a checklist or the recipe of exactly what to do, this book isn't for you (in fact, you'll probably hate it). However, if you are looking for inspirations and a few key nuggets, I'd highly recommend this book.

I'm not going to post a spoiler but there were some very interesting takeaways. Bonnie doesn't break her life up into roles… she just treats her life as one big thing. She really advocates keeping and staying very active, ignoring the negative messages and insecurities, not worrying about psycho-analyzing character flaws, etc. There were lots of examples of the importance of networking, tips for everything from interviewing to creating proposals.

It's a very easy read and I found it to be a very interesting view of the life of a woman who simply embraces her whole life 24x7… no excuses, no apologies.

Travel Tip 1: Packing light... Dealing with the liquids

There is nothing more difficult then packing when you are going on a business trip, whether it is for 1 night or 2 weeks. Especially if you are like me and you don't want to have to check your bags. When carrying on, not only do you worry about the 3-1-1 rule for liquids but your bag can only be a certain size to go through the security scanner and fit in the over-head bins.

In my job, I am out on business travel 70-90% of the time. I can't even guess how many miles I flew in 2007 and 2008 is on track for more of the same. I thought I'd share a few tips and tricks that I've developed along the way.

Today's tip is about Dealing with the liquids:

1. Leave the shampoo and conditioner at home. I haven't been in a hotel in the world that doesn't provide at least shampoo and 9 out of 10 provide conditioner as well. If you have longer hair or hair that requires a conditioner, get a spray-on, leave-in conditioner and transfer it into a small bottle. A 3 oz bottle will hold enough to last you more than a week.


2. Get travel sizes of everything. Almost any personal care product can be purchased in travel size. I use an aerosol hairspray (normally purchased at the local beauty supply) and have found that I can pick a small size up even at the grocery store in a pinch. A small size toothpaste can last a week or more as well. If you are gone longer, take two. It's suprising how many small bottles you can fit in a quart-size bag.


3. Deodorant solids and other solids don't need to go into your 3-1-1 Ziploc bag. Things that are not liquids, don't need to go into your Ziploc bag. If you usually use a gel deodorant, switch to a solid. You may be able to do this with other products as well. For instance, instead of a liquid styling cream, talk to your hairstylist. You may be able to get the same results with a solid styling wax or similar product.


4. Use the zip-top bag. You get at least an extra half inch of space because the zipper lays flatter then the non-zipper type.

The TSA has thoughtfully provided a comprehensive list and a quick perusal can save a lot of headaches.

I think you'll be amazed at how much space you'll save. It might even be enough for that extra pair of shoes!

Adjusting the sails...

I heard this quote yesterday and I thought is was never more relevant.

“The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.” William Arthur Ward (American dedicated scholar, author, editor, pastor and teacher)

Latest Catalyst "Women in Technology" report published

Well, the latest Catalyst report came out last week it seems that women are preceiving things in high-tech are getting better.

Still a lot of barriers though. Some barriers are products of the environment, some self created. Mentoring and networking still show up on the list as an important way for women to get ahead.

Read the full report.

Portable technology... good or bad?

OK, so I'll admit to laying in bed with the flu while writing this blog. "You should be resting!" Well, for me, this IS resting and a bit boring. The nice thing about computing while lying down is that when you get tired, you just close your eyes. This doesn't work so well in the office.

I was in Vegas last week at a conference and a gentleman in the elevator commented on my BlackBerry (which I was using at the time... well sort of... there is no signal in Palazzo at Venetian elevator). "Everybody is using those things. Can't get away from the email." Admittedly I was a little irritated because his comment seemed to imply that was a negative thing. So I said, "Well, to me it's freedom. It's work hours and I'm out and about vs. tied to my computer. What's bad about that?"

And so I mused... was this true? was this how I actually felt? Yes, actually it is. Freedom. Able to be in touch at a moments notice. Able to respond (or ignore...) instantaneously. No longer tied down to a desk or a hot spot. Able to go to that hard to schedule appointment in the middle of the day. Look up "who was that actor" to solve disputes over drinks with colleagues. Text message with your kids. There is a long list! How cool is that?

OK, so I admit, using it on the golf course when you are with your boss is probably completely unnecessary. If your boss isn't there, then it's understandable!

At the end of the day, I firmly believe moderation is the best policy... so if you are in need of BlackBerry guidance, I recommend the Ten BlackBerry Commandments.

Initial Musings

I have lots of musings but for some reason they never make it into my various blogs so I thought it was time to just create a spot for my short thoughts and observations. Enjoy.